Dr. William L. Sparks, Ph.D.

Will serves as partner with Peter Browning Partners where he provides board assessment and executive coaching services. In 2015, Will Sparks became Vice President of Talent with EnPro Industries, a $1.5B global manufacturing company headquartered in Charlotte, NC.  In this role he is responsible for the leadership development, learning, and talent initiatives across the company for which he has designed and launched EnPro’s Transformational Change Program using the “Actualized Leader Profile.”

Concurrently, Will serves as the Dennis Thompson Chair of Leadership at the McColl School of Business at Queens University of Charlotte, where he is a tenured Professor of Business and Behavioral Sciences and teaches courses in leadership development and human growth. He also serves as Visiting Professor of International Management with Franklin College in Lugano, Switzerland. In 2008, he founded the McColl School’s M.S. in Organization Development (MSOD) Program and served as Director until 2013.  He received the Fuqua Distinguished Educator Award for excellence in teaching at Queens in 2003 and 2005 and was awarded the inaugural McColl School Leadership in Teaching Award in 2009.

Will is the founder and a principal with William L. Sparks & Associates, LLC, a professional services firm founded in 1999 focused on leadership and team development, human potential, and change management.  He is also a partner with Peter Browning Partners, LLC, a consulting firm providing services to corporate Boards of Directors.  He has consulted with a variety of organizations in the public and private sectors, including the U.S. Navy, the Charlotte Hornets, Anheuser-Busch, Bank of America, Duke Energy, Wells Fargo, SPX, the United Way, the American Red Cross, and the U.S. Department of Energy.

Will has published numerous research papers and book chapters and has contributed articles to The Charlotte Observer and the Charlotte Business Journal.  He has also appeared on several Charlotte-area media outlets, including the CBS affiliate WBTV Channel 3, News Carolina Channel 14, and “Charlotte Talks” on the NPR affiliate WFAE 90.7.

He is the co-author (with Peter Browning) of the book “The Director’s Manual: A Framework for Board Governance” (2015) and the author of the forth-coming book “Actualized Leadership: Managing Your Shadow and Manifesting Your Potential” (2016).

He holds a B.A. in Psychology and Philosophy from Winthrop University, an M.A. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology and Human Resource Management from Appalachian State University.  He completed his Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior and Development under the direction of Dr. Jerry B. Harvey from The George Washington University’s School of Business and Public Management, where his research focused on group dynamics, organizational culture, and leadership.