Matt Paknis Leadership Development

Thank you for your encouragement and support on the release of my book, "Successful Leaders Aren't Bullies." I trust you'll find it interesting and hope you'll consider reviewing it on Amazon. If I can help you in any way, please feel free to contact me. Now, it's time to stop the bullies!

To order "Successful Leaders Aren't Bullies," please click here .

Click here to hear my interview with Alan Gurvey and Kerri Kasem discussing "Successful Leaders Aren't Bullies." If you are interested in listening to this interview, or if you know someone who can benefit from learning about how to address bullies at work or in their personal life, please either click the respective link to listen to the complete show or download the interview to listen to my session. It's recorded from 13:00 to 43:00 minutes of the respective show with my name and book cover. Hope you enjoy it and it is helpful. Any questions, please contact me. Thank you for your consideration!

To Be Released September 25, 2018 Please Click Here to Learn More and To Order Your Copy

Former Ohio State wrestlers claim Congressman Jim Jordan, (R- Ohio), was complicit in knowing team doctor Richard Strauss sexually abused and assaulted wrestlers. Jordan told Fox News these discussions, where Strauss was called: “Locker-room voyeur,” “Serial groper,” or "Dr. Jelly Paws," were “locker room banter” and " are a lot different than allegations of abuse or – or reported abuse to us." He was a full time assistant coach with years of experience. Not acting against, or reporting, vile behavior because of how it is perceived is a copout. Any reference to sexual abuse must be taken seriously to reveal and terminate it. A snickering Penn State assistant football coach used the term “Jerry’s kids”, lifting Jerry Lewis’ endearing fund raising title, to label Sandusky’s 2nd Mile participants to make other Penn State staffers chuckle when I coached there in the late 1980’s. In retrospect, his banter likely acknowledged Sandusky’s sexual predation. They all laugh...

Suicide is America’s tenth leading cause of death, taking 45,000 lives each year. The crisis was accentuated when public figures killed themselves as the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released recent data showing steady increases. This moved me to join another public discussion to determine whether it’s possible to know when someone’s suicidal. If so, and assuming life is the healthiest choice, it’s critical to know how to intervene and help. Driving while listening to a scene from Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand’s book about Louis Zamperini, inspired me. A giant, compassionate, Japanese war prison guard protected Zamperini from tortuous guards. He whispered to Louis: “You Christian, I Christian.” As I thought about stopping bullies, an eighteen-wheeler on my right lost control. It was mid-morning, mid-September. Three packed highway lanes cruised at maximum speed. Brakes pumped and the truck skipped into the service lane. A parked Jeep forced the truck back at me. E...

On January 24, 2018, vile bully Lawrence Nassar was sentenced to forty to 175 years in a Michigan state prison after pleading guilty to seven counts of sexual assault of minors who were top-level gymnasts under his medical care as team physician for USA Gymnastics. The 332 women who sued Michigan State University over abuse by Dr. Nassar will receive $500 million from the university in a settlement approved by the university’s elected trustees in a conference call on Tuesday night, May 15, 2018. It is believed to be the largest settlement ever reached in a sexual abuse case involving an American university. Each woman will receive just under $1.3 million on average; some will get much more, and others much less, he said. As the Nassar crisis unfolded, it appeared that Michigan State, USOC, and USA Gymnastics officials went covert, just like those at Penn State concerning Sandusky, to protect a child molester, to undermine trust and the truth, and ultimately to not protect child...

Of course! Five for five for red heads in my family!

All abusive and bullying behaviors are rooted in predators', and respective organizations', disturbed needs for power and control. Shedding a bright light on this darkness with truth and transparency, and arming targets and victims with efficient, safe, protective, and reliable reporting processes, will help stop this vile behavior. The burden of proof of innocence in abuse cases must shifted to the accused. It's better to err on the side of of caution to protect vulnerable people and to encourage targets and victims to step forward than to prioritize preventing false accusation. Comfort in exposing abusive behaviors must become the norm and replace hiding and allowing abusive practices. Truth and facts must overpower fear and criticism. The key is for leaders and constituents to not tolerate bullying and to empower all people to step up to stop abuse. This and more tools for the reader to identify, stop, address, and transcend workplace abuse and bullying are av...

"Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32 Berean Study Bible Happy Sunday! And Congratulations to Maggie Nichols, crowned yesterday as 2018's NCAA Gymnastics Champion! Ms. Nichols began the year by revealing she was the first gymnast to report abuse by Dr. Larry Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics team physician convicted of serial sexual abuse, to USA Gymnastics’ leadership three years ago. She ended the championship meet in triumph, with a string of performances that stamped her as one of the greatest collegiate gymnasts in history! Below please find the five steps regarded by experts to help abuse victims and targets recover from trauma. These include: a. Sharing all abusive experiences and secrets with a trusted, licensed / certified, recognized, and proven trauma counselor and, when ready, ultimately going public to expose the abuse and to protect potential targets. b. Identifying cognitive distortions and irrational mental filt...

Last night HBO aired a movie about Paterno's fall from grace as Penn State's admired football coach . It failed to reveal the Paterno I experienced when coaching with him and Sandusky as an assistant Penn State football coach in 1987 and 1988 and how Paterno's true colors facilitated Sandusky's rampant pedophilia. I experienced Paterno as a bully who demanded bizarre player witch hunts and staff behaviors. These contradicted his win the right way mantra. He also threatened staff and players with personal violence, he made racist statements, and he isolated, belittled, disenfranchised, and demeaned decent players and staff with tyrannical rage while projecting a calm and concerned public persona in the media. His true self so contradicted his beloved public image to this day people refuse to acknowledge Sandusky's crimes and Paterno's culpability. Paterno's ruse and permission set the tone for Sandusky to model and create a sham of a charity where Sandus...

This weekend, HBO will release " Paterno" , and Simon & Schuster announced the September release date for my book, "Successful Leaders Aren't Bullies". The film stars Al Pacino as Paterno and chronicles Paterno's fall from grace in November 2011 when he eclipsed the NCAA's all time coaching wins record AND was fired from PSU for his culpability in allowing Sandusky to sexually molest young boys. I worked as an offensive line coach at Penn State with Paterno and Sandusky in 1987 and 1988 and their bizarre power dynamics and narcissism turned me off to coaching. It also motivated me to earn an MBA and help organizations rid themselves of bullies and bad management practices. The film appears to allow the viewer to decide whether Paterno was complicit and knowingly allowed Sandusky to molest boys for the sake of Paterno's drive to become college football's all time most winning football coach and to protect his and Penn State's reput...

A fish stinks from its head! The only root cause common in bullying and abusive organizations is it is ALLOWED by complicit officials!

Attached please find a very moving testimony from a man who confronts his childhood bully, now the newly selected respective school superintendent. Over the years, I've counseled grown men, shaking and crying, who were bullied by a disturbed boss or executive. To be released later this year is my book entitled, "Successful Leaders Aren't Bullies; How to Stop Abuse at Work and Build Exceptional Organizations". It presents research and examples culled from my 27 years of observing and experiencing corporate bullying while consulting internationally. It's written to help readers identify, stop, and transcend bullies and bullying organizations. The book contrasts workplace and schoolyard bullying. Both forms exist because they are allowed by complicit organizational officials. All bullying is based on deleterious power and control dynamics and, I believe, evil; selfishness, deception, and narcissism. Bullies are cowards. If you see someone being bullied...