THINK2PERFORM - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Senior Vice President
- CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER
Alan Lennick is a natural think2performer. He has used think2perform tools his entire life, and in so doing has helped thousands of people make better decisions and achieve their personal and professional goals.
Before joining think2perform Alan spent more than 20 years in the financial services industry as a financial advisor, field leader, and a corporate executive. He has a passion and proven track record for developing high performing leaders and teams.
Alan studied acting in college, and he received the Ava Greenwald Award as outstanding graduating actor at the University of Southern California. Alan leverages his executive experience and background in performing arts to help his clients tap into the art and science of human behavior and optimal performance.
As an actor and vocalist, Alan has performed internationally both on stage and in film. As a financial professional, Alan began his career with American Express Financial Advisors (now Ameriprise) as an advisor in New York City. Upon relocating to Minneapolis, he became a partner at Schubert, Kumagai, Lennick and Associates, an Ameriprise franchise. Alan subsequently moved into field leadership with Ameriprise and was consistently a national leader with three different Twin Cities branch offices before becoming a national leading Complex Director in Southern California. Alan later joined HilltopSecurities where he served in multiple executive roles. He led the highest producing region as the Regional Director of the West Coast, and served nationally as the Senior Vice President of Practice Management, leading the rollout and implementation of advice consulting for a fee, for both the Private Client Group and the Independent Network. Alan returned to the Twin Cities as Senior Managing Director, Head of the Midwest Region.
Alan is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER professional (CFP), and Behavioral Financial Advice certificant (BFA). He graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in theatre.
Job Titles:
- Coach
- Consultant
- Senior Vice President
Andrea Hansen is a coach, consultant and speaker with think2perform.
She works with top producing financial advisors, wholesalers, executives and sales leaders. Among her clients she is well known for her inherent ability to swiftly discover the root of a problem and identify where the best opportunities lie. She specializes in individual as well as group coaching, and is a sought after national speaker who customizes her presentations from a female industry leader's perspective and experience.
Her focus and true passion is on developing strategies for success that are uniquely designed to take her clients from the success they have already realized to the significance that awaits them.
During her corporate career she spent nearly two decades as a top producer herself in the financial planning industry specializing in Life Insurance, Disability Income, Estate and Legacy Planning, Protection Strategies, Tax Control and Long Term Care. She spent 12 years as a Senior Region Vice President serving over 600 financial advisors and their teams. She took a low volume territory and transformed it into a high growth and volume territory, receiving the top territory award multiple years in a row.
She is Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor (CRPC®) and is Series 7 and Series 63 licensed. She is a member of Women in Insurance and Financial Services (WIFS) and National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA).
Andrea graduated from the University of Wisconsin- Eau Claire with a BA in Communication and Journalism, as well as a topical minor in Women's Roles in Media, Music and Culture. She grew up in northern Wisconsin and currently resides in Glenview, IL with her partner and two dogs. She takes the role of Auntie and Godmother as her most treasured.
My purpose is to cultivate leaders to create meaningful, purpose-led workplaces, so that people thrive in their work and life. This creates the conditions for a business to achieve its sustainable potential.
Experiences working in high-pressure, high stakes environments motivate me to collaborate with leaders to discover their authentic, servant leadership mindset, and intentionally lead from this place each day. They seek clarity of purpose and values-alignment both personally and for their organizations. They inspire others to do the extraordinary and create lasting relationships with those they serve. They make a positive impact in the world and achieve sustained optimal business performance.
My coaching approach centers on progressive Co-Active and Agile principles, and research on human behavior, neuroscience, and emotional intelligence. I do this work as a Senior VP with think2perform where we emphasize self-awareness and emotional competency as the foundational elements for improved decision-making, effective self-management and in turn, authentic leadership.
Before starting this journey, I was Director of Operations and Director of Administration for Scrum Alliance®, the largest professional membership and certification organization in the Agile community with a global membership of 700,000+ agile-minded practitioners, and leaders. During this time, I earned certifications for Certified Agile Leadership I, and for the Scrum team roles of ScrumMaster and Product Owner.
Job Titles:
- Advisor
- Senior Vice President
Charlie has been a very successful advisor leading an advisory practice within the financial services industry for the last 27 years in Jacksonville, Florida. She has specialized in serving women and their families and has been recognized for supporting and mentoring women within the industry and firm. Over the last few years, Charlie has been actively building her individual coaching business through think2perform.
In additional to building her successful practice, Charlie is a single mom of her daughter, Mickey, and volunteers during her spare time at the Mayo Clinic and other local Jacksonville charities.
Job Titles:
- President of Distribution
Chuck Wachendorfer, President Distribution at think2perform is a thought leader, internationally recognized speaker, writer, author, and executive coach developing leaders to achieve record-setting performance.
With a background in mechanical engineering, Chuck spent 17 years at American Express Financial Advisors/Ameriprise Financial as a successful senior leader setting performance records leading thousands of personnel across five different states. While at American Express he was also chosen by Amex senior executives to attend the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota as well as Harvard Business School's prestigious Advanced Management Program where he was chosen by his classmates to be one of the graduation speakers.
For the past 17 years at think2perform, he has developed leaders, high achievers and cohesive teams to increase engagement and make a positive difference while building and improving market share, increasing client and employee retention as well as improving the corporate bottom line.
Chuck's clients include Fortune 500 executives and business owners who want to achieve top performance without sacrificing balance. He coaches on mission and vision development, leadership engagement, accelerated growth and improved profitability. Focus industries include financial services, real estate, technology, banking, healthcare, and other service businesses.
As an experienced turn-around expert, his clients have included, American Express, Wells Fargo, TD Wealth, Ameriprise Financial Services, Comerica Bank, Charles Schwab, and the Financial Planning Association.
As a thought leader in achieving record-setting performance, Chuck is in demand as an international and national public speaker and has been quoted extensively by major media, including: Investor's Business Daily, Forbes, Fortune, CNN Money, Dallas Morning News, Milwaukee Morning News, and Detroit Free Press. Chuck and his family are currently living in Denver, Colorado.
Dave's passion is working with busy, results-oriented executives and business owners who want to capitalize on a key strategic advantage - their leaders. Through his practical, proven and collaborative approach, he helps organizations sharpen the leadership skills of executives and middle managers so profits are deepened, morale is enhanced and the type of culture is created that attracts and retains top talent. His clients have been from a variety of industries, including software, biotech, retail, financial services, government and healthcare.
The focus of Dave's work is on 1:1 leadership coaching, team effectiveness, organizational leadership development, training and the application of tools such as DiSC® (personality) and EQ-i 2.0 (emotional intelligence) to deepen self-awareness and create actionable insights.
Before joining think2perform, Dave ran his own coaching, training and consulting business. Prior to entering into consulting, Dave worked over the span of 24 years for American Express Financial Advisors/Ameriprise. During the last ten years at Ameriprise, Dave's work focused on implementing major change initiatives and developing sales leaders and their teams across the Ameriprise sales organization. Hundreds of leaders and thousands of training participants have put Dave's practical expertise into action. Earlier roles included leadership positions in Sales/Leader Staffing, Employee Relations and Field Real Estate. Dave has also been a faculty member at Montana State University, teaching the Leadership Foundations course.
Dave has a B.A. in Psychology and Communications from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota and a M.Ed. in Human Resource Development from the University of St. Thomas.
After braving the humidity, mosquitoes and flatness of Minnesota for 17 years, in 2000 he moved back to God's country in Montana (Bozeman) with his wife, and two kids. He enjoys hitting a little white ball around in the summers and remaining vertical while gliding down white powder in the winters.
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer
- Co - Founder
- Founder
- Certified Financial Planner
Doug Lennick is CEO and co-founder of think2perform. He is legendary for his innovative approaches to developing high performance in individuals and organizations and is an expert at developing practical applications of the art and science of human behavior, financial and otherwise.
Before founding think2perform, Doug, a certified financial planner (CFP), was Executive Vice President - Advice and Retail Distribution for American Express Financial Advisors (now Ameriprise Financial). In that capacity he led an organization of 17,000 field and corporate associates to unprecedented success.
Doug and co-authors Ryan Goulart and the late Roy Geer recently released their newest book "Leveraging Your Financial Intelligence: At the Intersection of Money, Health and Happiness." Doug had previously authored or co-authored five other books including and co-author Moral Intelligence 2.0: Enhancing Business Performance and Leadership Success in Turbulent Times, Financial Intelligence: How to Make Smart, Values-Based Decisions with Your Money and Your Life, Moral Intelligence, The Simple Genius (You) and How to Get What You Want and Remain True to Yourself.
Doug is in high demand as a keynote speaker as well as an executive and organizational advisor. He has been quoted and referenced in many publications and books, including Daniel Goleman's seminal book, Working with Emotional Intelligence and Richard Leider's bestselling Power of Purpose.
In November 2000, Doug was honored by Columbia University's Center for Social and Emotional Education and is a Fellow at the Carlson Executive Development Center, Carlson School of Management, and University of Minnesota. He is also a member of the prestigious Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations.
Doug and his Wife, Beth Ann, reside in Edina, Minnesota. Their youngest daughter, Joan, is the Service Area Director, Ending Homelessness Division at Avivo and lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota with her husband Ryan. Their oldest daughter, Mary, is the Executive Director of Family Alternatives and lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Doug's son, Alan, is a Senior Vice President at think2perform and lives in Minneapolis with his actress wife Sari, and their son, Dylan.
If you're like the leaders Elena coaches, you have an ideal picture of who you want to be and what you want to accomplish in your business, in your personal life, and in your community. As a leadership coach, keynote speaker, and author, Elena serves people by helping them make that ideal real. Elena is passionate about helping people know, embrace, and steward their gifts, and to understand their most important values to fully step into their purpose and reach their highest potential.
Elena joined Think2Perform after 17 years in the Financial Services industry. In those years, she held every field role from Financial Advisor to Executive Field Vice President.
Elena knows the unique challenges and opportunities for female leaders and female business owners in male-dominated industries. If you're a woman looking to take your business, leadership or influence to the next level, Elena invites you to have conversation about the power of coaching. Elena also consults with leaders and companies to help them enhance the way they serve women. Nick Kristof said "if you want to change the world, empower a woman." Elena is on a mission to do just that, empower women.
Elena lives in Minneapolis with her husband and two young boys. Outside of her professional endeavors, she loves spending time with her family, and singing karaoke. Elena prides herself on her ability to avoid stepping on Legos while dodging Nerf bullets.
Job Titles:
- Chief Financial Officer
- Partner
- Senior Vice President
Jim Jensen, Partner and Chief Financial Officer of think2perform, brings a unique balance of business analytics, economic modeling, communication and behavior-based performance and leadership skills to the table.
With over three decades of successful hands-on and executive leadership experience in a variety of product, financial, distribution, operational and informational decision-making roles, Jim brings simplicity to complex problems in his role as a consultant, an executive coach or as a project resource.
Through experiences gained during his 28-year career with Ameriprise Financial, Jim can lead and support a variety of client initiatives. These include designing and pricing financial services products, designing, implementing and managing financial controls for distribution and operational groups, identifying and implementing thoughtful reductions in spending, driving improvements in employee satisfaction results and developing financial models that support economically strong and results-based business decisions. Jim is recognized as a strong and supportive leader with straight-forward communication skills who delivers results personally and through others.
As Partner with think2perform, Jim provides both financial and operational leadership to our internal team and external support for think2perform clients. He is skilled at analyzing business of all types and developing useful tools and financial models that support strong business decisions.
As Senior Vice President of think2perform, John Neyer brings over 25+ years of knowledge and successful experience in the financial services industry. For the last decade, John's leadership in upper management has focused on the financial planning and wealth management industries, and leadership development.
His innate ability to know what needs to get done to make a company or individual successful has knighted John with the well-deserved title as a turnaround specialist. John recruited, trained, coached and mentored financial advisors as a District Manager and Field Vice President for Ameriprise Financial, where he ran Southern California locations, as well as Waddell & Reed Financial Advisors, where he was completely responsible for all aspects of running and successfully growing the company's branch offices. John spent some time helping develop, and pioneer technology-driven platforms and Advisor training systems for LPL/Nestwise.
Early in his career as a financial advisor, John won awards for his performance in sales and service with several top firms including American Express Financial Advisors, Prudential, Merrill Lynch, and John Hancock.
John's intellectual creativity, gut instinct and emotional competence, teamed up with his technical knowledge is the driving force behind his success, John took his first job with the firm of John Hancock, having been recruited out of college, and quickly earned his first performance award from the company.
John is also a proud Marine Corps veteran, and he is a believer in, and a proponent of Marine Corps Leadership Principles.
A deeply committed lifelong learner and student of leadership, John believes in helping others to achieve by mentoring. His strong belief in altruism had led to his involvement with two non-profits. He mentors other businesspeople through Everwise and also helps other veterans and first responders through the Mighty Oaks Foundation.
John is happily married to his wife, Sharon, and they have three grown children. They also have two grandchildren, and one due in March of ‘20. His hobbies include anything on or near the water, sports, and spending time with their four dogs.
Job Titles:
- Coordinator
- Executive
- Founding Partner
Kay May is one of the founding partners of think2perform. She is a very gifted office manager and executive assistant, and she brought her more than twenty-five years of successful experience with her to think2perform.
Kay completed her formal what was then called secretarial training in 1978 at Alexandria Vocational and Technical College in Alexandria, Minnesota. Of course, Kay learned what many others learned, that her real training came on the job. Kay has directly supported Doug Lennick since 1979.
If you choose to call think2perform, it is highly probable the first voice you will hear will be Kay's. You will then experience first hand her infectious energy and engaging personality.
Job Titles:
- Chief Operating Officer
- Coach
- Consultant
- President
Kris Petersen is a consultant and coach with think2perform.
Kris has a track record and a passion for developing the leadership potential in others, and brings this to her consulting work with clients of think2perform. She works with business and non-profit leaders who want to increase their leadership effectiveness and productivity and she has a great deal of experience and success working with financial advisors who want deeper and more productive relationships with their clients.
Her approach to working with her clients involves listening and understanding what their goals and objectives are and helping them get at what is stopping them from achieving them, whether it is a business, staff or leadership issue or some combination of these. Kris has the unique ability to offer business and leadership consulting and coaching for her clients at the same time.
Kris has an impressive track record as a financial services executive with over 27 years experience with Ameriprise Financial and American Express, US Bank, Marquette Financial Services, Green Tree Acceptance, First Trust Company and First American National Bank.
While at Ameriprise Financial, she led and transformed many business lines including Brokerage, Cash Management, Wrap Programs, Non- proprietary Products and the company's value proposition, Financial Planning and Advice.
Kris's broad experience includes strategy development and execution, product development and management, marketing, sales training and support, software development and support, operations, and legal and compliance.
Kris has a BA in Finance from St. Cloud State University, and an MBA from the University of St. Thomas. She has been active in non-profit leadership, including the Board of Directors of the YWCA of Minneapolis, the Foundation for Financial Planning, and the Professional Association of Treatment Homes.
Kris resides in Minneapolis, and spends her free time volunteering at her favorite charities, spending time with friends and family, throwing pottery, reading and running.
The focus of Kyle's work is providing clients with the tools, services and strategies to perform at peak potential. He has always taken a consultative approach to partnering with clients to deeply understand their needs, wants and goals, and ensure they are met efficiently and effectively.
During his career Kyle has excelled as a sales professional in various industries where he has always been a top performer in hitting both financial and activity goals. He has also mentored and trained new sales associates to a path of professional and personal growth and success.
Kyle graduated in 2009 from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire with a Bachelor's degree in Business Finance.
Kyle is driven by his core values of integrity, honesty, self-accountability, and diligence.
Kyle grew up in Salem Wisconsin and currently resides in La Crosse, WI with his wife and Labrador retriever. In his leisure time Kyle enjoys, hunting, fishing and various outdoor activities.
Job Titles:
- Chief Legal Officer
- Senior Financial Services Executive
Mr. Ben Smith is an innovative senior financial services executive with more than 25 years as a leader in Fortune 500 companies that include American Express, GMAC, and Wells Fargo. His highly touted expertise with strategic planning, financial planning, investment and insurance products, mortgage banking, financial cross-sell, home and settlement services, and emerging markets, has earned him the respect of many prominent industry leaders. Central to his business achievements has been the application of a unique talent that leverages existing customer bases to develop new business, even in shrinking and declining markets. Mr. Smith's record of accomplishments can also be attributed to his solid strengths in business turnarounds, launching new businesses, and growing businesses internally as well as through acquisitions and successful post-acquisition company integrations.
Mr. Smith holds a Juris Doctor from Washington and Lee University, in Lexington, Virginia. Ben also holds three graduate degrees with an MS in Financial Planning received at the College for Financial Planning in Denver, Colorado, and dual MS degrees in Management and Financial Services conferred at the American College, in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Ben is a member of the Gamma Chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa Honorary Academic Society. He has earned the following designations: Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU), Chartered Financial Consultant (CHFC), Certified Financial PlannerTM (CFP®), Certified Employee Benefits Specialist (CEBS), Registered Employee Benefits Consultant (REBC), and Registered Health Underwriter (RHU).
Neil Taylor joined think2perform following 34 years of executive leadership, both domestically and internationally, with a Fortune 250 company.
In his first 10 years he started a successful personal planning practice and built the 2 nd fastest growing branch (out of 135) in Ameriprise.
He then went to England to start a new financial planning company for American Express. Starting from scratch, in 3 years as SVP of Sales, he grew the sales group from zero Advisors to 405, along with 22 leaders, in 14 offices across England.
Neil was then asked to come back to the U.S. to lead one of the largest change initiatives ever with Ameriprise, a project to redesign the entire sales organization. This resulted in changes in technology, hiring, training, management structure and sales support. The initiative touched every part of the company from sales to products to marketing.
Following that, as Region Vice President, Neil ran both the independent broker and employee sides of the business in the Northwest for Ameriprise. His Region was always a top performer in sales, financial planning and advisor retention.
Ray Kelly joined think2perform in 2010 after a 21-year career as a financial services executive. He spent the majority of his career on the sales side of the business, compiling a stellar track record of developing high-performing leaders and teams.
Ray began his career after receiving his BBA from the University of Michigan. His first position was as a financial analyst with IDS in Minneapolis. While working at IDS, he was a recipient of the highest award for employees - the Premier Performer Award.
After moving to Dallas, Ray spent 13 years growing and building one of the most successful sales office groups for American Express Financial Advisors/Ameriprise Financial in the history of the company.
Ray's offices were recognized annually for top sales growth, retention, client satisfaction and employee satisfaction. His focus on creating a "Leaderful Culture" allowed his group to influence the larger national organization on nearly all major initiatives and created the opportunity for over a dozen of his leaders to be promoted to other positions across the company.
Ray has a passion for helping people reach their potential and shaping cultures in which they live. He offers executive coaching/mentoring to leaders of all levels and conducts proven breakthrough leadership development training. He is a sought after national public speaker with an exceptional ability to move people from complacency, to laughter, to tears, to action.
Ray and his wife, Amy, reside in Minnesota and have four children.
Job Titles:
- EVP of Marketing & Products
- Vice President - Business Development & Marketing
Ryan Goulart brings to think2perform first-hand knowledge and experience from the Millennial Generation, an emerging, key stakeholder to leaders and their organizations. As Vice President of Business Development and Marketing, Ryan begins by gathering and assessing available data from clients, then blends into that data think2perform's proprietary analysis of research into similar clients, as well as research from social media and other public sources. All to assist think2perform in developing tools or programs that effectively engage audiences to meet client needs.