User:Mcgeej/AllanCox

Allan Cox (born in 1937 in Oak Park, Illinois) is an American consultant and author based in Chicago and San Diego specializing in CEO-level executive and board development, corporate alignment, and organizational development. Cox is CEO of Allan Cox & Associates, which he founded in 1969.

Cox has a B.A. in social science and an M.A. in sociology from Northern Illinois University. He also studied at the Adler School of Professional Psychology in Chicago.

Cox has authored eight books on organizations and management including Confessions of a Corporate Headhunter (1973), which was the first book published on the topic of corporate headhunting, to Your Inner CEO: Unleash the Executive Within (2007). He has written a series for the New York Times Sunday business section and Field Newspaper syndicate; articles for Chief Executive, Across the Board, Industry Week, Training & Development Journal, Success, and Advertising Age. From 1986 to 1990 he wrote a weekly column for Los Angeles Times Syndicate entitled “The Achiever.” His 1985 book, The Making of the Achiever, was made into a six-cassette program for Nightingale-Conant and his 1990 book on teamwork—Straight Talk for Monday Morning—led to a four-part video series produced by the Bureau of Business Practice—Straight Talk on Teams.

Half-way through McCormick Theological Seminary, on his way to becoming a Presbyterian minister, Cox changed course and enrolled in what was then called The Alfred Adler Institute of Chicago, a non-degree granting, post-graduate organization, studying Adlerian psychology at night and working by day as a management consultant. He became an executive search consultant with Spencer Stuart & Associates, then the largest global search firm in existence, and served on its management committee. Two years later, he left to found the firm that bears his name to broaden his personal practice to include CEO coaching, top team development and helping organizations and their people rediscover and articulate their purpose and singularity.

Much of Cox’s writing and consulting work are explicitly grounded in Alfred Adler’s theories and practices. For example, Adler’s concepts of “social interest” and “style-of-life” underscore the Foreward he wrote for the book, Leadership by Encouragement, authored by Drs. Don Dinkmeyer and Daniel Eckstein. The same can be said for his chapter, “The Power of Team,” which leads off the human resources section of the anthology, The Best of Chief Executive (magazine), compiled and edited by J.P. Donlon. The November-December (?), 2007 issue of the North American Society of Adlerian Psychology referred to Cox as “Adlerian to the bone,” quoting Adler scholar, Dr. Erik Mansager.

Board and Community Service
University of Chicago Divinity School. Visiting Committee. 1996-2005

Amateur Baseball Incorporated. Chairman. 1995-2000

Chicago Center for Ethics and Corporate Policy. Chairman. 1985-1990

Chicago Business-Industrial Project. Board Director. 1965-1967

Illinois Council on Family Relations. Treasurer. 1963-1965.