VANRY Associates was founded by Mikel Vanry in 1995; who over the years built long-lasting relationships, often through consecutive engagements with colleagues and clients in a variety of fields and organizations. The principal consultants of Vanry Associates continue to build upon the legacy he began 20 years ago.
Our approach and practices in foundational leadership stem from modern research and thinking in the domains of cognitive biology, linguistics, and philosophy. The original research* was synthesized into applied research and business models in the 1980s and 1990s by Dr. Fernando Flores who is widely recognized for this work.
Building on this work Mikel began consulting with clients and over the years collaborated with colleagues to extend the material into the domains of intentional relationship design, team alignment, the use of narrative, and other leadership competencies. Mikel and his colleagues focused on creating methodologies and distinctions that are useful and applicable across a wide range of business settings and situations. We continue to evolve and adapt this work, establishing and refining methodologies and applications to address the growing variety of leadership situations and challenges.
These skills, combined with our in-depth knowledge and understanding of the range of industries we serve, produce increased levels of effectiveness in our and our clients’ execution, ability to lead change, and achieve overall business success.
Mikel developed a style of engagement where clients experience performance breakthroughs by cultivating awareness of any cognitive ‘blindness’ in both behavior and communication practices. They develop new insights that in turn generate new possibilities for action. This provides a wider range of choices for our clients to respond to their challenges and opportunities. We continue this work today.
Our consultants’ insights enable our clients to consider alternative possibilities and to see opportunities that others may have observed.
- Our material produces an understanding of the deep structure of human interaction in the workplace and across key stakeholder relationships, offering far more than a ‘tips and techniques’ approach.
- We focus on producing new listening and behavioral practices that go well beyond insights or peak experiences.
- We adapt our work and style to suit the requirements and unique aspects of each client, situation, and corporate setting, as opposed to deploying a ‘standard toolkit.’
The people that makeup VANRY Associates are a group of independent consultants that share a common view of the value that our work can deliver for our client organizations and the people who work in them. All of us have worked as employees in organizations such as yours and worked with Mikel to embody these practices in pragmatic environments. We are committed to each other, our work, and to the success of our clients. Our unique structure allows us to work together in ways that conventional company employee relationships would not support. Our commitment to our work is, in part, how we are continuing to build Mikel’s legacy.
*Original research from the works of Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela, University of Santiago/Berkley (cognitive biology); J.L. Austin and John Searle, Cambridge (linguistics); and Ludwig Wittgenstein, Martin Heidegger and Hubert Dreyfus (philosophy).