Wayne J. Gru is currently Adjunct Professor at DePaul University, College of Communication, Chicago, and McHenry County College (MCC) in Crystal Lake, IL. His tenure at both is currently 10 years. He also taught at Robert Morris University and the Morris School of Management in Chicago for 5 years. Wayne's repertoire includes business management focused on leadership development, professional communication, organizational change, ethics, and career management. He holds an MBA from Keller Graduate School, Chicago and a B.S. in Business Administration and Economics from Elmhurst College.
Wayne has an extensive background working with people and organizations in transition. Prior to teaching, he held senior leadership roles in the commercial equipment finance & leasing industry. These varied widely in terms of scope and responsibility, and include financial operations, risk and portfolio management, auditing, project management, training and development, change integration, relationship management and career development.
While organizational objectives, business processes and technology have been key components of these roles, each were ultimately tied to the engagement and motivation of the people involved. This is where he centered his focus and continues to do so in his academic work at DePaul, Robert Morris and MCC.
Wayne's execution entails a unique ability to absorb the organizational clutter, filter out the noise and leverage existing resources to maximize their potential. Through effective orchestration of people, business process and technology, he rapidly builds trust with all levels of the organization enabling the immediate development of a positive relationship, both one-on-one and in a team environment as the basis for operational action steps.
Wayne brings considerable experience, particularly in the area of team building, interpersonal skill development and professionalism, as the underpinning of the more technical career and business elements that are usually focused upon. He is known for consistently building strong, vibrant teams that exceed their own expectations.
He also offers expertise in terms of job search organization and its component parts and provides job search assistance to others as follows:
- facilitated job search work teams on behalf of the Executive Network of Greater Chicago
- provide assistance to individuals in search based on a developed networking experience and/or referral from other associates
- provide mentoring to students through the Elmhurst College, Center for Professional Excellence
- provided job search training as a volunteer instructor for Illinois Worknet, in Northern Cook County
- introduces a variety of outside speakers to his classes, bringing practical and actionable life-skills to his students demonstrating the value of sustainable relationship development.
Past work experience has also included roles in corporate training and development where he remains a certified trainer for Blessing White and their 'Helping Others Succeed', 'Managing Personal Growth' and 'Fast Start' programs. He has also participated as a mentor in employer sponsored programs and provided this role informally as requested.