Don Kiehl
Phone: 425-398-8729
donaldkiehl@comcast.net
Don Kiehl is a Managing Director for SIMA International. His primary role is to support other SIMA members as they help individuals and institutions discover the ways that people have been designed for productivity and satisfaction.
Don has been a part of SIMA since 1990. He is an expert at conducting the SIMA® interview aimed at uncovering a person’s native strengths, then crafting an explanatory description of the way that individual can best make a contribution to his/her organization, family, and society.
Don’s passion for his work stems from an awareness that every person possesses a valuable set of core strengths that, when developed and used appropriately, results in deep satisfaction. He also recognizes that most people have never grasped the essence of who they are or who they are intended to be. Many have a suspicion that they are miscast in their current role, or else have wandered down a vocational path that does not fit them well. But because no one has helped them identify and articulate their strengths, they remain frustrated and unable to make choices that would allow them to simultaneously express their individuality and contribute to the success of others.
Don listens to people tell him stories of achievements that have brought them the greatest meaning and satisfaction, and carefully notes both what they choose to describe and the language with which they describe it. By that means he is able to bring to light numerous themes that have characterized their life and the strengths that will continue to animate them to work in a way that allows them to do their best.
Don himself is motivated to bring ideas to life, to wrap his mental arms around complex concepts and reduce them to expression, and to be a unique voice in a world of conformity and groupthink. He delights in entertaining grand themes, thinking deeply, writing well, and then “zigging” when all around him are given on “zagging.”
Don’s love of words showed up early. In fourth grade he was selected by his teacher to read the novel Heidi to his class for 15 minutes each day. He quickly discovered how fun it could be to try, on the spot, to rearrange the words in the sentences without anyone suspecting he was toying with the text. In graduate school, he conducted a statistical analysis of the verbs associated with the various Hebrew names for God in Genesis. More recently, he wrote and performed-on the piano, with a real singer singing-a song for his daughter’s wedding, and constructed a 226-clue crossword puzzle for guests who would otherwise be bored at the reception.
Don has been a minister, radio talk-show host, proofreader, and executive-recruitment researcher. He also has played the organ in a Beach Boy’s tribute band, and performed at Disneyland as a trombone-playing member of a fully costumed roving polka band. He is especially proud of being acknowledged on page 134 of The 1984 Bill James Baseball Abstract.
Education:
Simpson University, B.A. in history
Graduate work at Alliance Theological Seminary (Nyack, New York) and Fuller Theological Seminary (Pasadena, California)
