Best-Selling Business Author And Executive Coach To Speak At Smeal

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA (August 23, 2007) – Best-selling business author and leading executive coach Marshall Goldsmith will be a guest speaker at Penn State's Smeal College of Business in October as part of an executive coaching program hosted by Penn State Executive Programs.

Goldsmith, author of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal best seller What Got You Here Won't Get You There and recognized by Fast Company as "the world's top executive coach," will deliver a lecture on Oct. 17 at the Nittany Lion Inn on Penn State's University Park campus. His talk, which highlights What Got You Here Won't Get You There, begins at 4:30 p.m. and is open to the public.

Goldsmith will share some of the 20 habits that keep successful people from becoming even more successful and cause rising stars in leadership to reach a plateau without knowing what's holding them back. The program will be followed by a reception and book signing. Admission is free but seating is limited. Attendees are asked to pre-register by phone at 814-865-3435 or e-mail at psep@psu.edu. The registration deadline is October 8.

Goldsmith is a coach to top executives in many of the world's leading companies, a prominent speaker and educator, and the author of many books and articles on leadership. He is one of the foremost authorities on how to help leaders achieve positive, measurable changes in their own behavior and in the behavior of their people and teams.

"We are delighted to have one of the best selling business authors and executive coaches as a guest speaker," said Patrick Cataldo, associate dean for executive education at Smeal. "Marshall Goldsmith has a New York Times best seller on his hands, capping a long string of great books that have really resonated with today's business leaders."

In his coaching career, Goldsmith has worked with more than 70 CEOs and their management teams. He continues to conduct workshops for executives, high-potential leaders, and human resources professionals. Recently, the American Management Association named Goldsmith as one of the 50 greatest thinkers and business leaders who have most influenced the field of management. Forbes named him as one of the five most-respected executive coaches.

He holds a bachelor's degree from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, an M.B.A. from Indiana University, and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles.

His appearance at Smeal is part of Penn State Executive Programs' Executive Coaching Certificate program, which is a two-week course led by Judith Colemon and Brenda Corbett, authors of The Sherpa Guide: Process-Driven Executive Coaching. They are also founders of Sherpa Coaching LLC, a Cincinnati-based consulting firm. Throughout the coaching certification program, the authors aid participants in mastering the six-phase Sherpa coaching process which provides the skills and techniques necessary to enable others to achieve professional success. Upon successful completion of the program, which includes a four-week coaching practicum, participants receive their Sherpa Executive Coaching certification.

More information on the program can be found online at www.smeal.psu.edu/psep/ecc.html, or by calling Penn State Executive Programs at 814-865-3435.

Copies of Goldsmith's book What Got You Here Won't Get You There for the book signing are available through the Penn State Bookstore, Barnes and Noble Booksellers, or through Amazon.com by visiting www.sherpacoaching.com/goldsmith07psu.html.

About Penn State Executive Programs
Penn State Executive Programs, the executive education division of Penn State's Smeal College of Business, has been serving the development needs of the world's business leaders since 1954, providing both open-enrollment and custom programs. Nearly 36,000 executives from 43 different nations have participated in programs on topics ranging from strategic leadership to supply chain management.

Penn State Executive Programs was recently ranked as the No. 1 provider in the world of customized executive education programs by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), the research arm of The Economist magazine publisher. The EIU also awarded Penn State Executive Programs its Award of Excellence for open-enrollment programs, making Smeal the only U.S. provider to be rated excellent in both categories.

For more on all the offerings of Penn State Executive Programs, visit www.smeal.psu.edu/psep.