Leadership Training Consultants & Executive Coaching

Take a closer look at the stats of The Skilz Group Dream Team:

Dale Sundermann, MSW, MHC

Co-Founder & Senior Partner

Dale is the founding member and currently a senior partner in The Skilz Group, a training and organizational development firm that specializes in helping leaders at all levels master the “people skills” critical to their long-term success.  He also serves as the Family Advocacy Outreach Manager for the Department of Defense USAF at Offutt AFB.

Prior to founding The Skilz Group, Dale spent four years as a Consultant with Best Care Employee Assistance Program.  There he delivered over 50 hours of training, consulting, and coaching services a month to some 240 client companies.  He has also traveled extensively in the United States, facilitating dozens of management and leadership programs for SkillPath Seminars.

Dale’s resume includes six years as an officer in the United States Air Force where the SOAR to Excellence Program he developed and facilitated was nominated as a U.S. Air Force Best Practice.  His passionate commitment to personal development has been shaped by his experiences as a high school teacher and coach, a licensed mental health professional, and a father of four boys.

Dale is an experienced Executive Coach as well as a licensed facilitator for the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and the Insight Personality Spectrum™.  He is also actively involved in Toastmasters International and has earned awards as one of the region’s top speakers.

He co-authored, Positive Interventions: From Prevention to Amplification; in 2014 Wiley Blackwell text, An Introduction to Contemporary Work Psychology edited by Maria C.W. Peeters, Jan De Jonge and Toon W. Taris.

Dale earned his BA in History and Political Science from Jamestown College in 1993 and his MSW in Clinical Social Work from the University of Missouri in 1996.  In 2015 he completed studies for Masters in Human Capital Management at Bellevue University.  His doctoral dissertation research: The influence of supervisor Psychological Capital and Implicit Mindsets on employee Psychological Capital and Engagement.

Caren-Houlton-Dean, MS

Certified Gallup Strengths Coach & Senior Consultant

Caren is a leadership consultant, public speaker, trainer, executive Gallup’s strengths and Wellbeing coach.  She is passionate about inspiring, motivating and making a positive and measurable impact on each and every individual, team and organization she works with.  As a collegiate athlete and a study of Behavioral Cognitive Psychology Caren has always been motivated by figuring out how people can be their best selves, connect with their talents and inspire them to find their WHY in what they do.

She is a Senior Talent Development Consultant with WoodmenLife where she has the opportunity to serve its associates in the areas of Strength Based Development & Leadership, the essentials of wellbeing, engagement and coaching. She is the Wellness Ambassador to her Human Resource team and loves any opportunity to inspire those around her to be mindful about their journey of Wellbeing.

Caren is also a Senior Executive Coach and Consultant with the Skilz Group LLC, which specializes in the development of organizational leadership, Human Capital Performance, coaching and consulting.  She is the Senior Consulting Coach who focuses on the use of Gallup Strengths and Transformation Leadership to coach her clients and client companies to higher levels of success and Wellbeing.

Formally, she was a Training Development Consultant for Best Care EAP with Methodist Health System. There she was responsible for developing over 70 training programs, serving over 200 client companies and developing curriculum around the essentials of wellbeing.

In addition, to her Training and Consulting experience she has taught at the collegiate level for over ten years with and emphasis in Psychology, Sociology and Human Relations.  She thoroughly enjoys the interactive abilities found in the classroom and has great success in leading diverse groups.

Caren is a Co-owner to her private business that she started 16 years ago.  This opportunity has really afforded her an ability to run a business that has shown fiscal growth each year despite the falling economic times.  She has also demonstrated her entrepreneurial spirit in working with her volunteers, charity groups and fundraising groups. Through these efforts her business provides over 14 tons of donations yearly for children and families in need in Eastern Nebraska and Western Iowa area as well as to orphanages in the Dominican Republic.

Caren received her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara and a Master’s Degree in Clinical Social Work from San Diego State University.  She holds a National Clinical License and is a Certified ATD Executive Coach and a Gallup Certified Strengths Coach.

Caren has over 25 years of experience in consulting, training, counseling, and instructional design and facilitation.  Caren is passionate about great leadership and Wellbeing and its impact on individual’s productivity and organizational effectiveness.  Her strengths lie in areas of transformational leadership, employee and organizational wellness, developing and motivating employees and enhancing employee engagement.

David Dechant, MS, CCP

Co-Founder & Senior Consultant

David Dechant is a fifteen-year veteran of applying psychology to the challenges of engaging, leveraging, and retaining the talent organizations need to thrive. He crafts and presents high-energy, interactive management and leadership training for The Skilz Group as well as Best Care Employee Assistance Program. To date, he has developed over 100 hours of training which he’s delivered to some 50,000 participants – 75% of whom have rated his facilitation as “Excellent!”

David’s fascination with leadership ignited early. His first job out of high school was as a team lead for a hybrid seed company in Liberal, Kansas. Like 80% of first-time supervisors, he had received no formal management training and so fell back upon techniques gleaned from television and film. The “scorched-earth” leadership approach he cobbled together didn’t sit well with his crew. David consequently joined the ranks of the 40% of first-time leaders who “crash and burn” their first 18-months on the job.

At this point, David elected to explore other opportunities. He earned Bachelor and Master’s Degrees in theater, and after stints as a high school teacher and professional actor, settled into a successful career in copywriting and publications editing.

However, David’s fascination with the art of leadership never dimmed. He returned to graduate school and earned a second Master’s Degree, this one in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the University of Nebraska. After five years with the Nebraska Department of Labor, he joined Best Care Employee Assistance Program. There he met Dale Sundermann. Together they designed and delivered management and leadership training for its 200 client companies. Energized by their collaboration, they launched The Skilz Group in 2009.

David is also a licensed Insight Personality Spectrum™ facilitator and a certified Executive and Life Coach with the Certified Coaches Federation.