About Michael Gregory

Mike is an expert, speaker, and author helping organizations and clients de-escalate, resolve conflict and negotiate winning solutions business to government (IRS), business to business and within businesses (succession planning, board of directors, management).

As a speaker and consultant Mike provides considerable energy in serving clients broadly as a problem solver in diverse environments.

Mike does this by helping clients overcome conflicts by focusing on underlying concerns and working towards problem resolution.

By providing keynote presentations, workshops, seminars, training, and executive sessions, Mike helps participants improve listening skills, develop better relationships, and negotiate win-win solutions. Mike assists clients with business to business issues, within business issues and with IRS issues.

As a member of the National Speakers Association Michael Gregory provides dynamic, energetic, interactive, presentations and services to clients as a consultant. See the Speaker Kit. Having given over 300 presentations, Mike is experienced at facilitating training in workshops, seminars and virtual interactive sessions. What do participants have to say?

I am very happy to tell you that we got the best overall responses to your presentation of any program we have had in a long time! Your presentation was appealing to a broad swath  of our membership and the information was useful in a very practical sense.


Conrad L. Slate, Sr. CLU, ChFC Knoxville, Tennessee

I learned so much from this class and from the presentation that I feel I can leave with many things to apply to both my position as well as my personal life.  The half-day session was the right mix of lecture, discussions, and tools to assist me with my job.


Julia Tran

Topics include:

  • How to de-esclalate and resolve conflicts with clients, associates and others
  • How to work with the IRS
  • Leadership and opportunity
  • as well as technical topics related to tax issues.

While continuing to service clients with their:

  • dispute resolution,
  • tax issues,
  • assistance as negotiator and/or mediator
  • development of leadership.

An example story on listening from Mike:

I had been a manager of a group of nearly all guys. I took over a new group with one guy and the rest gals.  About two weeks into the new position I felt something was not quite right. I asked one of the gals that seemed more receptive to me if she could help me understand.  She thought about it, it was a bit hard for her to say, but she told me there are times when she and others enter my office that all they want me to do is just listen.  I was always ready with an answer.  Given that hint I put "listening" on the next group meeting agenda. 

The conversation was a bit uncomfortable in that meeting, but I confessed that I am a guy and I can’t tell when I am asked a question, when I should respond with an answer, and when I should just listen.  I think they felt a bit sorry for me, so they came up with a word to help me out.  The word was “blue.”  From now on if they knocked on my open door and said “blue” that meant they wanted me to listen.

After that if someone knocked on my door and said “blue”, I pushed away from my desk and computer screen, grabbed a pad of paper and sat at a small round table next to my employee in my office and listened.  I simply asked questions, I paraphrased, I reflected with empathy what I heard, but I did not offer any solutions unless I was asked what I thought by my employee.   Then I was ready to offer ideas, but not until I was asked.

For me this was an aha moment. It changed the way I managed. It changed the way I thought.  It changed the way I acted.  I was so excited that I came home and told my wife what I had learned.  Do you know what she said? She told me, “you can do that more at home too”.  That lesson was money in bank to me from then on.

With that I begin an exercise on listening.

I am driven to learn and to share what I have learned. Partnering with neuroscientist and researching current sources, my presentations reflect the latest information to allow me as a speaker and presenter to teach others how to address conflict in their lives, at work, working with difficult people and in tense situations.

Just the facts:

Michael Gregory of Michael Gregory Consulting, LLC

Expert in conflict resolution

www.mikegreg.com

NSA, MBA, MS, BS, Qualified Mediator MN Supreme Court, Accredited Senior Appraiser with the American Society of Appraisers, Certified Valuation Analyst with the National Association of Certified Valuers and Analysts

Worked for the IRS for 28 years as a specialist, manager, controller, executive, and territory manager overseeing up to 24 states and nationally lead in the area of business valuation. Mike was honored twice from his employees by being nominated and receiving a civil servant of the year award once as a team lead and later as a senior manager. Mike taught managers behavioral skills over an 11 year period to remain current on skills, but also as an executive to refresh himself on what newer managers did not know.

Over five years in the private sector, over 250 presentations internationally, 10 books, 14 videos, 30 articles, and two presentations on conflict resolution at the Harvard Club in Boston, and Mike has launched his second career.

Saves clients hundreds of millions of dollars as a solution provider in negotiations business to business, business to government (IRS) and within businesses offering strategic working sessions to bring out the best with you and your team.

What I bring to you is a passion for learning and to share what I have learned incorporating neuroscience and experience to assist you with conflict, negotiations and stress.

A little known fact about me is that I made my first jump from an airplane when I was 19.

My breakthrough experience took place when I came to a district as an acting assistant director with 1,200 employees that had over 300 unfair labor practice complaints, grievances and EEO complaints. I worked with the director to address these systemically partnering with leadership, HR, EEO, LR and the union training strategic stakeholders in mediation techniques over a 17 week time frame and left with less than 30 remaining. The district had a coffee for me when I left. Coffees in similar situations previously took about an hour and maybe 20 people showed up. This coffee took over 6 hours with over 400 employees thanking me for making a real difference in their lives. This changed my life as an executive and drives my passion today to address conflict.

Today I provide top quality service by helping clients identify, address, and resolve issues.

In short:

Do the right thing,

Do what it takes, and

Have fun.

My wife says I really don’t work for a living, I just have fun and she is right.

Let me help you with what concerns you.  Give me a call at 651-633-5311 or contact me by email at mg@mikegreg.com and I will work with you to address your and your organizations concerns.   As a solution provider let me help your organization overcome conflict and enhance your effectiveness.  As a dynamic and national speaker and presenter let me provide your next keynote presentation, workshop, seminar, executive session or virtual interactive lesson.