Ross Woodstock
Short Bio
Ross Woodstock’s work as an executive coach and leadership consultant has impacted thousands of leaders in business, government, education, healthcare and non-profit organizations. Ross has dedicated his career to helping leaders realize their full potential.
Ross Woodstock is also the author of Lead to Lift Up Others: Leadership Insights from a Caregiver’s Journey in which he shares 12 leadership insights from his years as a caregiver for his wife Sharen—a victim of a devastating stroke that changed both of their lives.
Long Bio
Ross Woodstock is an author, speaker, executive coach and leadership consultant with a desire to impact the lives of leaders seeking to realize their full potential. Ross grew up in a small town in southern Michigan and moved to the Lansing area where he has worked for his entire adult life. His journey included a 27-year stint in the media industry, starting as a radio reporter and eventually rising to the position of President and General Manager of the CBS TV affiliate in Lansing. He has also served as a communications strategist with Kolt Communications.
Ross has a tremendous passion for leadership. He has spent the past decade dedicated to working with leaders to help equip them to unleash their leadership talents in amazing ways.
Ross is a certified Leadership Fitness Trainer through the Fit Leader’s Program™, which he continues to teach within several organizations including the State of Michigan, Michigan Department of Corrections, GreenStone Farm Credit Services and the Michigan Health and Hospital Association. He is a co-facilitator in the Leadership Lansing program through the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce. He is credentialed in the Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team™ and regularly conducts team building trainings within organizations. He is also a certified DiSC instructor.
Ross has a master’s degree in Management and Administrative Services from the University of Texas at Dallas. He received a bachelor’s degree in Management of Human Resources from Spring Arbor College. In 1995, the Spring Arbor Alumni Association honored Ross with its Professional Excellence Award, citing him for “outstanding professional and community contributions and for achieving honor and distinction for Spring Arbor College.”
Keynotes
Family Caregivers in the Workplace
How Your Organization Can Win the Talent Battle by Building a Culture of Care
The challenges faced by the growing numbers of unpaid caregivers in the United State are taking their toll on organizations already struggling to attract and retain talent. The caregiving crisis is threatening the well-being of the workforce and the diminishing productivity and engagement in organizations. Skyrocketing costs associated with talent that is distracted, stressed, and in many cases suffering burnout is eroding profitability. There is hope in the midst of these challenges that employers can turn the caregiving crisis to their advantage and help them win the talent battle.
This keynote gives you the opportunity to hear how to conquer the caregiving crisis from someone who has been on the frontlines as an unpaid caregiver, author, speaker and trainer. Your organization can win the talent battle by creating a culture that will allow you to retain the best talent. The resulting improvement in engagement and productivity will also cut the escalating costs associated with the caregiving crisis.
The Four Most Powerful Words in Leadership
One of the greatest leadership lessons Ross learned during the early years of my career was the importance of four little words in our lives. They are simple words, really. But the cumulative effect of these words on an organization, a community and, yes, even the world, can be amazing. If you live by these words every day—not just memorize them and say them, but truly live them out in your own leadership life—these four words will make a significant difference in your ability to make a difference in your organization, your ability to build great teams, your ability to build a stronger, more profitable business, and most importantly your ability to make a difference in the lives of those around you.
I believe in you.
Let Ross show you how you can lift up of others by investing yourself into their lives. You can accomplish this by letting them know you believe in them, celebrating their success, remaining positive in the face of chronic negativity, demonstrating resilience, encouraging those around you, remaining humble, maintaining an attitude of gratitude and committing to a strong foundation of values.
Are you willing to be that leader?
Our world desperately needs leaders who can embrace and celebrate differences, encourage multiple points of view,
challenge the status quo and push the envelope on innovative approaches to problems. We need leaders who can unify where divisions exist, collaborate when communication breaks down, and find common ground to create solutions that others say cannot be achieved.
Ross will challenge you to is to be the type of leader the world needs. Resolve to change the world one person and one day at a time. Make a decision to take charge to the best of your ability in your everyday world.
Our world desperately needs leaders who can embrace and celebrate differences, encourage multiple points of view, challenge the status quo and push the envelope on innovative approaches to problems. We need leaders who can unify where divisions exist, collaborate when communication breaks down, and find common ground to create solutions that others say cannot be achieved.
Ross will challenge to you is to be the type of leader the world needs. Resolve to change the world one person and one day at a time. Make a decision to take charge to the best of your ability in your everyday world.
But, Wait. There’s More
After his keynote Ross is available to provide amazing breakout sessions that are highly interactive, engaging and fun. Topics include:
- Unpaid Caregivers at Work Breakout: The ROI from Building a Care Culture
- Winning the Talent Battle: Beat the Burnout Blues
- How to Build an Empowerment Culture
- The Power of Positivity: Overcoming Negative Voices in the Workplace
- Your Leadership Legacy
- Develop. Develop. Bringing Out the Best in Others
Lead to Lift Up Others
The compelling stories surrounding Sharen’s battle to achieve a satisfactory quality of life paint a picture of the characteristics needed to build a leadership legacy that will leave a positive impact on the world.
Praise for Lead to Lift Up Others
“Ross takes you on his personal journey as a caregiver for Sharen and wonderfully connects his unexpected life experiences and his 27 years in broadcast media to leadership insights. Ross’ core values of family and faith are strongly reflected in how he approached life challenges and pursued new career opportunities to help individuals strengthen leadership development. You will take away key strategies in improving your leadership skills while assessing new approaches in working with, growing and investing in your team.”
Tim Daman
President & CEO
Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce