CPI/New
Options Group
Other
Locations:MarylandWashington,
DC
Virginia
Meet the New Options Group Team
Paul
Sniffin, Founder and President
Paul has more than 25 years of consulting
experience in guiding and developing executives' careers. He is one of
the most experienced executive coaches in the Mid-Atlantic region and
serves as the founder and managing partner of CPI/New Options Group, the
Baltimore/Washington offices of Career Partners International. Throughout
his consulting career Paul has been in the forefront of change to help
develop credentialing in the executive coaching and career management
practices. He has served in a variety of leadership roles with two global
consulting companies, including chairman of a global HR consulting organization,
growing it to more than 200 offices. Paul's initial leadership experience
emerged when he served as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps and combat
helicopter pilot in Vietnam; he further developed his skills by building
entrepreneurial organizations, sales organizations and leadership teams.
These endeavors led him to the field of career and performance consulting,
where he has spent 25+ years at the forefront.
He is certified in multiple diagnostic assessments, including 360°
multi-rater leadership tools in assessing and developing executive teams.
He oversees the strategic direction of his organization, including the
executive development and leadership coaching practice. He has authored
numerous articles and lectured extensively on leadership and career topics.
He is frequently called upon to work closely with organizations in building
the commitment and performance of high-potential leaders, as well as coaching
and advising senior executives.
Outplacement and Career Management Consultants
Jim
Lewis, Senior Consultant and Career Management Coach
A recognized leader in human resources
and an experienced career management consultant, Jim has more than 25
years of experience, including senior HR roles with four Fortune 500 companies.
He is recognized for his judgment, decision-making, creativity and problem-solving
abilities. The breadth of his experience in the corporate world, combined
with his knowledge and understanding of how high-potential leaders work
and what motivates them, has made him especially adept at working with
senior leaders in their career transition. He combines broad business
knowledge and expertise with counseling and coaching skills to help individuals
and the organization plan and achieve objectives. He has consulted with
major career management firms and addressed professional groups on career
transition and management, individual development, employee relations
issues and downsizing. He has held vice president roles with ATS, Oberthur
Card Systems, Media General Communications and Pulse Technologies. Jim
graduated from Campbell University with a B.S. in business administration
and completed postgraduate work in labor relations at Virginia Commonwealth
University. He earned an M.B.A. from Southwest University and holds the
Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) certification.
Chester
Slaughter, Senior Consultant and Career Management Coach
Chester delivers career management
coaching services including seminars, group workshops and individual career
transition coaching. He has experience working with a wide range of people,
including executive-level management, in resolving a variety of career
transition issues. Prior to consulting, Chester had a successful career
for more than 30 years as a human resources executive with experience
in government, hospitality and manufacturing. He has significant knowledge
and experience in unit openings/closings, employee relations and problem
resolution, management/leadership development, human resources policy
and practice, and succession planning. The combination of hands-on operational
and corporate staff assignments led to his ability to make keen observations
and accurate assessments of both organizational needs and long-term solutions.
Chester has a B.S. in psychology and business administration from the
University of Pittsburgh.
John
Skabo, Senior Consultant and Career Management Coach
John has more than two decades of corporate
and consulting experience in career management and executive development.
He has successfully created and managed multiple large-scale and multi-site
career transition programs and is especially effective in working with
corporate teams to design solutions for corporate restructuring and downsizing
initiatives to ensure a smooth and seamless delivery of service. John’s
passion is helping people in a pragmatic and supportive manner. Whether
it’s a time of crisis, change or growth, he gets people moving out
of the trench and moving forward, focusing on what is needed to build
a new and successful career. John has 18+ years’ experience with
two national human resource consulting firms in New York City. During
this time he successfully managed large client caseloads and has been
exceptionally effective guiding senior-level executives through their
transitions. Whether working with local and regional companies or global
organizations, John consistently provides pragmatic solutions, helping
companies navigate through difficult transitions and guiding people into
successful new careers. John has attended Penn State University and holds
a degree in industrial management from Youngstown State University. He
has also taken advanced leadership courses through Ciba-Geigy world-wide
management program in Fuerigen, Switzerland.
Executive Coaching Team
Cynthia
Philbrick, Senior Consultant / Executive Coach
Cyndi brings significant corporate,
leadership and consulting experience to CPI/New Options Group and in her
work with senior-level executives, teams and organizational effectiveness
projects. Her expertise in quickly grasping the developmental strategies
needed to make organizational change work keeps her actively involved
with senior teams, providing clear strategies and programs to affect change,
growth and leadership within an organization. Cyndi has more than 20 years
of experience in manufacturing, insurance and consulting services in major
cities across the U.S. Her career has focused on employee retention, executive
coaching, the design of competency-based learning-process frameworks for
executives, assessment of management skills and succession planning, as
well as the design and implementation of organizational and individual
development plans and the design and delivery of mentoring programs. Cyndi
has a B.A. in psychology from Lake Forest College, an M.B.A. in human
resources from the University of Connecticut and an advanced certification
in human resource management from UCLA. She is an associate professor
at Johns Hopkins University and has completed coursework in sales, management,
team building, strategic planning and problem-solving skills.
Jean
O'Brien, Senior Consultant / Executive Coach
Before becoming a consultant, Jean
spent 20 years in leadership roles in HR with extensive international
human resources experience. Her areas of expertise include leadership
coaching and executive team development, as well as developing strategies
for improving retention, training initiatives and employee relations.
Jean has proven most effective in working with high-powered female executives
to strengthen their leadership performance to corporate goals and career
advancement strategies, as well as building improved executive team performance.
Her international experience has been most helpful with executives transitioning
to the States. She integrates her work on coaching and advising leaders
to improve their executive presence and communications skills. Jean has
developed and implemented several start-up human resource departments
for large corporations and specializes in business etiquette, executive
communications and presence coaching. Jean holds a bachelor of science
degree from Pennsylvania State University, certification for Professional
in Human Resources from American University and certification as an etiquette
consultant for corporate cultures and social situations.
Mike
Paradis, Senior Consultant / Executive Coach
Mike has over 30 years of corporate experience
in financial services and investment banking. He rose to the rank of chief
information officer or a global financial services company (DB Alex Brown/Deutsche
Banc) with global responsibility for numerous projects, including the
company’s three-year Y2K project. Mike spent much of his career recruiting
critical technology-skilled employees and building them into a cohesive
and effective team. He quickly learned the critical strategies needed
to provide career growth for hard-to-find technology professionals and
achieved incredibly high levels of retention and performance. As a result,
he was recognized as having developed one of the company’s best technology
teams. Mike is adept at solving the toughest operational problems and
working with multicultural workforces. He has worked effectively as a
consultant in a wide range of organizations, from large, global corporations
to smaller entrepreneurial companies. His expertise lies in quickly grasping
and getting at the critical problems affecting executive or team performance.
As a seasoned executive and consultant, Mike provides an environment that
helps guide and coach executives confidently through the difficult task
of moving into new roles, as well as helping to resolve difficult team
issues.
Charles
Hicks, Ph.D., Senior Executive Coach and Organizational Consultant
Charles draws on 35 years of experience
and preparation in human resources development within the business, nonprofit,
governmental, academic and community sectors. His business career assignments
have included industrial social psychologist and senior human resources
development specialist with two major corporations. He has also served
as a senior consultant and psychologist for an international consulting
services firm. As an executive coach he provides support to executives,
leaders, team/project managers and individual contributors who seek to
fulfill their career aspirations, professional development goals and the
business challenges of their organization. He has provided consultation
services throughout the Mid-Atlantic region, enabling organizations to
align their purpose, values, goals and business objectives with their
strategic direction. His credentials include: a Ph.D. in counselor education
and social psychology, a master's in counseling and guidance from Ohio
State University; and a B.S. in industrial education from Central State
University. He has been an adjunct faculty member at Duquesne University,
Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.
Marilyn
Blocker, Senior Executive Coach and Organizational Consultant
Marilyn has 20+ years of human resources
and organizational development experience in manufacturing, financial
services, telecommunications, healthcare, life sciences and high tech
industries. When working with organizations to manage change due to acquisitions,
merges, start-up, expansion or consolidation, Marilyn provides services
in leadership development, executive coaching, executive team building
and strategic planning. She has held executive human resources and internal
consulting roles with the Coca-Cola Company, GTE Corporation (now Verizon
Communications), John Hancock Financial Services and Philips Electronics.
Through these roles Marilyn developed skills in strategic planning and
decision making that formed a solid foundation for subsequent interim
management roles and project consulting services. These roles focused
on performance management, executive coaching, team building, succession
planning, employee retention and change management, including post-merger
and acquisition culture integration. Marilyn built upon previous graduate
work in Cornell's industrial relations program and accelerated graduate
studies at the University of Maryland to obtain a master of science degree
in management (with an HR/OD focus). She completed an M.B.A., also at
the University of Maryland.
Mark
Peterson, Senior Executive Coach and Organizational Consultant
Mark Peterson leads people and organizations
toward improved effectiveness through group training and facilitation,
as well as individual coaching. He is an experienced coach who has worked
with mid- to senior-level executive leaders in the areas of performance
improvement, career management and transition and personal development.
Mark is also an expert trainer and facilitator in organization effectiveness,
leadership development and career management. He has worked with senior
leaders and organizations from both the public and private sectors, including
General Motors, the Department of Defense (Air Force), General Mills and
the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. He earned a B.A. in management and
organizational development. He holds dual master’s degrees from Vanderbilt
University in human resource development and theological studies with
a focus on ethics and economics. Mark is certified to use several personality
and behavioral assessments, such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, the
Apter Motivational Style Indicator and the Birkman First Look assessment
tool. Mark has also taken executive-level education courses in business
strategy, finance and marketing at Tuck Business School at Dartmouth University.
He serves on the board of directors of the DC Metro Chapter of the American
Society for Training and Development (ASTD).