Michael Laval-Lindley
Michael entered the world in Illinois and
lives with his husband, Christian, in Paris and Lisbon.
A Bachelor of Music Education from Augustana
College, Rock Island, IL, he found his passion for
process improvement and business transformation
while working at a Blue Cross Blue Shield provider in
Chicago.
At 26 years old, he moved to Québec, Canada where,
in addition to becoming fluent in French, he found his
way into the management consulting business with
Alexander Proudfoot of Canada, Ltd.
After a rough and tumultuous introduction into the
high-flying world of consulting in North America in the
80’s, he was commuting between Québec and the
capitals of Europe participating in engagements in
insurance, banking, retail operations and public utilities
sectors on change programs ranging from as little as 3
weeks to over 1 year.
In 1995, he moved to London eventually landing a job
with one of Britain's premier consulting firms now part
of a Japanese global consulting firm. Moving to Paris,
he spent the rest of his career on engagements in the
UK, Luxembourg and China.
It was the combination of structure and creativity in
music that became the basis of his leading change
management styles with a view towards removing the
pain of change.
He and Jim met in Luxembourg on what ended up
being the last large-corporate engagement and last
large-corporate position, respectively, for both of them.
During a reminiscent conversation, he said to Jim "we
should write a book about this."
Jim Helfgott
Jim is originally from Long Island, New York
where he left to became a global media programing
and sales professional. He received a BA in
Communications from Hofstra, where he was voted into
their Radio Hall of Fame.
Having learned the ropes at various cable operations in
the US, first in marketing and then in general
management, he then joined Europe’s leading premium
television content creators. Based in Budapest,
Hungary, he became a driving managerial force in
expanding its customer base and helped shape a multinational business spanning 14 countries and nearly as
many languages. While there, he co-created CTAM
Europe and later opened a marketing and operations
consulting firm.
Recruited as VP of a start-up direct-to-home
programming service for Eastern Europe based in
Luxembourg for one of John Malone’s enterprises, he
further embraced what it means to be European and
what it means to manage change in multi-cultural
environments. These experiences managing change in
the new/old world of European and US media led to
Jim's view of change and meeting his writing partner,
Michael.
Golf, beach and lots of sun along with easy southern
living has drawn Jim and his wife, Shar to Myrtle Beach,
South Carolina. Their daughter Allyson lives with her
husband Jason in Memphis.
Jim continues to consult with European companies on
the need to manage change while also supporting
small businesses through the non-profit SCORE.
And when Michael said let's write a book... Jim said, we
didn’t exactly change the flow of the Chicago
River." (No, he really didn’t say that but wouldn't it have
been funny!)