Chris Cancialosi, Ph.D., PCC (he/him)

Chris Cancialosi, Ph.D., PCC (he/him)

Bainbridge Island, Washington, United States
5K followers 500+ connections

About

Chris Cancialosi is a recognized expert in the field of leader and organizational…

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Articles by Chris

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Experience

  • gothamCulture Graphic

    gothamCulture

    Bainbridge Island, WA

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    Upper Montclair, New Jersey, United States

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    Fairfax, VA

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    Bainbridge Island, WA

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    Upper Montclair, New Jersey, United States

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Education

  • Walden University Graphic
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    Activities and Societies: Sigma Chi Fraternity, Army ROTC

Licenses & Certifications

Volunteer Experience

  • Pro-Bono Supporter

    A Billion + Change

    - 8 years 6 months

    gothamCulture has supported the Billion + Change cause since it's inception by providing skills-based pro-bono support to not-for-profits around the country.

  • The Milspo Project Graphic

    Board Chair

    The Milspo Project

    - 4 years 1 month

    Economic Empowerment

    The Milspo Project is dedicated to empowering and educating military spouse entrepreneurs through live leadership experiences, online educational resources and local chapter engagement at military bases around the globe.

  • Inc. Magazine Graphic

    Pro-bono Supporter of Inc. Vets Program Participants

    Inc. Magazine

    - 2 years 11 months

    Education

    gothamCulture is proud to partner with the Inc. Veterans Entrepreneur Program to provide skills-based, pro-bono support to select Inc. Vets members as they work to grow their entrepreneurial ventures.

  • BAINBRIDGE SCHOOLS FOUNDATION Graphic

    Treasurer

    BAINBRIDGE SCHOOLS FOUNDATION

    - Present 7 years 7 months

    Education

  • Mentor

    University of Florida - Warrington College of Business Veteran Entrepreneur Program

    - Present 7 years

    Economic Empowerment

  • GLAAD Graphic

    Skills-based Pro-bono Supporter

    GLAAD

    - Present 6 years

    Civil Rights and Social Action

  • Kitsap County Democrats Graphic

    Executive Board Member; State Committeeperson

    Kitsap County Democrats

    - Present 6 years

    Politics

  • 23rd Legislative District Democrats Graphic

    Executive Board Member, Secretary

    23rd Legislative District Democrats

    - Present 6 years

    Politics

Publications

  • 2024 State of Culture Report

    gothamCulture

  • Don’t Think An Organizational Culture Can Change? Think Again.

    Forbes.com

    Organizational culture – that all-encompassing and always elusive aspect of organizational functioning that impacts and guides everything that happens or fails to happen within a group. It affects every aspect of our daily lives and interactions at work whether we are conscious of it or not. Whether we like the results or not. This omnipresence can make the topic of organizational culture a lot for people to try to wrap their heads around let alone change. If we think about the topic of…

    Organizational culture – that all-encompassing and always elusive aspect of organizational functioning that impacts and guides everything that happens or fails to happen within a group. It affects every aspect of our daily lives and interactions at work whether we are conscious of it or not. Whether we like the results or not. This omnipresence can make the topic of organizational culture a lot for people to try to wrap their heads around let alone change. If we think about the topic of organizational culture simply as “the way work gets done”, it can seem like a near impossibility that it can adapt and change.

    See publication
  • Return To Work Anxiety? You’re Not Alone.

    Forbes.com

    As we have collectively adapted to the disruptive effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have all had to evolve our behaviors in life and at work to adapt and thrive. For those fortunate enough to have not lost their jobs, or worse, they undoubtedly had to make significant changes to the way they accomplished their work in order to stay productive and competitive in this new operating environment. It was tough. It took a lot to figure out how to be successful in this new work scenario. It made us…

    As we have collectively adapted to the disruptive effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have all had to evolve our behaviors in life and at work to adapt and thrive. For those fortunate enough to have not lost their jobs, or worse, they undoubtedly had to make significant changes to the way they accomplished their work in order to stay productive and competitive in this new operating environment. It was tough. It took a lot to figure out how to be successful in this new work scenario. It made us learn to flex new muscles. But, in the end, we did it. And now this “new” way of working has even, dare I say, become comfortable.

    See publication
  • How To Improve Your Working From Home Game With These Hacks

    Forbes.com

    Working from home for the last eight months has certainly created its share of challenges for me as an entrepreneur and I’m willing to bet that I’m not alone. It took me a short while to get myself and my team situated, and, thanks to their adaptability and dedication, we were able to flex to our new reality and demands rather easily.

    See publication
  • Recognizing A Toxic Work Culture Before You Get In Too Deep

    Forbes.com

    Maybe I’m the one wearing rose-colored glasses, but I refuse to believe that most leaders wake up every morning intentionally trying to create a toxic work culture. Why is it then that there seems to be a constant flow of breaking news stories of employees sharing claims of workplace toxicity stretching from The Ellen Degeneres Show, to the Washington Metro, to a slew of tech companies like Weta Digital? Even the Hawaii Department of Health recently became the target of allegations from a…

    Maybe I’m the one wearing rose-colored glasses, but I refuse to believe that most leaders wake up every morning intentionally trying to create a toxic work culture. Why is it then that there seems to be a constant flow of breaking news stories of employees sharing claims of workplace toxicity stretching from The Ellen Degeneres Show, to the Washington Metro, to a slew of tech companies like Weta Digital? Even the Hawaii Department of Health recently became the target of allegations from a whistleblower about the effects that a toxic work culture had on epidemiologists’ efforts in contact tracing in response to COVID-19.

    See publication
  • Pivoting For Pandemic Success

    Forbes.com

    While a great many American businesses have struggled during these times and while some have been forced to close their doors for good, others have successfully navigated these chaotic times, pivoting their product and service offerings to adapt and thrive. While many businesses, especially early on in the year, took a defensive posture to preserve their resources, some took a dramatically different approach, finding ways to quickly adapt to meet the challenges of the pandemic head-on.

    See publication
  • Going Slow To Go Fast

    Forbes.com

    In a recent discussion with one of my colleagues, she compared the work she is doing with teams to rebooting her computer. Every once in a while, we realize that we have opened so many files, folders, web pages, and software programs in the course of our work and life that things just aren’t operating as smoothly and quickly as we might expect. To get things back in working order, we need to carve out some time to reboot- to close everything out and to start over. To go slow in order to go fast…

    In a recent discussion with one of my colleagues, she compared the work she is doing with teams to rebooting her computer. Every once in a while, we realize that we have opened so many files, folders, web pages, and software programs in the course of our work and life that things just aren’t operating as smoothly and quickly as we might expect. To get things back in working order, we need to carve out some time to reboot- to close everything out and to start over. To go slow in order to go fast again.

    See publication
  • Former POW Shares Thoughts On Surviving And Thriving In Difficult Times

    Forbes.com

    The last few months have fundamentally changed the way many people live their lives day-to-day. Over the last few weeks, in particular, I have noticed an increase in a variety of what might normally be considered “unhealthy” behavior during my interactions with people.

    See publication
  • CEO Spotlight: Dispelling Myths About Military Veterans In The Civilian Workforce

    Forbes.com

    Every so often, I dedicate my writing to a topic that is near and dear to my heart- raising awareness of employment trends and challenges for military veterans who are transitioning out of the service and back into the civilian world of work. A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend a conference on this very topic at Amazon’s headquarters, hosted by Deloitte and other organizations dedicated to hiring veterans in their organizations as well as organizations that exist to directly provide…

    Every so often, I dedicate my writing to a topic that is near and dear to my heart- raising awareness of employment trends and challenges for military veterans who are transitioning out of the service and back into the civilian world of work. A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend a conference on this very topic at Amazon’s headquarters, hosted by Deloitte and other organizations dedicated to hiring veterans in their organizations as well as organizations that exist to directly provide transition support.

    See publication
  • The Network Gap and its Impact on the War for Talent

    Forbes.com

    As much as you may believe in your heart that two, equally qualified people should have equal opportunity to thrive professionally, the fact is, this isn’t the reality in many cases. There is a wealth of research that supports the notion that the strength of a person’s network has a significant impact on their ability to successfully manage their careers and to gain access to opportunities that others may have access to.

    See publication
  • Learning to Work in New Ways Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic

    Forbes.com

    The World Health Organization has declared the COVID-19 outbreak an official pandemic. Subsequently, the U.S. stock market looks like a more epic roller-coaster than Space Mountain, Americans are making a run on toilet paper, and citizens are beginning to feel the pressure of cancellations of a wide variety of gatherings. While the situation is certainly dynamic and messaging around the situation seems to be constantly evolving, many business owners are coming to grips with a world of work that…

    The World Health Organization has declared the COVID-19 outbreak an official pandemic. Subsequently, the U.S. stock market looks like a more epic roller-coaster than Space Mountain, Americans are making a run on toilet paper, and citizens are beginning to feel the pressure of cancellations of a wide variety of gatherings. While the situation is certainly dynamic and messaging around the situation seems to be constantly evolving, many business owners are coming to grips with a world of work that spans from mildly inconvenient to completely debilitating.

    See publication
  • Organizational Agility and Resilience- Two Critical Sides of the Same Coin

    Forbes.com

    In a world where longstanding business models are being disrupted (many at the hand of a staggering rate of technological advances), you won’t get ten paces without hearing terms like agility and resilience being thrown around. This dynamic has seen the rise of brands like Amazon/Whole Foods, Netflix, and Uber as well as the demise of others like Kodak who failed to see and respond quickly enough to changes in the market. If you’re reading this and thinking that this isn’t something that…

    In a world where longstanding business models are being disrupted (many at the hand of a staggering rate of technological advances), you won’t get ten paces without hearing terms like agility and resilience being thrown around. This dynamic has seen the rise of brands like Amazon/Whole Foods, Netflix, and Uber as well as the demise of others like Kodak who failed to see and respond quickly enough to changes in the market. If you’re reading this and thinking that this isn’t something that applies to you, you’re sadly mistaken. Even historically stable industries are being disrupted in ways that require the ability to adapt and transform in order to thrive.

    See publication
  • The Future of Crowdsourcing

    Forbes.com

    I am a believer in the power of exploration. It is often in the seemingly random corners of life that we find opportunity, brilliance, and possibility. In an effort to open the door to possibility for myself, I spent some time with the producers and participants of Crowdsolve Seattle- a first-of-its-kind event bringing together law enforcement, a variety of experts, as well as several hundred “regular people” from around the world who share an interest in true crime and a passion to contribute…

    I am a believer in the power of exploration. It is often in the seemingly random corners of life that we find opportunity, brilliance, and possibility. In an effort to open the door to possibility for myself, I spent some time with the producers and participants of Crowdsolve Seattle- a first-of-its-kind event bringing together law enforcement, a variety of experts, as well as several hundred “regular people” from around the world who share an interest in true crime and a passion to contribute in a meaningful way.

    See publication
  • The Art of Unlearning What Works

    Forbes.com

    As an organizational psychologist and a firm believer in continuous development, I have often found myself in the position of advising people on creative ways to keep learning throughout their careers. I have worked with clients seeking to become “learning organizations” – where individuals and teams are continuing to figure out what works through learning in order to outperform their competitors. Research, experiment, succeed, fail, learn, improve, repeat.

    See publication
  • Focusing on Customer Experience is No Longer Optional

    Forbes.com

    Ready or not, the customer experience (CX) game is on. No matter what size or industry you may play in, you are now competing based on the experience you provide to your customers. Government agencies, this applies to you as well.

    See publication
  • Your Company Culture and the Uniqueness Paradox

    Forbes.com

    Advising senior leaders on the topic of organizational culture for the last fifteen plus years has provided me with a multitude of opportunities to examine the ways in which groups of people organize themselves to accomplish their work and to achieve their mission. There are a wide variety of methods that I use when helping clients to understand the cultures of their organizations. One of these methods is engaging members of a client organization in order to listen to and attempt to make…

    Advising senior leaders on the topic of organizational culture for the last fifteen plus years has provided me with a multitude of opportunities to examine the ways in which groups of people organize themselves to accomplish their work and to achieve their mission. There are a wide variety of methods that I use when helping clients to understand the cultures of their organizations. One of these methods is engaging members of a client organization in order to listen to and attempt to make meaning of the stories that are told.

    See publication
  • Why Your Kid Needs a Side Hustle

    Forbes.com

    This year, my son gave me the best gift an entrepreneur could ever ask for. Of course, my second grader, like nearly every other eight-year-old in America, has mastered the ability to influence others to get what he wants. With summer kicking off in full swing, these talents typically revolve around spending an inordinate amount of mental capacity figuring out how to get more screen time. Last week, rather than vying to get a few extra minutes of screen time or finding creative ways to get out…

    This year, my son gave me the best gift an entrepreneur could ever ask for. Of course, my second grader, like nearly every other eight-year-old in America, has mastered the ability to influence others to get what he wants. With summer kicking off in full swing, these talents typically revolve around spending an inordinate amount of mental capacity figuring out how to get more screen time. Last week, rather than vying to get a few extra minutes of screen time or finding creative ways to get out of practicing his guitar, my son convinced his friend that they should start a business.

    See publication
  • Why Many Culture Efforts Struggle to Drive Sustainable Change

    Forbes.com

    There I was, sitting in the office of a senior executive who was struggling to come to terms with the reality that their organizational change effort, though having somewhat significant success initially, was not sustaining. People were quickly slipping back to old behaviors and engagement measures were sliding back to where they were when the change process started.

    See publication
  • The Pros and Cons of Internal Company Podcasts

    Forbes.com

    Rarely a day goes by that I don’t find myself in a conversation with a client, potential client, or team member about the challenges they face with actively engaging their employees. The topic of employee engagement is certainly not new but the tactics associated with engaging employees continues to evolve. This evolution is spurred on by a variety of factors, including technological innovation, and people’s ability to repurpose existing methods in the employee engagement arena.

    See publication
  • The Network Gap and its Impact on the War for Talent

    Forbes.com

    As much as you may believe in your heart that two, equally qualified people should have equal opportunity to thrive professionally, the fact is, this isn’t the reality in many cases. There is a wealth of research that supports the notion that the strength of a person’s network has a significant impact on their ability to successfully manage their careers and to gain access to opportunities that others may have access to.

    See publication
  • How Blending Brand and Culture Can Impact the Customer Experience

    Forbes.com

    Customer experience is a memory. An impression that can stick in the mind for a minute or a lifetime. A positive experience can result in lasting loyalty, endorsement, and evangelism. A poor experience, on the other hand, can almost instantly mean the end of a brand relationship.

    See publication
  • Navigating Change in Deeply Rooted Organizations

    Forbes.com

    While organizational change can be difficult, regardless of the circumstances, it can be particularly challenging to create change in organizations that have long-standing histories and deeply embedded cultural norms, beliefs, and assumptions. Organizations that are solidly grounded in legacy and that place significant value on an enviable history oftentimes have the most difficulty creating change.

    See publication
  • The Critical Role Of Culture In Technology Transformation

    Forbes.com

    As the speed of technological innovation continues to increase and as competition to deliver better, faster, and with less down time continues to be a deciding factor in who wins and who loses in the software game, it is important for organizations to take a research-based approach to digital transformation.

    See publication
  • Preventing Potential Dysfunction in the Board Room

    Forbes.com

    There is no shortage of research on the impact that boards can have on the performance and profitability of the organizations they serve. In today’s business context, boards face higher expectations, increased scrutiny by the community, press, politicians, and the street, and significant increases in the velocity of demands of their attention. These realities create a need for boards to be as effective as possible in driving profitability for the firms they serve.

    See publication
  • Knowledge Sharing Keeps Boeing Flying High

    TD Magazine

    Knowledge transfer can lead an organization in developing resilience and agility.

    See publication
  • Knowledge Transfer: The Key to Organizational Resilience and Agility

    TD at Work

    How do organizations not only survive, but thrive in today’s new operating environment? By developing resilience and agility. Knowledge transfer is critical to this, and talent development practitioners are positioned to help companies prepare. In “Knowledge Transfer: The Key to Organizational Resilience and Agility,” Chris Cancialosi details:
    * what knowledge transfer is and why it is critical to organizations’ resilience and agility
    * the role of effective knowledge transfer in the…

    How do organizations not only survive, but thrive in today’s new operating environment? By developing resilience and agility. Knowledge transfer is critical to this, and talent development practitioners are positioned to help companies prepare. In “Knowledge Transfer: The Key to Organizational Resilience and Agility,” Chris Cancialosi details:
    * what knowledge transfer is and why it is critical to organizations’ resilience and agility
    * the role of effective knowledge transfer in the future of work
    * ways to develop and strengthen an organization’s ability to effectively transfer and manage knowledge.

    See publication
  • Nine Questions Every Leader Must Ask Before Letting Someone Go

    Forbes.com

    If you have worked in the professional world as a leader for any length of time you have undoubtedly found yourself managing a team member who was failing to live up to expectations. While it might be tempting to cut someone loose if their performance is sub-par, the turnover may cost more than you think.

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  • Tips for Nailing Your Next Executive Kickoff

    Forbes.com

    The launch of a new strategic effort represents a key opportunity for senior leaders to set things off on the right foot. Unfortunately, many senior executives fail to grasp the importance that a well prepared and delivered executive kickoff can have on the success of a project team.

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  • A Guide To Dealing With Difficult People

    Forbes.com

    We’ve all been there. Be it work, school or Thanksgiving dinner, we’ve all found ourselves in situations where we have been forced to interact with people we find to be “difficult”. For many of us, we’d rather eat glass than have to deal with challenging people like this but how we survive and, dare I say thrive, in these situations can separate us from the pack in both business and in life.

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  • The Power of One: Focus in a Fragmented World

    Forbes.com

    Entrepreneurs juggle a lot of balls, no doubt. The culmination of the many items that demand our attention on a day-to-day basis and the multitude of stressors that come along with the lifestyle we have chosen can make it seem impossible to focus our attention on any one thing for long.

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  • The Quiet Price of Entrepreneurship

    Forbes.com

    Read a selection of articles in most business publications and you will, undoubtedly, find more than a handful that explicitly or implicitly refer to entrepreneurs as stalwart heroes in some form or fashion. While there may be some level of “courage” (comfort with risk, ability to thrive in nebulous situations, ability to envision a future state that others can not, etc.) the overwhelming amount of content of this nature continues to reinforce a myth about entrepreneurs as mighty warriors who…

    Read a selection of articles in most business publications and you will, undoubtedly, find more than a handful that explicitly or implicitly refer to entrepreneurs as stalwart heroes in some form or fashion. While there may be some level of “courage” (comfort with risk, ability to thrive in nebulous situations, ability to envision a future state that others can not, etc.) the overwhelming amount of content of this nature continues to reinforce a myth about entrepreneurs as mighty warriors who don’t blink in the face of danger. Adding further to this cycle, especially here in America, is our national culture of showcasing success and of loving a good underdog story.

    Unfortunately, showcasing successful underdog entrepreneurs who have “made it” doesn’t really tell the full story.

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  • Creating Lasting Impact As An Interim Leader

    Forbes.com

    Interim leadership roles can certainly come with their challenges, but these situations can also provide unforeseen opportunities that you otherwise may have missed.

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  • Remote Work Teams- There Are Many Fish In The Sea

    Forbes.com

    As the war for talent rages across the land with no end in sight and as competition in the market continues to bubble over at a fervent pace, many business leaders are finding that they must cast an ever widening net to succeed in securing the right people. Data from the updated Global Workforce Analytics study in June of 2017 on telecommuting found that people spend approximately 50-60% of their time away from their desks anyway and the many task are more conducive to solitude than…

    As the war for talent rages across the land with no end in sight and as competition in the market continues to bubble over at a fervent pace, many business leaders are finding that they must cast an ever widening net to succeed in securing the right people. Data from the updated Global Workforce Analytics study in June of 2017 on telecommuting found that people spend approximately 50-60% of their time away from their desks anyway and the many task are more conducive to solitude than collaboration.

    Instead of continuing to fish in a small, local talent pool and struggling to compete with the litany of competitors which creates a talent vacuum that leads to companies having to increase their incentives to ludicrous levels to attract and retain the talent they require, some organizations have made the intentional decision to evolve their recruiting practices in order to stay one step ahead. By expanding their pool, in many cases globally, companies are able to grow their talent pools exponentially and with technology making remote work completely feasible in many jobs these organizations are able to accomplish this without having to worry about relocation expenses, office space, and the other logistical headaches that come with geographic colocation of a workforce.

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  • Lessons From The Craziest Week (Yet) In The White House

    Forbes.com

    From affirmative action and immigration to the major shake-ups amongst White House staff, from Russia to Charlottesville, it seems that the last few weeks have been the craziest yet in Washington. But, despite the seemingly never-ending chaos, there are lessons to be learned from the current administration.

    To help think through what lessons business leaders might take away from this situation, it made perfect sense to go to Seth Price, marketing and personal-brand expert and author of…

    From affirmative action and immigration to the major shake-ups amongst White House staff, from Russia to Charlottesville, it seems that the last few weeks have been the craziest yet in Washington. But, despite the seemingly never-ending chaos, there are lessons to be learned from the current administration.

    To help think through what lessons business leaders might take away from this situation, it made perfect sense to go to Seth Price, marketing and personal-brand expert and author of Road to Recognition. Currently serving as VP of Industry Relations at digital marketing platform, Placester, Seth shared his thoughts on the importance of building a personal brand that both builds a positive reputation while also aligning with your career goals and how the current administration may have made some serious missteps.

    See publication
  • Outdated Tech Is Costing You More Than You Think

    Forbes.com

    In my years of working with clients, I have often encountered hard working people doing their very best to deliver on the high expectations of customers and leadership while being forced to navigate technological limitations. This brings to mind all of those movie scenes at airport terminals where the main character finds herself waiting for obscene amounts of time while the customer service agent types away at their computer keyboard trying to pull up the information they need to service the…

    In my years of working with clients, I have often encountered hard working people doing their very best to deliver on the high expectations of customers and leadership while being forced to navigate technological limitations. This brings to mind all of those movie scenes at airport terminals where the main character finds herself waiting for obscene amounts of time while the customer service agent types away at their computer keyboard trying to pull up the information they need to service the customer. Funny in movies. Not so funny in real life.

    See publication
  • How To Overcome The Anxiety Of Change With Organizational Empathy

    Forbes.com

    We often talk about organizational change like inertia. We assume that the plans we put into motion will continue in motion unless they’re otherwise affected by some outside force.

    But the truth is, organizational change is more akin to entropy. Even without the influence of outside forces, our processes tend to move toward disorder unless they’re continually and actively managed.

    Change is a constant, unrelenting force that we as leaders must navigate every day. So how do we make…

    We often talk about organizational change like inertia. We assume that the plans we put into motion will continue in motion unless they’re otherwise affected by some outside force.

    But the truth is, organizational change is more akin to entropy. Even without the influence of outside forces, our processes tend to move toward disorder unless they’re continually and actively managed.

    Change is a constant, unrelenting force that we as leaders must navigate every day. So how do we make sure we’re positioning ourselves and our teams to operate in such conditions?

    This is precisely the question I recently posed to Andy MacMillan, Michelle Huff, and Matt Zelen, the leadership team at Act-On Software, a leading provider of marketing automation software for rapidly growing companies.

    See publication
  • Why Company Culture Is Critical To M&A Success

    Forbes.com

    The actual results of mergers and acquisitions don’t always live up to expectations.

    M&A growth strategies promise a multitude of strategic opportunities; from rapid growth, to eliminating competition, to access to new markets. And many organizations are currently, or have, embarked on merger and acquisition growth strategies to varying effect.

    When asked about the primary causes of these mixed results, most leaders cite a misalignment between the two organizations’ cultures. This…

    The actual results of mergers and acquisitions don’t always live up to expectations.

    M&A growth strategies promise a multitude of strategic opportunities; from rapid growth, to eliminating competition, to access to new markets. And many organizations are currently, or have, embarked on merger and acquisition growth strategies to varying effect.

    When asked about the primary causes of these mixed results, most leaders cite a misalignment between the two organizations’ cultures. This friction can wreak havoc as the members of different groups assimilate to drive the performance gains that M&A strategies forecast.

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  • The State of DevOps In 2017: Transformational Leadership Is Key

    Forbes.com

    As our business environment continues to evolve and adopt a digital-first mindset, the percentage of people working on DevOps teams increases every year.

    Organizations that have successfully adopted DevOps are able to deliver a better customer experience with significantly greater operational efficiency. And the writing seems to be on the wall: organizations that don’t embrace these ways of working will likely be left in the dust.

    But where to start? With all the noise about…

    As our business environment continues to evolve and adopt a digital-first mindset, the percentage of people working on DevOps teams increases every year.

    Organizations that have successfully adopted DevOps are able to deliver a better customer experience with significantly greater operational efficiency. And the writing seems to be on the wall: organizations that don’t embrace these ways of working will likely be left in the dust.

    But where to start? With all the noise about DevOps lately, it’s difficult for CIOs and other leaders to find an authoritative source of information.

    See publication
  • Embrace A Culture Of Self-Leadership To Stay Agile As You Scale

    Forbes.com

    One of the greatest challenges for rapidly growing organizations is how to remain nimble in the midst of growth.

    As companies scale, more processes are required to coordinate the growing workforce. And the additional management layers that come with them can slow an organization down.

    It’s often the reason why large organizations become weighed down with bureaucracy while small companies remain quick and agile.

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  • Preserving A Culture People Love As Your Company Grows: Lessons from Zappos

    Forbes.com

    Being intentional about your company’s core values from day one can help to build a solid foundation to guide behavior as your organization grows; few leaders understand this as well as Zappos’ Tony Hsieh.

    Zappos has long been an example of the power that company culture has on behavior and business performance. But what’s behind the curtain? What is the team at Zappos doing, specifically, that is driving their admirable levels of employee engagement and retention? 2016 was Zappos’…

    Being intentional about your company’s core values from day one can help to build a solid foundation to guide behavior as your organization grows; few leaders understand this as well as Zappos’ Tony Hsieh.

    Zappos has long been an example of the power that company culture has on behavior and business performance. But what’s behind the curtain? What is the team at Zappos doing, specifically, that is driving their admirable levels of employee engagement and retention? 2016 was Zappos’ lowest turnover rate since its founding more than 18 years ago — and I wanted to know the how and the why.

    To find out, I asked Jamie Naughton, Zappos’ Chief of Staff, to share her insights.

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  • How To Unlock Your Potential For Innovation Through Crowdsourcing

    Forbes.com

    The human mind has an incredible capacity to learn, recognize patterns, and connect pieces of information together to find new ways to approach old problems.

    Unfortunately, our problem-solving abilities are limited by individual knowledge and experience. When problems are large and complex, we might not have the right data available to have any hope of finding a solution if we go it alone. And when we get stuck, collaboration can be a powerful way to find the best solution.

    By…

    The human mind has an incredible capacity to learn, recognize patterns, and connect pieces of information together to find new ways to approach old problems.

    Unfortunately, our problem-solving abilities are limited by individual knowledge and experience. When problems are large and complex, we might not have the right data available to have any hope of finding a solution if we go it alone. And when we get stuck, collaboration can be a powerful way to find the best solution.

    By sharing knowledge and experience amongst a diverse group, we can often tackle complex problems that cannot be solved alone.

    See publication
  • How To Care For Workplace Culture Through Its Awkward Years

    Forbes.com

    Building a business is like raising a child. We see them grow up over the years, go through hard times and good, learn from each success and failure, and eventually blossom into something more wonderful than we ever could have imagined.

    One of the more challenging stages of the process is a business’ adolescence. It’s no longer a scrappy startup but not yet a full-grown business with established and consistent processes.

    Cultivating a workplace culture that embeds the right norms…

    Building a business is like raising a child. We see them grow up over the years, go through hard times and good, learn from each success and failure, and eventually blossom into something more wonderful than we ever could have imagined.

    One of the more challenging stages of the process is a business’ adolescence. It’s no longer a scrappy startup but not yet a full-grown business with established and consistent processes.

    Cultivating a workplace culture that embeds the right norms and consistent operations isn’t easy during this stage. The environment is changing rapidly, and like any teenager, the organization is trying to figure out what it wants to be when it grows up. Your team is trying to understand what works and what doesn’t. Leaders are managing the tension between growth and stability. And the rapid pace of both internal and external change can take its toll on everyone involved.

    These challenges are often amplified for tech startups. The rate of innovation and change in tech moves at breakneck speed, employee turnover is high, and these leaders are left spinning so many plates as their companies grow that one wrong move can mean disaster. It’s no wonder that only one-third of businesses make it past their tenth anniversary.

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  • How To Create Change When You’re Not In Charge

    Forbes.com

    What does the name Thomas Wilson mean to you?

    Probably not much. But over a decade ago, this young man created a groundswell of change in a massive Federal organization that altered thousands of lives for the better; including mine.

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  • The Building Blocks Of Grassroots-Driven Customer Engagement At LEGOLAND

    Forbes.com

    A few weeks ago, my wife and I took our six-year-old son on the requisite pilgrimage to LEGOLAND Theme Park in Carlsbad, California. As an avid LEGO “Master Builder”, my son was beyond excited to spend two days completely immersed in brick building adventures. As a secret LEGO lover myself, I have to admit, I was pretty stoked as well.

    I’d never been LEGOLAND before, so I had an opportunity to experience the park with zero expectations — minus the lingering concerns of crowds and…

    A few weeks ago, my wife and I took our six-year-old son on the requisite pilgrimage to LEGOLAND Theme Park in Carlsbad, California. As an avid LEGO “Master Builder”, my son was beyond excited to spend two days completely immersed in brick building adventures. As a secret LEGO lover myself, I have to admit, I was pretty stoked as well.

    I’d never been LEGOLAND before, so I had an opportunity to experience the park with zero expectations — minus the lingering concerns of crowds and hour-long lines that any parent faces with two days in a theme park.

    Not only did our family have a great time; we spent most of our flight home reliving the details. And as we put the pieces of our trip back together, I began to deeply appreciate LEGOLAND’s approach to building an exceptional customer experience for their fans.

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  • How To Assess Your Organization’s DevOps Readiness

    Forbes.com

    Today, organizations must delight customers, beat competitors to market, and pivot quickly when needed. The increasing rate of change in today’s complex business environment demands more value in less time. And quite often, the ability to deliver quality software quickly and reliably is what drives success in this new world of business value.

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  • “Why Aren’t Your Talent Retention Strategies Working?” is locked Why Aren’t Your Talent Retention Strategies Working?

    Forbes.com

    We hear it all the time. The continuous chatter of experts reiterating the same old talking points about what organizations need to do to engage and retain their workforce.

    But, is any of it working? Gallup recently reported that nearly 70 percent of U.S. employees are disengaged, and 51 percent are looking for new opportunities. Even more problematic is the fact that these numbers have stayed stagnant for at least 15 years.

    So, what if our ideas about employee retention are all…

    We hear it all the time. The continuous chatter of experts reiterating the same old talking points about what organizations need to do to engage and retain their workforce.

    But, is any of it working? Gallup recently reported that nearly 70 percent of U.S. employees are disengaged, and 51 percent are looking for new opportunities. Even more problematic is the fact that these numbers have stayed stagnant for at least 15 years.

    So, what if our ideas about employee retention are all wrong? What if we are being held captive by our own beliefs and assumptions about the very nature and structure of work in today’s society?

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  • 4 Things You Don’t Need To Have A High Performance Culture

    Forbes.com

    We’ve all read the stories about startups making waves in their industry, and how they’re doing it from a once-destitute warehouse on the south side of town. We’re prone to conclude that these companies are sustaining high performance because they’ve broken down the (cubicle) walls that bind our ability to collaborate, innovate, and achieve our full potential.

    Unfortunately, misconceptions develop from these stories, and many well-intentioned business leaders have tried to emulate these…

    We’ve all read the stories about startups making waves in their industry, and how they’re doing it from a once-destitute warehouse on the south side of town. We’re prone to conclude that these companies are sustaining high performance because they’ve broken down the (cubicle) walls that bind our ability to collaborate, innovate, and achieve our full potential.

    Unfortunately, misconceptions develop from these stories, and many well-intentioned business leaders have tried to emulate these startups in their quest to improve their culture and performance.

    Let’s dig in and dispel some popular myths about what you need to have in a high-performance culture.

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  • The Not-So-Simple Secrets Of Successful Culture Change

    Forbes.com

    As the saying goes, even the longest journey starts with just one step.

    Over the years, we’ve engaged with many clients who are dedicated to creating large-scale, significant, and sustainable culture change in their organizations in an effort to drive success. Unfortunately, many of these well-intentioned executives believe there is a silver bullet—some grand gesture of change—that will accomplish their goals.

    While significant changes can and do drive sustainable performance…

    As the saying goes, even the longest journey starts with just one step.

    Over the years, we’ve engaged with many clients who are dedicated to creating large-scale, significant, and sustainable culture change in their organizations in an effort to drive success. Unfortunately, many of these well-intentioned executives believe there is a silver bullet—some grand gesture of change—that will accomplish their goals.

    While significant changes can and do drive sustainable performance improvements, truly transformational change results from a few deceptively simple things.

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  • Why Culture Is The Heart Of Organizational Innovation

    Forbes.com

    If you mention “innovation” to most business leaders, it wouldn’t be a surprise if they begin to think about Tesla, GE, or 3M. Compared to these giants of innovation, continually pushing the bleeding edge of what’s possible through massive investments in research and development, you may feel like innovation is out of reach.

    No matter your organization’s size or industry, however, a culture of innovation may be necessary to evolve and succeed in today’s constantly changing business…

    If you mention “innovation” to most business leaders, it wouldn’t be a surprise if they begin to think about Tesla, GE, or 3M. Compared to these giants of innovation, continually pushing the bleeding edge of what’s possible through massive investments in research and development, you may feel like innovation is out of reach.

    No matter your organization’s size or industry, however, a culture of innovation may be necessary to evolve and succeed in today’s constantly changing business environment.

    We see this need for innovation every day. Digital disruption continues to change the way people work. Competitors are constantly on your heels. National and global events affect the way you operate. As the old adage goes, “the only constant is change.”

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  • 8 Foundational Leadership Lessons From An Air Force Veteran Turned CEO

    Forbes.com

    There are very few leadership transitions like being a newly commissioned officer in the military.

    Typically, on graduation day from a military academy, ROTC program or Officer Candidate School program, young men and women in their twenties pin on second lieutenant bars and immediately find themselves in charge of huge teams and millions of dollars of equipment in one of the harshest working environments imaginable.

    These young leaders find themselves leading service members who…

    There are very few leadership transitions like being a newly commissioned officer in the military.

    Typically, on graduation day from a military academy, ROTC program or Officer Candidate School program, young men and women in their twenties pin on second lieutenant bars and immediately find themselves in charge of huge teams and millions of dollars of equipment in one of the harshest working environments imaginable.

    These young leaders find themselves leading service members who are many years their senior and who have upwards of twenty years of military experience under their belts. Not to mention; many of these leaders do all of this while in combat zones, where the stakes are very real.

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  • How Will Leadership Change in the Cognitive Era?

    Forbes.com

    Technological innovation is continuing to accelerate on a hockey stick growth curve. Companies like IBM, Microsoft, Facebook, and Amazon are bringing cognitive computing capability to the masses. And it’s only a matter of time until nearly every aspect of our work and personal lives are impacted.

    These advances are still relatively new. Time will tell when and how they change things, but it will happen, and it will happen quickly. In a recent article, Steve Denning reminds us that a…

    Technological innovation is continuing to accelerate on a hockey stick growth curve. Companies like IBM, Microsoft, Facebook, and Amazon are bringing cognitive computing capability to the masses. And it’s only a matter of time until nearly every aspect of our work and personal lives are impacted.

    These advances are still relatively new. Time will tell when and how they change things, but it will happen, and it will happen quickly. In a recent article, Steve Denning reminds us that a repeating pattern of massive transformation has occurred regularly over the last 250 years.

    With massive change at our doorstep, now is the time to begin a collective discussion to help leaders navigate this new age.

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  • How One Award-Winning Producer Is Transforming The Music Industry

    Forbes.com

    In an industry struggling to transform in order to thrive in a rapidly changing and increasingly digital market, a young beatmaker turned renowned music producer found an opportunity to change how music artists interact with brands by becoming a disruptive entrepreneur.

    When Alex “da Kid” Grant began creating beats in his bedroom, he didn’t have his sights set on the entrepreneur’s life. But a passion to elevate music and a penchant for questioning the status quo led him to wild success.

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  • How To Find Hidden Leadership Talent In Your Organization

    Forbes.com

    What would happen if one of your senior leaders stepped down tomorrow? Is your organization prepared to fill his or her shoes quickly and efficiently? Do you have qualified, knowledgeable talent on your bench, ready to take the reins?

    If this isn’t a concern for your organization now, it soon will be. Research suggests an average employee tenure of five years these days, regardless of age or position within an organization. Baby Boomers are ready for retirement and the next generation of…

    What would happen if one of your senior leaders stepped down tomorrow? Is your organization prepared to fill his or her shoes quickly and efficiently? Do you have qualified, knowledgeable talent on your bench, ready to take the reins?

    If this isn’t a concern for your organization now, it soon will be. Research suggests an average employee tenure of five years these days, regardless of age or position within an organization. Baby Boomers are ready for retirement and the next generation of Gen X and Millennial leaders are poised to take their place, but only if you know where to find them.

    Uncovering hidden leadership talent is a challenge for every organization. The good news is, a recent study from performance management platform TINYpulse and Microsoft Workplace Analytics may have uncovered one factor that may help you find a solution.

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  • How Staples Is Making Its Easy Button Even Easier With A.I.

    Forbes.com

    It’s a cultural icon. The red, plastic “Easy Button” that Staples first introduced as part of a marketing campaign in 2005.

    It’s not at all uncommon for me find these buttons throughout my clients’ offices. In fact, in the last decade, the office-supply retailer has reportedly sold more than $7.5 million worth of Easy Buttons.

    The Easy Button serves as a symbol, acknowledging the frustrations and challenges of small business. It’s also a statement about Staple’s responsibility to…

    It’s a cultural icon. The red, plastic “Easy Button” that Staples first introduced as part of a marketing campaign in 2005.

    It’s not at all uncommon for me find these buttons throughout my clients’ offices. In fact, in the last decade, the office-supply retailer has reportedly sold more than $7.5 million worth of Easy Buttons.

    The Easy Button serves as a symbol, acknowledging the frustrations and challenges of small business. It’s also a statement about Staple’s responsibility to make things easier for their customers.

    Wouldn’t it be great if the Easy Button actually served as more than a symbol, though? Well, Easy Button lovers, hold onto your hats as Staples is now making things “easy” for their customers on a whole new level.

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  • The Tension Between Technology And Engagement In The Workplace

    Forbes.com

    Employee engagement has had quite a run in the spotlight, and many organizations are intent on cracking the code to develop and sustain high levels of engagement that, in turn, drive other business performance outcomes.

    Research suggests a direct connection between engaged employees and a variety of performance outcomes, including productivity, profitability, reduced turnover, and customer experience. Yet, sites like Gallup continue to report that only one-third of the global workforce…

    Employee engagement has had quite a run in the spotlight, and many organizations are intent on cracking the code to develop and sustain high levels of engagement that, in turn, drive other business performance outcomes.

    Research suggests a direct connection between engaged employees and a variety of performance outcomes, including productivity, profitability, reduced turnover, and customer experience. Yet, sites like Gallup continue to report that only one-third of the global workforce is engaged at work.

    There are multiple theories as to why employees may disengage with their employers, but my recent conversation with Mike Ettling, president of SAP SuccessFactors, shed light on a technological factor that I hadn’t previously considered.

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  • How Technology Empowers Your Talent Management Strategy

    Forbes.com

    I thought I’d struck pay dirt when I landed my first internship in college. I was interning in the Human Resources department of a trucking company and I felt like I’d finally arrived.

    My responsibilities included sitting alone in an office all day, screening resumes for truck drivers and forklift operators, conducting phone screenings, and setting up in-person interviews if candidates met certain criteria. Spending countless hours alone in a room with stacks of applications, a computer,…

    I thought I’d struck pay dirt when I landed my first internship in college. I was interning in the Human Resources department of a trucking company and I felt like I’d finally arrived.

    My responsibilities included sitting alone in an office all day, screening resumes for truck drivers and forklift operators, conducting phone screenings, and setting up in-person interviews if candidates met certain criteria. Spending countless hours alone in a room with stacks of applications, a computer, and a telephone made me appreciate the effort it takes to find the right talent to move an organization forward.

    Looking back twenty years later, it’s astonishing how things have changed and how—in some ways—they’ve stayed the same. Technology has evolved through several evolutions over the last two decades, and those paper job applications are a thing of the past.

    With the recent surge in HR tech, I can’t help but consider how technology is shaking traditional ways of working to their very core.

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  • Can Artificial Intelligence Unlock Our Full Potential At Work?

    Forbes.com

    They say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. But that would be a wild mistake if applied to this circumstance. If you’re a business leader or entrepreneur intent on staying competitive in the years to come, you’d best pay close attention.

    Last month, IBM hosted the World of Watson conference in Las Vegas aimed at raising awareness and educating participants about advances in computing over the last decade. The gathering also showcased a wide variety of real-world use cases from IBM and…

    They say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. But that would be a wild mistake if applied to this circumstance. If you’re a business leader or entrepreneur intent on staying competitive in the years to come, you’d best pay close attention.

    Last month, IBM hosted the World of Watson conference in Las Vegas aimed at raising awareness and educating participants about advances in computing over the last decade. The gathering also showcased a wide variety of real-world use cases from IBM and their wide range of partners, including the likes of office supply retailer Staples, and Grammy-winning music producer Alex Da Kid. But how did we get to this point?

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  • The War For Talent Is A Myth And Here’s Why

    Forbes.com

    The “war for talent” has been raging for years. Companies are doing whatever they can to attract and retain the highest caliber workforce in our fast-moving and hypercompetitive business environment.

    But some leaders in the talent space, like Mike Ettling, president of SAP SuccessFactors, don’t buy into the “war for talent” narrative, suggesting that we have created this pervasive belief due to the influence of our own biases.

    “This entire premise is based on the belief that there…

    The “war for talent” has been raging for years. Companies are doing whatever they can to attract and retain the highest caliber workforce in our fast-moving and hypercompetitive business environment.

    But some leaders in the talent space, like Mike Ettling, president of SAP SuccessFactors, don’t buy into the “war for talent” narrative, suggesting that we have created this pervasive belief due to the influence of our own biases.

    “This entire premise is based on the belief that there is a talent crisis,” shares Ettling. “It’s my point of view that the talent shortage is nothing but a myth. The only reason people may feel a shortage exists is because they are not fishing in a big enough pond. It is the result of unconscious bias in the workplace.”

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  • “Five Things Every Entrepreneur Needs To Know About DevOps” is locked Five Things Every Entrepreneur Needs To Know About DevOps

    Forbes.com

    I know there are many entrepreneurs out there who aren’t funded to the gills. They’re no strangers to making every penny count toward realizing their vision. And if you can relate to this in any way, you’re probably like me— forever working to find ways to maximize efficiency and to deliver more value to your customers.

    Whether eliminating waste in your processes or improving the user experience of your website, the entrepreneur is constantly striving to maximize value. Here’s a little…

    I know there are many entrepreneurs out there who aren’t funded to the gills. They’re no strangers to making every penny count toward realizing their vision. And if you can relate to this in any way, you’re probably like me— forever working to find ways to maximize efficiency and to deliver more value to your customers.

    Whether eliminating waste in your processes or improving the user experience of your website, the entrepreneur is constantly striving to maximize value. Here’s a little secret: The tech world is making some really interesting strides in this effort, and they call it DevOps.

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  • How Artificial Intelligence Is Redefining The Future Of Work

    Forbes.com

    In a world where the term “big data” is being thrown around like the next coming, many business leaders still struggle to understand how more information is going to help them make better decisions that drive their businesses forward.

    But the real challenge goes well beyond merely accessing more data. The key is accessing data in the right way, at the right time, and in the right format to generate beneficial insights.

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  • Who Is The Next Great HR Tech Company?

    Forbes.com

    Today, digital innovation influences every aspect of our workplace, and more recently, many tech startups are setting their sights on the advancement of human resources.

    “Ask any industry veteran and they’ll tell you that human resources is notoriously slow,” says Vip Sandhir, CEO of one such company, Highground. “It’s almost synonymous with red tape, approvals, and the like. It’s quite the juxtaposition with the tech world, that moves at a near mach-5 speed.

    “The relationship…

    Today, digital innovation influences every aspect of our workplace, and more recently, many tech startups are setting their sights on the advancement of human resources.

    “Ask any industry veteran and they’ll tell you that human resources is notoriously slow,” says Vip Sandhir, CEO of one such company, Highground. “It’s almost synonymous with red tape, approvals, and the like. It’s quite the juxtaposition with the tech world, that moves at a near mach-5 speed.

    “The relationship with HR and tech is important because they’re helping each other reach a middle-ground of proactivity and reactivity,” he continues. “HR tech start-ups are the ones pushing us all forward to help solve organizational challenges, better engage their employees, and improve business outcomes.”

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  • Using Technology To Support A Culture Of Safety

    Forbes.com

    There are an average of 12 job-related fatalities every day in the U.S., according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). 893 incidents are listed on their website so far in 2016 alone, each involving a serious injury or fatality to one or more employees.

    If you spend every workday sitting in front of your computer with the occasional walk to the break room to top off your coffee, safety likely isn’t an issue that’s top of mind. Yet, for millions of workers across…

    There are an average of 12 job-related fatalities every day in the U.S., according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). 893 incidents are listed on their website so far in 2016 alone, each involving a serious injury or fatality to one or more employees.

    If you spend every workday sitting in front of your computer with the occasional walk to the break room to top off your coffee, safety likely isn’t an issue that’s top of mind. Yet, for millions of workers across the globe, their jobs can put them in some extremely high-risk environments where valuing safety can mean the difference between life and death.

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  • The Future Of DevOps With Chef CTO Adam Jacob

    Forbes.com

    For leaders in the tech space, velocity is the name of the game. And for the last few years, pioneers in the industry have been evolving how technology is developed and launched in some pretty dramatic ways.

    Birthed out of more established methods of developing software like waterfall and Agile, the DevOps movement builds upon the best practices of these methods in order to drive performance in today’s digital economy. In a world where technology touches nearly every aspect of our…

    For leaders in the tech space, velocity is the name of the game. And for the last few years, pioneers in the industry have been evolving how technology is developed and launched in some pretty dramatic ways.

    Birthed out of more established methods of developing software like waterfall and Agile, the DevOps movement builds upon the best practices of these methods in order to drive performance in today’s digital economy. In a world where technology touches nearly every aspect of our day-to-day lives, evolving the ways these organizations deliver value to their customers quickly can mean the difference that separates the next Google from the next Yahoo.

    But what does the future hold for the world of tech? I sat down with Adam Jacob, CTO and founder of Chef Software, to get his perspective on the topic.

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  • Wells Fargo And The True Cost of Culture Gone Wrong

    Forbes.com

    In 2011, Wells Fargo was forced to pay $85 million in fines for selling higher interest rate mortgages to customers who should have qualified for lower rates, and falsifying loan applications in the process.

    Not five years later, Well Fargo finds itself faced with a strikingly similar scandal. Last Thursday the bank announced that it reached an agreement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to the tune of $185 million in fines for opening deposit accounts and transferring…

    In 2011, Wells Fargo was forced to pay $85 million in fines for selling higher interest rate mortgages to customers who should have qualified for lower rates, and falsifying loan applications in the process.

    Not five years later, Well Fargo finds itself faced with a strikingly similar scandal. Last Thursday the bank announced that it reached an agreement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to the tune of $185 million in fines for opening deposit accounts and transferring funds without customers’ consent. This settlement started a landslide of commentary, calls for deeper investigations, increased regulation of the banking industry and questions around how such unethical behavior might become the norm of acceptable behavior across an entire organization.

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  • It’s All In Your Head: How To Achieve Mastery And Improve Performance

    Forbes.com

    You know you’re ready when the action seems effortless to a casual observer. You can see this preparation pay off for children who have mastered a musical instrument, or special operations forces working together to clear a building of threats. There’s beauty in watching a well-oiled machine perform with that level of mastery, especially knowing the upfront work that went into it.

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  • How Culture Change Fuels Digital Transformation: Lessons From Westpac New Zealand

    Forbes.com

    As most any business leader will tell you, change can be tough. Leading change in large, established organizations can be downright painful.

    This shouldn’t be surprising. Well-established organizations have developed a certain level of cultural “inertia”—a certain way of doing things that has served them well for many years. And this may be all the more true in heavily regulated industries, like banking and finance.

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  • Culture And Engagement Apps: How to Find the Best Fit For Your Organization

    Forbes.com

    Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last few years, you’ve probably noticed there are no shortage of applications out there offering relief from your people-related woes. These apps offer everything from employee engagement, to company culture, to stakeholder communications and pulse surveying and peer feedback in order to solve a wide breadth of people-related challenges in your organization.

    But, where to start? If you are a business leader who has taken on the task of…

    Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last few years, you’ve probably noticed there are no shortage of applications out there offering relief from your people-related woes. These apps offer everything from employee engagement, to company culture, to stakeholder communications and pulse surveying and peer feedback in order to solve a wide breadth of people-related challenges in your organization.

    But, where to start? If you are a business leader who has taken on the task of trying to identify the right tools for your organization, you no doubt came to the realization that there are an endless number of app companies that want to pitch you.

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  • Digital Communication In The Workplace Is No Longer Optional

    Forbes.com

    In case you missed the memo (or the text, IM, emoji, slack, chat, ping, post, email or like), digital communication is a big deal, and it’s not going away. Digital has permeated our lives. And as newer generations continue to enter the workforce, these methods of communication are embedding themselves in the very fabric of our work experience.

    As organizations evolve their ways of working to drive innovation and speed to market, a reliance on technology to automate the more transactional…

    In case you missed the memo (or the text, IM, emoji, slack, chat, ping, post, email or like), digital communication is a big deal, and it’s not going away. Digital has permeated our lives. And as newer generations continue to enter the workforce, these methods of communication are embedding themselves in the very fabric of our work experience.

    As organizations evolve their ways of working to drive innovation and speed to market, a reliance on technology to automate the more transactional aspects of work makes sense. But organizations don't embrace new technologies because they exist. New technologies are created because organizations have a real need for them.

    So, what are the benefits and risks associated with this rapid adoption and reliance (some may say overreliance) on digital communication tools in the workplace?

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  • Solid Leadership: Lessons In The Art Of The Turnaround From U.S. Concrete

    F

    When Bill Sandbrook took over as CEO of U.S. Concrete in 2011, he stepped into an organization that was hobbling out of bankruptcy and struggling to turn itself around. What he didn’t realize was just how precarious the situation really was.

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  • Why You Can’t Ignore Culture In Your Recruiting Process

    Forbes.com

    For many rapidly-growing organizations, hiring the best talent available is priority number one. But when done poorly, your recruiting process can cost your company more than you might expect.

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  • The State Of DevOps: Bridging The Gap Between Technology And Culture

    Forbes.com

    Imagine your business perfecting a method of work that allows you to enhance your performance and execute exponentially faster than your competitors. One that helps keep your talent informed, engaged, and helps foster an open, collaborative culture that drives significant performance gains.

    In tech this isn’t a dream, it’s happening via DevOps, the most recent evolution of working, and it’s something that the industry has increasingly been moving toward over the last few years.

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  • The Story Behind The Best New Lawn Game You’ve Never Heard Of

    Forbes.com

    Lieutenant Colonel Matt Butler spends most of his time serving as mission crew commander of an Air Force Joint STARS E8C air-to-ground radar aircraft. A job that has given him the opportunity to live all over the United States and abroad, including ten deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. But it’s not all work and no play for Colonel Butler.

    Matt is also the creator of what the Wall Street Journal referred to as one of the “best new lawn games you’ve never heard of.” Growing up in…

    Lieutenant Colonel Matt Butler spends most of his time serving as mission crew commander of an Air Force Joint STARS E8C air-to-ground radar aircraft. A job that has given him the opportunity to live all over the United States and abroad, including ten deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. But it’s not all work and no play for Colonel Butler.

    Matt is also the creator of what the Wall Street Journal referred to as one of the “best new lawn games you’ve never heard of.” Growing up in Minnesota meant summers chock full of outdoor activities at the cabin Matt’s family stayed in during the warmer months. And what’s a little outdoor family time without a barbecue fired up and lawn games?

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  • 7 Ways Leaders Can Shape A More Meaningful Startup Culture

    Forbes.com

    It doesn’t take a genius to realize that it’s going to take more than a beer keg and an in-house masseuse to drive sustained performance of your startup.

    Beyond the perks and window dressing that business leaders adorn their exposed-brick workspaces with, what can be done to solidify certain ways of working that guide behavior to tangibly drive the results you’re looking for?

    Most articles out there about startup culture focus on some of the very important basic foundations that…

    It doesn’t take a genius to realize that it’s going to take more than a beer keg and an in-house masseuse to drive sustained performance of your startup.

    Beyond the perks and window dressing that business leaders adorn their exposed-brick workspaces with, what can be done to solidify certain ways of working that guide behavior to tangibly drive the results you’re looking for?

    Most articles out there about startup culture focus on some of the very important basic foundations that help align people in organizations: Creating a clear and compelling vision that creates a fire in peoples’ bellies about what you’re trying to accomplish. Articulating an intentional strategy where every individual can clearly see how their day-to-day behaviors support the bigger picture. Creating a non-negotiable set of core values that help members of the group understand what’s important and help guide decisions at the point closest to the issue.

    Right now, some of you may be saying to yourselves, “We’ve done that. Now what?”

    Well, let’s go there.

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  • How One CEO Is Scaling Culture In A Growing Tech Startup

    Forbes.com

    The term “startup culture” has taken the trip around the block and back again (and again) in recent years. Typically, it conjures up mental images of a few bleary-eyed twenty-somethings huddled in a small room (or garage), beer cans strewn about and a stale sandwich sitting on a plate in the corner. The term is used equally to describe the wonderful aspects of many tech startups, as well as some of the less than glamorous sides of the scene.

    All of the “startup culture” hubbub got me…

    The term “startup culture” has taken the trip around the block and back again (and again) in recent years. Typically, it conjures up mental images of a few bleary-eyed twenty-somethings huddled in a small room (or garage), beer cans strewn about and a stale sandwich sitting on a plate in the corner. The term is used equally to describe the wonderful aspects of many tech startups, as well as some of the less than glamorous sides of the scene.

    All of the “startup culture” hubbub got me thinking about what it really means. How can rapidly growing companies scale and evolve their cultures while maintaining the things that have worked for them so far? How can startups adopt other aspects of operating that allow them to sustain themselves at scale?

    To explore this idea, I sat down with Doug Bewsher, CEO of San Francisco-based tech firm Leadspace.

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  • Employee Retention: When Achieving True Success Means Letting Go

    Forbes.com

    The war for talent. The age-old battle waged by HR teams across the country, each vying to secure and retain the best people to help them achieve organizational success. The eternal effort to create systems, process, and benefits to help keep them once you’ve recruited them.

    At the epicenter of the war for talent resides the tech industry, where many talented engineers and other highly-skilled workers have no problem jumping to another employer for a minor bump in pay or benefits. The…

    The war for talent. The age-old battle waged by HR teams across the country, each vying to secure and retain the best people to help them achieve organizational success. The eternal effort to create systems, process, and benefits to help keep them once you’ve recruited them.

    At the epicenter of the war for talent resides the tech industry, where many talented engineers and other highly-skilled workers have no problem jumping to another employer for a minor bump in pay or benefits. The result? Companies are forever trying to outshine each other with baubles, beer kegs and nap pods to try to entice this demographic to join them.

    What this approach fails to do is inspire loyalty. Despite all the money that these companies pour into perks, at the end of the day, it’s just job hopping.

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  • DevOps And Culture: The Evolution Of DevOps In The Tech Industry

    Forbes.com

    “Culture” has been a hot topic of conversation in the corporate world for decades. But up until a few years ago, saying the “c”-word around tech types was likely to be met with an eye roll and a prompt end to the conversation.

    This certainly isn’t the case anymore and it’s due, in large part, to increasing awareness that the tech industry is collectively living through some significantly disruptive transformations.

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  • This CEO Wants You To Know Bonuses Don’t Drive Performance

    Forbes.com

    Kris Duggan is the CEO of Betterworks, a software company based in Redwood City, CA, that provides customers with an enterprise platform dedicated to goal setting.

    With around 200 enterprise clients and about two and a half years of road behind them, the start of Duggan’s latest venture had its roots in his experience as the CEO of a former business. He, like many other executives, was searching for a better way to engage his entire team in the goal setting and goal management…

    Kris Duggan is the CEO of Betterworks, a software company based in Redwood City, CA, that provides customers with an enterprise platform dedicated to goal setting.

    With around 200 enterprise clients and about two and a half years of road behind them, the start of Duggan’s latest venture had its roots in his experience as the CEO of a former business. He, like many other executives, was searching for a better way to engage his entire team in the goal setting and goal management process.

    Duggan has primarily utilized the Managing by Objectives (MBO) approach in several previous companies. And it’s the same process he has used at Betterworks.

    Until now.

    See publication
  • Harnessing The Power Of Culture In Mergers And Acquisitions

    Forbes.com

    There has certainly not been a shortage of merger and acquisition activity in the US over the last couple of years. Organizations continue to find growth strategies that keep them competitive in the rapidly evolving business landscape through M&A activity.

    2015 was a banner year, coming in at an estimated $5 trillion (with a t) in deal value emanating from activity. And this trend is showing no signs of stopping in 2016, with recent announcements about Alaska Airlines acquiring Virgin…

    There has certainly not been a shortage of merger and acquisition activity in the US over the last couple of years. Organizations continue to find growth strategies that keep them competitive in the rapidly evolving business landscape through M&A activity.

    2015 was a banner year, coming in at an estimated $5 trillion (with a t) in deal value emanating from activity. And this trend is showing no signs of stopping in 2016, with recent announcements about Alaska Airlines acquiring Virgin America, and Comcast buying Dreamworks Animation. Consolidation seems to be a viable strategy for many leaders in a variety of industries, as Jeff Golman’s article from January explains.

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  • How To Overcome Massive Change: Lessons From Synchrony Financial

    Forbes.com

    It’s been quite a journey. When Margaret Keane was working as a debt collector at Citibank for $5.50 an hour, she had no idea that she would someday become the second woman in history to run a bank valued at more than $20 billion.

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  • Stuck In The Middle With You: A Survival Guide For Middle Managers (And The Zombie Apocalypse)

    Forbes.com

    Middle management.

    Early in your career, it’s the next rung of the ladder as you climb your way to CEO.

    With more experience, it's likely remembered as a pivotal time in your development as a leader.

    Middle management positions have undoubtedly been a tough career milestone for many throughout the decades. These rising leaders are tasked with supervising the execution of the organizational strategy on a day-to-day basis.

    Having to translate this strategy into…

    Middle management.

    Early in your career, it’s the next rung of the ladder as you climb your way to CEO.

    With more experience, it's likely remembered as a pivotal time in your development as a leader.

    Middle management positions have undoubtedly been a tough career milestone for many throughout the decades. These rising leaders are tasked with supervising the execution of the organizational strategy on a day-to-day basis.

    Having to translate this strategy into tactical reality is a true leadership challenge, and no one knows the struggles more than those middle managers who are in the hot seat. They are forced to live with one foot on each side of the organizational dynamic, serving as the liaison between the big picture and actually getting things done.

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  • How Great Leaders Manage Underperforming Teams

    Forbes.com

    Congratulations! You’ve earned a reputation as a highly effective leader. Now, your organization has thanked you by giving you a challenging new assignment that no one else can seem to figure out.

    You’ve been assigned to lead a team that has a track record for underperforming, and it’s your mission to get things turned around.

    Some may view this as being punished for a job well done. Others may take this as a true leadership challenge. An opportunity to have real impact on…

    Congratulations! You’ve earned a reputation as a highly effective leader. Now, your organization has thanked you by giving you a challenging new assignment that no one else can seem to figure out.

    You’ve been assigned to lead a team that has a track record for underperforming, and it’s your mission to get things turned around.

    Some may view this as being punished for a job well done. Others may take this as a true leadership challenge. An opportunity to have real impact on themselves, their team and their organization.

    Whether you view it as a positive or negative, however, your job is to make it happen. So where do you start? Here are a few ideas to help design your approach to transforming your team of underperformers into superstars.

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  • DevOps, Culture Change And The Brass Ring Of Velocity

    Forbes.com

    The world of tech is not for the faint of heart. It can be high-stakes and the margin between wild success and yesterday’s news is razor thin at times.

    In order to stay one step ahead of the competition in the war for market share, many tech companies have begun to fundamentally shift how they work in order to increase the velocity with which they build, test and release software. What originally started from the agile movement is now evolving into a new philosophical way of working:…

    The world of tech is not for the faint of heart. It can be high-stakes and the margin between wild success and yesterday’s news is razor thin at times.

    In order to stay one step ahead of the competition in the war for market share, many tech companies have begun to fundamentally shift how they work in order to increase the velocity with which they build, test and release software. What originally started from the agile movement is now evolving into a new philosophical way of working: DevOps.

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  • What I’ve Learned In Ten Years As A Bootstrapped Entrepreneur

    Forbes.com

    2006 was a memorable year for a lot of reasons. Facebook opened its doors to the general public. Zinedine Zidane headbutted Marco Materazzi during the World Cup final. And for some reason, Americans paid a total of $62 million to watch Snakes on a Plane.

    But the most important event for me in 2006 was founding my company, gothamCulture.

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  • What FINRA’s Focus On Culture Means For Financial Services

    Forbes.com

    Last month, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), released a notice requesting firms and their broker-dealers provide details about the organizational cultures that exist in their workplaces.

    The notice cited Ben McLannahan’s article in The Financial Times, which estimated that fines, penalties and litigation costs associated with cultural failures in the industry have totaled over $300 billion since 2010. That’s billion… with a B.

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  • What Are The Greatest Priorities For Rapidly Growing Companies?

    Forbes.com

    Leading a successful, rapidly growing organization can be one of the most thrilling, liberating and stressful things a person can do. Those of us who have taken the plunge into the world of entrepreneurship know, firsthand, that this life is anything but boring.

    As I’ve watched my business grow over the years, I’ve often reflected on the sheer number of decisions I made each day and the priorities that had to be juggled in order to stay nimble in the face of tremendous competition. And…

    Leading a successful, rapidly growing organization can be one of the most thrilling, liberating and stressful things a person can do. Those of us who have taken the plunge into the world of entrepreneurship know, firsthand, that this life is anything but boring.

    As I’ve watched my business grow over the years, I’ve often reflected on the sheer number of decisions I made each day and the priorities that had to be juggled in order to stay nimble in the face of tremendous competition. And I’m not alone.

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  • DevOps: Why People (Not Tools) Are Transforming Software Development

    Forbes.com

    There is little doubt that DevOps has become a term du jour in tech circles over the last couple of years. Many tech firms understand the concept as a culture transformation. And they likely understand that collaboration in order to speed up production cycle times can be a win-win for companies and consumers alike. But I’m still not convinced that we’ve fully explored what it takes to truly embed the principles of DevOps in sustainable ways that yield tangible results.

    To explore this…

    There is little doubt that DevOps has become a term du jour in tech circles over the last couple of years. Many tech firms understand the concept as a culture transformation. And they likely understand that collaboration in order to speed up production cycle times can be a win-win for companies and consumers alike. But I’m still not convinced that we’ve fully explored what it takes to truly embed the principles of DevOps in sustainable ways that yield tangible results.

    To explore this important topic further, I spent some time with Alon Girmonsky, CEO of BlazeMeter, a Palo Alto-based software firm that specializes in solving one of the more complicated problems in application development - continuous performance testing.

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  • The Future Of Performance Management Is Not One-Size-Fits-All

    Forbes.com

    In 2013, CEB research found that 86% of organizations had recently made significant changes to their performance management system, or were planning to. In 2014, a Deloitte survey found that 58% percent of companies surveyed did not think performance management was an effective use of time, and many media outlets jumped on the opportunity to air their grievances.

    Finally, the rising wave of discontent seemed to crash in 2015, as a slew of large organizations like GE, Accenture, Netflix…

    In 2013, CEB research found that 86% of organizations had recently made significant changes to their performance management system, or were planning to. In 2014, a Deloitte survey found that 58% percent of companies surveyed did not think performance management was an effective use of time, and many media outlets jumped on the opportunity to air their grievances.

    Finally, the rising wave of discontent seemed to crash in 2015, as a slew of large organizations like GE, Accenture, Netflix, and Adobe all scrapped their age-old annual performance management processes in favor of more continuous feedback systems. And many others followed suit.

    But, was it the right move for everyone?

    See publication
  • The Surprising Power Of Appreciation At Work

    Forbes.com

    Remember when your mom told you, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all?” Turns out, there’s a lot of merit to that advice.

    No one likes a complainer. When you show up to work and try your best to add value while being as positive as possible, the resident Debby Downer of the workplace can instantly turn your best intentions into another bad day.

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  • Lessons Learned From The Most Important Workplace Culture Stories of 2015.

    Forbes.com

    Dan Denison, a well-respected researcher in the space of organizational culture, gave a fascinating presentation, sharing some of the biggest culture stories from 2015 and some key lessons that we can take into this year. This article is intended to summarize some of the key observations of Dan’s presentation and add to the discussion from my own perspective.

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  • It's Time To Redefine The Rules Of Employee Engagement

    Forbes.com

    Gallup recently reported that employee engagement levels stayed stagnant in 2015. According to their data, 32% of employees are engaged with their jobs. And this isn’t new. In fact, these levels of engagement have remained flat for the last 5 years.

    The longstanding cycle of annual input from employee engagement surveys is fraught with shortcomings that only serve to further disengage your employees. Here are a few reasons why.

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  • For DevOps Success, Embrace Culture Change

    Forbes.com

    DevOps began as a software development method meant to drive increased velocity in the building, testing and release of software by getting two groups—Developers (Dev) and Operations (Ops) to work together more effectively.

    If your life doesn’t revolve around servers, app development or software reliability, you’re probably scratching your head right now wondering, “What the heck does this have to do with me?” I’m going to tell you.

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  • End Of An Era: Thoughtfully Planning The Departure Of A Founder

    Forbes.com

    Founders have enormous influence on the culture of their organizations. Their personal beliefs and assumptions about the right and wrong way to do things takes on a life of its own as they onboard new employees during the startup phase. If the beliefs of the founder don’t make for good business, the organization will fail to thrive and will likely shut down. If the organization succeeds, that success only serves to reinforce for members of the organization that those ways of working are, in…

    Founders have enormous influence on the culture of their organizations. Their personal beliefs and assumptions about the right and wrong way to do things takes on a life of its own as they onboard new employees during the startup phase. If the beliefs of the founder don’t make for good business, the organization will fail to thrive and will likely shut down. If the organization succeeds, that success only serves to reinforce for members of the organization that those ways of working are, in fact, the right ways to work.

    See publication
  • Do You Know What's Really Driving Your Organizational Culture?

    Forbes.com

    When I talk to people about the concept of organizational culture as it relates to business challenges our conversation centers around what people think the reality of their situation is. What they often describe when sharing their experiences are the manifestations of the underlying culture rather than the culture itself.

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  • How Two Military Spouses Found Success In Entrepreneurship

    Forbes.com

    A few weeks ago, I wrote a special Veterans Day piece focusing on a small, but growing, community of entrepreneurs that have gone largely unnoticed in American society: military spouses. I was so impressed by the women that I met with during my research that I decided to write a follow-up article showcasing, specifically, how two of these career-minded military spouses are finding innovative ways to launch and grow entrepreneurial ventures and employ other spouses despite their challenges of…

    A few weeks ago, I wrote a special Veterans Day piece focusing on a small, but growing, community of entrepreneurs that have gone largely unnoticed in American society: military spouses. I was so impressed by the women that I met with during my research that I decided to write a follow-up article showcasing, specifically, how two of these career-minded military spouses are finding innovative ways to launch and grow entrepreneurial ventures and employ other spouses despite their challenges of having to pick up and move, often internationally, every few years.

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  • The Most Meaningful Employee Benefits Focus On The Why

    Forbes.com

    The growing interest in employee benefits has hit a fevered pitch this year. Many large organizations like Netflix, Microsoft, and Facebook have all recently enhanced their benefits packages. Others, like Gravity Payments, made a splash in the headlines with news of higher wages across the board.

    As a result, I’ve had plenty of fodder for recent articles on the topics of interesting employee benefits programs, as well as the potential dangers of companies attempting to “keep up with the…

    The growing interest in employee benefits has hit a fevered pitch this year. Many large organizations like Netflix, Microsoft, and Facebook have all recently enhanced their benefits packages. Others, like Gravity Payments, made a splash in the headlines with news of higher wages across the board.

    As a result, I’ve had plenty of fodder for recent articles on the topics of interesting employee benefits programs, as well as the potential dangers of companies attempting to “keep up with the Joneses” with sometimes outrageous offerings.

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  • How To Tell Your CEO It's Time To Stop Ignoring Culture

    Forbes.com

    Employees are disengaged and blame runs rampant. Customers are letting you know they aren’t happy by taking their dollars elsewhere. Employees read the writing on the wall and you start losing your top talent. These are just a few of the potential indicators that your culture is not supporting your company’s success.

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  • The Rise Of Military Entrepreneurs: What You Need To Know

    Forbes.com

    Most people are largely unaware of the immense sacrifices that military families (1.8M strong as of 2014) make in supporting these service members. Many have endured over a decade of constant deployments to combat zones and an operational tempo that would quickly put the idea of work-life balance into perspective for civilians here at home.

    Career minded military spouses (91% of whom are female) face the added challenge of maintaining careers while relocating every few years.

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  • The Myth Of Fearless Leadership: How To Lead When You're Afraid

    Forbes.com

    The fearless leader fallacy harkens back to the “great man” theory of leadership, which portrayed effective leaders as those who charge fearlessly into the melee to save the day. They were “born to lead” and “looked fear in the face without blinking an eye.”

    Maybe this resonates with some folks out there but, for me, it never quite sat right.

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  • Why Values (Not Perks) Define Your Startup Culture

    Forbes.com

    Entrepreneurs are often cited as modern day adventurers and explorers. They are willing to takes risks and push innovation. And for many, they exemplify the American Dream. That is, everyone has the opportunity to be successful, no matter how you started or where you might be from.

    Unfortunately, glamorizing entrepreneurs—while flattering—doesn’t tell the whole story of what founding and growing a sustainable company entails.

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  • What Every Founder Needs To Know About Scaling Startup Culture

    Forbes.com

    Scaling a startup is no small feat. It takes clarity of vision, a feasible business model and a team who’s up to the challenge of operating in an extremely fast paced environment where dynamics change continuously. It also takes guts on the part of the founders and initial team members. These types of people risk a lot by taking a chance on a new startup. The nebulous nature of these situations can be too much for many people to bear.

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  • Preserving What Makes You Great In Times Of Rapid Growth

    Forbes.com

    We’ve all heard stories of meteoric growth from companies like Shake Shack, Uber and Slack . And while many of these stories serve as inspiration for entrepreneurs and leaders at all levels, the reality of navigating a company through rapid growth never plays out as smoothly as these stories would have you believe.

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  • Customer Experience And The Hidden Dangers Of The Comfort Trap

    Forbes.com

    The comfort trap. It happens all the time and, to a great extent, it goes unnoticed—to everyone but our customers. We don’t do it intentionally and we don’t do it because it’s the right thing to do. We do it because we are continuously trying to find ways to make our own work lives easier.

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  • Collective Impact: A Collaborative Approach To Creating Change

    Forbes.com

    In a recent article penned in partnership with my respected colleague Stan Schneider of Metis Associates, we explore an interesting model for social change that is quickly gaining attention in not-for-profit circles. Though its primary purpose is social reform, this collective impact model may serve as a foundation for today’s business leaders as they struggle with how to align their internally siloed teams to achieve greater impact through collaboration.

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  • Unshackling Silicon Valley From Its Golden Handcuffs

    Forbes.com

    Silicon Valley is known for its buzzwords around corporate culture, having adopted (or been labeled with) such terms as “bro culture”, “work hard/play hard culture” and “culture of failure.” Startups that operate at breakneck speed, encouraging all-night hackathons and weekend work retreats, are often held up as shining examples for aspiring young entrepreneurs to follow on the road to success. But the reality is not quite so appealing for those who don’t fit into the strict tech mold, and who…

    Silicon Valley is known for its buzzwords around corporate culture, having adopted (or been labeled with) such terms as “bro culture”, “work hard/play hard culture” and “culture of failure.” Startups that operate at breakneck speed, encouraging all-night hackathons and weekend work retreats, are often held up as shining examples for aspiring young entrepreneurs to follow on the road to success. But the reality is not quite so appealing for those who don’t fit into the strict tech mold, and who don’t buy into the assumption that the only way to succeed is to sell your soul.

    See publication
  • 3 Things to Know Before Eliminating Performance Evaluations

    Forbes.com

    Here are three things to consider before you eliminate performance evaluations in your organization.

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  • 3 Things To Know Before Eliminating Performance Evaluations

    Forbes.com

    The HR scene has been up in arms recently as several large firms; including Deloitte , Accenture and GE have made the decision to eliminate their traditional performance evaluation processes. But before you go storming the gates of your CEO’s office with torches and pitchforks demanding that your organization follow in their footsteps, you may want to step back and consider a few things.

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  • A Closer Look at Netflix's Surprising Parental Leave Policy

    Forbes.com

    Is Netflix’s move to unlimited maternity and paternity leave an innovative new trend or unintended train wreck waiting to happen?

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  • Crowdsourcing: Your Key To A More Effective, Engaged Organization

    Forbes.com

    If you’re an entrepreneur with a great idea, or leading a company that’s looking for ways to innovate, there may be no better way to gather feedback, acquire funding quickly, or evolve your good idea into the next big thing than by crowdsourcing.

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  • Build a Culture of Trust: Sharing Financials With Your Team

    Forbes.com

    The open sharing of company financials can still be a touchy subject for many leaders. For years, it was generally accepted that a company should have closed books. No one questioned a company’s success if they were able to please investors, and employees certainly did not need to have access to closed door financial forecasting and investor reports.

    Today, we are beginning to think about these things differently.

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  • Two Ways to Ensure Your Corporate Culture and Values Align

    Forbes.com

    When you think of your company’s values, what comes to mind?

    Do they serve as a compass for your organization? A manifesto? Do they hold any weight at all or are they meaningless words on a wall in the lobby of your building? Even worse, are the actions of your organization so misaligned with your “values” that people actually make jokes about it?

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  • How to Boost Performance Through Thoughtful Workplace Design

    Forbes.com

    Does workplace design boost performance, or is it another passing trend for companies who are grasping at straws in their ongoing quest to be “cool”, innovative or enticing in their efforts for attracting top talent?

    See publication
  • Preparing for Successful Organizational Culture Change

    Forbes.com

    In today’s hyper-connected world, employees are making their voices heard: They want to join organizations that stand for something. They want to align themselves with a corporate culture that fits their own beliefs and values. A place where they can bring their best selves and contribute in ways that make a difference.

    See publication
  • Five Myths About Organizational Culture Every CEO Should Know

    Forbes.com

    Many thought leaders today are talking about company culture as if it’s akin to capturing a unicorn. It carries a romantic and mythological appeal that makes it an irresistible topic of conversation, but they still haven’t fully figured out how to effectively shape it to drive the right behaviors in their organizations.

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  • How Exceptional Companies Create High Performance Cultures

    Forbes.com

    Organizations that are able to set very clear and aligned values and processes will consistently outperform those that cannot. Furthermore, leaders who understand when it’s time to do things differently in order to stay relevant are those that are best able to adapt their organizations to changes in the business environment.

    While it sounds simple in theory, its much more difficult to pull off in reality- ask any business leader out there.

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  • How to Jumpstart A Stalled Corporate Culture of Innovation

    Forbes.com

    How often have you heard of a company being widely hailed as innovative in their field these days? It seems like everyone, especially in the startup world, wants to disrupt an industry, become a game changer, or spark a revolution in the hearts and minds of their consumers and competitors.

    Unfortunately, chasing a buzzword without really understanding the deeper drivers of human behavior in organizations is not the most effective way of achieving “disruptor status”.

  • Creating a Culture of Safety: More Than a Kitschy Catchphrase

    Forbes.com

    You’ve probably seen it before: a well-meaning cartoon safety poster hanging in your company warehouse about ladder safety; complete with a kitschy catchphrase like, “While on a ladder, never step back to admire your work!”

    Reminders like these are good for a chuckle, but are they actually effective at raising awareness and changing behavior in any sort of sustainable way?

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  • The Modern Workplace is Driven By Six Core Human Needs

    Forbes.com

    Have you ever wondered how your work environment impacts your well being and prosperity? Is your office environment meeting your core human needs? How do the mysteries of work and life connect to how and where we work?

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  • Building High Performance Teams Takes More Than Talent

    Forbes.com

    We’ve all come across this type of person in our careers: the guy who is miserable to work with but who’s also “the top salesman we have.” Or how about “the smartest guy in the room,” who’s also the most unapproachable person you’ve ever met? The talent may well be there but, in today’s increasingly networked workplace, it isn’t a guarantee of success.

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  • The Strategic Narrative: A Better Way To Communicate Change

    Forbes

    If you think your company’s strategy conversations should only take place at the most senior level, you could unknowingly be crippling your company’s bottom line.

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  • 5 Signs Your Organization Has Outgrown You

    Forbes

    Like our kids, companies also grow up. Although they may not swap carefree childhoods for adult responsibilities, they still change and mature with time. Growing old with a company is like a relationship: Sometimes, you grow together; other times, you grow apart.

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  • It's Inevitable -- How To Have Tough Conversations With Your Employees

    Forbes

    Sure, it takes courage to be an entrepreneur, and there are many who don’t back away from a challenge, but there are just as many who would rather avoid certain aspects of the job — and that often includes having tough conversations with their employees.

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  • Focus on Your Company Culture, and Earnings Will Follow

    Forbes

    Your organizational culture impacts your earnings more than you might think. If you’re wondering how to steer your company’s culture back on track, it's not too late.

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  • 6 Authentic Leadership Tips For Overcoming Your Fears

    Forbes

    Many leaders are beginning to question themselves, especially when tough situations force them to act in ways that don’t align with their true beliefs. If you’re struggling with leading authentically test out these six strategies for authentic leadership.

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  • How Disney Turned a Dreaded Trip Into the Experience of a Lifetime

    Forbes

    Culture lessons your organization can learn from the Disney experience.

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  • Don't Let Your Passion And Values Erode Employee Motivation

    Forbes

    As a leader, it’s your job to help employees figure out what motivates them and link it to their goals and values. But the fact is, you can’t motivate them — at least, not in the way you think — so stop trying.

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  • The Open Office Trend Isn’t Wrong, But It Might Be For Your Company

    TLNT.com

    Following the lead of Google, Yahoo, and eBay, the open-office plan has spread like a virus from Silicon Valley startups to city governments. And as the open-office trend has grown, so has the backlash against it. Insights from my colleague Maya Razon on the ins and outs of physical environment.

    Other authors
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  • The Secret To Faithfully Delivering On Your Brand Promise

    Forbes

    Every touchpoint with your audience is an invitation to your brand experience. You set the stage for what they can expect, and if it’s appealing, they’ll agree to see what you have in store.

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  • 4 Questions That Will Define a Lasting Corporate Culture

    Forbes

    One significant way in which companies differentiate themselves and the way they do things is by developing a unique culture that helps them drive performance. The challenge is that organizational culture is extremely difficult for leaders to pinpoint, define, quantify, and understand at a level that they can actually manage.

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  • BeCulture Radio: Driving Meaningful Organizational Change

    BeCulture Radio

    Listen to this highly informative interview and and learn:

    What Chris considers company culture to be
    Chris’ pointers for new entrepreneurs just starting out in business
    What Chris thinks was the monumental shift in the development of his company
    And much, much more

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  • Build Your Leadership on a Foundation of Trust

    Forbes.com

    The most effective leaders share a lot of characteristics, but the most important is their ability to inspire trust. With a solid foundation of trust, team members will act freely and without fear, and they’ll be more willing to take risks, move outside their comfort zones, and explore new ideas. They’ll more readily share information, feeling confident that other members of their team have their best interests in mind.

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  • Give Employees a Voice by Crowdsourcing Leadership Decisions

    Forbes

    In reality, no one person in a complex organization can ever see the entire picture, and when leaders default to making ill-informed decisions, they slowly etch away at dismal employee satisfaction levels. In fact, a recent survey by TINYhr found that 79 percent of employees feel marginally valued or extremely undervalued at work.

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  • Budget For Culture: How Investing In Your Team Drives Results

    Forbes

    As a leader, every decision you make shapes your organizational culture, and when it comes to budgeting your limited resources, these decisions send powerful messages to your people about what’s most important. After all, money doesn’t just talk — it shouts your priorities through a bullhorn.

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  • Is Your Anonymous Employee Survey Doing More Harm Than Good?

    Forbes

    We live in an era of oversharing. While most people are comfortable sharing what they ate for lunch, what they watched on TV, and what their relationship status is with 500 of their “closest” friends on Facebook and Twitter, the idea of telling their boss what they really think still feels pretty risky.

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  • 5 Steps to Preventing Brain Drain in Your Organization

    Forbes

    When a key employee decides to leave your organization, a million thoughts fly through your head at once: Why is this employee leaving in the first place? Was there anything you could have done to prevent his departure? And, of course, what will you do without him?

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  • What We Can Learn From the Organizational Cultures That Military Veterans Create

    Inc. Small Giants

    From the behemoths like Johnson & Johnson, FedEx, and General Motors to newer startups like ID.me and RideScout, veterans have been a driving force behind the success of our nation both on the field of battle and in the boardroom for as long as our nation has existed. That’s because veterans are often excellent examples of strong leaders who naturally develop great cultures and practice effective strategies — examples you would be wise to follow.

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  • 6 Key Steps to Influencing Effective Knowledge Transfer in Your Business

    Forbes

    While your organization may not be responsible for people’s lives, getting the right information to the right people at the right time is still a critical component to your business’s long-term success.

    What if the only person who understands a critical part of your company leaves? What if the marketing and engineering teams aren’t talking to each other except casually in the cafeteria?

    Are you going to rely on that? Of course not! That’s where effective knowledge management comes…

    While your organization may not be responsible for people’s lives, getting the right information to the right people at the right time is still a critical component to your business’s long-term success.

    What if the only person who understands a critical part of your company leaves? What if the marketing and engineering teams aren’t talking to each other except casually in the cafeteria?

    Are you going to rely on that? Of course not! That’s where effective knowledge management comes into play.

    See publication
  • 5 ways to help new salespeople bounce back from failure

    The Business Journals

    No one enjoys failing — there's absolutely nothing fun about it. What's worse is getting into a cycle of consistent failure that weighs you down, sucking the life out of you day after day.

    See publication
  • How Revamping Traditions Can Facilitate Success

    Startup Collective

    Don’t let past successes lull you into putting tradition before innovation.

    See publication
  • Shatter Today's Organizational Myths by Crowdsourcing Culture

    Forbes

    Think back to the last company change initiative you spearheaded. If your company is like most, you sent a survey to employees via email. Some employees might have grumbled about it and eventually filled it out; the senior leadership team then sat down and attempted to make sense of the feedback.

    Unfortunately, this approach can only take leaders so far.

    See publication
  • Why breaking tradition will help you achieve tremendous growth

    WeWork Magazine

    Don’t let past successes lull you into putting tradition before innovation.

    See publication
  • What 'Frozen' Can Teach Businesses About a Successful Pivot

    Forbes

    Even if you can’t go a day without breaking into your slightly painful soprano of “Let It Go,” you might not have thought about what Disney’s “Frozen” can teach you about pivoting. Co-authored piece with Cary Paul.

    See publication
  • A Closer Look at Glassdoor's List of the Top 25 Company Cultures of 2014

    Forbes

    Culture develops organically over time, so you can either sit idly by and let it happen or take the reins and intentionally establish one that positions you best for long-term success.

    Each of the companies on Glassdoor’s list of the “Top 25 Companies for Culture & Values” chose the latter, which has played a major role in their sustained performance.

    See publication
  • How To Take The 'Cult' Out Of Your Company Culture

    Forbes

    Some companies would disagree with the notion that creating a cult-like culture is a bad thing — they believe that culture drives people’s thinking and behaviors to increase performance and productivity. It’s a fine line to walk, but leaders shouldn’t be compelled to manipulate their employees or do things that benefit the company at the expense of employee livelihood.

    See publication
  • Workplace Safety Doesn't Start With Punishment

    Forbes

    Our impulse to assign blame and punish quickly is an outdated, reactionary measure that will destroy a company’s culture of safety before it reaches maturity. Instead, apply what we’ve learned from the CDC’s publicized safety breach to build a healthier, safer workplace culture.

    See publication
  • Using Your Culture to Attract Top Talent

    Forbes

    Drab offices, deafening silence, draconian rules — these are the trademarks of stifling workplaces. And if your aspirational employees are working in this kind of environment, believe me, they won’t stay long.

    See publication
  • What's Your Return On Opportunity?

    Forbes

    Leaders find success not by what they do with their “lucky breaks” alone, but what they do with the “breaks” they create for themselves.

    See publication
  • Living Your Brand: CVS' Bold Move to Align Behavior With Brand

    Forbes

    CVS’ decision is a clear and tangible example of a company living by its values and demonstrating a commitment to those values. As a leader, you should follow this example at your own company.

    See publication
  • Culture: The Most Overlooked Element of Audits

    Forbes.com

    A recent report presented by The Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors identified the clear need to conduct audits on corporate culture and called for internal auditors to incorporate culture as a key aspect of their audit processes — a drastic change to traditional auditing processes, which evaluate quantifiable aspects of business such as inventory and compliance.

    See publication
  • 4 Reasons Social Capital Trumps All

    Forbes.com

    Connections and shared values that exist between people and enable cooperation — is the key to entrepreneurial success.

    See publication
  • Cross-Training: Your Best Defense Against Indispensable Employees

    Forbes.com

    Regardless of your industry, today’s businesses can’t risk failing because they lose a key player at a critical juncture. It’s essential to cross-train your employees so losing one won’t mean the end of your company.

    See publication
  • Change Company Culture From Within

    localjobnetwork.com

    Radio Interview on LocalJobNetwork.com

    The conversation about a company's culture, and the effects on productivity, satisfaction and overall success, is a widely popular one. In this episode, Chris Cancialosi discusses some strategies for changing that culture from within the organization if needed, instead of waiting for management to make adjustments. Chris is a managing partner and founder of gothamCulture, and he argues to Tim Muma that everyone has the capability to improve a…

    Radio Interview on LocalJobNetwork.com

    The conversation about a company's culture, and the effects on productivity, satisfaction and overall success, is a widely popular one. In this episode, Chris Cancialosi discusses some strategies for changing that culture from within the organization if needed, instead of waiting for management to make adjustments. Chris is a managing partner and founder of gothamCulture, and he argues to Tim Muma that everyone has the capability to improve a company's culture from the inside.

    See publication
  • Honesty is the Best Policy: How to Encourage Employees to Give You Feedback

    Themuse.com

    Productive feedback starts with trust.

    See publication
  • How To Communicate Change: 3 Lessons From Microsoft's Recent Layoff

    Forbes.com

    Failing to approach change respectfully creates lasting scars in your organization that can take years to heal.

    See publication
  • How To Implement Innovation Like Indiana Jones

    Forbes

    In my previous article, I discussed the benefits and perils of large Nazi armies in comparison to a one-man independent contractor driving innovation. For the follow-up, it’s only fitting to look further into the culture of innovation through the perspective of “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” the (at the time) highly anticipated sequel to “Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark.”

    See publication
  • Discovering Innovation -- Indiana Jones Style

    Forbes.com

    Confining your innovations to a small skunkworks team working in a windowless lab in sub-basement C will produce innovations, but it won’t foster a culture of innovation throughout your organization.

    See publication
  • Don't Believe The Hype: Your Business' Rapid Growth Could Hurt You

    Forbes.com

    Greek mythology warns us not to fly too high, yet many companies continue to fall prey to the “Icarus trap.” It happens all the time: A rising star, full of talent and potential, begins to believe its own hype, only to fail due to overconfidence.

    See publication
  • Unhappy at Work? 5 Simple Ways to Change Your Company Culture

    BrazenCareerist.com

    If you dread going to work every day, you may have a company culture problem. But you’re more powerful than you think. Here’s how to create change — even if you’re not in charge.

    See publication
  • Why Pivoting Shouldn't Influence Your Company's Core Values

    Forbes.com

    As the business environment evolves, you’ll find yourself changing priorities and areas of focus. It’s unavoidable. The trick is to avoid compromising your core principles in the process. Remember, interim values come and go. But as long as you maintain the beliefs that are at the heart of your organization, your employees and clients will always know what you stand for.

    See publication
  • Today's Leaders Must Learn To Thrive In Disequilibrium

    Forbes

    Many leaders today believe that striving for equilibrium is the key to building a healthy business. A balanced business outlook, a balanced team, and a balanced budget will result in success. No stress, no fuss, no problems, right? Wrong.

    See publication
  • Why Your Company Needs a Leadership Brand (and How to Create One)

    LinkedIn

    A company’s success depends on dozens of factors, but it’s ultimately public perception that pushes one organization ahead of the rest. Customers drive companies’ success.

    See publication
  • How To Fix A Broken System Before Disaster Strikes

    Forbes

    If the ongoing investigation into the Department of Veterans Affairs facilities has taught us anything, it’s that broken systems can prove disastrous.

    Most business leaders would be appalled to think such things were happening in their organizations, but any company with a broken system puts itself at risk for this type of widespread misconduct. If your employees are overworked, your processes are flawed, or your expectations are unrealistic, you’re courting disaster.

    See publication
  • The Dark Side of Bonus and Incentive Programs

    Forbes

    In the wake of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs’ resignation and new details that have surfaced regarding the delay of veteran care, the administration is trying to form an explanation for how the culture devolved to where unethical behavior among VA leadership was tolerated.

    See publication
  • Grow Like Google: Why it Might Be Time to Break Your Business Traditions

    Forbes

    Tradition is safe, easy and has brought your business success at some point. So why change it now?

    See publication
  • What You Can Learn From Target’s CEO Stepping Down

    LinkedIn

    Amidst the turmoil stemming from a massive customer data breach and lackluster performance in Canada, Target seems to continue to flounder with the departure of its CEO, Gregg Steinhafel.

    In any corporation, big changes — particularly the loss of leadership — are bound to happen. To avoid chaos, you need to have a backup plan.

    See publication
  • Your Company Culture Could Be Killing Performance

    Switch&Shift.com

    Don’t go conducting that annual employee survey if all you’re going to do is lock yourself in your executive suite and try to solve organizational issues on your own.
    The culture of your company has developed and evolved over time through tens of thousands of interactions with leaders, customers, and employees, so you can’t expect to steer the organization by yourself.

    See publication
  • Op-Ed: Being Self-Employed Doesn’t Make You an Entrepreneur

    YFSmagazine.com

    Entrepreneurship is not intrinsically better than being self-employed. What matters is making an intentional choice between the two paths.

    See publication
  • Find Your Match: 3 Steps for Building Mutually Beneficial Business Relationships

    LinkedIn

    One of the biggest frustrations entrepreneurs can face is knowing where they want their company to go but lacking the resources and connections to get there. By carefully choosing partnerships and mitigating and managing risk where possible, you have the potential to build strong connections that will benefit both your business and your customers.

    See publication
  • The Secret Power of Introverts

    FullStart.com

    We tend to imagine leaders as extroverts, but this stereotype isn’t necessarily true. I’m a leader who’s an introvert, and you might be too. If you are one, you’re in good company.

    See publication
  • How Leaders Create (or Destroy) a Culture of Safety

    LinkedIn

    Leaders are under intense pressure to produce immediate results; unfortunately, those results often come at the expense of safety.

    See publication
  • How Company Culture Could Make or Break Your Business

    FastCompany Magazine

    Culture is a relentless driver of employee behavior. Left to its own devices, it can potentially limit an organization. But if leaders work to define it, assess it, and understand it, culture can be used as a tangible business lever to directly achieve goals and improve performance.

    See publication
  • Entrepreneurs: How important has written communication been to your success?

    2paragraphs.com

    Leveraging the art of written communication with our employees and customers is imperative. With team members spread across the United States and around the globe, we too often lean on Google Hangouts or Skype calls to get business done. But those really may not be the most effective vehicles for communicating certain types of information.

    See publication
  • 4 Reasons Why Your Safety Policies Fail — And Why Culture Is the Culprit

    LinkedIn

    Taking workplace safety seriously is a clear and tangible way for executives to both take care of their employees and customers and drive a more effective business. While many leaders understand that reducing personal and systems safety incidents and accidents reduces the cost of doing business (i.e., liability insurance, disability claims, and lost worker productivity), most fail to realize that safety is not just about posting guidelines, sending employees to safety training, or encouraging…

    Taking workplace safety seriously is a clear and tangible way for executives to both take care of their employees and customers and drive a more effective business. While many leaders understand that reducing personal and systems safety incidents and accidents reduces the cost of doing business (i.e., liability insurance, disability claims, and lost worker productivity), most fail to realize that safety is not just about posting guidelines, sending employees to safety training, or encouraging employees to wear earplugs.

    See publication
  • Interview with Chris Cancialosi

    BusinessInterviews.com

  • Mergers and Acquisitions: How to Create a Culture Ready for Transition

    LinkedIn

    However, integrating with another company doesn’t have to be painful. By fostering your company’s ability to be adaptive, you can ensure a merger is heavy on cooperation and light on friction.

    See publication
  • 5 Tips for Turning a Performance Deficit into Your Company’s Best Year Yet

    LinkedIn

    A persistent failure can undermine employee morale and could signal a problem that’s more serious than a slight dip in revenue or sales. However, it doesn’t have to be difficult to turn these failures into successes. It simply requires you to be willing to put in the self-reflection these issues deserve to ensure your company gets back on track.

    See publication
  • 3 Myths About Successful Startup Cultures

    Upstart Business Journal

    We’ve all read the stories about the hot new startups making waves in their industry – and how they’re doing it from colorful beanbag chairs in a once-destitute warehouse on the south side of town. We’re prone to conclude that these startups are sustaining high-level performance because they’ve broken down the (cubicle) walls binding our ability to collaborate, innovate, and achieve full potential.

    See publication
  • Everything You Need to Know About Management You Learned In Psych 101

    AMEX Open Forum

    In high school and college, you probably had to suffer through general education courses. And while you might have thought your time spent in Psychology 101 would never pay off in the “real world,” the basic principles of psychology (unlike calculus) actually play a large role in running a business. If you snoozed through lecture or blew off studying, you might want to revisit a few of the basics to manage your team more effectively.

    See publication
  • How to Manage Dynamic Tensions — and Master the Balancing Act

    LinkedIn

    Any leadership position comes with its share of challenges. But, as a leader, your toughest job may be the balancing act you face: that of dynamic tensions in the workplace that can either inhibit or foster both short- and long-term success.

    See publication
  • It Takes More Than Talent to Drive Performance

    LinkedIn

    We’ve all come across this type of person in our careers: the guy who is miserable to work with but who’s also “the top salesman we have.” Or how about “the smartest guy in the room,” who’s also the most unapproachable person you’ve ever met? The talent may well be there, but it isn’t a guarantee of success.

    See publication
  • 4 Reasons to Consider Short-Term Client Contracts

    under30ceo.com

    Many CEOs of small- or mid-sized businesses view long-term contracts as a sort of arrival. If your young company can acquire a big, long-term client, you’ve “made it.” You can relax a little, resting easy now that you have an ongoing source of revenue. But while longer contracts may give you a (sometimes false) sense of security, short-term contracts offer many benefits that are often overlooked.

    See publication
  • Tips for Veterans Starting a Franchise

    Franchise USA

    Article appears on pages 68-69.

    See publication
  • Startup Bootcamp: 5 Productivity Tips From the Military

    KillerStartups.com

    In the military, productivity is not optional. You have a clear mission. Your timelines are tight, and your resources may be limited. Sound familiar?

    See publication
  • The Culture is Only as Good as the Leader

    CEO.com

    Has your company culture got a bad case of the Mondays? Is store-bought birthday cake the highlight of your employees’ workday? Do you have company leaders doing the Bill Lumbergh shuffle, strolling amongst the cubicles, coffee cup in hand, looking for missing TPS reports? If so, it might be time to rethink the culture in your office space.

    See publication
  • What a Tour in Iraq Taught Me About Business Leadership

    SmartBlog on Leadership

    Spending time as a commissioned officer in Iraq gave me an unparalleled view of effective leadership. Not surprisingly, when failure is not an option, you tend to succeed more, and the leadership methods I learned and observed in combat made it possible for me to succeed in business, as well. I returned home with the courage to quit my job, start my own company, and lead my team to success.

    See publication
  • 5 Reasons You Shouldn't Fear Entrusting Company Culture to Someone Else

    CorpMagazine.com

    A business leader sets a goal to make his company the industry leader in customer satisfaction. He implements feedback programs to better understand how to satisfy his customers. He sends his employees to customer service training to help them elevate the customer experience. He crunches numbers, offers incentives, and repeatedly reiterates the goal to his frustrated employees. But nothing works. It isn’t until another CEO refers him to a consultant that he even considers his company’s culture…

    A business leader sets a goal to make his company the industry leader in customer satisfaction. He implements feedback programs to better understand how to satisfy his customers. He sends his employees to customer service training to help them elevate the customer experience. He crunches numbers, offers incentives, and repeatedly reiterates the goal to his frustrated employees. But nothing works. It isn’t until another CEO refers him to a consultant that he even considers his company’s culture as a factor in the performance of his business.

    See publication
  • 3 Traits Leaders Need to Shape a High-Performance Culture

    Linked2Leadership.com

    To create and maintain a high-performance culture, it’s crucial for leaders to be aware of their own beliefs and assumptions about how work should get done. They also need to be aware of how those beliefs influence and reinforce behavior within a company.

    See publication
  • From Where Do You Lead?

    gothamCulture Blog

  • Understanding the Why: Turning an Underperformer Into a Top Performer

    HR.com

    It’s a disease — one that quietly spreads throughout a company. While underperformance may begin with one person, it quickly infiltrates other aspects of the company and can infect entire teams. And while you may have the urge to hand out a bevy of pink slips, underperformance in an organization is sometimes less about one individual’s lack of motivation and more about how structural issues or processes are leading the entire company toward inefficiency.

    See publication
  • 4 Signs Your Culture Needs a Makeover

    Business2Community.com

    When it comes to a company’s organizational culture, looks can be deceiving. Even the most seemingly successful companies can get stuck in a rut and be in desperate need of an internal makeover to smooth out operational wrinkles and freshen up employee morale.

    See publication
  • Why Do We Do What We Do?

    gothamCulture Blog

  • gothamCulture Blog

    gothamCulture

    This link leads to all of my blog posts on the gothamCulture website.

    See publication
  • 2021 State of Culture Report

    gothamCulture

    The 2021 State of Culture Report is the culmination of a year of research on a global scale of 241 respondents across local, national, and global organizations. From this research, the team extracted key insights into the aspects of organizational culture and climate that link to a variety of performance outcomes as well as the practices that drive results in the day-to-day.

    Other authors
    See publication

Honors & Awards

  • Entrepreneur 360

    Entrepreneur Magazine

    Awarded by Entrepreneur Magazine, the Entrepreneur 360 Performance Index recognizes companies that exemplify sustained growth.

  • Inc5000

    Inc. Magazine

    Ranked at #2332 in Inc. Magazine's list of 5000 fastest growing privately held companies.

  • Runner Up: Veteran Entrepreneur of the Year (2013)

    National Veteran Owned Business Association

  • Runner Up: Veteran Entrepreneur of the Year (2012)

    National Veteran Owned Business Association

  • Oustanding Alumnus Award

    Montclair State University College of Humanities & Social Sciences

Organizations

  • American Psychological Association (APA)

    Member

    - Present
  • American Legion

    Member

    - Present
  • Society for Industrial/Organizational Psychology (SIOP)

    Member

    - Present
  • Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW)

    Member

    - Present
  • National Eagle Scout Organization

    Member

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