Instructor

For nearly 40 years, Glenn Furuya, President & CEO of Leadership Works, has been devoted to growing people, teams and businesses through leadership training and development. Born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, he blends his island upbringing, Eastern heritage and Western education to develop and deliver concepts and philosophies that are critical for success in today's global economy.

With Bachelor and Master Degrees in Education from the University of Hawaii, Glenn began his career as a special education teacher in Hilo, an eight-year journey that taught him to lead. Faced with a classroom of adolescent children, many who had severe mental and emotional disabilities, he created an environment that inspired them to learn. Glenn was named one of Hawaii’s “Outstanding Young Educators.” While working as a teacher, Glenn also served as the head of advertising and assistant to the President at KTA Super Stores, a family-owned grocery chain on the Big Island of Hawaii. There he gained valuable business experiences and insights as a key member of a team tasked with transforming the organization into a modern retail entity.

In 1982, armed with profound knowledge in both education and business, Glenn left his teaching and market positions to pursue his passion for leadership and formed Leadership Works - a stand-out organization in the field of leadership development and business consulting.

Glenn is the founder of THE FIVE SEEDS™ Model, certified Social Style and Hay Assessment trainer and author of the book, The Little Book with 50 Big Ideas on Leadership, with nearly 20,000 copies distributed worldwide!

Glenn has studied with some of the top seminar and business leaders of our time, including Dr. W. Edwards Deming, the father of the quality movement in Japan. He works side-by-side with numerous leaders and organizations around the world, and was featured in PBS Hawaii’s Long Story Short with Leslie Wilcox.

Glenn’s extensive knowledge in leadership and process improvement, energetic and engaging method of teaching and ability to reach across cultures has made him one of the top leadership experts and educators in his field.