Our Team

Bert Zethof, CEO
Delaney Tosh, President
Michelle Winkel, Senior Consultant

Bert Zethof, MBA, CMC

CEO

In a Nutshell:

Certified Management Consultant :: MBA :: Fuelled by the creation and implementation of new ideas

The Professional:

Facilitator, coach and management consultant are what keep Bert busy these days.  His focus is strategic and business management, leadership, and organizational development.  In basketball Bert liked to play on the edge and take calculated risks.  In his professional life, he's fuelled by the creation and implementation of new ideas.  In the early nineties, he was a proponent of sustainable development, the environmental technology sector, and public-private partnerships.  These areas have become solutions to our global challenges.  With Surge Group, he co-developed the Business Innovator Labs, a unique coaching process that facilitates accelerated results for CEO's and business owners in a peer setting.  

The Learning:

Bert developed his professional fundamentals over a thirty year period which gives him a dynamic advantage and ability to help teams and managers navigate through even the the toughest challenges bringing clarity and new solutions.  Important were his five years as Senior Strategy Consultant with the international consulting firm, PriceWaterhouseCoopers where he conducted market studies and prepared business plans for companies in a diverse range of industries, including for companies going public.  In the nineties he was an Economic Development Officer for the BC Government.  He advised business owners on how to fund and grow their businesses.  He has also been a Business Development and Planning Manager with a major construction company, as well as an owner-operator in the management consulting and coaching business since 1996.

Bert has an MBA in marketing and finance and is a Certified Management Consultant (CMC).  

The Passions:

Bert's passion now is to be the coach who makes a difference in his clients' lives.  He has a life-long interest in business as a vehicle for personal growth and fulfillment and as the basic building block for healthy communities.  He is inspired by helping clients overcome barriers achieve goals, and discover their potential through the process of building a business.  

Bert thrives when he is working with individuals who are committed to team success.  "If my clients aren't interested in improvement or are sabotaging each other's efforts, then I want to move on.  Life's too short.  I am passionate about working with entrepreneurs in the private, public and non-profit sectors who see themselves as change agents and are driven by a passion bigger than themselves.  It's meaningful to me to be able to facilitate others in their capacity to have a positive impact, in their workplace, in their community, in the world.  

In the Community:

In his 'spare' time, Bert likes to take on leadership roles in the community.  He has served as a Director in the Air & Waste Management Association, a Director int he American Marketing Association, and is currently Chair of the Vancouver Island Chapter of the Institute of Certified Management Consultants of British Columbia.  

Bert's basketball playing days are behind him, but he can still be found running, cycling or golfing on the pathways and fairways of his hometown of Victoria, BC, Canada.

The Last Word:

Bert operates in business like he played basketball; with a love for the game, creativity, teamwork, skill, and fun.  From basketball court to boardroom, Bert may not still be wearing his Converse running shoes, but he's sprinting, cutting and jumping to help his clients.  His instinctual expertise is based on life-long learning and continuous improvement.  "Studies have shown that athletes need to practice for 10,000 hours to reach elite level.  By the time I was playing basketball at the university level, I didn't have to think anymore, I just knew what to do.  It became instinctual," says Bert.  "It's the same in work life.  The nine-to-five grind of fighting fires is not the recipe for success."
"When playing basketball, I always got more of a thrill from making a great pass to set up a teammate than I got from scoring, myself.  I tried to create situations that played to my teammates' strengths.  This is my dream for The Surge Group, as well:  to build a collaborative team where we support each other and our clients towards both personal and team success."

Delaney Tosh, CPCC

President

In a Nutshell:

Certified Professional Co-Active Coach ::  Strategically driven towards innovation :: Guided by humour and an addiction to cash flow statements

The Professional:

Delaney approaches business management, leadership and organizational development from a coaching perspective.  She is a trained business coach and facilitator with 15 years experience in mangement, business development and team development.  She began her career managing social services programs in the not-for-profit sector. This is where she honed her love of working with people and developed a keen understanding of relationship systems and change management.   She then furthered her education in business and shifted into business development and marketing, managing large international events and then working for a Fortune 50 company in the tech industry.  Here she developed experience in marketing, strategic planning and business development. 

In the late 90's, Delaney found she was increasingly being asked to support others in starting entrepreneurial projects.  Being a creative person with a love of all things entrepreneurial, she started her own boutique coaching company in 2001 and hasn't looked back since.  The growth of her company led to merging with Bert Zethof to form their current company, The Surge Group.  Delaney's work with businesses includes development and growth, such as restructuring business models, establishing marketing plans, launching product sales and marketing in Canadian and US markets, writing business plans, developing business systems and managing Key Business Indicators. She sees succession planning as being at the heart of both thriving businesses and work places and guides her clients to weave this into the fabric of their operations.

The Learning:

Delaney is a Certified Professional Coach (CPCC).  She has spent the past 20 years developing her skills and knowledge, through both training and corporate experience, in marketing, strategic planning and business development.  She is a member of the International Coach Federation where she continues her passion for learning through ongoing professional development.

The Passions:

"I have a mission to co-create community based entrepreneurship, sustainable development and the alleviation of poverty.  I want to be inspired and to inspire and support others to create sustainable and enjoyable lives, businesses, and communities with passion.  I see everything I do today as an act of service on behalf of others and myself. "

In the Community:

Anywhere she can co-create community is where Delaney likes to play.  She likes the concept of sustainability and finds opportunities to engage others to use their own cultural and social energy as capital to create lasting change and well-being.  She volunteered as a mentor coach with the Minerva Foundation's Helping Women Work Program, she sat on the board of directors of the Vancouver Island Women's Business Network for several years in various roles including President, and she developed and delivered a Mentorship Program for women starting businesses.  She is currently involved in a small program in a developing country that supports families in poverty to send their daughters to school and she is involved in micro lending, both personally and through Kiva and is working towards developing this into a more formal role that involves business mentorship for women in developing countries.

The Last Word:

"We don't play enough in business and work.  Play is at the heart of creativity which is what fuels innovative thinking. The Surge Group takes a serious approach to integrating play into our processes."  Delaney is often heard saying, "Who made up that rule?" and "Why not make up your own game?"
 

Michelle Winkel, M.A., ATR

Senior Consultant

In a Nutshell:

Organizational development consultant :: Licensed Therapist :: Inspires innovation through visual creativity

The Professional:

Michelle Winkel is a trained facilitator, and management and reflective practice consultant with fifteen years of experience working with groups, organizations, and individuals. She specialized in working with public sector clients in Canada and the U.S. to improve supervision, performance and service delivery. She works with clients focusing on succession planning and knowledge transfer. For over a decade, Michelle has incorporated the innovative use of graphic facilitation into strategic planning work.

Since 1999, Michelle has used strategic illustration and visual facilitation in her consulting with a wide variety of public, non-profit and private organizations. In these engagements, she incorporates her training and her skills as an artist as she facilitates group processes, including small and large community engagements. Key clients include the Federal Government of Canada, Royal Roads University, The Vancouver Board of Trade, the California Mental Health Director’s Association, the City of Sacramento, Imagine Canada, The City of Los Angeles Housing Authority, The Grove Consultants International, and Accenture.

The Learning:

Michelle’s credentials include a license as a Marriage and Family Therapist in California, and as a Registered Art Therapist in North America. Michelle is fluent in Spanish and has worked with groups in bilingual settings. Michelle is eligible to work in both Canada and the United States.

The Passions:

"Bringing my creative self into everything I do provides me with balance and fuels my innovative approach to guiding teams and individuals to engage in performaccmane and results-based accountability." Michelle is an artist with and adventurous soul.  She finding inspiration in her conversations with other artists and in her travels and regular hiking, cycling trips.

In the Community:

Michelle is actively involved in her community, providing strategic direction for the BC School of Art Therapy after ending her term as Executive Director. She is a member of the Career Management Association of BC, Board of Behavioral Science Examiners as a licensed psychotherapist in the State of California, registered art therapist in North America with AATA, and serves on the Board of a local not-for-profit agency, BC Families in Transition.

The Last Word: