Why Martha?

Martha's thorough preparation and thoughtfulness engender a sense of trust that motivates an interviewee to dig deeper and wider, so that maximum value can be gained from the time invested. Her listening skills reflect her genuineness and authenticity...qualities that are important to me...and in fact to the whole field of career services and leadership consulting. 

Steve Harrison, Chairman, Lee Hecht Harrison

I like a lot of things about working on projects with Martha Finney, but, in particular, I continue to be impressed with her incisive, yet respectful, interviewing style, her "out of the box" view of the subject at hand, be it interview, article or book, and her genuine love for the people side of business issues.”

David Russo, Chief People Officer, Peopleclick

Thanks so much for the interview, and for the recognition.  I sincerely appreciate the time that you took, and it reminded me once again of some of my fundamental reasons for being in HR. 

Peg Wynn, Vice President, Worldwide Human Resources, Xilinx

I want to thank you for your delightful presentation at our November dinner meeting. Your request of members to share their views on how their jobs brought relief, hope or beauty prompted the liveliest and most sincere response I have experienced with this group.

Joan Kuhar, HR Association of Southern New Jersey

Martha inspires audience members to evaluate their lives to see if they are doing what they love or not, and if not, why not.

Nancy S. Badertscher, Association for Women in Communications

Martha's lecture was thought provoking and the dialog among the group was especially good. She is a down-to-earth, compassionate, lovely individual who enjoys what she's doing. As a result, after the lecture, we received at least 20 positive email responses to the lecture. Everyone enjoyed the presentation and some have even asked when we can have Martha back for more.

Pam Marsters, HR Officer, Geologic Division, US Geological Survey

In the field of HR, we talk about many things that affect workers. We almost never talk about joy being a result of work…In the following couple of weeks after Martha's presentation, my group gathered for our monthly chapter board meeting and spent more than half of our time discussing Martha's talk. Never have we spent that much time talking about a speaker or presentation. Her talk also inspired us all to evaluate our work and discuss among ourselves the joy we experience.

Jami Dittmeier, President, Society for Human Resource Management, Dulles Chapter

I have often reflected on your visit to Winterthur as part of your research for people who love their work. The interviews with the staff proved to be energizing for them and in a sense became a recommitment to their profession and how they express it in the care of the garden. I believe your approach to interviewing could be an important part of overall staff training in an organization.

Thomas Buchter, Deputy Director, Garden Department, Winterthur

The topic could not be more timely. Creating mission-driven organizations by bringing joy to the workplace not only touched us professionally, but also personally. We especially enjoyed finding out who in our membership has found his/her calling, and hearing what he/she has fulfilled. Thank you for allowing them to speak in front of our group. It really topped off the presentation.

Angel Ecton, Vice President, Columbia Society for Human Resource Management

This was a great workshop. I really appreciated the opportunity to attend. In particular, I enjoyed Martha's ability to interact with a scientific crowd. She was easily able to adapt her presentation and discussion regarding feeling called to our work. I appreciate the opportunity and look forward to future training!

A participant