Haywood Spangler, Ph.D., M.Div., brings his expertise as an ethicist and philosopher to help organizations combine critical thinking with values in making complex, high-stakes decisions. Partnering with organizations and institutions across disciplines, including NASA astrophysicists, Morgan Stanley's compliance department, MoMA leaders, NIH researchers, and the U.N. Pan American Health Organization, Haywood's engagements are customized to meet the needs of each client.

Reasoning for Business The Inquirer’s Guide to Decision Making

Critical thinking skills are important in decision making, but they’re not enough.

Author Haywood Spangler offers a kit of conceptual tools that empower you – an already savvy thinker – to advance your ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, and learn quickly. Rather than providing oversimplified constructs or generic answers, his book expands your perspective and thought processes, applying concepts from philosophy based on people’s actual questions, needs, and challenges. It functions as a handbook, enabling the reader to consult specific chapters as needed, and as a comprehensive guide to developing personal judgment.

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Critical Acclaim

“Reasoning for Business is beautifully written and exceptionally practical, pairing clear explanations of complex decision-making with excellent vignettes that bring the theories to life. The chapter toolkits are especially strong, helping business students exercise personal judgment, navigate sources, evaluate multiple viewpoints, and build “ethical imagination” by considering ethical situations from multiple perspectives. I view this as an ideal text for business ethics and related courses, and a valuable guide for professionals seeking to form their own well-reasoned conclusions in today’s polarized climate.”

— Libby Rozell, Ph.D.
Regional Head of the Americas, AACSB International
Former Director of MBA Program, Associate Dean, and Professor of Management, Missouri State University

Government Agencies, NGOs, Finance, Tech, Biomedical Research, and Professional Associations trust Haywood to deliver results.

What do you want to learn?

CUSTOM KEYNOTES
• Assess organizational needs
• Determine topics
• Customize for your group
• Structure format–town hall, breakout groups, etc.
• Personalize take-home materials for participants

What do you want to discover?

BESPOKE RESEARCH
• Literature reviews
• Surveys
• Statistical analysis
• Action research/interviews/focus groups
• Publish & present findings

What do you want to measure?

TAILORED ASSESSMENTS
• Determine what to measure
• Develop the best tool to measure it
• Interpret the findings
• Implement changes

A professor, an army officer, a priest, and a philosopher all walk into a bar...and they are all Haywood. 

Haywood has an extraordinary ability to connect with all walks of life. He has delivered keynotes at Altria, Dominion Energy, and the State of California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training. Haywood has performed clinical research at VCU Medical School and organizational development research for The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). He was an instructor of business ethics at the University of Virginia McIntire School of Commerce. From 2011-2020, Haywood was the educational consultant for Leadership Metro Richmond, where he helped equip the region's CEOs, educators, judges, elected officials, entrepreneurs, community organizers, and nonprofit leaders with the skills to navigate the complexities of public policy and social change. His homiletical commentaries help clergy to develop relevant and illuminating messages, whether they are preaching at a place of worship or at a homeless shelter.

Haywood brings a rigorous intellectual curiosity and a unique leadership perspective to every engagement. 

Haywood earned his master’s degree in divinity from Yale, served as a counselor at a V.A. hospital, and was ordained as an Episcopal priest in 1998. After earning his Ph.D. from UVA, he was the rector of St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church in Richmond from 2004-2011 where he grew membership by 60 percent. He established an endowment, managed capital improvements, and supervised paid staff and volunteers. During Haywood’s tenure, parishioners sponsored thousands of Sudanese refugees and today the congregation is multicultural and thriving. Haywood used his vacation time to advise organizations on critical thinking and decision-making based on his academic and rector experiences. In 2011, Haywood launched his consulting practice.
 

His assessments, turnkey or customized, empower professionals across industries and around the world.

Drawing upon his background in philosophy and psychometrics, Haywood created two statistically reliable, self-scoring preference assessments: the Spangler Ethical Reasoning Assessment® (SERA®) and the Innovation Inventory™ (II™). The SERA® interprets an individual’s decision-making logic and details six types of ethical reasoning. The II™ identifies an individual’s preference for linear and non-linear thinking and their tolerance for uncertainty. Haywood licenses his assessments to organizations both local and global, including to the AMA, a leadership development provider in more than 100 countries. For select clients, he develops custom assessments that provide insights that are new and actionable.
 

We live in an advice universe. Haywood excels at helping you make better decisions in business, and in all areas of your life.

Even if you are already a savvy thinker, Haywood believes you can benefit from being more self-aware about your values and ethics, thus enhancing your capacity for reasoning and decision making. Haywood advises C-suite leaders. He has written articles for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, authored white papers for AMA, and published research in academic journals. His recent published work was distributed to business school deans and details the competencies that business leaders need as firms focus more on their societal impact to meet investor demands. Clients report that Haywood's presentations are deeply thought-provoking, challenging them to sharpen their ethical reasoning skills.

Outside of Work & Think, Haywood enjoys nature and serves a rural parish on a part-time basis.

Haywood enjoys solo backcountry hiking and canyoneering. His longest hike was of Yosemite’s Half Dome, a total of 14 miles and an ascent of nearly 5,000 feet. Haywood reports that when he reached the top, he was greeted by a group of moms who had made the climb with infants on their backs. Said Haywood, “There is stamina, and then there is stamina.” He is an avid photographer and periodically freelanced before consulting. Haywood continues to minister to congregations in the Diocese of Virginia, and currently serves a rural parish on a part-time basis while traveling regularly for Work & Think clients.

Contact Haywood

“Haywood engages his audience with the perfect blend of authenticity, thoughtfulness, intellectual stimulation, and humor. He approaches controversial topics head-on by providing research, diplomacy, and grace to the discussion.”

— Melissa Lubin, Ph.D., Leadership Metro Richmond participant and Director of Extended Learning, Virginia Tech

"Haywood welcomed our input, and then built on it, designing and delivering an expert program. This ensured that our audience, including experienced professional and senior leaders, was completely engaged."

— Alison Kaufmann, Communications Manager and Women’s Resource Group Chair, Dominion Energy

"Haywood is my thought partner. If you're open to really rolling up your sleeves with someone who brings an incredible intellect, a set of rich experiences, and a dry sense of humor to whatever business issues you're working on, I absolutely recommend Haywood." 

— Michael Thorne-Begland, Vice President & Chief Transformation Officer, Altria Client Services

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