Drawing on decades of experience in managerial and executive roles, Barry Denton now offers leadership consulting services on a freelance basis.
Leadership Consultant
Barry Denton is no stranger to taking the helm of a project. Throughout his career, he has had the valuable opportunity to develop his leadership skills by working within a team. Breaking down the barrier leaders often pose between themselves and their team members have proven particularly powerful for Denton over the years. Along the way, he’s realized that working in tandem with his team, rather than from a control standpoint, is often most productive. An inclusive leader, Denton strives to incorporate the views and ideas of all members of his team. When working as a mentor and leadership consultant, he often reminds his clients of the value in this notion. After all, a leader is only ever as strong as his/her whole team!
Barry Denton’s leadership consulting services walk his clients through projects, from A to Z. Offering up an outside perspective, Denton is able to zoom in on what’s working for a client’s ventures — and what isn’t. Available at all stages of the business process, Denton has worked with entrepreneurs launching startups and seasoned venture leaders. What he has found is that regardless of experience, all leaders can benefit from an outside analysis. When working with a client, the leadership consultant often recommends books that he thinks apply to his client’s unique situation. For years, Denton has gravitated towards biographies and true stories. In his view, these stories remind us of the fact that, outside of someone’s current project, a variety of real life factors impact a leader’s process. Enriched by anecdotes, leadership books based on true stories draw an author’s advice into the real world. (A reminder that even the most powerful leader is human!)
Social Media Development
Denton’s Consulting work also includes social media development. Social media is one of the most effective ways to improve engagement with customers and potential clients while also giving your brand a stronger identity. Denton has helped run the social media accounts of local, state and larger scale businesses as well as nonprofits.
Leadership Books
In his spare time, Barry Denton enjoys reading leadership books to keep in touch with the current best practices. Although he appreciates guide style titles like Mark Sanborn’s ‘The Intention Imperative: 3 Essential Changes That Will Make You a Successful Leader Today’, Denton’s personal library is primarily made up of biography style stories. Leadership, as he explains, isn’t specific to an industry or field — rather, it is a universal role. With this in mind, Barry Denton values the opportunity to learn from the life experiences and anecdotes of writers
whose personal life experiences solidifies his belief that leadership is learned through experience — not simply taught in a 1, 2, 3 style guide!
A style he has become known for in his own published works, Barry Denton has always preferred guides infused with real life experiences. The anecdotal approach enriches the reality and truth of the books, rather than offering up ambiguous advice without proof of efficacy — or possibility in the real world. Here is a list of leadership books (based on true stories!) that Denton often recommends to his leadership consulting clients:
The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life by Alice Shroeder (2008)- Business the Richard Branson Way: 10 Secrets of the World’s Greatest Brand Builder by Des Dearlove (1998)
- Think Like Zuck: The Five Business Secrets of Facebook’s Improbably Brilliant CEO Mark Zuckerberg by Ekaterina Walter (2012)
- Start Something That Matters by Blake Mycoskie (2012)