| Rodger Dean Duncan | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 18, 1944 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma |
| Education | Baylor University Brigham Young University Purdue University |
| Occupation | Business consultant, author, professional speaker |
| Political party | Republican |
| Religion | Christian |
| Spouse | Rean Robbins (married 1967) |
| Website | |
| http://www.duncanworldwide.com | |
Rodger Dean Duncan (born March 18, 1944 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) is an American business consultant and author whose focus is leadership, human performance, and the strategic management of change. Bestselling author Stephen R. Covey calls Duncan’s work on leadership "brilliantly insightful, inspiring – profound, yet user friendly – visionary, yet highly practical."[1] Duncan's consulting and coaching clients include executives and leaders from some of the world's most prominent companies in a wide range of industries.
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After working at F.I. duPont, Glore Forgan & Co.,[2] the Wall Street operations of Texas businessman H. Ross Perot, Duncan started his consulting career in 1972. His first client was the Executive Office of the President of the United States. He served as communication counsel to cabinet officers under both Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. He later served in a similar capacity for Republican U.S. Senators Richard Lugar, Orrin Hatch, and Howard Baker.[3]
One of Duncan’s early corporate clients was Campbell Soup Company, which in 1978 hired him to run its worldwide communication operations.[3]
Since the early 1980s, Duncan’s consulting work has focused on leadership development, organizational culture, human performance, and change management issues. His private sector clients have included IBM, American Airlines, Eli Lilly and Company, Consolidated Edison of New York, Hallmark Cards, Sprint, Black & Veatch, eBay, Texas Instruments, and many others. In the public sector, Duncan has served the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Tennessee Valley Authority, Bonneville Power Administration, the Federal Reserve Bank, and the United States Army.[4]
Duncan holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Baylor University (1966) where he studied American literature and psychology. At Baylor he was active in student government, president of his senior class, president of Sigma Tau Delta literary society, and an honor student.[5]
In 1971 he earned a Master of Arts in communications degree at Brigham Young University, where he also served on the faculty in the Communications Department and was managing director of University Publications.[6]
In 1976, Duncan earned a Ph.D. in organizational communication at Purdue University. He also served on the Purdue faculty, teaching both undergraduate and graduate courses.[7]
While an undergraduate at Baylor University, Duncan started a career in journalism as a staff writer for The Waco Tribune-Herald.[8] He had never taken a course in journalism, but the editors of the local newspaper gave him a chance. Duncan later served as religion editor of The Salt Lake Tribune.[8]
In early 1968 Duncan joined the reporting staff at The Fort Worth Star-Telegram where he covered business and politics.[8] His coverage of the Texas gubernatorial campaign that year, as well as his reporting on the national presidential campaign, attracted the attention of Jim Lehrer (now of television fame on the PBS NewsHour) who was a young editor at The Dallas Times Herald. Lehrer persuaded Duncan to move to Dallas where he continued to cover politics but also served as an investigative reporter.[8] As a young journalist, Duncan interviewed people from a range of backgrounds, including U.S. president Lyndon Johnson,[9] comedian Jack Benny,[10] Baroness Maria von Trapp,[10] cardiac surgery pioneer Michael DeBakey,[11] historian Arnold Toynbee,[10] pollster George Gallup,[12] artist Norman Rockwell,[13] and anthropologist Margaret Mead.[13]
Duncan’s reporting earned awards from the American Bar Association and the Associated Press.[8] At the age of 24, he was hired as editor of both The Texarkana Gazette and The Texarkana Daily News. One of the reporters he hired to work with him in Texarkana was Stanley R. Tiner,[8] who years later would lead The Sun Herald newspaper in Biloxi-Gulfport, Mississippi, to the Pulitzer Prize.[8]
In addition to his editing and reporting, in his early career Duncan was a freelance writer. His articles appeared in a range of newspapers including The Christian Science Monitor¸ The New York Times, The National Observer, and The Denver Post. He also wrote for several magazines such as Parade, Family Weekly, Boy's Life, Writers Digest, and The Saturday Evening Post.[8]
While a young journalist, Duncan wrote “Tongue in Cheek,” a column that was syndicated nationally to small and medium-sized newspapers.[8] Today Duncan writes an Internet column titled “The Duncan Report,” which focuses on leadership and performance improvement issues. The column reaches opt-in business subscribers in more than 130 countries.[14]
In 2002 Duncan and co-author Ed J. Pinegar, published Leadership for Saints, a book focused on principles and skills for Church lay leaders, but also applicable for a wider audience.[10]
In 2011 he will launch his next book, entitled Change-Friendly: How to Engage People’s Heads, Hearts, and Hopes.
Duncan is the second of four children of Marion Claude Duncan and Helen Colleen Stone Duncan, and is a descendant of George Rogers Clark, a prominent American military officer during the American Revolutionary War. His older brother is Stephen M. Duncan, who served as Assistant Secretary of Defense under U.S. Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush and is a recognized expert on national security issues.[15]
Duncan lives with his wife Rean Robbins in their family home just outside of Kansas City, Missouri. They are parents of three grown daughters and a son, and have 11 grandchildren.
In addition to working with a number of local community groups, Duncan is involved in a range of issues on the national level. He served two terms on the Advisory Council of the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations[16] and is a charter member of the Advisory Board of the CAMIE Awards (Character And Morality In Entertainment).[17] In late 2009 he presented a CAMIE Award to the Hallmark Hall of Fame for its television production of "Front of the Class."