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Nate Brown has been part of the UL team since 2008 and serves as the customer experience manager. He completed the UL Global Leader Program in 2016, is a Development Dimensions International Facilitator, and credentialed in Knowledge Centered Support, v6 Fundamentals.

Nate Brown

November 2019  - TD Magazine

Establish an environment in which learners learn from one another.

Build a Community of Learning in Five Steps

The worldwide talent development community is diverse. Our members bring a wealth of experience and insight to their work. We're spotlighting their stories.Hans de Graaf has been a member of ATD since 2015 from The Netherlands. Here's his story in his own words.Tell us a little bit about yourself.I am a father of two sons and a daughter, and a grandfather of four beautiful girls and a boy. My wife, Janita, and I will celebrate 30 years of marriage in July.I live in Assen (the Netherlands). My office is just a five-minute bike ride away. From there, I serve customers around the world via online media.I was born in 1966 in a little town in the middle of the Netherlands. I studied analytical chemistry at Utrecht University.My first jobs were in the pharmaceutical industry. I started as a sales rep. After a few years, I was promoted to head of the purchasing department.In 1995, I started my first official company. Since then, I have started, sold, and closed several companies. See my LinkedIn profile for a complete list of my work journey.As an entrepreneur, I fell into the trap that when you become successful and get people working for you, you become a manager. For me, that meant that my day was filled with things I didn't like and things I wasn't good at. Unfortunately, this also influenced the atmosphere within my family.2015 was a significant turning point. After almost burning out, I decided to sell all my companies and start from scratch. The result is the project I am working on right now: the Brainfulness Institute.What are your personal and professional goals?My goal in life is to empower brilliant brains to bloom.Your brain does not come with a user manual, so how can you live with and use your brain in the best possible way?My answer to that is brainfulness. Brainfulness is the rational counterpart to mindfulness. It teaches you how to use all your brain's features and not only the ones that are triggered by the environment your brain is in.Because brainfulness is so rational, it is specifically targeted to people who are not attracted to mindfulness and other forms of meditation.What challenges have you overcome throughout your career?Sometimes I introduce myself as a former VIP—very indecisive person. I am a typical maximizer. Maximizers take long to decide. And even after the decision, they are not satisfied. They keep researching to find proof that they've made the best decision possible.Research shows that maximizers make better decisions but at two high costs: time and happiness.Because of this mental handicap, I started to study decision making and the role of the human brain.This quest helped me to find practical ways to mitigate my natural tendency to maximize.One example: I minimized the number of my decisions to make some decisions for the rest of my life. On stage, you will always find me wearing the same brand of shoes (brown or black), size 43, width H. Instead of spending one or two days buying shoes, it has now become a no-brainer.What’s the most valuable thing you’ve gained or experienced during your membership with ATD?I've learned never to overestimate people's knowledge. The solution that I've found to work for me is never to assume but always ask relevant questions.Learning how to ask good questions is still a work in progress for me. I believe that the master will always be a student. I'll always be a student in questioning, that's for sure.Can you share any professional tips, specific to talent development, that you have picked up along the way?Don't expect people to remember what you say or try to teach them in an e-learning course. There are many things you can do to improve retention. The one thing that people forget too often is to repeat the message. If you don't repeat several times, people will forget most of it. This phenomenon is known by the name “The Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve.”At ATD’s International Conference & EXPO in 2016, I spoke about this topic. As an ATD member, you can watch the video of my presentation here.What’s a common misconception you see when it comes to talent development?I see that many brain myths are still educated and used.For example, the myth that humans have an attention span less than a goldfish. Please search in Google for “attention span goldfish myth.”Human brains like simple stories, and they like the accompanying conclusions. But simple is not the same as truthful.Suggestion: Order a book about learning myths—for example, Millennials, Goldfish & Other Training Misconceptions. You can order it on the ATD website.Do you have any advice for people looking to further their careers?Never see your career separate (or even opposite) of your purpose. Having a purpose in life gives you not only a direction in the long-term helps you to make purposeful decisions on a day-to-day basis.Do you want to have a purposeful career and be happy too? Then you'll need a purpose where you serve people. A people-serving purpose will give you meaning. And making progress on your purpose will give you moments of happiness.What is your personal definition of talent development?Talent development = brain development.Every brain is wired differently. That is why a one-size-fits-all approach is rarely successful. The challenge in talent development is to develop every brain within your organization.How do you stay motivated?I evaluate my behaviors in relation to my most valuable values every day. Where did I trust my autopilot too much and showed behaviors that are not in line with my values or purpose?For me, it turned out to be a practical solution to have my priorities almost always top of mind. They guide me in personal and business decision making. Besides, I track progress on my purpose regularly. Seeing progress on my purpose is the best motivator for me to keep going.How do you find meaning in your work?By serving people. I think that I have an important message to share that can help many people around the world. That fuels my battery and gives me the energy to not only work hard but also to be resilient when things don't go as planned.I strongly feel that brainfulness is my legacy, my gift to the world. It is my wish that even after my time on this earth has ended, people will perform better and be happier because of the simple brainfulness principles and practices.Have your own story to tell? Share it with us.

"Empower Brilliant Brains to Bloom"

Paul Trout helps leaders unravel complex business problems. Leaders often find themselves “stuck” when facing critical leadership, innovation, change management, marketing and/or sales issues. By leveraging cross-industry expertise in business strategy, internal politics, team dynamics, communication, research, facilitation, training and coaching, he brings an uncommonly wide range of problem-solving tools, talents and approaches to unravel clients’ complexity. He feels fortunate to have helped guide leadership through change in organizations as diverse as IBM, Harley-Davidson, Merck Group – EMD Chemicals, Alcan Packaging, the City of Green Bay, Alvarez & Marsal, Wisconsin Women in Government, Hu-Friedy, Foley & Lardner and many others. Early in his consulting career, he was selected to appear in IBM’s worldwide advertising campaign, “Who Do You Need?” in recognition of my work as a leading IBM Business Consultant. It was quite something to open the Wall Street Journal, the Economist, Fast Company and 12 other major business publications and see his name and face! More recently, his previous company, Shift Worldwide, was named a finalist in both the 2010 Chicago Innovation Awards and Innovate Illinois Competition. As you might have guessed, he enjoy writing. From 2005-2008, he was a syndicated columnist on the topic of sales and “building buy-in”; my columns appeared in nearly 50 association and trade magazines, bringing total weekly readership to over 300,000 people. He as also written articles on the topic of organizational change for the publications of ASTD (American Society of Training & Development), ALA (Association of Legal Administrators) and Human Resources IQ, among others. He ispassionate about giving back and was the past chairman of both the Professional Development and Entrepreneurship Committees for the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. He also regularly volunteers with Howard Brown Health Center, a community‐based health services clinic. He received a Masters in Business Administration from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University in Marketing and Information Systems in 1999 and also received a Bachelor of Arts from The University of California at San Diego in Urban Studies and Planning in 1991. He is one of the brave souls who has moved from Southern California, where he was raised, to Chicago, Illinois. He gets his “water fix” every day by living right on the shores of Lake Michigan in the Rogers Park neighborhood. Though he misses West Coast sunsets, he has come to love Midwest sunrises even more.

Paul Trout

Joni D. Goodman, CPTD, CDTLF is the Principal at JDGAdvisors. She collaborates with her clients: employees, sales professionals, leaders and executives and together with them boosts learning initiatives, sales, and leadership, to achieve development goals!Joni was selected and trained by Dr. Brene’ Brown as one of the first Dare to Lead™ facilitators in the world. Joni is known for creating safe spaces where leaders can put down their armor and lean into growth.Ms. Goodman has over 20 years of experience in the learning and development space where her experience encompasses effective management development, sales training, mentoring, and executive coaching.She is also a published author in: “The Book of Road-Tested Training Activities”, “Association for Talent Developments (ATD)Training Toolkit application”, and “101 Ways to Make Training Active”. Ms. Goodman has been a featured speaker for the HR Houston Gulf Coast Symposium, ATD Houston, ATD San Antonio, Gulf Coast Diversity Council and W.I.S.E. (Women In Sports and Events) to name a few.

Joni Goodman, CPTD

Kate Brown

My Heroine

Preston “Tim” Brown is a human capital management professional with experience as a federal employee, manager for a Fortune 500 company, and management consultant to the federal government. He was instrumental in developing and launching the US Census Bureau’s project management certificate program. Celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2019, the program has trained more than 5,000 project managers to date.At URS Corporation, Brown managed staffing and talent development for a global business unit. As a federal consultant, he has supported human capital management initiatives at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of Transportation, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, Patent and Trademark Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Institutes of Health. Brown’s areas of special interest include L&D, workforce planning, succession planning and leadership development, individual development planning, and the manager’s role in development.Brown is a graduate of George Washington University’s master’s program in human resource development. He is currently a senior human capital consultant with FMP Consulting.

Preston “Tim” Brown

Mike is the senior director of education and career training for the Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF). He is a native of central New York and enlisted in the army in 1987 as an infantryman; he was assigned to the 187th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne, Fort Campbell, Kentucky. He also served as a squad leader, B Company 130th Infantry Regiment, Illinois National Guard. In June 2011, Mike took command of the Saint Bonaventure Army ROTC program in Western New York, and in 2013 he transitioned to Syracuse University as the professor of military science, until retiring in 2015 following 28 years of service. His awards and decorations include a Bronze Star and the Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal With Bronze Star, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Afghan Campaign Medal With Bronze Star, Armed Forces Service Medal With Bronze Star, Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal, Overseas Service Ribbon, NATO Medal With Bronze Star, Army Aviator Wings, Combat Action Badge, Airborne Wings, Air Assault Wings, and Thai Royal Military Parachutist Badge. Mike has a master of business administration from Webster University.

Michael Bianchi

Preston “Tim” Brown is a human capital management professional with experience as a federal employee, manager for a Fortune 500 company, and management consultant to the federal government. He was instrumental in developing and launching the Census Bureau’s project management certificate program. Celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2019, the program has trained more than 5,000 project managers to date. At URS Corporation, Mr. Brown managed staffing and talent development for a global business unit.As a federal consultant, he has supported human capital management initiatives at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of Transportation, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, Patent and Trademark Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Institutes of Health.Mr. Brown’s areas of special interest include learning and development, workforce planning, succession planning and leadership development, individual development planning, and the manager’s role in development. He is a graduate of George Washington University’s Master’s program in Human Resource Development.Mr. Brown is currently a senior human capital consultant with Performance Excellence Partners LLC, supporting strategic human capital planning at the National Science Foundation in Alexandria, VA

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