ABOUT RUSS POWELL
Management development grounded in the work managers actually do
For more than three decades, Russ Powell has helped managers and teams improve how they solve problems, work together, and perform when the stakes are real.
What matters is what changes at work
Much of Russ’ career has been grounded in human performance technology—a discipline that begins not with a course, but with the work itself:
What are people trying to accomplish? What is getting in their way? And what combination of skills, tools, structures, practice, feedback, and support will help them perform more effectively?
That perspective shapes every engagement.
Russ does not treat a workshop as the finished product. Managers leave the room and return to a working environment that may either reinforce or undermine what they have learned. New skills are more likely to last when people have practical tools, clear agreements, opportunities to apply them, and support from senior leaders.
That is why Russ connects learning to consequential decisions, conversations, and working relationships. Managers examine situations, test their thinking, rehearse new approaches, receive direct feedback, and begin applying what they are learning.
The aim is not simply to introduce useful ideas. It is to help managers become more capable of using them when the work is difficult and the outcome matters.
Experience shaped in demanding environments
Russ has designed and facilitated learning and performance-improvement initiatives for technical startups, global companies, government agencies, and other complex organizations.
Before founding Russ Powell Consulting in 2010, he spent 18 years as an internal consultant in organizational development and instructional systems design. His work has included organizations such as Patreon, Mighty Networks, Medium, Perfect Day, Google, Sun Microsystems, SAP, Genentech, Roche, Pixar, and the U.S. Coast Guard.
That range has taught him how to work credibly with intelligent, experienced, and appropriately skeptical participants. He brings enough structure to move the work forward without assuming that the same answer will work for every person, team, or company.
MORE THAN 30 YEARS
Experience in applied learning, facilitation, organizational development, and human-performance improvement
STARTUPS TO FORTUNE 100
Experience in technical, global, and operationally complex organizations
AWARD-WINNING WORK
Recognition from ISPI and Brandon Hall for excellence in workforce performance improvement
Serious work in a highly participatory room
Russ’ workshops are structured, practical, and highly participatory. Managers spend less time listening to presentations and more time thinking, discussing, practicing, and learning from one another.
Russ does not assume that his job is to supply every answer. He creates the structure, poses useful questions, and draws on the intelligence and experience already in the room—adding guidance, perspective, and direct feedback when they are needed.
Practical
Managers work with consequential situations that resemble—or come directly from—their actual day-to-day responsibilities.
Candid & Supportive
Russ often asks challenging questions that lead to insight. He offers direct feedback while creating enough structure for people to reconsider their thinking without being put on display.
Participatory
They test ideas, rehearse conversations, examine different interpretations, and learn from the experience in the room.
Responsive
He comes prepared, pays close attention to the room, and adjusts when the planned path is not serving the people in it.
Musicians, athletes, and actors take practice and rehearsal for granted. Managers, however, are often expected to handle consequential conversations and decisions without a comparable opportunity to rehearse.
Russ’ workshops provide both: a clear structure for approaching these situations and opportunities to try new approaches, receive feedback, and build greater fluency before the stakes are higher.
"At Mighty, we saw immediate business impact from our work with Russ. Our team was able to collaborate more efficiently and communicate more clearly, saving time and improving decision-making. His work emphasized shared frameworks and language that teams can take with them long after a workshop ends."
– Jessica Shambora
Senior Director, Product Management
Mighty Networks
Proven curriculum, applied within a larger system
The workshops at the heart of the Collaborative Leadership System are based on the Middle Path curriculum designed and developed by Chris Holmberg of Middle Path Consulting. Russ trained directly with Chris and delivers the curriculum under license.
The Collaborative Leadership System is Russ Powell Consulting’s broader approach to helping management teams build and apply these capabilities. It connects a deliberate workshop progression with an understanding of what the company is asking of its managers, application to consequential workplace situations, and continued practice through Mastery Sessions.
Chris designed the core Middle Path curriculum. Russ’ role is to understand the client’s situation, structure the engagement, facilitate the learning, and help managers connect the work to the challenges they are responsible for handling.
The result is a proven body of work brought to life through Russ’ three decades of experience in learning design, human performance technology, workforce performance improvement, facilitation, and organizational development.
“Russ has a highly-disciplined approach to design and a learner-centric approach to facilitation. This combination differentiates him from many in this field.”
– Chris Holmberg
Founder
Middle Path Consulting
A little more about Russ
Before beginning his career in organizational development and human-performance improvement, Russ worked as a professional juggler. While in college, he performed in clubs, at corporate events, and onstage at The Punchline comedy club in Atlanta.
He still juggles, flies stunt kites, and plays keyboards in a rock band.
Years of performing have influenced Russ’ work in less obvious ways. They taught him to read a room, value rehearsal, recover quickly when something goes wrong, and take the work seriously without taking himself too seriously.
Russ lives in Sonoma County, California, and works with clients locally and across the country.
At work and at play—facilitating, performing, flying stunt kites, and learning alongside others.
What could your management team handle more effectively?
If your company is growing faster than its management practices, Russ can help you identify where the greatest friction lies—and whether the Collaborative Leadership System or one of its workshops is the right next step.