Dr. Louellen Essex is an organization learning and development consultant specializing in leadership, communication, team building and conflict resolution. She is a Fellow of the University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Management's Executive Development Center and an adjunct faculty member at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. Dr. Essex holds a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota where she studied administration, psychology, and communication. For the past twenty years, she has worked extensively with private industry, government, health care organizations, and educational institutions. She is a recipient of an American Society for Training and Development Professional Excellence Award for her work in management development. She co-authored Fast Forward Leadership (Financial Times-Prentice Hall, 1999), a book describing how to exchange outmoded practices for forward looking leadership and Breaking the Code of Silence. How Prominent Leaders Recovered from 7 Critical Mistakes (Rowman and Littlefield Publishing Group, 2005). In October 2007, her third book – Manager’s Desktop Consultant – was released, published by Davies-Black. Additionally, she has published articles in Leader to Leader, Physician Executive, and T&D. She has been interviewed for and quoted in CNN.com, Fortune.com, Marketwatch.com and Pink Magazine.