Success Stories
Dr. Greenwood distilled from traditional Buddhist practices proven experiential approaches that have helped thousands of people transform toxic, negative feelings of fear, dissatisfaction and disengagement into insight, a sense of higher purpose and behaviors that benefit themselves and those around them.
Transformational Leadership
"Laura was brought in to re-establish the hotel's quality and service standards from the ground up. She tailored her training programs to our employees, their work environment and the challenges that were facing us at the time. She is inspirational, keeping employees engaged throughout the process...making the training fun and entertaining. She provided much mentorship with our leadership team, providing feedback on how they could be more effective in their roles. This proved to be invaluable...Laura's training efforts ultimately played a key role in repositioning the hotel as a market leader among its competition on Maui. With this came much improved financial results and an Associate team who were motivated and focused on taking the property to the next level."
Declan McCarthy, Vice President of Operations,
Landmark Hotels Group
When Makena Resort was bought out of bankruptcy in 2010, the staff morale was at an all-time low. Dr. Greenwood was hired to be Director of Training & Organizational Development and tasked with making big changes.
"Dr. Greenwood designed and implemented creative, humanistic leadership programs for four of our hotels in Hawaii over the span of 25 years. (Embassy Suites, Kea Lani, Makena Beach & Golf Resort, The Kahala) She brings heart, soul and years of expertise to her work. The leaders felt it and were positively impacted by it."
Charles Sweeney, CEO, Landmark Hotels Group
Certification Programs - in Leadership
& Conflict Resolution
Dr. Greenwood has developed numerous leadership programs rooted in her philosophy of values-driven training where leaders are motivated to use their power with wisdom and compassion. After years of providing leadership trainings, she found that the biggest shortcoming of most leaders, managers and supervisors is their inability to give performance feedback that motivates rather than deflates. This shortcoming is coupled with their inability to skillfully prevent or resolve conflicts and disagreements.
As a result, she obtained funding from national and state grants as well as from clients to develop highly effective performance coaching programs, rooted in compassionate communication practices such as "Non-Violent Communication," Emotional Intelligence and Buddhist understandings of how to manage reactive negative emotions when dealing with mistakes, conflicts, and low productivity. These programs have been embraced by numerous organizations, leading to significant gains in performance, job satisfaction, and productivity.
Moreover, she learned that central to effective organizational change is to embed the teachings within each department by teaching formal & informal leaders how to instruct and coach through "Train-the-Trainer" Certification programs. In this way, leaders internalize the lessons and "walk the talk" daily, inspiring their staffs toward greater performance.
"Dr. Laura's Train-the-Trainer programs taught our formal and informal leaders how to instruct, coach, model and direct their teams toward creating a high-performance workplace. These programs played a significant role in helping us turn around Makena Beach & Golf Resort from low staff morale and poor quality service to a thriving Resort. Staff productivity and morale soared!"
Shawn Sweeney, President & Chief Operations Officer, Landmark Hotels Group
“Laura assisted the Mayor’s Office of Economic Development conceptually on a grant for training leaders... and we used her skills in the curriculum development and training phase of these projects.
She’s an effective trainer and teacher as well. Laura has that rare ability to work with all sorts of people in stressful situations. She is highly professional and competent and has demonstrated effective leadership and innovation in her areas of expertise.”
Roz Baker, Coordinator, Office of Economic Development, County of Maui and Hawaii State Senator
Judy Lopez, RN, NHA, Vice President, Nursing & Facility Director, Hale Makua Long Term Care Facilities
Compassionate Caring Certification Programs - in Healthcare
Dr. Greenwood worked with local, State, national, and international healthcare organizations to help them raise staff morale and create a workplace culture that encouraged heartfelt feelings of well-being for the staff and their patients.
“The benefit of this training was easy to see as soon as a critical mass of employees had been trained. Day to day issues on the nursing units were solved as soon as possible and were no longer viewed as ‘somebody else’s problem.
When the Department of Health conducted the annual State and Federal Survey process, the results of the survey reflected a seventy-five percent (75%) improvement from prior year results. Resident care issues decreased by forty-five percent (45%).”
In her first organizational challenge, overall patient care mistakes decreased by 45% and annual State and Federal survey results improved by 75%. Her program gained statewide and nationwide attention among health care providers. Her nurse leadership program, with a focus on compassionate performance feedback, became one of ten exemplary national training pilots with the support of a Robert Woods Johnson Grant and the University of Hawaii, Manoa's School of Nursing.
She was invited to present her programs at national and international conferences in Japan and Indonesia.
Compassionate Customer Service Certification Programs - In Hospitality, Restaurants & Retail
Dr. Greenwood created vibrant partnerships with the Maui Hotel & Lodging Association and the Chamber of Commerce, garnering grant funding that created Hospitality Training and Train-the-Trainer Certifications in retail and restaurant service programs throughout the State of Hawaii. The Retail & Restaurant training programs received national recognition as exemplary models for workforce development.
“When we first began the in-house teaching [of the Train-the-Trainer retail service program (RITE)], one store had an increase in sales of over 30%, trending well above another store of ours only a block away that did not have the training.
What was most impressive about the RITE program was the curriculum that Laura authored. I have fifteen years of experience in retail, have worked for four large retail corporations, and I am currently the General Manager of Maui Clothing Company. I have never been exposed to a training course of this caliber.”
Carole Richter, General Manager, Maui Clothing Company, Train-the-Trainer Certified
“I spent an extended amount of time (40 hours) with Dr. Greenwood during the Restaurant Service Train-the-Trainer program. This is where I was able to experience her at her finest. The focus of this training was to teach us how to teach adults.
She had us first assess ourselves—what type of learners we each were—to then understand how to teach other adults. She was very specific in teaching us how to teach adults, using visual aids, and how to keep a room full of students ‘up’ for an 8 hour session.”
Lisa Gibson, Owner, Warren & Annabelle’s (Entertainment), Train-the-Trainer Certified
Cultivating "Sense of Place" Programs
As a long-time resident of Maui, Hawaii, Dr. Greenwood understands the importance of sharing the wisdom traditions of the Native Hawaiian culture to help people develop a “sense of place” and honor the "host culture." Working with Hawaiian kumus (teachers of cultural knowledge), she created Hawaiian values training programs that promoted teamwork and service excellence. These programs were implemented in corporate resorts and associations such as The Ritz Carlton, InterContinental, Hyatt Regency, Westin, Maui Hotel & Lodging Association, Maui Visitor’s Bureau Call Center and Ka'anapali Beach Resort Association.
"Dr. Laura helped to cultivate among our staff a positive family-like ('ohana') spirit of cooperation and promoted authentic Hawaiian expressions of the 'aloha spirit' toward one another and our guests. She guided our Mission to bring alive the true meaning of Makena as a 'place of abundance' where everyone benefits."
Shawn Sweeney, President & Chief Operating Officer, Landmark Hotels Group,
Makena Beach & Golf Resort
“It is difficult for me to convey the depth and intensity of my feelings about the [Hawaiian Values] program that was created for The Ritz Carlton and the debt of gratitude I owe Laura personally for her help.
Laura was able to develop resources and bring together a team of individuals that produced the most meaningful training program I have ever seen or had the privilege to be a part of.”
Ben Bittner, Human Resources Director, The Ritz Carlton, Kapalua