Erik Beckler

Experience

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  State Farm

  Jan 1992 - Jan 1997

  Claim Specialist

  Claim handling for auto injury and property damage claims. Communications with lawyers, medical professionals, insureds and claimants.• Won inaugural Twin Cities No-Fault Claim Representative of the Year Award after only 18 months on the job

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  Thomson Reuters

  Jan 1997 - Jan 2008

  Promoted to turn around division responsible for P&L of 22 sister company products into North America. Managed sales and marketing staff that drove revenue and profit into multiple customer segments and through multiple channels. Partnered with 10 dedicated operational staff to drive customer service effectiveness. One of only a handful of General Managers in company.Drove 21% new sales revenue growth in first 12 months compared to 3% decline the previous 12 months. Set long-term foundations that resulted in 15-25% annual sales growth throughout last five years including 24% new sales revenue growth in year 2008. Operating profit margin increased by 30% during my tenure.The key to success of this group was empowering the team to drive the specific value proposition for our varied segments, working together to ensure alignment in our small group and allowing the team to make mistakes. This group created strategies and programs that drove sales of 'nice to have' products and our ideas were copied into other parts of the organization. Show less

  • Director, Global Legal Product Division

    Jan 2003 - Jan 2008

  • Director, Global Legal Product Division

    Jan 1997 - Jan 2008

  • Manager, International Sales and Marketing

    Jan 1997 - Jan 2000
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  Thomson Legal & Regulatory / The Thomson Corporation

  Jan 2000 - Jan 2003

  Director of Marketing

  Promoted into role after establishing organization that merged 24 export operations into a single $30MM import group. Established and implemented strategies and infrastructure that enabled global sales, marketing and operational groups to meet and exceed goals.• Led global product launch strategies that included multi-channel marketing and sales programs• Directed global marketing efforts including global trade shows, association relationships, multi-regional catalog development and global trade sales strategies• Developed corporation’s first global product information database from 30 separate businesses as the central tool to collect and disseminate information for marketing, sales and operations Show less

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  EJB Strategic Solutions

  Jan 2008 - now

  Principal

  EJB Strategic Solutions is an umbrella company supporting efforts to maximize human and organizational potential. Ventures the company supports include:- Coaching of senior leaders and high-potential employees through The Afila Group- Strategic marketing consulting- Technology platform development to support coach, player and parent growth for youth sports coaches and organizations- Youth coach mentoring and guidance- Thought leadership and authorship.

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  Hamline University

  Jan 2008 - Jan 2009

  Adjunct Professor

  Adjuct professor of International Financial Management course for the MBA program at the Hamline University School of Business. Enlightened students as to the importance of international finance and how its practice directly impacts commercial decisions they will be faced with in their current and future careers.

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  Orbit Systems

  Jan 2009 - Jan 2010

  Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing

  Led a go-to-market strategy change for ORBIT that brought forth a more customer-centric solution set to customers and prospects. • Developed multi-channel marketing program that drove more qualified leads to sales channels• Completely revised messaging strategy to reflect value proposition of ORBIT's solutions and of the company• Created and implemented new sales processes that drove more of a solution sell• Established first lead nurturing/Sales 2.0/Web 2.0 program for company• Devised and implemented existing customer marketing and upsell strategy Show less

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  GN ReSound

  Jan 2010 - Jan 2010

  Director, Inside Sales and Customer Care

  Hired to lead two groups to the next stage in their evolution. Charged to take teams from little to no processes, workflows, metrics or strategies to ones that were significant drivers of performance.Accomplishments• Devised and began implementing organizational vision and strategic plan to drive incremental performance and long-term growth from both groups• Drove approval of Business Intelligence solution that will deliver customer and transaction-level detail across organization and reduce financial and operational reporting time by 80%• Devised and implemented strategies that mitigated cannibalization of existing product during major product launch, driving legacy product performance 50% above projections and record sales month• Implemented workflow and process changes that reduced order errors by 25%, greatly reducing time needed to fix issues and significantly increasing customer satisfaction Show less

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  The Afila Group

  Jan 2011 - now

  I am the author of The Four Fundamental Forces of Leadership, released in August 2022. Just like with the physical world, there are four fundamental forces of leadership – forces that quality leaders use to create transformative cultures. Those forces are Love, Respect, Service and Fun. However, humans have the habit of inserting incompatible elements into their practice.The Four Fundamental Forces of Leadership will help you to:- Understand how these fundamental forces work within yourself, with others and through teams and organizations.- Weave the forces into your own practice through how you interact with others and pushing to failure.- Build teams and cultures grounded in the forces to drive long-term stability and success.- Envision how to transform performance and success even in the most stressful of times.The learnings in this book are so powerful that TWO Fortune 100 C-level leaders, John Mulligan of Target Corporation and John Banovetz of a Minnesota manufacturing company, have written forewards for the book.Visit my author page at https://www.amazon.com/author/erikbeckler. Show less Erik is an accomplished professional speaker for associations, corporations, and not for profit organizations on:ACCELERATING PERFORMANCE THROUGH THE FOUR FUNDAMENTAL FORCES OF LEADERSHIP Erik speaks to groups on how leadership skills can be accelerated through the Fundamental Forces of Love, Respect, Service and FunLEADING ACROSS GENERATIONAL AND CULTURAL GAPSLearn how generational and culture gaps can be bridged by Respecting how to communicate at frequencies the receiver can comprehend.REDEFINING SUCCESS IN THE WORKPLACELeaders have been so focused on top level metrics that they miss out on leading through the steps where success actually happems. Erik discusses how to redefine success to drive the organization forward. Show less The Afila Group helps leaders sharpen their strategies, hone their skills and become more impactful for their organizations.We base our work on the Four Fundamental Forces of Leadership (book with these ideas coming in 2022) - Love, Respect, Service and Fun. Those Forces are a foundation for solid leadership, dynamic learning and life fulfillment. Afila Group serves current and future leaders through individual coaching as well as peer group roundatbles.Afila Group uses the Four Fundamental Forces in public speaking, individual executive coaching as well as leadersihp peer roundatbles to help leaders build stronger leadership capacity and capability by engaging them in real-life scenarios going on in their world. This practical work allows for immediate insights and ability to make needed adjustments in themselves and those they lead.Afila Group also helps youth sports and activities coaches become more than a coach of their discipline. Through the same Four Fundamental Forces, we help them see how they can impact their charges in their ability to be happy, healthy, contributing members of their community. We give them tools to connect with players on a different level and help them implement these tools into regular practice. Results include better players and people, more scoreboard success from greater team alignment and a much funner experience. Show less

  • Workshop Facilitator

    Nov 2021 - now

  • Author

    Aug 2022 - now

  • Certified Executive Coach

    Apr 2021 - now

  • Peer Group Leader

    Nov 2021 - now

  • Certified Executive Coach - Supply Chain and Logistics

    Apr 2021 - now

  • Professional Speaker - Leadership

    Nov 2018 - now

  • Chief Engagement Officer

    Jan 2011 - now
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  CoreHoops™ League

  Mar 2015 - Jan 2019

  Executive Director

  The CoreHoops™ League is a new way of thinking and delivering youth basketball in the Twin Cities. I've seen a few factors that have kept youth in the Twin Cities from gaining all the benefits that sports can provide, including:1. A culture that is more focused on winning games than helping kids develop into happy, healthy, contributing members of our community. This has permeated the way coaches coach and adults behave (part of the reason why 70% of youth quit sports by the time they are 13).2. Tournaments and games are set up that are not competitive, keeping both sides from learning and growing.3. Tournament time commitments eat up several hours on both days of the weekend leaving little time for families to just be - well, families. Let's not even mention having to pay admission fees for both days.CoreHoops™ League provides a fun, engaging, inclusive, supportive atmosphere for kids to become happy, healthy, contributing members of our community. We give time back to families and give them a partner in their long-term goals to develop their kids. Show less

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  MOUNDS VIEW BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION INC

  Oct 2015 - now

  I am taking my coaching experience and philosophies based on the Four Fundamentals of Leadership to work with coaches at all levels to create a culture that supports the growth of each child, on and off the court and to fulfill the Association's mission. I coach at various levels of boys and girls traveling basketball. In 2018, I was was honored to be named Minnesota Jr. NBA Minnesota Coach of the Year by the Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx organization for my work with players connecting basketball with key life skills and lessons.I use my Four Fundamentals of Leadership philosophy with players to help them develop a growth mindset to learn not only basketball fundamentals but life skills that translate to other parts of their lives.

  • Coach Development Director

    Oct 2021 - now

  • Head Traveling Basketball Coach

    Oct 2015 - now
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  Infinity Systems

  Jul 2016 - Nov 2021

  Chief Alignment Whisperer

  I help organizations and their leaders help their employees reach their maximum potential. Through an Orgametrics(tm) Alignment Journey, Infinity Systems helps assess and improve alignment (personal and work connection with mission, vision and/or strategic plan) within organizations and, therefore, increase levels of productivity and success. Infinity Systems helps Empower Leaders, Align Organizations and Drive Results.

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  Equimetrics® Powered by Infinity Systems

  Dec 2019 - Nov 2021

  Chief Alignment Whisperer

  Developing and launching a new baseline culture measurement tool to assess Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) within an organization. The Equimetrics assessment equips senior leaders and experts in the field to continue to develop and prioritize the organization's response and efforts to DE&I enabling a more inclusive and high-performing organization.For more information, visit www.equimetrics.net.