Hi, I’m Merrick, though many people refer to me as The Bird Guy.
A Message From Merrick
Changing the world, one Eagle, Parrot, Dove, and Owl at a time
While I travel the world speaking at conferences, there are four types of comments I hear from the people whose lives I’ve touched. The first is related to how the Eagles, Parrots, Doves, and Owls have made it easy to understand themselves and others. People say things like, “I’ve taken so many personality assessments and gone through days of training, and NOW I get it.”
The second type of comment relates to how their new insights have changed their life. I am always delighted to hear stories about their newfound success and happiness at work, and that they’ve built stronger relationships at home and on the job.
Those comments are often followed by the third statement I hear regularly. It always begins with, “I wish I knew this before…” and is followed by phrases such as, became a manager, got married (that’s a big one), and had children. Of course, I remind them that it’s never too late to learn!
The final statement I hear is “I can tell you love what you do.” That warms my heart. I hope my passion for helping people become the best version of themselves shines through in everything I do.
I feel truly fortunate to be able to share my light with the world. I hope I get the chance to help the people in your world shine theirs.
About Merrick
Merrick Rosenberg is an entrepreneur, keynote speaker, and the leading expert on how personality drives behavior and success. He co-founded Team Builders Plus in 1991 and Take Flight Learning in 2012. He is the author of four award-winning books about tapping into the power of your personality: The Chameleon, Taking Flight!, Personality Wins, and Which Bird Are You?.
In Merrick’s first job out of college, he worked as a management consultant. He quickly realized that you can change the process, but nothing great happens in a dysfunctional work environment. So, back to school he went to earn an M.B.A. specializing in Organizational Development. While working on his degree, he discovered team building and he was hooked. The day after he graduated, he started Team Builders Plus, one of the first team building companies in the United States.
As he began leading team building events, it became clear that personality conflicts significantly impacted team dynamics. He discovered the DISC styles in 1994 and began leading training programs to help people understand themselves and enable them to create an engaging culture.
It was at this point that he began to innovate the personality styles world. By infusing team building activities into DISC training programs, he made the training more interactive and he brought the styles to life. But he felt that this was not enough, and the styles could have an even greater impact…if people could only remember them.
In 2012, Merrick reinvented the DISC world by swapping out the classic letters for more visual and memorable birds that symbolized the styles. In his first book, Taking Flight!, he introduced the Eagle, Parrot, Dove and Owl styles and he changed the entire industry.
With the vision to reinvent how people learn about themselves, build better relationships, and create positive work environments, Merrick founded Take Flight Learning where he certifies trainers around the world to deliver the content he and his team create. Merrick now spends his time writing, speaking, and advancing the world of increasing self-awareness and improving team dynamics by tapping into the power of the four styles.
Merrick has worked with nearly two-thirds of the Fortune 100 companies and has reached hundreds of thousands of people around the world through his speaking engagements.
Merrick has worked with people at all levels, from line staff to senior managers in the U.S. and abroad. Some of his clients include: AAA, Adidas, Alstom Power, Aramark, Bank of America, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Campbell Soup Company, Colgate Palmolive, Comcast, ExxonMobil, Ford Motor Company, General Electric, GlaxoSmithKline, Hewlett-Packard, InterContinental Hotels Group, Johnson & Johnson, L’Oreal, Lockheed Martin, Lufthansa, Nabisco, NBCUniversal, Nestle Purina, Novartis, PECO Energy, Pepsi, Philadelphia Eagles, Reliance Standard Life, Roche, Samaritan Hospice, Temple University, UnitedHealthcare, and Verizon. Merrick has also worked with government agencies, such as the Environmental Protection Agency, Interpol, the Social Security Administration, and the U.S. Forest Service, as well as the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines.
He has been named the CEO of the Year for New Jersey, and his company, Take Flight Learning, has been selected as the New Jersey Business of the Year, one of the Best Places to Work, and one of the Fastest Growing Companies in the Philadelphia area. Merrick earned a B.A. in Political Communications from George Washington University and an MBA from Drexel University, who selected Merrick as its Entrepreneur of the Year.
In addition to speaking at conferences and events for companies, Merrick has spoken to groups, such as: TEDx, Association for Talent Development, Society for Human Resource Management, Project Management Institute, International Society for Performance Improvement, DisruptHR, Employers Council, American Society for Quality, Vistage International, President’s Club, Pharma Forum, and Young Associates.
Merrick is a sought-after media guest on television, radio, and podcasts. He has shared his personality wisdom on ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, SiriusXM, iHeart Radio, and Radio Disney. Look for Merrick on news and talk shows discussing how personality plays out in our relationships, careers, and presidential elections.
Merrick has been interviewed by: New York Times, Fast Company, Inc. magazine, Fortune, HuffPost, Forbes, Herald Tribune, Wall Street Journal, Parents, and Glamour.
