Susan realized years ago that much of what impacts productivity and job satisfaction in the workplace ties directly to people’s ability to create and maintain healthy relationships. She actually enjoys helping people sort out the messy conflicts that they often generate with coworkers. She appreciates the opportunity to provide tools and safe environments in which they can learn, grow, and produce more harmony.

 

Her international company conducts strategic planning, team development, leadership training, and executive coaching for corporations, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies that range in size from five to 5,000 employees. The company’s tagline is “continuous people improvement.”

 

Spero & Company’s clients have included library systems, law firms, transportation districts, hospitals, housing authorities, manufacturing companies, universities, professional associations, energy and telecom companies, aerospace companies, home builders, public relations firms, regional and national nonprofits, churches and synagogues, and local, state, and federal government agencies.

 

Because music has played a major role in Susan’s life, it became the metaphor for this book. She learned to play piano and guitar as a child and has loved singing in choirs and musical theater. Like most kids, she hated practicing. She led a small community choir for over thirty years. That experience helped her see the similarities between choir members learning to sing in tune with each other and team members finding ways to work harmoniously together in their careers.

 

She earned a bachelor’s degree in education at the University of Michigan and completed a master’s degree in psychology and counseling at the University of Northern Colorado. Prior to founding Spero & Company, she worked as an elementary school teacher and clinical psychologist.

 

She is certified in the use of many assessments, including the Myers-Briggs Type Inventory, the Kolbe Indexes, Genos Emotional Intelligence tools, and the Graham-Sloan Resilience Index. She is licensed to facilitate many programs, including Interaction Associates’ Facilitative Leadership and Essential Facilitation, Executive Team Alignment, and Appreciative Inquiry.

 

She is a member of the Organization Development Network. Always an active volunteer, she has trained facilitators and chaired the Personnel and Search Committees for a local nonprofit. She was a board member of the Denver Child Care Consortium. She has coordinated projects for her homeowners’ association, the 10 Greatest Gifts Project, Denver area school systems, and the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce.

 

Susan grew up outside of Chicago and has lived with her husband, three boys, and a succession of

cats in Denver, Colorado, since 1973. She speaks Spanish, French, and, on a good day, English. In addition to music, she loves travel, exercise, photography, chocolate, and any opportunity to laugh.