 |
BIO
Ben Griffin - Founder
Ben Griffin has more than 35 years of experience as a corporate executive and entrepreneur. At the beginning of the new millennium, he decided to reinvent himself. He began applying his experience and continuing interest in personal growth and development to design and facilitate strategic thinking workshops, performance management programs and personal development workshops for CEO's and senior leadership teams. In 2005, the PerformanceCatalyst brand was launched as the vehicle for developing and delivering these workshops. Ben also chairs four leadership development groups for TEC - The Executive Committee - in Maryland. TEC is a 50 year-old international membership organization that focuses on increasing the effectiveness and enhancing the lives of CEO's and senior management members.
In 2004, four of the members of TEC Groups Ben facilitates were nominated for Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year Award in Baltimore. All four became finalists and two were category winners in this prestigious worldwide competition. In 2005, another two nominations were finalists with one a category winner in Baltimore. Ben also received the TEC Chair Excellence Award, recognizing his effectiveness as a facilitator and executive coach in the international TEC community.
During his career, Ben has served as a senior executive in financial services firms and been a start-up entrepreneur. He has extensive experience designing, developing and marketing new products in a variety of business environments. He has developed and implemented national sales and marketing campaigns. He is a skilled team-builder, responsible for recruiting, training and motivating senior management and professionals at all organization levels.
Ben served as president and chief executive officer of Avemco Insurance Company, a $100 million organization. That's where he developed and used the tools in the CEO's Strategic Thinking Toolkit to achieve corporate objectives. Ben effectively managed strategic marketing partnerships, development of new products, repositioning of existing products and implementation of e-commerce. He strengthened the senior management team and implemented a corporate restructuring that resulted in improved customer sales and service, and significantly decreased expenses.
Ben founded and served as chief executive officer of American Business Insurers, a start-up company focused on using innovative telemarketing and direct mail distribution to sell insurance to small and medium-sized businesses. He established the company's strategic vision and raised venture capital for the project. He was also responsible for creating comprehensive marketing, sales, technology and financial plans.
As a senior officer at USF&G Insurance and American Financial Group, he was responsible for several "turnaround" assignments involving national business units with up to $250 million in revenues. He achieved successful turnarounds through strategic planning, streamlining operations, designing new programs and pricing structures, and recruiting key personnel. Earlier in his career, Ben created and ran a consulting and software development business that focused on product management and systems development for financial service organizations. He began his financial services career at Progressive Insurance, serving as the first product manager in a model that has become a standard in that industry.
His strong leadership and communication abilities, and wide variety of business experiences equip him with the expertise to help organizations and their executives achieve business and personal goals. A native of Florida, he received his MBA degree from Rollins College in Winter Park. Ben and his wife Rita live in the Baltimore, Maryland area. They have three adult children and three grandchildren.
Ben can be reached at bengriff@PerformanceCatalyst.net; or through the website at www.PerformanceCatalyst.net. His direct telephone number is 410.804.3848.
|
| |
