
Consultant at Gallup
Washington D.C. Metro Area

Consultant at Gallup
Washington D.C. Metro Area
Stephen facilitates sessions for businesses and nonprofit organizations that enhance both customer and employee engagement by empowering employees to apply their talents and strengths to optimize performance in their roles. Since joining Gallup, he has worked with clients in health care, financial services retail, government, and education.
Prior to joining Gallup, Stephen was with USA TODAY for nearly 20 years. A nine-time recipient of the company’s Jewell Award, which recognizes employees for outstanding performance and commitment to excellence, his roles at USA TODAY included management positions in technology, marketing, and operations. When he left the company, Stephen was the newspaper’s National Subscriptions Manager. In this role, he led a team that expanded USA TODAY’s home delivery footprint from 20 million to more than 45 million households through delivery partnerships with other newspapers. He was also responsible for developing and rolling out operational best practices for all of USA TODAY’s 17 markets. This experience has given Stephen a passion for operationalizing concepts and he’s constantly stressing the practicalities of new learnings.
Stephen’s Gallup journey began while with USA TODAY as he managed a team through several years of employee engagement programs. He also served as a leader of the Strengths Every Day program for the paper’s National Customer Service and Market Services departments.
Stephen is a freelance writer and has published articles in such publications as Rev magazine and Next-Wave. He has also written chapters for two books treating the nexus of technology and religion. In addition, while at USA TODAY, Stephen published and edited an internal newsletter.
Shields received his bachelor’s degree in Classical and Koine Greek and Biblical studies from Bryan College in Dayton, Tennessee and received a Master of Divinity degree from Grace Theological Seminary in Winona Lake, Indiana.
conflict resolution, management, employee engagement, strengths performance coaching for individuals and for teams, human sigma, performance optimization, customer engagement, patient engagement.
(Privately Held; 1001-5000 employees; Management Consulting industry)
June 2008 — Present (1 year 9 months)
"Recent advances in economics, psychology, and management sciences -- along with our own research -- have led us to discover how organizations can grow by developing highly engaged customers and building powerful, engaged workforces of talented employees.
Our consultants are trusted advisors to many of the world's leading companies. Our approach enables us to identify, develop, and implement solutions that align with our clients' visions and strategies."
(Religious Institutions industry)
2001 — Present (9 years )
articles for various online and print outlets such as Next-Wave journal, Rev Magazine, and Leadership Network. chapter contributions to a forthcoming book from Crossway Books and also the Wikiklesia project.
(Religious Institutions industry)
May 2001 — Present (8 years 10 months)
(Public Company; Newspapers industry)
January 2002 — June 2008 (6 years 6 months)
(Public Company; Newspapers industry)
2001 — 2002 (1 year )
Supported USA TODAY's National Customer Service Center
(Religious Institutions industry)
July 1999 — January 2001 (1 year 7 months)
served on Executive Team and lead small groups and adult education
(Public Company; Newspapers industry)
1996 — 2000 (4 years )
M.Div , Theology , 1983 — 1986
1979 — 1983
theology, leadership, emerging church, missional church, postmodernity, organizational development, spiritual formation
Grace Community Church, Leadership Network, Next-Wave Journal, faithmaps blog
10x winner of USA TODAY's Jewell Award (1994-2007) - "In recognition of contributions above expectations in improving and implementing processes resulting in enhanced customer service and improved quality."