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Instructor Spotlight: Tom Rhoads
Meet Tom Rhoads, Executive Consultant
Tom Rhoads is an executive consultant who helps individuals and organizations advance to the next stage of their careers and growth. He is highly effective at guiding people to envision possibilities, define success, and identify and implement the key factors needed to achieve extraordinary outcomes.
His expertise lies in helping people expand their awareness and strengthen their authentic leadership, which is central to his work of unlocking the potential within each person. Tom has delivered leadership training and provided coaching to individuals at various points in their careers — from high-potential employees to senior leadership teams.
He has worked with organizations including Fred Beans Automotive, Doylestown Health, Penn Community Bank, Greif Inc., Lower Bucks Hospital, Sesame Place, the County of Bucks, Quaint Oak Bank, and Woods Services, among others.
Tom is a graduate of Franklin & Marshall College and earned his Master of Engineering Management from Duke University.
A Q&A with Tom Rhoads
I remember being approached by the College to create a leadership program for one of the College’s workforce customers, the Fred Beans Automotive Group. From that first program, we have developed a strong partnership with the Fred Beans organization providing leadership academies and several other programs. Two years ago, we created a growth academy for their organization and have provided it to three other organizations as well. My association with BCCC has grown to several other organizations across Bucks County which have served well over 1,000 participants.
The testimonies that participants share following the programs reveal an impact far greater than “liking the program.” We see people change, transform, and they share the impact it has on their family and relationships. We have seen the lasting and significant impact on participant’s career trajectory. As participants rise to higher levels of responsibility, we also see their contribution to their organization and community.
What inspires me is to serve people by helping them shift their perspective, challenge limiting beliefs, and automatic tendencies and patterns that are not serving them well. I am also inspired by unlocking the potential that all people have, developing leadership effectiveness, and fostering organizational growth. Instruction and sharing knowledge is certainly helpful, yet it is limited in that knowledge alone rarely raises personal, professional, or leadership growth; most growth is brought about through distinctions, reflection, and the inner work of challenging thoughts, thought patterns, beliefs, listening and communication, emotional empowerment and resilience, providing a framework and coaching through their transformation is my joy and privilege to share with people who are committed to their own potential.
Leadership development is one of the very best investments organizations can make. The quality of leadership touches all aspects of organizations and addresses the most critical resource that limits most all organizations, time. Effective leaders can exist in all levels of an organization and it is not simply about titles, positions, or responsibilities. Rather leadership is directly reflected in the strength of relationships, the consistency, predictability, and sustainability of impact and profitability. It requires a higher level of commitment, courage and humility than simply taking a class. It requires a level of accountability that many would consider unreasonable.
For the past 20 years, the distinction of work vs hobbies has been replaced by simply living in appreciation, gratitude, and contribution to others. My work is solely by referral, no website, not marketing, no sales, simply being helpful to those who are ready for growth by taking themselves on and doing the work that they need to create the results they want. I enjoy being with family, friends, as well as those individuals and organizations that request my help, and the symbiotic relationship with gardening, boating, hiking, reading, and writing seems to strike a great balance, and inner harmony that serves me and others well. Our thinking environments have a powerful effect on our ability to change and create change.