Curriculum Development

One of the many areas in which we are able to deliver huge savings to organizations and help them meet one of their greatest challenges is in the development of high quality training programs for in-house use.

Unless a company is in the business of developing training programs, keeping talented writers and developers on staff is often too cost prohibitive. The alternative in the past has been to buy off-the-shelf programs developed by product development firms and, where possible, customizing them. But even customization requires talented writers who must be either kept on the payroll for that specific purpose or pulled from other staff positions, which can create disruptions in work flow.

We have been developing quality training programs from concept to delivery since 1984. Our curriculum development team consists of excellent writers, meticulous proof-readers and creative designers who can produce everything needed for training initiatives from facilitator and participant workbooks to PowerPoint presentations

 

CORE MAP Testimonials

 

I have worked with countless instruments that provide information about an individual based on their responses to a series of questions.  I even completed my doctorate on one.  I was skeptical, then, when I first heard of the CoreMap and I believed it to be a watered down version of other more substantial instruments.  Imagine my shock, then, when I found this profile to be amazingly accurate and on-point for me.  I heartily recommend it to anyone who wants to know more about themselves or wants to address long-standing issues that may be standing in the way of their personal effectiveness."

Ollie Malone, Jr., Ph.D.
Pennzoil

 

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I have taken the DISC and MBTI assessments and have studied the MBTI in substantial detail, and thought I had a pretty firm grasp on my core temperament and preferences. However, when you facilitated the CoreMap instrument with me, I saw a part of me that had been repressed throughout my childhood, schooling and work career. You worked with me to see how my "Entertainer" aspect could become central to my functioning. And, as I engaged with this notion, I was suddenly overwhelmed with sadness that I had been missing this in myself for so long, and relief and joy that I could claim it for myself. I felt for the first time that I had permission to be my true self.   The CoreMap, and the insights I gained through your facilitation, have opened up whole new possibilities for my life. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!

Mark Youngblood
Quay Alliance Consulting

 

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I wanted to express my satisfaction the experience I had with my CORE MAP review session and my facilitator Marc Schwartz.  Marc did a great job explaining the fundamental components of the profile and how they cumulatively provided insight into my personality.  This was a very insightful learning experience.

Additionally, since our session I have been more aware of my own strengths and weaknesses and how these issues impact my interactions on a daily basis.  I would, and have, encouraged others to take the CORE MAP with the hope that they will also have a great learning experience.

Andy Gray
Blue Cross Blue Shield

 

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Unlike other personality tests I've taken in the past, CoreMap gave me a more complete picture of how I saw myself vs. how I really am. Seeing where those areas aligned was very powerful, and has helped confirm some gut feelings I had about where I want to head, and where I want to make some changes. My assessment is that it was a much more complete valuation of all parts of the person tested. I'd recommend it highly.

Willie Baronet
GroupBaronet

 

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When I was first introduced to the CoreMap concepts, I was mildly skeptical about its value to me personally.  I'd not only studied psychometrics in my psychological training, but I'd earned income for a time designing various kinds of educational and psychological assessments.  I'd led dozens of seminars using various MBTI-related materials and conducted therapy groups with all the standard psychometric and self-report tests used as  prompts for initiating self-discovery.  My dissertation included the development of a career decision-making assessment, and I'd used many of the available vocational guidance tools in my career and corporate coaching. I didn't expect to find anything much new or different in the assessment arena.

What kept me from simply dismissing CoreMap with a bored and cynical "ho-hum" was the tantalizing prospect of finding buried treasure.

A great friend of mine had once told me, "the curse of being multi-talented is that you can never develop all of your potentials, so you will inevitably feel unfulfilled."  Before encountering CoreMap, I knew there were entertaining things I hadn't done yet, but I also judged my life as pretty dadgum fulfilling.  Still, there was just enough curiosity left about what might be hidden, undeveloped, or untapped in my personality to incline me to try this thing on for fit.  I felt just slightly defensive about the implication that incongruent results meant I didn't know myself, but I was more intrigued by the possibility than offended, so....Lo! and Behold! ...  Eureka!  ... Shazzam!!

I found gold!  (It was right where Marc Schwartz pointed to in the profile results.)  The Entertainer in me had been kept waiting in the wings for too much time, for inadequate reasons.  And not even three days after the interpretation session with Marc, I'd stepped up to the front of the training room and hit a home run with a program I'd only watched before.  A week later, I conducted a complicated, delicate training that had been two years in the design phase, with my wife amongst the trainees.  She gave it two thumbs up!  (You'd have to know my wife to know how significant that is. She's incredibly supportive, but she's also got a finely tuned bulls**t filter, as well.  Two thumbs up is wayyyy good.)  Two weeks after that, I stepped into another training I'd only observed, and my co-facilitator covered my forehead with gold stars and proclaimed my work as "Excellent!"

I'm sooooh pumped about the results!

It's not just that the results of investing energy in my Entertainer have validated CoreMap as an extremely valuable tool; it's that I feel like I've come home.  I'm recognizing parts of what I'm like, of who I am, of who I like to engage with the world, as if they were long lost friends!  In psychological terms, I'd call it a significant reintegration of ego-syncronicity, but what it really feels like is ... I’ve got my groove back.

Mark Rogers, Ph.D.
QUALITY LEADERSHIP -
Corporate Coaching and Consulting

 

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I benefited extensively from my CORE MAP profile.   I had been through personality profiling before, as an undergraduate, a Naval Officer, a graduate student and as a corporate employee (the MBTI in the last instance).  Though I often found the process interesting, I left only with information, not actionable information.

From the COREMAP profile, I was able to understand some very unproductive behaviors in ways that were entirely new to me.  The "aha" moment came when I realized how I had begun to rely on old, ineffective behaviors as my primary way of approaching situations.  Though I had felt this to be the case, I had never before been able to verbalize and understand it so clearly.  I left our review session with both excitement and a renewed belief that other, more productive aspects of my personality were either accessible within me or in a latent state, and capable of being developed.

Since the initial session, I have used the CORE MAP framework, in conjunction with other tools, to look at the other areas of my personality that had been underdeveloped or ignored for years.  I know that I am a great deal more than the few, basic behaviors that I had been using in the day-to-day living of my life, and through this process I have been able to name those other areas and take very concrete steps towards developing them.

I cannot stress enough the role of the profiler as well as the profile itself.  Without the right profiler, the information is only information and nothing more.  Marc took a personal, direct interest in my gaining benefits from this process.  He worked with me to ensure that I understood the framework and that I knew what the next developmental steps could be if I so desired.  His style is at once articulate, compassionate and authentic.

Colin Lindhal
Texas Instruments

 

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The CORE MAP and the follow-up coaching was "just what the Dr. ordered".  It was insightful in pointing out where my true passion and motivation lies.  I felt empowered to create a more satisfying life.  Other assessment instruments don't go far enough.  CoreMap not only told me about my strengths, but raised my awareness of personal liabilities.  It hit the nail right on the head.

Dale Perryman
Consultant

 

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After my CORE MAP feedback I gained real insight into questions I had asked for several years. No other profile had given me the multiple dimension views necessary to identify why I acted and reacted in specific circumstances.

With this knowledge I've been able to make some subtle changes in my behavior that are having significant impact on my ability to sell to high level executives. From a personal standpoint, this new "self" knowledge is leading to greater satisfaction in relationships. To say the CORE MAP is incredible...well, from my experience, it's not an overstatement.

Norman Werback
Consultant

 

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Being a coach and a psychologist, I have learned that using assessments early into my initial work with a client adds additional knowledge that is extremely helpful. My choice is to use the CORE Multidimensional Awareness Profile soon into my coaching work. I also use it in schools with gifted students. Why? The intensity and depth of our dialogue is greatly enhanced by this very useful tool. It is as if I have a group of experts sitting on my shoulder feeding me information that would normally take me much longer to glean from my client. Every coach and therapist can benefit by having this tool at their disposal!

I never imagined there was an assessment that would make people smile and enhance their self-esteem. CORE MAP does so much more than just educate clients about their talents and strengths.  It points them directly to those areas of their active lives that produce flow and high energy. Facilitating the CORE MAP is a real gift for people of all ages; a gift that encourages clients to live their values and walk their life with real meaning.

All too often as therapists we tend to dwell on sadness and despair. Yet we know that resilience comes with learning to muster strength and overcome obstacles that get in our way. CORE MAP results, well facilitated, can lead a client to practicing new behaviors that quickly encourage greater self-awareness and greater self-development. I consider CORE MAP to be one of this century’s great contributions to positive psychology.

Clara Farah,
Ph.D. MBA, PCC

 

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CORE MAP is the most transformational assessment tool I have encountered in over 20 years.  The value that this profile delivers in terms of revealing both conscious and unconscious tendencies, overt and suppressed behavior, and the rationale behind the choice to display one set of behaviors over another is liberating and validating.

And if the tool isn't impressive enough, Sherry's facilitation skills are extraordinary:  she produced a paradigm shift within me seamlessly and unobtrusively.  She non-threateningly guided me from a place of habitual, no-longer-useful behaviors to considering a new set of behaviors that I would have instantly rejected and resisted.  This time was different:  I discovered I could change my life by accepting the real me and understand why I fought so long and so hard against myself.

CORE MAP is no ordinary assessment and Sherry Buffington is no ordinary coach.  Do yourself a favor and invest the time in what has truly great potential to put you back on the path you came to fulfill.

Randelle Arena-Ash
Amerisure, Inc.

 

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CORE MAP is phenomenal!!  Our brief session and your insight on Wednesday have released this enormous sense of animosity and confusion I have carried for years.   Releasing the guilt and fear that have surrounded so much of my thoughts in order to have a true quality of life for myself is the best gift anyone has ever given me.  It feel lie true freedom – and I am SO excited.

Pepsi Windland
Kaye-Bassman & Associates

 

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I had to get an email off to you to say THANK YOU!  Last week was more powerful than I ever could have imagined even in my wildest dreams.  In writing this thank you I don't even know where to start in describing my thoughts.  The training was fabulous!  Your hospitality was outstanding!  Your tireless energy for telling us the same things over and over in different ways until it sank in was amazing!  The quality of the materials was the best I have ever seen!  The attention to detail was incredible!  The amount of material was amazing!  That 3 days of training was by far the best training I have ever attended in my 17 year career - bar none!!!!

I have heard people talk about being "Transformed" but never really understood what that meant until now.  CORE MAP and your training program is causing me to re-think my entire life.  Re-think my understanding of myself, my business, my relationship with my kids and my relationship with everyone I come in contact with for the rest of my life.  I can't wait to start transforming other people's lives using CORE MAP.

You should be proud of the quality of program you put together!  You are two of the most amazing people I have ever met and I am truly blessed to know you!!

Thank You SO Very Much,
Kevin Stoffel
Real World Coaching

Presentation Testimonials

 

Sherry, your presentation was a big hit! I have gotten a lot of very positive feedback from attendees. Thanks for a powerful, information packed program. 

Duke Rohe, 
MD Anderson

 

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The program was exceptional, both motivational and full of useful information that will be very helpful to our members.  

Jill Van Zee
HR Director
Heart of Texas Region MHMR Center

 

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Excellent! Dr. Buffington was very clear and very good at explaining something I thought I already knew in a very different way. It has given me a lot of food for thought. I am so grateful for the new insights and plan to read her book and will save up for her course. 

Evaluation from audience participant
Hilton Johnson Productions

 

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Very interesting and valuable class. Good diagrams and very well organized.
This all makes so much sense and it is good to see what works and doesn't work to create abundance. Great speaker and passionate about her work. I can't wait to get her book.  Thanks so much.

Evaluation from audience participant
Hilton Johnson Productions

 

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Sherry, thank you so much for speaking at the SAHRMA luncheon yesterday, I really enjoyed your presentation. It was really bizarre how one could relate to your skills and interest matrix. Unfortunately, my boss was not able to attend and I feel she would be very interested in your program. I will definitely share what I learned with management. I believe they will benefit as well.
 
Sheema Harris, CPC, CTS
Executive Recruiter - Finance, Accounting & Human Resources
The Mergis Group

 

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Sherry, your presentation was a real hit. Not only did we have record attendance due to the nature of your topic, we have had very positive feedback from those in attendance. Your program needs to be presented submitted to national headquarters for presentation at IONS chapters across the nation. It is something everyone should be exposed to.   

Bobbie Perkins
Dallas IONS Group