Phillip Tanzilo
Equipping Businesses With Growth – Oriented Learning and Talent Development Programs

Avibrant culture of continuous learning and development (L&D) has undoubtedly become a competitive differentiator for modern-day organizations. L&D programs that are strategically aligned with business objectives empower employees to take their performance to the next level and drive tangible outcomes for businesses.

Phillip Tanzilo, an award-winning speaker, author, trainer, and executive coach, equips organizations with the power of strategic and holistic L&D approaches. A renowned learning and development strategist, as an independent contractor, he has emerged as a thought leader and a voice for cutting-edge and relevant change in the L&D profession.

Driven by a mission to bring about a positive change in traditional transformational leadership, Tanzilo provides individuals and organizations with relevant, high-impact, innovative L&D solutions. From high-quality corporate training and strategic planning solutions to executive coaching and change management programs, his approaches are well-researched, effective, and sustainable.

Solutions that Make a Lasting Impact

Traditional L&D training programs suffer from a significant flaw; they concentrate solely on corporate learning while often overlooking crucial aspects like the overall business purpose and potential issues that need to be addressed. These programs run the risk of falling flat because they fail to address the multitude of “bigger picture” challenges clients encounter, including employee management and motivation issues, as well as fragmented processes.

He invests time in learning the client’s business and unique needs. A strategic problem-solver, Tanzilo delves into collaboration with clients as a partner to explore root cause(s) of these issues to craft personalized programs. By understanding client requirements, mission, vision, and core values, he formulates a “total solution” that goes beyond just a training program.

“My industry-leading programs are deliberately designed by bringing together the different pieces of the puzzle to offer a holistic solution, so clients learn and grow through their challenges,” says Tanzilo. A clear understanding of these factors allows Tanzilo to recommend solutions beyond just a training program and deliver on a memorable experience that has lasting impact and value.

The innovative recommendations are also made after other realistic considerations, including budget, available resources, and learner requirements. His commitment stems from his passion and love of what he does. He is moved by seeing “the lights come on” when participants get it. He realizes he has made a lasting impact that will stay with everyone throughout their career.

Tanzilo uses cutting-edge technical and learning tools to engage participants virtually, on-site, or in a hybrid environment. A blended program is usually delivered to meet clients where they are and address any budgetary concerns they have. His work is immersive and highly engaging, with accelerated learning approaches that make for a fun experience. During these learning experiences time seems to pass quickly and, in the end, with a relaxed group, learning objectives are achieved.

By observing the behavior of trainees, including C-level executives and frontline staff, Tanzilo ensures the learning events are crafted and delivered to exclusively address each of the attendees and deliver the relevant message. With an emphasis on values and purpose, he focuses on conveying the right message to participants to engage them and have a lasting impact.

Tanzilo relies on proven and current tools to keep his saw sharp and remain relevant for the ever-evolving workplace. He has a history with industry organizations, including the Association for Talent Development’s (ATD) and the International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI). The ATD Capability Model serves as a tool he leverages quite frequently.

His learning events allow clients to foster positive work cultures by bringing people together for a shared reason. A cohesive culture enables employees to engage in an activity and create memories that strengthen their emotional attachment to each other and the organization. However, learning programs are worth the effort only when clients can fundamentally measure the return on investment (ROI) from the shift in behaviors, workplace performance, culture, and the bottom-line.

Meetings with clients prior to and after the learning event allows him to make recommendations, to ensure active participation so they “get it.” Keeping this in mind, Tanzilo helps clients measure the effectiveness of programs, which is critical to maintaining the level of trust they have in him. He also supports clients by creating a sustainment strategy and a plan to independently reinforce the learning. This supports clients in maximizing the ROI from their learning events in terms of their valuable money and time invested.

Underpinning L&D with Research and Logic

Ray Kroc, who grew McDonalds into an empire, had a motto, “When youre green, youre growing, when youre ripe, you rot,”• the point being that a flattened development curve results in poor outcomes and organizations becoming irrelevant. Tanzilo helps clients stay prepared for the next big thing in business and capitalize on opportunities, such as providing them with competitive interviewing approaches that align to emerging competencies and skill development to support the ever-changing workplace. His programs and learning events instill a growth-driven mindset in a light-hearted way that supports continual innovation regardless of industry from guest/patient care to employee retention and leadership development. Skills required to support ongoing relevance evolve. Tanzilo helps organizations become aware of these essential skills and stay ahead of the curve.

“My offerings deeply resonate with something I learned from Ray Kroc, who stated, ‘When we identify the four corners, the middle often takes care of itself,’” says Tanzilo. He helps organizations identify their four corners.

A company’s fiscal responsibility, employee engagement, customer satisfaction, and quality often can form the corners. He helps raise awareness of a line-of-sight performers must have to the strategy. Along the way, he helps identify employee competencies vital for fostering a cohesive culture that supports an organization’s overarching objectives and sets people up for lasting success.

Tanzilo espouses a cohesive, culturally intelligent team that is socially and self-aware and is the glue that brings people in an organization together on the shared collaborative journey toward a shared destination. The senior leadership is guided to step out of how they were led to remain relevant for today’s unique multigenerational and diversity needs. Thereby emphasizing development of relevant capabilities like social skills and resilience to elevate interpersonal behavior, build trusting relationships, and innovate performance which is at the heart of L&D. Developing today’s employee’s social skills, personal mindfulness, and critical thinking abilities will support leaders’ ability to be more strategic and directly impact the customer experience. The ability to be mindful helps them take ownership, adjust, and modify their actions while interacting with a valued customer or a trusted colleague.

By linking the L&D strategies with these competencies, Tanzilo’s approaches go a long way toward ensuring long-term success for clients. With millennials and Gen Z moving into leadership roles, senior leaders need to support the development of skills and experiences essential to sustain their organization. The L&D strategy facilitates this and supports sustainable employee engagement and retention.

Always in Clients’ Good Books

One instance that demonstrates how clients benefit is his engagement with a healthcare care center. It was struggling to provide its staff with specialized training and being highly regulated, they had to safeguard sensitive patient information. Tanzilo turned the tide in favor of the client by providing a comprehensive training curriculum for onboarding new staff members. Their L&D manager was trained to accommodate elevated program strategies and construct a roadmap leveraging tools that included the ATD Capability Model to support future growth. A solid, long-standing relationship was built with the client to provide a total solution and provide additional support.

Solutions are curated with Tanzilo’s ingrained knowledge and proficiency in business leadership. Having worked within a variety of industries, from coal mining, pharmaceuticals, and government to entertainment, hospitality, and the military, he brings fresh perspectives to a client’s business that can sharpen their competitive edge. His ability to listen intently and understand their industry perspectives adds to his effectiveness.

In parallel, Tanzilo identifies trends and stays current with research reports from organizations like Harvard Business Review and Gallup. This helps him remain on the leading edge and look ahead to future-proof his offerings.

The reliance on proven tools and professional organizations in the field further strengthens his efforts to ensure perpetual growth and relevance. Tanzilo strives to help shape the L&D profession having served as a National Advisor for ATD chapters and a local chapter president. As a thought leader and subject matter expert, he outlined the initial CPLP (now CPTD) credentialing body of knowledge and efforts to keep the credential relevant. He served on the team to define competency-based learning, and had a case study published on competency modeling and strategic planning.

Steering ahead, Tanzilo aims to capitalize on opportunities to grow his business clientele and humbly give back to those that have placed their trust in him along the way. He plans to expand domestically and serve more clients beyond the U.S.

“I want to continue to be on the cutting edge, remain fresh, and stay on top of all industries Im engaged in. I gladly share my knowledge and experiences from other industries to help organizations look out of their blind spots to gain a fresh perspective and transform performance,” says Tanzilo.

He shares, “Learning and talent development is the courageous leadership to seek the questions to which we do not yet realize the answers and the voyage to the questions yet to be asked. This inquiry is a lifelong commitment. And it is fun even when it is not! Learning and development is my passion.”