Beverly Flaxington

Beverly D. Flaxington is an American businesswoman and founder of The Collaborative.^[1] Flaxington is the author of seven books on personal and professional development, including the best-sellers Understanding Other People: The Five Secrets to Human Behavior and Make Your SHIFT: The Five Most Powerful Moves You Can Make to Get Where YOU Want to Go.^[2][3]

Education and Early Career

Flaxington earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA) (1983) and an Master of Business Administration (MBA) (1984) from Suffolk University.^[4] She started her career with executive search firm E.J. Rhodes Associates^[5] and then held several sales, business development and business operations positions within the investment sector of John Hancock Financial Services before co-founding The Collaborative, a consulting firm, in 1995.^[6]

The Collaborative

The Collaborative is a sales and marketing consultancy.^[7] In 2008, The Collaborative released AdvisorsTrustedAdvisor.com, a website for financial advisers.^[8] The Collaborative has created a number of coaching and training tools.^[9] The 7 Steps to Effective Business Building for Financial Advisors, as an example, is a seven-step selling and marketing training program, The Five Secrets of Successful Selling is a selling program that uses the principles outlined in the book Make the SHIFT: The Proven Five-Step Plan to Success for Corporate Teams.^[6] The S.H.I.F.T. Model is a problem-solving program.^[10] Broken into five steps - Specifying the Desired Outcome, Highlighting Obstacles and Categorizing, Identifying the Human Factor, Finding Your Alternatives and Taking Disciplined Action - the process is intended to address behavioral change, goal achievement and business growth.^[11]

Books

Flaxington co-authored her first book, Wealth Building: A Consumer's Guide to Making Profitable and Comfortable Investment Decisions, with Lisa A. Cohen in 1998.^[12] In 2009, Flaxington released Understanding Other People: The Five Secrets to Human Behavior.^[13] The book is based upon research she did while creating a graduate class called Dealing With Difficult People for Suffolk University.^[10] The book won the gold award from Readers' Favorite in the Relationships category.^[14]

In 2011, she published Make the SHIFT: The Proven Five-Step Plan to Success for Corporate Teams. Based upon the S.H.I.F.T. model, it applied the tools she used for corporate clients in her consultancy. The same year, Make Your SHIFT: The Five Most Powerful Moves You Can Make to Get Where YOU Want to Go was published, which became a bestseller.^[15][16] The second book used the S.H.I.F.T. model again, applying its lessons for individuals who want to progress in their careers or achieve goals.^[10][17]

In 2012, she also released 30 Days to Understanding Other People: A Daily Guide to Improving Relationships, a daily guide for understanding human interactions.^[18] In 2013, Self-Talk for a Calmer You was published by Adams Media, which discussed how negative messages in the brain can lead to anxiety and depression, and included techniques to create positive messages for a calming effect.^[19] The approach involves taking negative imagery and counterbalancing it in order to alleviate anxiety and prevent depression.^[20][21] The book also deals with "self-talk triggers" that can prompt a negative feeling, and how they can be dealt with.^[22]

Accreditations and affiliations

Flaxington is certified hypnotist and hypnosis trainer, a Reiki master attunement practitioner, a certified professional behavioral analyst (CPBA) and certified professional values analyst (CPVA).^[23] She is a member of the Evolutionary Business Council, the Mentor's Guild and Inspire Me Today.^[24][25][26] She also serves on the faculty of Suffolk University as a lecturer, teaching Leadership and Social Responsibility to undergraduate students.^[27][28]

She is a regular contributor to Psychology Today with a column called Understand Other People, and writes an advice column for Advisor Perspectives.^[29][30] She is on the speaking roster for the CFA Institute, blogs for CEO Magazine, is a contributing member of the Women’s Toolbox and a past regular contributor for Brinker Capital.^[31][32][33] She has also contributed to InvestmentNews and USA Today.^[34][35][36] She hosted an online radio show through BlogTalkRadio, and hosts the program Human Behavior Coach TV on the Conscious Evolution Media network (CEM).^[37][38] In 2011, she contributed a column to the U.S. Daily Review, detailing how the principles of the S.H.I.F.T. Model could be applied to the Occupy Movement.^[39]

Bibliography

• Wealth Building: A Consumer's Guide to Making Profitable and Comfortable Investment Decisions, Lisa A. Cohen, Beverly D. Flaxington, Dearborn Financial Pub., 1998^[12]
• Understanding Other People: The Five Secrets to Human Behavior, Beverly D. Flaxington, Ata Press, 2009^[40]
• Make the Shift: The Proven Five-Step Plan to Success for Corporate Teams, Beverly D. Flaxington, Ata Press, 2011^[41]
• Make Your SHIFT: The Five Most Powerful Moves You Can Make to Get Where YOU Want to Go, Beverly D. Flaxington, Ata Press, 2011^[42]
• 30 Days to Understanding Other People: A Daily Guide to Improving Relationships, Beverly D. Flaxington, Ata Press, 2012^[43]
• Self-Talk for a Calmer You: Learn how to Use Positive Self-talk to Control Anxiety and Live a Happier, More Relaxed Life, Beverly Flaxington, Adams Media, Inc., 2013^[44]
• The 7 Steps to Effective Business Building for Financial Advisors, Beverly Flaxington^[45]

Patent

Flaxington is named on US Patent 8,533,017 - “Succession Planning for Registered Investment Advisors”^[46]

Personal life

Flaxington lives in Walpole, MA with her husband and their three children.^[47]

External links

• Official Site
• Advisors Trusted Advisor

References