I am the Chief Marketing Officer for Synclab Media and Host of C-Suite Network TV‘s The DEAN’s List.  I have been hailed as an ‘Outstanding Thought Leader on Building Priceless Business Relationships’ by Sales and Marketing Executives International as well as an ‘Outstanding Speaker’ by the International Association of Speakers Bureaus.

My books, How to Achieve Big PHAT Goals, THE PROGRESS CHALLENGE: Working & Winning in a World of Change, and CRACKING THE NETWORKING CODE: 4 Steps to Priceless Business Relationships have sold over 100,000 copies worldwide and have been translated into Chinese, Hindi, Polish, Korean, Spanish and Greek.

My thoughts on authentic business development by building and strengthening PROGRESS-based Work and Team Cultures have been endorsed by a who’s who of international business thought leaders including Ken Blanchard (author of THE ONE MINUTE MANAGER), Brian Tracy (author of THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SELLING),  and the legendary Father of GUERRILLA MARKETING, Jay Conrad Levinson, who was kind enough to write the foreword to my book, CRACKING THE NETWORKING CODE.

I have been a featured contributor to CEO World Magazine, Sales and Service Excellence, Training Magazine Europe, Executive Travel, LabX Media, Networking Times and the American Management Association’s Moving Ahead magazine as well as numerous podcasts and the audio magazine Selling Power Live.

I am a Cum Laude graduate of the University of North Texas and has served as Guest Lecturer to UCLA and University of Dallas MBA programs as well as the International Call Management Institute.  I have many well-known companies as my clients such as American Airlines, Texas A&M, New York Life, Marriott, Heinz, Hilton, American Express, Western Union, Verizon, and Gold’s Gym.

I am also is an award-winning songwriter, a marathon runner, a founding member of the Texas Shakespeare Festival, and an alumni of Up With People, the legendary international organization that bridges cultural barriers and creates global understanding through service and a rocking musical show that was one of the first to perform in the Soviet Union. I also served as a proud member of the undefeated 1984 4-A Texas State Championship Football Team, the Fighting Denison Yellow Jackets.

A couple bits of trivia about me:  I once served as LeAnn Rimes’ on-set acting coach on both a Hallmark Movie of the Week and on the soap opera “Days of Our Lives”. I even got to play one of the ‘bad guys’ in the Warner Brothers’ blockbuster TWISTER (SIDE NOTE: Dean urges you not to look too hard for him in the film since, per Dean, ‘the flying cow ended up with a bigger part than I did!”).

ILID: What inspired you to write this book?

“How to Achieve Big PHAT Goals” is a ‘Goal Conviction’ book. I wanted this book to be both a quick energy boost with thought provoking exercises to help people gain the conviction to stay committed to both their personal and professional goals.  was inspired to write Big PHAT Goals after much research into why goal commitment is so challenging. PHAT stands for Pretty, Hot And Tempting and that is exactly what we must make OUR goals for OUR lives.

ILID: You had the book ready last year, but decided to launch it this year. Why was that?

With this being a book on goals and the topic of goals/new year’s resolutions being a beginning of the year topic, we thought it was best to release the book with the new year. This has worked great with much media attention from outlets including Voice of America, the Dallas Morning News and even Monster.com.

ILID: What makes your book unique and really stand out from other inspirational / self-help books?

How to Achieve Big PHAT Goals is a quick deep dive into the psychology of how we make decisions. The book was much longer in its original form with more stories and explanation. I decided to cut about two thirds of the book to move the reader through the process of being what Dr. Viktor Frankl calls a “thinker-through.”

ILID: What was your favorite thing about writing the book?

A couple of my favorite things about writing How to Achieve Big PHAT Goals are doing the research and getting feedback from readers. I especially love it when a reader buys copy for their children. How to Achieve Big PHAT Goals was not written for teenagers but after rereading it I can see how people are encouraging teens and young adults to read it. It is an easy read and I view my soul at an eternal fourteen years of age!!

ILID: What is your favorite section of the book and why?

My favorite sections in the book are the questions that encourage people to think through their goals, to uncover THEIR whys.

ILID: What is the main thing that you want people to get from reading this book?

What I hope people get from reading How to Achieve Big PHAT Goals is a thought process on staying committed to achieving THEIR goals.

ILID: Why do people really need to read this book?

One of the challenges we have in this country is that we have so many “good ways” to invest our time and we can’t do them all. We all need help staying connected to our goals so we do not get off track investing our time in a good way instead of the PHATest way!

“How to Achieve Big PHAT Goals” is available at Amazon.com and DeanLindsay.com