An American Success Story - Jack Ballard Remembered
Released on = March 18, 2006, 11:25 am
Press Release Author = TPLS Corporation
Industry = Education
Press Release Summary = From a small town all-state linebacker, to a Princeton Magna Cum Laude graduate, Mobil Oil executive, board member and chairman of internationally renowned Wainwright House, to founder of Turning Points, John W. (Jack) Ballard lived a true American success story. On Thursday, February 9, 2006, John W. (Jack) Ballard passed away at his home in Hightstown, New Jersey. His life serves as an example of a life dedicated to the ideal of service to humanity.
Press Release Body = Hightstown, NJ - March 13, 2006 - From a small town all-state linebacker, to a Princeton Magna Cum Laude graduate, Mobil Oil executive, board member and chairman of internationally renowned Wainwright House, to founder of Turning Points, John W. (Jack) Ballard lived a true American success story. On Thursday, February 9, 2006, John W. (Jack) Ballard passed away at his home in Hightstown, New Jersey. His life serves as an example of a life dedicated to the ideal of service to humanity.
Born March 30, 1927, in Mason City, Iowa, Jack Ballard graduated from University City High School in St Louis, Missouri. An all-state Linebacker, he was an Order of the Arrow Eagle Scout who was honored to escort Sir Winston Churchill around St. Louis during a visit to the U.S. during World War II. Upon graduation, Ballard enlisted and served in the U.S. Navy and was offered an athletic scholarship to attend the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis. Instead he accepted an academic scholarship at Princeton University. In 1950 he graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in International Affairs, then completed his graduate studies at Columbia University Business School, where he earned a Master's Degree in Economics.
Ballard had a 30-year career with Mobil Oil International, during which he held executive positions in the fields of human resources and energy economics. In 1971, as a personnel manager overseeing 3,000 executives in 100 countries, he assigned himself the "Human Resources Manager" title - making him one of the first in corporate America to use the term. His innovative style later gave him the opportunity to head up a landmark project to train Saudi Arabian workers to take over all refinery operations from foreign workers.
Jack met his wife Phoebe on a blind date, and soon began a marriage that lasted 55 years. Ballard's career took him and his family to over 40 countries and every continent around the world. After retiring, he worked for Mobil as a consultant and trainer, educating mid-level managers worldwide in the economics of the oil industry. Ballard also spent two years "on loan" to the New York Urban Coalition, where he was responsible for personnel and finance. While at the Coalition, he started an innovative program to allow Harlem residents to own their homes, but soon became disillusioned with the politics that prevented the program from expanding.
During the 50's the Ballards became involved in the Laymen's Movement; a group of spiritually-minded businessmen who influenced business leaders to apply their highest values in everyday work. The Receptive Listening Course at Wainwright House was a formative experience for them, where participants quickly discovered that a listener is much more effective if he or she has self-understanding (to listen to another we first need to listen to ourselves). For the next twenty five years, the Ballards were an integral part of Wainwright House. Phoebe served as Assistant Director for years. In 1968 Jack was a trainer in the Innovative Management Program, to "help the individual manager to become a more mature, creative person who can in turn help others to develop".
1n 1984, Jack and Phoebe introduced the Turning Points companies - authoring and leading the Third Half of Life (THL) seminars, starting with the \"Going for the Gold\" life transition workshop. These intensive seminars used narrative assessments and receptive listening exercises to help retiring professionals and their spouses make decisions about how they would live in their golden years. During the 1980\'s, the Ballards trained over 400 individuals. They wrote and self-published 2 books, Beating the Age Game - Redefining Retirement and Turning Points - Create Your Path Through Uncertainly and Change. "They were visible examples, "pioneers" I called them, of living lives of purpose and meaning, paving the way for their own generation and for the larger cohort of baby-boomers that would follow." said former Turning Points CEO Steve Ristau, recalling the first time he met Jack & Phoebe Ballard.
More than 20 years after they began, the world has caught up with Phoebe and Jack Ballard. Turning Points is now on the internet, publishing a new edition of the Turning Points book, and rolling out a national network of providers. Their vision is finally coming true. Meg Newhouse is a life coach in Boston, who said of Jack Ballard: "He had... a wonderful life and very positively impacted a lot of people, including me." In 2002, Jack and Phoebe's son Mike took over management of the company. Under his leadership, Turning Points recently completed the Turning Points NavigatorT and Career NavigatorT online products. When word of Ballard's death went out, many Turning Points students sent emails, including CU Alumna Myria Crawford, who wrote: ".Your father has left a great legacy in the Turning Points Program."
In the next 5 years, millions of Americans will reach turning points in their lives, and Turning Points providers nationwide will be positioned to assist them. A new version of the Turning Points book will be out soon, revised and edited to speak to a wider range of adults. College and university career centers continue to add Career NavigatorT assessments and workshops to their counseling and course offerings. More students, alumni, and professionals will subscribe to Turning Points NavigatorT in order to build the foundation for discovering the meaning and purpose of their lives.
Jack Ballard is survived by his beloved wife Phoebe, three sons, a daughter-in-law, two grandchildren, and many cousins, nieces, nephews and friends. He will be sorely missed and fondly remembered by family and friends alike. A Memorial Service will be held at 11:30am on May 13, 2006 at Round Hill Church in Greenwich, Connecticut to honor the life of a man who dedicated his life to the development of human potential.
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About Turning Points
Turning Points is a family business founded by Jack and Phoebe Ballard in the 1980's. Its original mission was to serve retiring baby boomers through workshops and seminars. Two books and hundreds of students later, it was concluded that the need for transition management skills and tools exists across the spectrum of age, profession and careers. In late 2002, son Mike took over management of the company and added the online assessments, which resulted in the new hybrid curriculum.
Turning Points provides volume discounts and training programs for college Career Centers, Career Counselors, Human Resource managers, Financial and Estate Planners, and Certified Life Coaches. Authorized providers receive trainer training, Leader's Guides with a plug-and-play curriculum, discounts for Turning Points books, and subscriptions to online assessments. Certifications for qualified career services professionals or independent providers are available. (www.TPNavigator.com)
About Wainwright House
Wainwright House is not affiliated with any church, religion, or any particular spiritual or philosophical path. It is a sanctuary where all these ideas and cultural traditions can be remembered, re-experienced and re-discovered for the 21st Century. It is one of the original centers of The Human Potential movement, offering a broad spectrum of psychological and philosophical approaches to the development of consciousness and growth of the whole person towards fulfillment and self-actualization.
The roots of Wainwright House go back to 1941, to informal meetings of a small group of business and professional men, who united to deepen their part in building spirituality into the life of the world. In 1949, under Secretary General Trygve Lie, the Movement was responsible for the establishment of a meditation room at the U.N. and for the opening and closing of each General Assembly session with a moment of silent prayer and meditation. It was further instrumental in having a prayer room set aside at the nation's capitol.
Such notable names as Dwight D. Eisenhower, J.C. Penny, John D. Rockefeller Jr., Francis Sayers, Wallace Spears, Weyman Huckabee, R.W. Woodruff, Conrad Hilton, William Demorest., Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, Gerald Heard, Robert Greenleaf, Jean Houston, Louis Mobley, Ralph Bunche, Laurens Van der Post, Rebecca Beard, Aldous Huxley, Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, Arthur Young, Joseph Campbell and the Dalai Lama have all been associated with this great institution.
The development of affiliations with Hudson River Counseling Services, the Teilhard Association, the C.G. Jung Foundation in New York and others have resulted in the creation of nine learning Centers at Wainwright House. Over the years Wainwright House has become one of the world's foremost learning institutions in the disciplines of humanistic and transpersonal psychology, offering a wide range of courses, seminars, and conferences. (www.Wainright.org/history.htm) ###
Web Site = http://www.TPNavigator.com
Contact Details = Mike Ballard 1580 St Paul St Suite 4 Denver, CO 80206 720.641.5919 - mike@tpnavigator.com