John Whitaker ("Whit") Sr. Human Resources Thought Leader

John and I have collaborated on domestic and international training initiatives with great success; he possesses unique creativity in developing content, and his facilitation skills are both engaging and collaborative. John will always be part of my "Dream Team" when I need the best!"

Rarely do people surprise me. When John hired FunCity to help his Breaker Group LLC get off the ground, he needed a full platform. I was told by colleagues that he was smart and just needed a bit of advice, kind of a newbie to social media, so yeah, sure, I can help. He's now got HR Hardball off the ground, and is harnessing the power of blogging and social media like a fiend to bring about community. I was hoping to have him back as a client, but he doesn't need me. In record time, he's created for himself the consulting business that will help put the HR cogs in motion for your company's bottom line - not just gatekeepers, participants in big business. You can't deny him or back away from his intense sense of rightness in the HR World. And you'll have one of the most dedicated, smart and accessible people working 120% on your behalf. He surprised me.

I had the pleasure of working closely with John at CVS Caremark while supporting the sales organization in different areas of HR. John was different than other HR leaders that I worked with. He had both business and HR experience, which led him to think about the way business actually happens from a broad perspective.

John played a big part in my learning to strategically assess the culture and movement of the business. He taught me how to speak the language of the client. He focused on creating long term success in tandem with short term wins. He helped me learn to be an influencer and genuinely cared about the success of his teams, his peers and his internal partners.

John is a talented HR professional who knows how to create teams that work hard but still have fun. I would work with him again in a heart beat.

As an intern at Alcon while completing my undergraduate degree, I reported directly to John, who gave me my first big break in corporate America. John is an expert in assessing people and navigating what can often be termed "difficult waters" with respect to business relationships and crucial conversations. He articulates candid and spot on feedback effortlessly. I have had the pleasure of maintaining a business relationship with John, even after we both moved on to new opportunities. As his name implies, "Whit" is full of wit and insightful quips. He is an asset to any group he works with and is sure to inspire greatness with all he comes into contact with.

John is a rare combination of charisma and HR design experience. In projects with John, I have seen his comprehensive learning models enhanced with his creativity and forward thinking. The exciting result has been a sales model that not only addressed the needs of a large sales force, but also ignited the vision of an experienced leadership team.

John did a great job helping us identify and sort through the options available to us as we continue to build our platform for growth. John quickly assessed our people development situation and find solutions that met our needs, as well as recruited a new leader for our HR department who has already made a sizable impact on our company.

I have known John for 13 years and had the distinct pleasure of working with him for 5 of them. He is by far one of the most ingenious, creative, smart, and funny people I’ve worked with over the course of my career.

He has a knack for inspiring the people around him, bringing out the best in people, and helping to coach and develop them towards their career goals.

Additionally, he is an absolute genius in the performance management and workforce improvement areas.

If you ever have the opportunity to work with him, you will not be disappointed; he is outstanding at what he does!

John has the unique and rare skill to build on subordinate's strengths and deveolp his employees.

I worked with John on numerous staffing and human resource issues during his time at Alcon. In my interactions with John, I always found him to be very methodical in his thought process, decisive and most importantly fair. John has the unique ability to see the entire picture and make the right decision for all parties involved.

John did an exceptional job as our HR Sr. Manager at Alcon supporting our group.

He possessed both interpersonal skills as well as technical knowledge to help us navigate tough issues in the commercial sales and marketing areas.

The consultative demeanor he brought to the position certainly developed a collaborative relationship between HR and the commercial group.