Certified Performax Consultant

By February 1984, Lauren Ekroth held concurrent professional identities. The Hawaii Tribune-Herald identified him as a member of the Department of Speech at the University of Hawaii, Manoa — still a tenured professor — and as a certified consultant with Performax Systems International, as well as a professional speaker member of the National Speaker’s Association. The article previewed his role leading the 13th annual Educational Seminar of the Big Island Chapter of Professional Secretaries International, to be held February 25 at the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel’s Monarch Room.

The seminar, titled “Maximizing Personal Performance,” was built around Performax Systems’ Personal Profile and Action Projection Program. Performax was the company behind the DISC behavioral assessment — one of the most widely used personality profiling tools in business at the time. Participants would receive “a mirror of his own work style and insight into how one can get along more effectively with other style types.” The Action Projection program focused specifically on body language and people-reading. The all-day event cost $30 and was open to office workers, managers, students, and other professionals.

A professional headshot accompanied the article — mustache, glasses, age approximately 49. The Tribune-Herald noted that Ekroth conducted seminars on personal and organizational development in Hawaii and on the mainland. By 1984 he was running a parallel consulting career alongside his UH professorship, extending his reach well beyond campus.