Susan Barksdale has been a consultant to numerous large corporations for the last 23 years. Prior to this she managed training and consulting departments for two financial consulting firms. She holds both graduate and undergraduate degrees from the University of Wisconsin. Before entering the performance improvement field in 1979 she was a psychotherapist at a major medical center and in private practice. Ms. Barksdale also taught a number of communication and behavior management courses at the University of Wisconsin — Milwaukee.