Doug Hickok is a nationally known leadership consultant and trainer, and is CEO and founder of the Institute for Provocative Leadership, a leadership development firm based in Richmond, Virginia.

Doug is also Adjunct Faculty at the Management Institute of the University of Richmond Robins School of Business.

Doug is a lot of fun to be around with his wry sense of humor and quick wit. When you work with him, you get a "two-fer" - your business grows and you enjoy the experience as well.

(No, Doug didn't write this about himself; we faculty are all writing bios about each other.)

He has owned four companies, and has numerous other qualifications, some of which are as follows:

• Member of the International Coach Federation
• Founding member of the International Association of Coaches
• Fellow of the American Psychotherapy Association
• Member of the American Society for Training and Development

Doug was a practicing and consulting psychotherapist for over twenty years before he began focusing exclusively upon business leadership development. This background makes him easy to talk to and get along with, and he really understands human nature, as well as the business stuff.

When he isn't busy working, he's usually kicking back and putting his feet up while fishing on the river, or maybe dancing the night away with his lovely wife. They met while dancing, but that's another story.

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Dr. Ann Deaton is so deeply qualified in two separate fields that it might make you dizzy to read her bio.

To begin, Ann is a leadership coach with DaVinci Resources. She is certified in coaching for personal and professional mastery by the Newfield Network, and also holds a PCC (Professional Certified Coach) credential from the International Coach Federation.

Here’s the second field: Ann received her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from The University of Texas at Austin, and is a licensed clinical psychologist. She also received a Certificate in Nonprofit Management from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Ann does leadership coaching and teambuilding with business and organizational teams to enhance their self- awareness, communication skills, decision-making, and overall effectiveness.

She is one of those gentle and wise people with a big presence, and everyone tends to sit down and behave in her groups just so they don’t miss something good.

Take a deep breath; there’s more:

Ann is credentialed in the use of Appreciative Inquiry, The Leadership Circle 360, The Leadership Culture Survey, and the Conflict Dynamics Profile.

She serves as a leadership coach in Virginia Commonwealth University's School of Business, the Virginia Health Care Foundation's Leading for the Long Term, and in the Emerging Nonprofit Leaders programs.

Ann also teaches coaching courses for The University of Texas at Dallas Executive Coaching Program, and she served as President of the Richmond Area Coaches Association in 2006 and 2007. She is a member of the national Coaching and Philanthropy task force.

Finally, Ann successfully raised a teenager who has turned out well so far, which is one of her many great credentials as a human being.

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Laura Posey is Vice President of Dancing Elephants Achievement Group, a Richmond-based sales development firm. Her driving mission, and in fact, the only thing she gets paid to do, is make money for small business owners.

Laura has spent her entire career in sales and sales management and has the scars to prove it. She started her selling career in an auto dealership before starting and managing a very successful insurance agency. She was then recruited into regional sales management, where she was responsible for growing a district's revenues by over $10 million in one year.

Laura is the co-author of Six Secrets of Sales Magnets. She is busy at work on her second book, But I'm not a Salesperson; the Small Business Owner's Guide to Generating Sales. When not teaching and writing, Laura spends her professional time speaking locally and nationally.

As part of a balanced life, she gets out on the golf course regularly and is pursuing her obsession with breaking 80.

She's also an avid fisherwoman, and routinely catches fish between 20 and 45 pounds in the James River. Here's a woman who's not afraid to bait a hook or wrestle a fish that's half as big as she is.

Laura has a BA from State University of New York of Buffalo, New York, and an MBA from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia.

Special Note:

Laura Posey has contributed greatly to the development of this company with her awesome organizational design and marketing skills, and also with many, many hours of ongoing support and collaboration. We are extremely grateful, and will do anything within the law to help her to increase her golf score and the size of the fish she catches.

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