About

MEET JIM TAGGART

I’ve been a student of leadership for 20 years, and devoted over a decade to applied work in leadership development, organizational learning and team building. Many past and current colleagues have called me a thought leader, resulting from my extensive writing on leadership, teamwork and organizational cultural change, as well as my initiating and leading several change management projects.

I’ve also worked for several decades as an economist, conducting applied research into labour market issues and examining topics relating to competitiveness and innovation. Of special interest to me is understanding the interface between competitive global pressures and how leadership and management are practiced at the organization level.

At the end of 2010 I retired from the Government of Canada after over 28 years of devoted service. I created my own company Taggart Leadership Consulting Inc., and am loving working as an independent consultant.

In addition to a B.A. and M.A. in economics from the University of New Brunswick, I also earned a M.A. in leadership and organizational learning from Royal Roads University. My Master’s thesis was on shared leadership and entitled A Leap of Faith. My passion for continuous learning and sharing with others extends to my fervent belief that leadership resides at all levels of organizations and communities.

I’m an active member of Toastmasters International and the Past President of my club. In my spare time, I enjoy playing jazz piano and reading books on business economics, political leadership and geo-politics, not to mention the occasional espionage thriller. An avid mountain biker, I like going for walks in the woods with my Labrador Retriever, Max.

I volunteer every year at a variety of music festivals in Ottawa: Jazz Festival, Folk Festival and the Cisco Blues Festival. As a long-time blood donor I’ve also worked as a volunteer with Canadian Blood Services.

My wife, Sue, and I have four adult children and three granddaughters. We live in Ottawa, Canada.

Please take a moment to read my bio summary below.

To share your thoughts and suggested topics for future posts, please email Jim

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BIO SUMMARY

Since January 2011, I’ve helped organizations by conducting research and developing strategies in the areas of social media (including writing e-bboks and white papers), small business succession planning, human capital development, knowledge transfer and inter-generational leadership.

During my 28 year career with the Government of Canada, I worked in various capacities as Senior Economist; Regional Manager Economic Services; Senior Leadership and Organizational Learning Consultant; Senior Leadership Policy Advisor; and Senior Economist, Global Competitiveness.

1) Knowledgeable practitioner in the leadership and management fields. Extensive experience in initiating and leading corporate leadership development and change management initiatives, based heavily on employee engagement and participation. Projects include:

- Initiated and lead a national consultation process, including the design, planning and delivery of a think tank, on leadership development for Deputy Minister.

- Initiated and lead a series of 19 one-day learning events for a newly created federal department from the merger of four departments; organized the subsequent debriefing session of the organizing team and wrote the report for the Assistant Deputy Minister.

- Lead a team of learning consultants that designed and delivered a new online training system for agents across Canada.

- Initiated and lead the design, development and delivery of an employee climate survey and the subsequent communications activities and leadership training.

- Over a ten-year period, regularly contributed thought articles to the Federal Leadership Network website.

2) Solid understanding of global competitive and geo-political issues and trends as they relate to how organizations must adapt to emerging business issues and trends. Projects include:

- Served on the secretariat supporting the Prime Minister’s Advisory Council on Science & Technology, in which I designed and organized roundtables on specific topics, gave presentations on human capital development, prepared background technical papers a variety of topics, and briefed senior management on the Council’s work.

- Initiated and led studies on business research and development (R&D) and innovation, such as a survey of the members of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives. Study examined what are the key factors that affect investments in innovation, including where firms wish to locate these activities.

- Initiated a study to examine the link between management practices and firm innovation. Formed a partnership with other federal departments and business associations.

3) Effective relationship-building skills, honed through decades of building partnerships with stakeholders. Projects include:

- Created an effective partnership with the New Brunswick Government to conduct joint analytical studies between my team of economists and provincial colleagues; included my initiating a team-building process to strengthen working relationships.

- Worked with the federal unions on change management initiatives in New Brunswick, giving them equal voice.

4) Significant experience in public speaking, facilitation and delivering training workshops that address leadership, teamwork and knowledge management. Projects include:

- Managed the federal government’s first knowledge transfer project, involving technical inspectors soon to retire. Named a best-practice by the Clerk of the Privy Council Office.

- Regularly gave presentations and workshops on knowledge management to federal departments, including Human Resources Development Canada and the Canadian Centre for Management Development.

- Lead and facilitated a conference for 250 labor market analysts.

- Designed a six-part module teambuilding process for the Canadian Red Cross in New Brunswick.

- Designed and delivered experiential learning workshops on teamwork and team leadership at HRDC.

5) Strong demonstrated client service skills acquired through private sector experience and in managing a service branch in government. Projects include:

- As a new manager, rebuilt Economic Services Branch to become client-focused, producing value-added labour market information products and a strong working relationship with provincial government partner.

- Distinguished myself as committed to client service with federal departments during my career.

- Lead a team of economists that produced nationally recognized innovative labour market information products, especially the six-volume counseling series New Brunswick Job Futures, which was also produced in electronic format.

- Acquired strong customer service skills when began work career with a finance company in 1978.