Ben Fearing, Ph.D.

Ben brings diverse consulting experience and a passion for helping leaders identify and commit to new success paths. At the heart of it, he loves helping clients and colleagues solve challenging, complex business problems. The partnership he builds with his clients provides a front row seat to that moment when a leader or team has a breakthrough, allowing him to help build the conviction needed to take action.

He specializes in providing assessments and coaching for leaders and leadership teams. Ben works across organizational levels and with a variety of industries including energy, utilities, retail, manufacturing, financial services, and healthcare. A partial list of Ben’s clients include: McDonald’s, Walgreens, Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, Sargent & Lundy, W.W. Grainger, AArete, Topco, Kerry Group, Ajinomoto, InvenTrust Properties, and Kansas City Southern.

Ben leads the energy and utility practice for the firm. His experience supporting hundreds of leaders in high-reliability, operationally excellent organizations has given him a clear understanding of the characteristics needed to be successful in driving high standards and sustainable results. In this sector, some of Ben’s clients have included Southern Company, Duke Energy, Omaha Power District, Entergy, Ameren, Tennessee Valley Authority, Entergy, Midwest Energy, and Dominion.

In addition to executive assessment and coaching, Ben’s experience includes support for organizational effectiveness initiatives. This includes broad organizational assessments and the administration of engagement surveys. He has also developed leadership competency models, conducted assessment centers, written and validated certification exams, and developed computer simulation-based selection instruments.

Before joining STS, Ben led the financial services practice at the Center for Research and Service, a not-for-profit consulting center associated with the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT). In this role, he partnered with financial service organizations to leverage employee engagement surveys to improve organizational results.

He holds a Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from IIT and a B.A. in Psychology from Baylor University. Ben is an active member of the Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) and the Nuclear Human Resources Group.

He and his wife Kim are parents to four children, Emilyn, Greyson, Quinn, and Gavin. They have roots in Texas, Illinois, and Colorado, and they love spending time as a family on long hikes and bluebird ski days.