Dr. Lybarger is the founder and president of Purpose Driven Consulting. From 2020 to 2025, he was a Senior Client Partner with Korn Ferry in the Government Consulting group. Prior to this role he was a full-time faculty member with the Federal Executive Institute, Office of Personnel Management. He has previously managed his own independent consulting firm from 1993 to 2020 and served his public and private sector clients as an executive coach, organization development consultant, program manager, instructional designer, and facilitator. As a nationally known consultant, coach, and facilitator, John has continuously honed his ability to engage learners, increase their competence at mission execution, and create sustainable results.
Throughout his career, Dr. Lybarger has designed and facilitated courses that have built stronger leaders, created sustainable culture change, and empowered teams. His recent experience has included managing open enrollment courses for the Federal Executive Institute, contract work with a Department of Defense agency designing and facilitating their Senior Leadership Development Program, and with the United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM), Western Management Development Center (WMDC), where he has co-designed more than fifty courses and served as an executive coach. He has served as a visiting program manager leading custom organizational development projects for several government agencies including Department of the Treasury (US Mint and Internal Revenue Service), Environmental Protection Agency, various Department of Defense agencies, and the Defense Contract Management Agency. He has co-designed and facilitated custom courses for the US Army, Social Security Administration, Food Safety and Inspection Services, US Customs and Immigration Services, Department of Justice, Department of Transportation, and the Pacific Leadership Academy.
Supplementing his public sector consulting, John has delivered career transition coaching services through McKenzie Scott in Denver, CO. As an adjunct faculty member at the Center for Creative Leadership, John provided executive coaching and small group facilitation for numerous clients in 2006-2007. His private sector clients have included: Qwest, US West, AT&T, Bank Boston, The Home Depot, Frito-Lay, and Proctor & Gamble.
Dr. Lybarger published Coaching Public Service Leaders—Seven Practices Good Leaders Master, Leading Forward—Successful public leadership amidst complexity, chaos and change, and Coaching Tips for Job Seekers. John spent the first thirteen years of his career in progressively responsible leadership positions in the healthcare and human services sectors in both nonprofit and profit organizations. He has held executive positions with P&L accountability and span of control over geographically dispersed operations with over 120 staff. John’s success as a leader has armed him with real-world business experience that keeps him focused on interventions that are results-oriented, mission-critical, and fully engaging.
John has earned a PhD in psychology (Marriage and Family Counseling emphasis) from California Coast University and a PhD in psychology (Industrial and Organizational Psychology emphasis) from Grand Canyon University, a MBA with a management concentration from California Coast University, and a MS in counseling from California State University at Fullerton. He is a MCC (Master Certified Coach, International Coach Federation), BCC (Board Certified Coach in Executive/Corporate/Business/Leadership Coaching, Wellness Coaching, Career Coaching, and Life Coaching from the Center for Credentialing & Education), a NCOC (Newfield Certified Ontological Coach, Newfield Network), certified paralegal from the ABA approved Denver Paralegal Institute, and a certified mediator from The Center for Solutions, Denver, CO.
