Our people page on John Izzo

More from and about
John Izzo
(biographical info at bottom of page)

We must always move toward what we want rather than away from what we fear

Living our life means that we take our life day to day and moment to moment, always trying to deepen our understanding of what it means to be human. Life will never be perfect, and we will always be in a state of moving towards completeness. Don, 84, put it this way: "You have lived the life you have lived. When we accept the life we have lived, then we can begin to be whole." He echoed an often-heard theme: When we judge our life we diminish ourselves. The more we can eliminate all need to compare, compete, grade, and judge our lives, the closer we get to wisdom. Although he deeply enjoyed his work, he felt he had sacrificed too much in order to be successful. Dave was typical of many of the people we interviewed. The importance of the people in their lives was often lost in the busy pursuit of career and livelihood.

Each one of us is on a unique human journey and the path to true happiness is to be true to ourselves. This means knowing what brings us happiness and focusing our life on what matters to us. It means reflecting on a regular basis as to whether our life fits our soul. In our daily lives it means knowing what brings us joy and ensuring that we fill our life with the right elements. It also means following our unique destiny.

Being true to self often means drowning out other voices that would ask us to live their dreams instead of ours. What often determines our happiness in life is the step we take after a setback.

It seems to me that what we fear most as we age is not death, but rather to come to the end of our life feeling that we never truly lived. The saddest words ever spoken at the end of life are “I wish I had. . .”

What I discovered is that those who made people a priority in their lives
and who developed deep personal relationships found true happiness.
Many of them told me that “things” rarely brought true joy
whereas family and friends brought lasting happiness.

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Being a loving person, the choice to give love, is even
more important in determining happiness than getting it.

When I asked people what gave their life the greatest meaning,
people told me again and again people that being of service and
knowing that you made things better because you were here
was by far the greatest source of meaning.

Everything we take from the world dies with us,
but everything we give to the world gets recycled.

Dr. John Izzo sees and feels the goodness many of us aspire to. As an author, community leader and inspiring speaker he has worked hard to talk about the essential elements of Leadership and the new frontier of that ever changing role. His interests are Development as it pertains to the individual as well at the company, Corporate Culture and the pursuit of creating places that support the individual as well as the corporate vision, and personal well-being in the fight to balance work and life.

Izzo has more than 19 years experience working in a wide variety of corporate settings. His clients include nonprofit organizations, Fortune 500 companies, Healthcare Organizations and mid-size companies. Over the last two decades, Izzo has married his first career as a minister with his second career as a management and leadership consultant to help leaders create corporations and organizations where values and purpose are the foundations for success. Izzo spent five years as a senior organizational development consultant for Kaiser Permanente, and 4 years as Vice President of The Einstein Consulting Group, an international customer service consultancy prior to establishing his own firm. Currently he focuses on helping leaders and organizations reach sustainable success through the integration of purposeful leadership and business practices.

Izzo obtained his Bachelor of Sociology from Hofstra University in 1978 before completing a dual Masters degree from McCormick Divinity School in Theology while simultaneously attending the University of Chicago to complete his Masters in Organizational Psychology. Izzo then completed his Ph.D. in Organizational Communication from Kent State University shortly thereafter. He is the author of over 60 articles, and is the co-author of the best selling book “Awakening Corporate Soul: Four Paths to Unleash the Power of People at Work” and its companion workbook. His pioneering work has been featured on CNN, ABC World News, the LA Times, Canada AM, CBC Radio, The American Medical Journal, B.C. Business, The Seattle Times and the cover of Association Management Magazine on “Creating Inspiring Work Places.” His second book “Values-Shift: The New Work Ethic and What it Means for Business” (Prentice-Hall) defines how and why our work ethic is changing, and it focuses on the six major shifts people expect from work. As well, if offers practical ideas on what companies and managers can do to retain and inspire the people they need and value. Based on leading edge research and experiences with more than 200 companies, Izzo helps people understand these shifting values and how they differ across generations and across gender. In 2004 Berrett Koehler published John's third non-fiction book titled "Second Innocence: Rediscovering Joy and Wonder." It is a powerful book that blends personal stories with Izzo's thoughts on work, spirituality, relationships and daily life.

from his website at http://www.theizzogroup.com

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