Ashby, Franklin C. 1954-

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ASHBY, Franklin C. 1954-

PERSONAL:

Born February 20, 1954, in Rockville Centre, NY; son of Franklin C., Sr. and Janet M. Ashby; married June 26, 1993; wife's name Rita S.; children: Daniel M. Ethnicity: "English." Education: Hofstra University, B.A., 1976; New York Institute of Technology, M.B.A., 1984; Columbia University, M.A., 1987; American University (United Kingdom), Ph.D., 1994. Religion: Lutheran. Hobbies and other interests: Golf, coaching little league baseball

ADDRESSES:

Home—8 Harlequin Drive, Smithtown, NY 11787. Office—Leadership Capital Group, LLC, P.O. Box 66, Stony Brook, NY 11790. Agent—Ellen Schneid Coleman, ESC Literary Services, 131 Ridge Dr., Monteville, NJ 07045. E-mail—ellen6@aol.com.

CAREER:

Dale Carnegie & Associates, Inc., Garden City, NY, vice president and chief educational officer, 1984-98; Manchester Training, Inc., Philadelphia, PA, president, 1998-2000; Manchester Partners International, Inc., Philadelphia, executive vice president, 1998-2000; Leadership Capital Group, LLC, Stony Brook, NY, chairman, 2000—. Member of board of directors of Performance Resources Organization, 1998-99, and Manchester Partners, 1998-2000. Radio talk show host and presenter of career clinics, 1986-87.

MEMBER:

American Council on Education (member of commission on educational credit and credentials, 1993-98), Columbia University Alumni Association (acting president, Long Island region, 1992).

AWARDS, HONORS:

Named World's Number-One Dale Carnegie Instructor, Dale Carnegie & Associates, 1998; Top-40 Business Books of the Year designation, BusinessBookReview.com, 2001, for Embracing Excellence.

WRITINGS:

Effective Leadership Programs, American Society for Training and Development (Alexandria, VA), 1999.

Revitalize Your Corporate Culture, Butterworth-Heinemann (Houston, TX), 1999.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Team Building, Foreword, 1999.

(With Arthur R. Pell) Embracing Excellence, Prentice Hall (Paramus, NJ), 2001.

(Author of foreword) The Complete Idiot's Guide to Human Resource Management, Alpha Publishing, 2002.

(Author of foreword) The Complete Idiot's Guide to Managing People, Alpha Publishing, 2003.

Also author of World Class, 1987. Author and executive producer of Dale Carnegie video series, Dale Carnegie & Associates, Inc., 1990. Contributor of articles to Manchester Review.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

Back on Track (proposed title), with Arthur R. Pell. Research on corporate turnaround strategies and best practices in corporate university systems.

SIDELIGHTS:

Franklin C. Ashby works as a practicing executive, management consultant, and advisor for numerous Fortune 500 companies. He began his career as the author and designer of executive training programs for Dale Carnegie & Associates, Inc., and has since moved on to become an executive of the Leadership Capital Group. In his books, Ashby strives to offer vital advice to individuals trying to stay competitive in a global economy. Embracing Excellence, written with Arthur R. Pell, takes a well-rounded approach to changing the corporate culture within the United States as it currently exists. This particular book serves as "a practical and informative guide to strategies employers can use to assure that they have the best talent," according to reviewer Lucy Heckman in Library Journal.

In the 1999 book Revitalize Your Corporate Culture, Ashby provides an in-depth discussion of the efforts undertaken by the management of high-profile companies to recondition their employees' work environments. The volume "does not provide totally new solutions or the 'silver bullet' for change, but it does synthesize the best of the best business practices for culture change," noted Catherine D. Fyock in Human Resources, going on to note of Revitalize Your Corporate Culture that the book's "practical, reader-friendly format will provide human resource professionals with a step-by-step guide to making this critical change a reality within their organizations."

Published in 2001, Embracing Excellence focuses on the organization of corporations and the process of evaluating employees of all levels to strengthen the company as a whole." Embracing Excellence gives solid, workable ideas for managers heretofore intimidated at the mere thought of trying to change corporate culture," stated Jane Bozarth in Training. In addition, coauthors Pell and Ashby recommend that in order for employers to stay competitive, management should focus on meeting the lifestyle-related needs of their employees by paying special attention to their hectic personal lives, family concerns, and scheduling demands. Today's employee, the authors note, is not just concerned with a higher salary.

Ashby told CA: "My books are known for providing practical, very workable solutions to tough business problems. In my view they remain very popular with both executives and academics because they're also well-researched and based on years of senior-level executive experience. I'm also proud that my casebook, Effective Leadership Programs, is used as a text at the Harvard Business School, and that I remain a sought-after management consultant and convention speaker."