Speaking Engagements

Have you ever noticed how many featured speakers resumes begin with “dynamic, motivational, enthusiastic, high-energy, entertaining, highly sought after” and so few begin with “ideas that are line fire-tested, based on real-world experience, thought-provoking, practical and useful”?

If you are looking for the latter – well-presented – you’ve come to the best source!

Below are a couple of Paul’s most frequently requested topics and there are even more. Happy to discuss your meeting objectives and design the perfect presentation.

If you wish to have an agenda tailored to your specific engagement please use the request form below or contact our sales team directly.

Popular Topics

Journey to Zero: Lessons from the Best Leaders & Operations

Zero is the goal of every leader and just about every organization. But very few actually achieve that noble goal. What do the best leaders and the best organizations know about managing safety performance that the rest of the world doesn’t?

Over the course of his career, Paul Balmert has watched thousands of leaders in action, and worked inside hundreds of operations. His perspective as a consultant is based on what works, and he’s able to explain why and how some things work – and other things don’t.

In five lessons, Paul shares his unique, first hand perspective as to “the difference that makes the difference” in achieving great safety performance.

Driving Culture Change: A Roadmap for Transformation

V. Scott Pignolet has an extensive history of successfully developing, selling, managing, and delivering technology based services and products to the petroleum, petrochemical, chemical, pulp and paper, mining, and utilities industries.

He retired from DuPont after a twenty-six year career. He joined Paul Balmert in 2000 and now is active as a consultant, coach, and speaker. He has studied the skills that improve sales force efficiency, those that make a leader effective and the safety execution skills of line managers. He also focuses on articulation and the thought process that result in clear, crisp, results-oriented talks and presentations: what makes a message concise, compelling, and convincing. Scott and Paul are co-authors and instructors of Balmert Consulting’s “Influencing Skills for EHS Professionals” .

Scott leads the business development initiative for Balmert Consulting. He develops client relationships and identifies client needs to improve operational execution. On occasion he steps into the classroom as an instructor.

He is a graduate of Cleveland State University and holds a BS in Civil Engineering. He is Chairman Emeritus and a long time Board member of Village Learning and Achievement Center a non-profit organization that provides services to adults with disabilities. He serves as Chairman of the Governance Committee.

Alive And Well At The End Of The Day

No matter what kind of position the leader has, from CEO to Warehouse Supervisor, every leader is responsible for managing safety performance. Doing that requires successfully managing a tough set of challenges well known to every leader in the world: from awareness and attitude to compliance and complacency; from production and peer pressure to risk, training and actually achieving zero harm.

How does a leader do that?

For more than fifteen years, Paul Balmert has taught safety leadership practices – the “What to do, and How to do it” of leadership – to more than 100,000 leaders the world over. He shares some of his best ideas about what leaders can do to send everyone home, alive and well at the end of every day.

What Every Leader Needs to UNDERSTAND About Managing Risk

Everybody knows risk. Every day, people at work deal with risk. Those doing the work take risk, and their leaders they work for manage that risk.

As familiar as we are with risk, rarely it is understood. Understanding risk properly isn’t some academic exercise: the failure to understand risk is at the core of some of the biggest headline making failures, and many everyday ordinary events that send people home, hurt or hurting at the end of the day.

Paul Balmert, well known author and lecturer on the subject of risk, shares his knowledge and experience: What is risk? What is the practical significance of risk to safety? Why don’t most of us properly perceive risk? What can be done – by those doing the work and those who manage – to be better at perceiving risk?

Popular Speakers

Gary Wigginton

Gary Wigginton retired from the DuPont Company after a 33-year career in manufacturing, sales, and marketing. His assignments took him to a variety of locations including Wilmington, Delaware; Coral Gables, Florida; Paris, France and Houston, Texas.

Gary has worked with various Houston area industry and community organizations. In 1999 he served as Chairman of the Board of the East Harris County Manufacturers Association and led the chemical industry rollout of the EPA-required Risk Management Program. He was also active in the LaPorte-Bayshore Chamber of Commerce where he served as Chairman of the Board.

Gary has a keen interest in safety and process improvement. He takes a practical, no nonsense approach to business and is a strong believer in teams and the power of collaboration in achieving breakthrough performance. Gary grew up in Missouri- the “Show Me” state, which probably accounts for his mantra “show me the data” when tackling problem solutions. He received a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Missouri at Rolla.

Jim Morris

Jim Morris, is a 1964 BS Chemical Engineering graduate of Louisiana State University Baton Rouge. He received a MS and Ph.D. in Engineering and Applied Science (with major emphasis in Chemical Engineering) from Yale University. Jim went to work in Baton Rouge with Exxon Mobil Chemical Company in a new high pressure polyethylene venture.

Jim retired from Exxon Mobil after almost 34 years in Operations, and began teaching chemistry at the Kingwood College campus of the North Harris Montgomery County College District. His interest in teaching has spanned his entire career with Exxon Mobil, and has continued to the present. He feels strongly that his interest in teaching and his operations experience can bring reality and reason to college students, as well as to those in industry seeking to improve their knowledge and skills capabilities in the arena of safety and leadership.

Pete Robison

Pete Robison joined Balmert Consulting after a 29-year petroleum company career with Texaco and Shell serving in a number of technical, managerial and staff positions in biofuels, analytical and environmental chemistry and fuel quality. At each organization he was keenly involved in business improvement, technology and environment, health and safety. He brings a broad range of skills including technical knowledge, customer responsiveness, and coaching and mentoring of technical staff.

Pete received an AB in Chemistry from Cornell University, his MBA in Executive management from Rennselaer Polytechnic University, and a PhD in Biochemistry from Syracuse University.

In his last position at Shell Pete implemented a database system for tracking fuel quality incidents in the businesses that is currently saving the company about $1-2 MM per year in reduced incidents. He also championed efforts to bring in Root Cause Analysis investigation procedures to Shell businesses for fuels quality incidents. He was known throughout the company as an RCA expert for fuel quality incident investigations.

Luis Batiz

Luis Batiz is a Magna Cum Laude Chemical Engineering graduate from the University of Puerto Rico and earned a degree in Nuclear Engineering from The Georgia Institute of Technology. Luis has thirty-five years experience in operations, marketing and corporate management, domestically and internationally.

Luis’ longstanding commitment to safety is best demonstrated by his sustained record of superior personnel safety performance, and his achievement of world class recognition awards from industry groups such as the TCC, NPRA, and the Texas Chemical Council. Luis played a key role in the development of Union Carbide’s 100% Compliance Program and a founding member of the process safety program for the ethylene business.

He was born in Puerto Rico and is fluent in English and Spanish.

Bill Wilson

Bill Wilson joined Balmert Consulting following a forty-year career with International Paper Company. Bill grew up in Anaconda, Montana, a small mining and copper-smelting town. He received a BA in Mathematics from Carroll College in Helena, Montana and a BS in Industrial Engineering from Columbia University in New York City in 1974.

Bill finished his career as Director of Operations in the corporate Supply Chain Center of Excellence. This role included development and leadership of the Lean & Six Sigma organization for corporate Supply Chain. This role enabled Bill to use his experience and expertise in process management as a trainer and mentor to Green Belt and Black Belt candidates. His strong work ethic and accountability for business and safety results in five manufacturing facilities and various staff assignments provides a unique appreciation for leadership skills, especially in the area of safety.

In addition to his role as a Balmert Consulting teacher, Bill serves on the Board of Directors for a charitable foundation dedicated to providing financial support to eligible International Paper employees. He has also served in a leadership role for youth hockey and the United Way.

Wayne Pignolet

Wayne Pignolet joins Balmert Consulting following a thirty-year career with Lintern Corporation, an industrial air conditioning and crane cab manufacturing firm, Moen Incorporated, the faucet company, and Surfaces in Stone, a regional granite and stone fabrication and installation company.

Wayne grew up in Cleveland Ohio and received his BA in Economics from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1982 and a Masters of Business from Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Management in 1988.

At Lintern Corporation Wayne worked with steel mills to spec and install equipment to protect workers and equipment in harsh environments like coke ovens and rolling mills. At Moen Incorporated Wayne was a two time winner of the President’s Achievement Award for his work establishing and managing a manufacturing joint venture in China. As owner/President of Surfaces in Stone Wayne purchased a struggling granite and stone fabrication company and quickly returned it to profitability. He did this with a focus on creating a safe work environment in an inherently dangerous environment.

Van Long

Van Long joined Balmert Consulting following more than forty years in the Chemicals, Petrochemicals and Mining industries. Van grew up in North Florida and received an AS from Lake City Community College (currently Florida Gateway College) in 1970 and his BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Florida in 1973. He is a registered Professional Engineer and completed Executive Education programs at the University of Michigan School of Business in manufacturing and business.

During his career he has worked for Union Carbide Corporation, Rhone Poulenc and Chevron Phillips Chemical Company. Assignments with these companies have included Project Engineering, Maintenance, Operations, General Plant Management, Senior Consultant for Process Safety and Vice President of Health, Safety and Environment. He has also served on the Advisory Board for the Center for Process Safety.

In addition to his consulting role, Van currently serves on the Foundation Board for Florida Gateway College.

Nancy Sauer

Nancy Sauer joined Balmert Consulting following a twenty-year career with AECOM, an international architectural and consulting firm. She earned her MBA from the University of Cincinnati, and an MSEC in Environmental Engineering from University of Akron.

As a Program Manager in the AECOM Environmental Business Line, Nancy’s environmental responsibilities involved major industrial clients engaged in the oil and gas and chemical industry. She managed field operations, where she was responsible for project teams engaged in monitoring, testing, remediation, wastewater treatment, as well as the execution of environmental projects at a variety of client sites across the Northeastern US.

Nancy is a licensed Professional Engineer, a Certified Hazardous Materials Manager, and a Certified Waste Treatment Plant Operator for Constructed Treatment Wetland Systems. She is also a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Certified Professional.

Edward Aronson

Edward Aronson holds a PhD in Organizational Behavior from McGill University in Montréal Canada, with a specialty in leadership. In addition to his work with Balmert Consulting he teaches MBA and BCom courses in leadership at McGill’s Desautels Faculty of Management. He has also designed and delivers seminars on Effective Leadership at the McGill International Executive Institute.

Edward is a sought after specialist in his area of leadership and brings a wealth of experience to his role as consultant with Balmert Consulting. He spent more than 30 years in direct leadership positions in industry that include Gillette Canada Inc., Gillette International Division, the furniture industry, and as owner and operator of a furniture manufacturing company for 15 years.

His international business experience includes living abroad and extensive travel to Eastern and Western Europe, Middle East, and the Far East. This allowed him to gain an understanding of the cultural and market differences between North America and other areas of the globe, particularly with respect to leadership, marketing, and business practices. Edward’s ability with six languages has greatly facilitated his foreign work activities. He is a resident of Montréal and fluency includes French, German, Italian, Spanish, Croatian and English.

Edward is well recognized for his articles that have been published in various academic journals and he has presented at academic conferences in North America and abroad.