Simple. Practical. Valuable.

Mitigating Talent Risk. Accelerating Executive Performance.

At The Nielson Group, we look past the resume to solve the high-stakes people challenges that directly impact profitability, execution, and scale. For more than 25 years, corporate leaders, family-owned businesses, and HR executives have partnered with us to remove the guesswork from hiring, maximize team engagement, and transition high-performing operational managers into elite strategic leaders.

As an elite, certified TTI Success Insights Value Added Partner, we deliver sophisticated, work-based diagnostic data that accurately measures an individual's behavioral dynamics, cognitive potential, and emotional intelligence. We don't just provide assessment reports; we deliver deep strategic interpretation and 24/7 advisory support, ensuring your talent strategies and decisions align perfectly with your business objectives.

Our Core Practice Areas

Executive & High-Potential Coaching: Specializing in transforming operationally brilliant VPs, directors, and SMB C-level executives into highly effective strategic leaders.

Hiring for Fit & Predictive Vetting: Providing deep candidate assessment analysis and structured interview support to eliminate expensive mis-hires and optimize retention.

Organizational Development & Change Management: Leveraging structured models like Kotter’s 8-Step Change Framework to build a sense of urgency, align leadership coalitions, and drive enterprise-wide cultural alignment.

Team Performance & Trust Building: Utilizing data-driven benchmarking and frameworks to build high-performance teams, enhance cross-functional collaboration, and increase employee engagement.

Meet Carl Nielson

Managing Principal & Founder

"The most expensive mistake an organization can make is assuming that operational excellence automatically translates into leadership capability. My job is to bridge that gap."

Carl Nielson founded The Nielson Group in 1998, starting small and building a practice designed to integrate corporate business strategy with sophisticated human capital initiatives. His deep expertise is grounded in nearly two decades of corporate human resource management within complex, fast-moving industries—including oil and gas exploration, snack food manufacturing, technology, and professional services.

Having risen through the corporate ranks himself, Carl commands immediate credibility with senior leadership. He understands the unique pressures facing C-suite executives and business owners, balancing demanding operational realities with the human dynamics required to build trust and performance.

Carl is a nationally recognized expert in advanced psychometric and cognitive frameworks. He holds a degree in Organizational and Industrial Psychology and maintains expert-level certifications across the industry's most rigorous diagnostic tools, including the flagship TriMetrix® HD system, DISC, 12 Driving Forces® (motivators), Acumen Indicators (Hartman Value Profile), and Emotional Quotient (EQ).

Over a quarter-century of practice, Carl has served as a trusted advisor and executive coach to leaders at Walmart, Medtronic, Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals, Globe Life, Agrium, Wise Consulting, Dow Chemical, VTC Insurance, and premier multi-trades franchises. His coaching methodology focuses on expanding self-clarity, mastering organizational systems, and helping clients balance professional velocity with personal priorities.

In 2003, Carl launched Success Discoveries® as a division of The Nielson Group to serve individuals in need of career and job search coaching including personal branding (resumes, bios and LinkedIn profile). Through Success Discoveries, Carl has provided thousands of individuals with career and job search coaching. In 2005, Carl launched Career Coaching for Students®, a career coaching program for high school students (incoming 9th graders to seniors); and in 2008, he launched the college-level version for college freshman through graduating seniors. Both programs leverage the power of the same assessments employers use for candidate job fit assessment (Talent Insights by TTI Success Insights - DISC behavioral style and Personal motivators/driving forces; DNA 25 Competencies by TTI Success Insights - 25 personal skills grouped into three core DNA domains: Relating, Thinking and Working; and Personal Talent Skills Inventory - which measures cognitive acumen). Both programs address career and job matching through extensive analysis and coaching to guide students through the process of choosing a career, choosing a college and choosing a major. 

Focus Industries

• Medical Device & Biotechnology
• Global Oil and Gas E&P
• Technology & Fintech
• Healthcare & Insurance
• Manufacturing, Logistics & Industrial Distribution
• Multi-Trades Home Services & Franchises
• Banking, Finance & Professional Services

OUR MISSION

• To effectively support leading organizations who are actively engaged in creating a proactive enterprise-wide leadership and career development culture that results in high employee engagement and retention.
• To enable senior leadership and HR to hire and retain the best talent by utilizing reliable talent assessment tools for acquiring talent and apply best-practice methods for identifying and developing high potentials.
• To offer only the best total talent management system and competencies to our clients.

OUR OBJECTIVE

To enable a continuous improvement pathway for our clients that is backed by solid, tangible research and best-practices that is desired and owned by both management and employees. We provide a roadmap that is proven, flexible and customized to meet any company's needs.

• Organization-Wide Leadership Development
• High Potential Coaching
• Executive Search
• Key Talent Retained Search
• Talent Acquisition Process Management, Applicant Tracking System, Applicant Workflow
• Employee Career Planning and Career Coaching
• Employee Engagement Best Practice Strategies
• Employment Engagement Surveys, Employee Pulse Surveys (for 100 to 20,000 employees)
• Change Acceleration

WHAT WE NEED AND STEPS TO ENGAGEMENT

1. Better understand your organizational current state
2. Better understand your desired future state and timelines
3. Align and customize our offerings to match your needs in a detailed work agreement
4. Price the proposal
5. Receive approval to begin work

Proud Value Added Partner of TTI Success Insights