I’m Michael Nelson, “The Cogent Coach.” As President of Cogent Consulting Group, I’ve had the opportunity and privilege to work with some of industry’s giants and numerous Federal agencies. My consulting work has centered on strategic initiatives and everything that goes into ensuring that a strategy will work. I love big problems and working at an organizational level and consulting has allow me a way to help clients solve their biggest challenges.
I started working with small businesses several years ago and found that all of my consulting experience helping corporate and Federal clients and leadership experience gained from a decade in the Marine Corps enabled me to understand and help small businesses define and achieve their goals. From these beginnings ten years ago, I’ve developed a coaching practice that allows me to bring all of my knowledge, experience, and skills to bear on helping small businesses soar. I love to see how great an impact partnering with a small business owner and leadership team can have on their success.
On a more personal level I love the outdoors, travel, and learning/reading. My three boys are all avid soccer players and we find our selves watching three to eight games every weekend depending upon their schedules! When I was growing up in MN, each sport had a season and lots of players went from sport to sport as the year progressed and seasons switched. Now that we have so many club sports, each season seems to last eight months and there is so much specialization!
My love of travel started when I was young and I started exploring the world as an American Field Service exchange student to Germany where I lived with a host family and attended a German school in Bonn. My wife and I met when we were both on a Semester in the Middle East in college and we have been on the go since! We had a chance to see Asia in more detail when we moved there with the Marine Corps and spent three years in Japan. Since moving to DC in the mid 90s, we’ve taken the boys to see a bit of Europe and we try to take them somewhere in the US every summer so they can get to know the country better.
My sons and I love the outdoors and camping and hiking. While we indulge our desire to be outdoors roughing it, my wife gets a bit of peace and quite at home and encourages us to go frequently! We’d like to through hike the Appalachian Trail someday, but we’re challenged by the amount of time that it takes, around four months. Maybe we’ll hike a section each summer to reach our goal.
My other passion (besides woodworking) is reading and learning. I love to explore new subject areas and try to envision how my newfound knowledge can be used to better myself, my family and assist my clients. As a sample of courses and certifications, I have:
*MBA from The Fuqua School of Business, Duke University
*BA in History from St. Olaf College in Minnesota
*Six Sigma Black Belt (senior process improvement certification)
*ITIL Foundation Certified (backbone of how business and IT work together)
*Project Management Professional (PMP) Certified
*ATP - Airline Transport Pilot with Type Ratings in Gulfstream II, III, IV, and V aircraft
*Certified Business Coach
*Top Secret Clearance
*Trained Facilitator
