Successfully Dealing with Difficult People, Including Remotely

Chris DeVany is the founder and president of Pinnacle Performance Improvement Worldwide, a firm that focuses on management and organization development. Pinnacle’s clients include global organizations such as Visa International, Cadence Design Systems, Coca-Cola, Sprint, Microsoft, Aviva Insurance, Schlumberger, and over 500 other organizations in 22 countries.  He also has consulted with government agencies from the United States, the Royal Government of Saudi Arabia, Canada, the Cayman Islands, and the United Kingdom. He has published numerous articles in the fields of surviving mergers and acquisitions, surviving change, project management, management, sales, team-building, leadership, ethics, customer service, diversity, and work-life balance, in publications ranging from ASTD/Performance In Practice to Customer Service Management.  His book, “90 Days to a High-Performance Team”, published by McGraw Hill and often accompanied by in-person, facilitated instruction, has helped and continues to help thousands of executives, managers, and team leaders improve performance.

He has appeared hundreds of times on radio and television interview programs to discuss mergers and acquisitions (how to manage and survive them), project management, sales, customer service, effective workplace communication, management, handling rapid personal and organizational change, and other topical business issues. He has served or is currently serving as a board member of the International Association of Facilitators, Sales and Marketing Executives International, American Management Association, American Society of Training and Development, Institute of Management Consultants, American Society of Association Executives, Meeting Professionals International, and National Speakers Association. Chris is an award-winning Toastmasters International Competition speaker. 

He recently participated in the Fortune 500 Annual Management Forum as a speaker, panelist, and seminar leader. Chris has distinguished himself professionally by serving multiple corporations as a manager and trainer of sales, operations, project management, IT, customer service, and marketing professionals.  Included among those business leaders are Prudential Insurance, Sprint, BayBank (now part of Bank of America), US Health Care, and Marriott Corporation.  He has assisted these organizations in mergers and acquisitions, facilitating post-merger and acquisition integration, developing project management, sales, customer service, and marketing strategies, organizing inbound and outbound call center programs, training and developing management and new hires, and fostering corporate growth through creative change and innovation initiatives.  Chris holds degrees in management studies and organizational behavior from Boston University.  He has traveled to 22 countries and 47 states throughout his career.