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Featured Affiliate - Phil Grosnick -
President
By: Courtney Hill
Singapore, Australia, Ireland and Paris may seem like
exotic locations to some, but for Designed Learning
President Phil Grosnick, visiting exotic locales is all in a day’s
work. After 23 years of working with the company, Phil has spent
countless hours in airports, airplanes, and baggage terminals. “I
really enjoy it. Getting in and out of airplanes
gets old, but seeing the world has been great.”
This travel was not always part of Phil’s job.
After completing his undergraduate career, Phil took an administrative
position at Penn State University while working on his graduate degree.
At the university Phil did the straightforward administrative work that
has allowed him to understand and appreciate the line side of an
organization. “At the university I was on the line side. I had
traditional management roles. I was a client for human resources,
information technology and finance.”
It was not until after leaving Penn State that Phil began human resource
work. In the late 1970s Phil was manager of a human resources
department for the Jack Eckerd Corporation. It was his search for a
better understanding of staff management skills and practices that lead
Phil to Designed Learning. “I wanted to see what information was out
there that would make my department better. I found information about
Peter Block and sent someone from my department to one of his
workshops.”
Phil’s
colleague was very impressed with the information presented by Peter.
He came back to the company with new ideas and an increased
understanding of the skills needed for effective communication. After
observing this enthusiasm, Phil began his own journey with the ideas of
Flawless Consulting. “I went and met Peter. In 1982, I started working
with him and have been with Designed Learning ever since.”
In the years Phil has been with Designed Learning, he had done over 750
workshops. This experience, and resulting expertise, makes Phil an
excellent resource on any question that may arise within Designed
Learning. Because of the exciting memories and the variety of workshops
he has conducted, it was hard for Phil to pick his favorite type of
training session.
Phil pondered his answer for a few minutes before responding. “That’s
tough, I think I like doing the Flawless Consulting workshops the best.
I know the material so well that I can simply react to what happens in
the training room and have fun. I know the workshops will be a success
under almost any and all circumstances.”
According to Phil, the key to reaching participants and creating a
successful experience is through open communication. “The minute we
[the trainers] walk through the door we are honest with participants.
We acknowledge our thoughts and feelings and that opens the line of
communication as early as possible. This builds trust between
participants and their trainers.” This trust allows participants to
feel comfortable enough with the trainers and each other to discuss and
make changes in their beliefs and actions.
“It’s not what we talk about that gets in the way, it’s what we don’t
talk about. Things do not get better by avoiding them.” Phil continues
by explaining that nothing changes in organizations until people start
to talk about what needs to be changed. “When issues are brought out
into the open, most of them seem less insurmountable than they did when
they were hidden in the dark.”
There is a lot more to Phil Grosnick than his work with Designed
Learning. Phil and his wife, Debbie, have two adult children. Their
son, Bryan, manages a wine store while pursuing graduate school and a
career as a writer, and their daughter, Paige, is attending the
University of Central Florida. Because the children have left home,
Phil and Debbie have more time to pursue passions other than parenting.
“I’m addicted to golf,” Phil admits. “There’s not a lot of free time in
this job and it’s hard to do the paperwork and administrative work when
you’re on the road. I do try to play golf every weekend with my wife.
It’s something that we do together.” Phil is also passionate about his
woodworking hobby, and his favorite task is to create boxes and other
useful items for his daughter’s equestrian team.
Aside from weekly golf games, Phil and Debbie make time to travel
together as often as possible. Debbie enjoyed traveling alongside Phil
to both Rome and Bermuda this past year. “She has to take off time from
her work to travel with me, so she only goes when I’m training somewhere
exciting.”
Many trips have been taken by the entire family over the years and a
love for international travel has been instilled in his children. When
the children were younger the entire family went to Australia for five
weeks. After this adventure, his children became interested in Phil’s
work and whereabouts. It may even be this interest that drove Paige to
major in international communications.
Whether in his home office in Florida or living out of a suitcase in
Singapore, Phil is sure to be hard at work. Phil truly lives by the
concepts and ideas he presents in his workshops. As president of
Designed Learning, Phil actively practices open communication with his
employees. He takes input from current affiliates when hiring new
employees and making changes in Designed Learning practices. “I know
all Designed Learning employees work hard and live what they teach.
That is what has made this company the success it is.”
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