Bobbi Kahler

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At the age of six, Bobbi Kahler was told by a speech pathologist that her speech problems would be a life-long disability. Her mother never allowed Bobbi to work with the speech pathologist beyond that day because, in her words, “Why would I allow Bobbi to work with someone who has already determined she will fail.”

Because of her mother’s leadership and commitment, Bobbi progressed year by year, even challenging herself to compete on the high school speech and debate team. She overcame her speech problems and eventually made her career as a professional speaker and management consultant. Her success over daunting challenges, despite expert opinion, has led Bobbi to dedicate her life to using science to turn hidden potential into peak performance.

Formation of a talent catalyst

From the beginning of her career, Bobbi showed a natural talent for getting the best from those around her. Exceptional mentors showed her the power of guiding people to use their strengths to be their best. Bobbi’s fascination with people arose because she consistently delivered top performance when working with the same people labelled as poor performers by others. Over sixteen years, she became known for turning “difficult,” “lazy,” and “low-performers” into top performing people and teams. Bobbi proved repeatedly that people and teams perform better and achieve greatness with the right challenge and support. Bobbi became addicted to those magical moments when a person experiences success when they believed it was impossible.

Rebirth of a speaker

To fulfill her hunger for helping others tap their hidden potential, Bobbi launched a writing and training business in 2000. In 2001, Bobbi moved from Chicago to Portland, Oregon to grow her venture, helping entrepreneurs and managers improve team performance. Seeing speakers at many events and conferences rekindled Bobbi’s passion for speaking developed in speech and debate. Her signature stories became favorites at many local, state, and regional conferences in Oregon and the Northwest, where she delivered programs for First Tech Credit Union, Axium Software, Timberline Software, Avamere Health Services, Northwest Community Credit Union and many others.

Inklings and Fears

Despite the popularity of her engaging stories and programs, Bobbi was bothered by a nagging concern. Were her theories grounded in science or merely isolated anecdotes? Inspiring her audiences was energizing, but leaving them without proven ideas was troubling.

As if the universe understood her dilemma, Bobbi became gravely ill from extreme fatigue. After searching eighteen months for medical guidance, a doctor told her that to recover she would have to suspend her speaking business. In 2006, she and her husband, Rick, returned to Chicago to be closer to family and to determine how to advance their knowledge about human development.  

Renewal and Advancement

While regaining her health over several years, Bobbi began her master’s degree in Positive Organizational Development & Change at Case Western Reserve University, where she studied with leading researchers in leadership and human development, including Richard Boyatzis, David Cooperrider, David Kolb, and Marcus Buckingham. Her studies began to converge with her experience, and she understood not only why she had been successful developing herself and others but also how to help managers and leaders use proven science to turn the potential hidden within their organizations into powerful performance.

Summary

Bobbi has been developing people as a manager, trainer, speaker, and management consultant for more than 20 years in many industries, including financial services, insurance, health care, high tech, and professional services. She has worked with organizations, like Microsoft, AIMCO, Corbis, WellPoint, and others. She speaks at conferences and corporate events around the country about the ways leaders and managers can get more of the best performance from their organizations.

Bobbi is a contributing author to the best-selling book, Masters of Success, and her latest book is Travels of the Heart: Developing Your Inner Leader, an engaging guide for building the character and skills for personal leadership. Her next book project is a practitioner’s field guide for releasing existing potential within organizations and is a collaboration with her fellow Case Western Reserve University alumni led by her professor, Harlow Cohen.

What motivates Bobbi every day is the belief that people have potential that can be developed and turned into performance. Developing people improves organizational performance and makes meaningful careers and lives. Her specialty is making the science of human performance useful for managers.

Bobbi is passionate about her role as a Key Leader facilitator, where she provides leadership programs for high school students. Through these endeavors, Bobbi continues her mission of finding and igniting the hidden potential in individuals, teams, and organizations.

Bobbi lives in Vail with her husband Rick and their five cats. When not working, she enjoys biking, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and disc golf.

Bobbi Kahler - Credentials and Credits

Formal Education

Professional Development and Certifications

• Developing Leadership through Emotional Intelligence; Case Western Reserve University
• Coaching in Medicine and Leadership, Harvard Medical School Continuing Education
• Six Seconds Emotional Intelligence Leadership certification
• Foundations of Positive Psychology Course, University of Pennsylvania
• International Conference on Emotional Intelligence
• VIA Intensive, Field Guide to the Character Strengths and Virtues

Published Books and Book Chapters

• Travels of the Heart: Developing Your Inner Leader, Six Seconds Publishing, 2010
• Conversations on Customer Service & Sales, Insight Publishing, 2005
• Masters of Success, Entrepreneur Press, 2004

Selected Articles and Writing 

• Make Work Meaningful Blog; Ongoing Contributions
• Tips for Saying No Gracefully; Multiple reprints 2006-2009
• Getting the Most from Your Team; Legal Management News, Spring 2005
• You Just Haven’t Claimed it Yet; Legal Management News Summer 2005
• Get the Best From Your Team: The Power of Engaging the Heart; Legal Management News Fall 2005
• What’s Your Make it Right Policy?; Credit Union Executive Newsletter May 2005
• Customer Retention Begins BEFORE We Make the Sale; HIU Magazine June 2005
• The 21st Century Leader (Interview); Credit Union Magazine July 2005
• Show Staff: Good Sales is Good Service; Credit Union Executive Newsletter Jan 2005
• Creating a Member Advocate Culture; Credit Union Magazine.com Mar 2005
• Authored and published electronic column, Success Builders Weekly, 2004-2009

Selected Presentations

National & Corporate Annual Conferences: 

• Abilita, Inc. (2004, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10)
• Scott Health & Safety
• National Association for Health Underwriters
• First Tech Credit Union
• Axium Software
• Timberline Software
• Avamere Health Services
• Northwest Community Credit Union

State & Regional Annual Conferences:

• Colorado Human Resource Association
• Oregon Employment Council
• American Marketing Association
• Associated Associated General Contractors
• Financial Planners Association
• National Association of Financial & Insurance Advisors
• Worktrends HR Conference

Photos for Download

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