Thad Lacinak - Whale Done Parenting: How to Make Parenting a Positive Experience for You and Your Kids

Authors from left to right, Thad Lacinak, Jim Ballard, Ken Blanchard, Chuck Tompkins

Ken Blanchard

Ken Blanchard has had an extraordinary impact on the day-to-day management of millions of people and thousands of companies. He is a prominent, gregarious, sought-after author, speaker, and consultant.

Ken is the coauthor of many best-selling books, including the international blockbuster The One Minute Manager and such other best sellers as Leadership and the One Minute Manager, Raving Fans, Gung Ho!, Empowerment Takes More Than a Minute, Whale Done!, Managing by Values, Full Steam Ahead, The Secret, and Know Can Do! His books have combined sales of more than twenty million copies in more than thirty languages. In 2005, Ken was inducted into Amazons Hall of Fame as one of the top twenty-five best-selling authors of all time. The College of Business at Grand Canyon University bears his name.

Ken serves as the chief spiritual officer of The Ken Blanchard Companies, an international management training and consulting firm that he and his wife, Dr. Marjorie Blanchard, founded in 1979. He is also coauthor of Lead Like Jesus and cofounder of Lead Like Jesus, a nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring and equipping people to become servant leaders and lead like Jesus. Ken and Margie live in San Diego.

Thad Lacinak

Thad is founder and co-owner of a behavioral consulting company, Precision Behavior. He is a former partner and vice president of behavioral programs at Ocean Embassy, Inc. In this role, he participated in international project development and consulting and works to advance animal behavior modification techniques within the zoological community. Thad was also integral to the instructional division of the company, teaching positive reinforcement-based courses to both zoological and corporate clients.

Prior to joining Ocean Embassy, Thad retired from a thirty-five-year career at Busch Entertainment Corporation (BEC), as vice president and corporate curator of animal training, where he directed animal training and enrichment efforts at all U.S. SeaWorld and Busch Gardens Theme Parks. He oversaw and coordinated the efforts of over 450 animal trainers and keepers at these parks.

Thad was instrumental in developing SeaWorlds and Busch Gardens industry-leading behavior and training techniques, husbandry procedures, and spectacular killer whale shows. He led the team that won the prestigious Thea Award from the Themed Entertainment Association in 2007 for the Believe killer whale show. In addition, he has won numerous awards for presentations and workshops at professional conferences.

Thad is a founding member and former president of the Animal Behavior Management Alliance as well as a former vice president of the International Marine Animal Trainers Association. He is also a member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the Society for Marine Mammalogy, and the Association for Behavior Analysis. Since coauthoring Whale Done! in 2001, Thad continues to present keynote speeches, seminars, and workshops globally to major corporations explaining the Whale Done process, vastly improving working relationships. He also conducts animal training seminars specializing in aggression, agility, obedience, and many other areas in the use of operant conditioning for behavior modification.

Thad may be booked for speaking engagements based on Whale Done! and Whale Done Parenting. He may also be contacted for specific topics such as team building, keys to positive leadership, and executive management. He resides in Orlando, Florida, and may be contacted for a keynote, seminar, workshop, or executive retreat at tlacinak@gmail.com.

Chuck Tompkins

Chuck is currently corporate curator of zoological operations for Busch Entertainment Corporation (BEC). His tenure spans more than three decades of service with BEC, much of that time served as vice president of animal training for SeaWorld Orlando.

Chuck has training experience with more than 100 species, including killer whales, dolphins, pinnipeds, primates, birds of prey, hoofed stock, and canines. He also is a Florida state-certified and federally permitted master falconer. Chuck has authored and coauthored more than a dozen peer-reviewed scientific papers on training and behavior modification and has been honored many times by the International Marine Animal Trainers Association.

In 2001 Chuck coauthored a New York Times best seller, Whale Done!, with Ken Blanchard, Thad Lacinak, and Jim Ballard. He frequently presents keynote speeches nationally promoting the power of positive relationships at work and home.

Chuck holds professional memberships in the International Marine Animal Trainers Association, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, and the Animal Behavior Management Alliance. Chuck has served as the training advisor for Canine Companions for Independence (Florida Region), on the executive board for the Central Florida Blood Bank, the executive board for the Boys and Girls Club, and the executive board of the American Cancer Society.

Chuck resides in Windermere, Florida, with his wife Kathy, and two sons, Cody and Jared.

Jim Ballard

Jim Ballard spent ten years in schools as a teacher, guidance counselor, and principal, then another ten years conducting teacher training seminars in classroom management, team building, and affective curriculum. When he met Ken Blanchard in 1973, Jim moved into corporate training. As a consulting partner with The Ken Blanchard Companies, he designed and facilitated award-winning management courses and coauthored six books with Ken.

On his own Jim has published Whats the Rush?, Mind Like Water, and Little Wave and Old Swell: A Parable of Life and Its Passing. His role in Whale Done Parenting has been to compile the stories and suggestions of his coauthors and work them into a parable. His writing focuses on the themes of positive relationships, change, and empowering people to deal with problems like information overload.

Jim is a life coach and president of LifeCrafters.com, an organization that assists people to discover and live out their stories. LifeCrafters also helps organizations to develop stories that capture and express their identity in short engaging tales to build loyalty with customers and employees. Visit www.myjimballard.com .

Ken

I would like to acknowledge Ted and Dorothy Blanchard, who got me started on the right foot. I believe they were Whale Done parents. Id also like to acknowledge my partner, Margie Blanchard, who models everything we teach. I would also like to acknowledge my friend and in-house editor Martha Lawrence for her hard work in preparing the manuscript for publication. I also thank Steve Piersanti, president and publisher at Berrett-Koehler, for his openness to venture with us into this new subject area of parenting.

Thad

I would like to acknowledge my beautiful daughter Michele, her husband Matt, my son Philip, and their wonderful and loving mother Barbara, who utilized the Whale Done approach in raising both of them. This approach has now been passed down to our handsome grandson Joshua, who happens to be the inspiration for many of the examples in this book. Josh, you are the most precious gift to all of us.

Chuck

I would like to acknowledge my loving wife Kathy, whom I have been married to for twenty-eight years. She has been my guiding light and inspiration during my entire journey of Whale Done. Without her wonderful spirit and support, I would never have seen my potential or the impact I could have on this world. I would also like to recognize my sons, Cody and Jared, two beautiful souls who have blessed their parents with more than one can imagine.