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People, Uncategorized
Last week, I attended a very special graduation ceremony. It wasn’t for a family member and it wasn’t held in a football stadium. It was for 36 men and 1 woman who had completed a 120-hour, MBA-style, transitions program through The Honor Foundation.
These were already alumni of some of the most elite programs in the world – they were Navy SEALs and Marine Special Operations Forces team members – who had served our country with honor and ready to transition back to civilian service.
Thanks to The Honor Foundation, these men and women have the tools they need to confidently enter the workforce with pride and a sure-footing. They are prepared to take the leap of faith that the civilian world will honor their service, embrace their elite training, and place them in positions worthy of their talents.
It is my honor to introduce you to eight members of the Group 11 graduating class.
1. Diego Ugalde, “My passion is to hear the sound of your resounding success.”
What he brings to the team: With a relentless positive outlook, Diego is known for walking into a situation, assessing it, and working tirelessly to improve it for the betterment of the team.
Areas of interest: Motivational Speaking, Leadership & Development, and Coaching
Availability: Diego transitions from the Navy SEALs in September of 2018.
2. Larry Lacefield, “Leader of leaders, adapting to any environment.”
What he brings to the team: Selfless problem solver exuding compassion, creativity, competence and sound decision-making facilitating solutions where others see obstacles.
Areas of interest: Business Development, Chief of Staff, Project Management Officer, or HR Leadership in Healthcare and Biotech
Education: M.S., Emphasis in Global Business Leadership, University of San Diego
Availability: Larry is transitioning from the Navy Special Warfare Command in May 2017.
3. Russell Hromadka, “Multi-dimensional guru and cross-generational connector.”
What he brings to the team: Perpetually sought after for crisis management, joint ventures, new initiatives, and to ‘do it right the first time’ where there is little guidance and organizational success is at stake.
Areas of interest: Chief of Staff, Business Development, Human Resources, Ops, Project Management.
Education: B.S., Applied Mathematics (Honors), US Naval Academy
Availability: Russ will transition from Marine Special Operations Command in the Spring of 2018.
4. Alexander “Pete” Tunley, “A human with supernova positivity that inspires all.”
What he brings to the team: A passionate, powerful and committed leader with incredible positivity that attracts communication and input from all.
Areas of interest: Business Development, Human Resources, Coaching, Leadership & Development, Motivational Speaking.
Education: B.A., Intelligence Studies, American Military University
Availability: Pete transitioned as a Chief Petty Officer in March of 2017.
5. Christopher “Noah” Phillips, “Diplomatic disruptor fascinated by finance.”
What he brings to the team: Exceptionally motivated and proven leader with budgetary controller and multinational business experience.
Areas of interest: Finance, Wealth Management, Venture Capital, Private Equity, Analyst and Associate.
Education: B.S., Business Finance, Pennsylvania State University (2019)
Availability: Noah is transitioning from the Marine Corps in July 2017.
6. Matthew Lampert, “Lifelong servant of the community and our nation.”
What he brings to the team: Proven, decisive, and determined leader, who motivates, empowers, and develops his team to achieve their highest potential.
Areas of interest: Chief of Staff, Operations, HR Business Partner, Project Management Officer.
Education: M.A., Leadership, Development and Education, The George Washington University
Availability: Matt transitions as an Officer with the U.S. Naval Academy in June of 2018.
7. Eric Kasmire, “Innovative leader who excels at organizing resilient teams to achieve exceptional results.”
What he brings to the team: Skilled communicator at all levels, and passionate about leading multi-functional teams from diverse backgrounds and cultures to increase performance.
Areas of interest: Business Development, Chief of Staff, Project Management, or HR Leadership roles.
Education: B.A., Homeland Security, with Honors, American Military University
Availability: Eric transitioned in the summer of 2017 from the Marine Special Operations Command.
8. Justin Plank, “Ethical leader with the exceptional ability to remain calm and decisive in both high pressure and uncertain environments.”
What he brings to the team: A tireless work ethic, accustomed to working in fast-paced environments where excellence in performance is the standard.
Areas of interest: Operations leadership and Project Management.
Education: Master of Business for Veterans, University of Southern California
Availability: Justin transitioned in the summer of 2017 from the Navy SEALs.
If your organization could benefit from service-minded, adaptable, problems solvers like these, there is no more elite group of talent than the graduates of The Honor Foundation. Contact The Honor Foundation here to learn more about employing, mentoring, coaching and sponsorship opportunities for this world-class program.
Question: What can you do to serve people who have dedicated their lives in service to others?
![Meet 8 Special Ops Team Members Ready for Service in Your Organization]()
Leadership
Looking for some titles to add to your reading list this summer? Pull out your tote and pick up some of our top picks.
From recent bestsellers to old-school business parables, here’s a list of books that we think are well worth the read:
1. Dare to Serve: How to Drive Superior Results by Serving Others by Cheryl Bachelder
What it’s about: An engaging case study of the turnaround of Popeyes, proving that servant leadership is challenging, tough minded, and gets results.
Why pick it up: Bachelder takes you first-hand through the transformation of Popeyes to show that leaders at any level can become a dare to serve leader.
2. The Employee Experience Advantage: How to Win the War for Talent by Giving Employees the Workspaces they Want, the Tools they Need, and a Culture They Can Celebrate by Jacob Morgan
What it’s about: A new type of organization is emerging, one that focuses on employee experiences as a way to drive innovation, increase customer satisfaction, find and hire the best people, make work more engaging, and improve overall performance.
Why pick it up: Backed by extensive research, futurist Jacob Morgan breaks down the three environments that make up employee experience at every organization around the world.
3. Option B: How To Lead Yourself and Others to Greater Success by Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant
What it’s about: Following the sudden death of her husband, Silicon Valley executive Dave Goldberg, Sandberg described widowhood at a young age as “a club that no one wants to belong to.” Co-authored with Wharton professor Adam Grant, the book is focused on recovering from adversity.
Why pick it up: Though not strictly a business book, it includes stories of people who recovered from a variety of hardships. It contains lessons for leaders who want to build their own resilience, too.
4. Leaders Made Here: Building a Leadership Culture by Mark Miller
What it’s about: A scarcity of leaders today means a shortfall in performance tomorrow. Bestselling author and Chick-fil-A executive Mark Miller describes how to nurture leaders throughout the organization — from the front lines to the executive ranks.
Why pick it up: Learn to build an organizational culture that will ensure your leadership pipeline is full and flowing.
5. Animal Farm by George Orwell
What it’s about: A dramatic takeover; disengaged, top-down management; besieged, under-appreciated workers — this Orwell parable on totalitarianism serves as a reverberating lesson in organizational behavior.
Why pick it up: If you haven’t picked this one up since ninth grade, it’s truly worth another read.
6. Sprint: Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days by Jake Knapp, John Zeratsky, and Braden Kowitz
What it’s about: These Google Ventures partners give us a practical guide to answering critical business questions, whether you’re a small startup, part of the Fortune 100, a solopreneur, or a nonprofit.
Why pick it up: This book is for anyone with a big opportunity, problem, or idea who needs to get answers today.
7. Own It: The Power of Women at Work by Sally Krawcheck
What it’s about: Success for professional women is no longer about trying to compete at the men’s version of the game. And it will no longer be about contorting themselves to men’s expectations of how powerful people behave.
Why pick it up: Learn how women can embrace and invest in their innate strengths — and bring them proudly and unapologetically, to work.
8. Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration by Ed Catmull
What it’s about: A manual for anyone who strives for originality, and the first-ever, all-access trip into the nerve center of Pixar Animation — into the meetings, postmortems, and “Braintrust” sessions where some of the most successful films in history are made.
Why pick it up: To learn leadership and management philosophies that protect the creative process and defy convention.
Some of the principles shared in these books you may already know but need reminding of. Others can give you the insight you need to tackle your greatest challenges of 2017.
Question: What books have helped you along your leadership journey?
Leadership
Someone used a 4-letter word at our April 27th Re:Imagine Leadership Summit that made a few audience members squirm in their seats. The word slipped out during the panel discussion when Joe Lara, a former Naval Special Warfare Command Officer, was asked, “What is the ingredient that holds service members together during the chaos of battle?”
“Love,” was his answer. “When someone cares enough for you to give their life to protect yours, that’s love in action,” Lara said.
Our panel moderator, Dr. Tony Baron, noted that love is not a word that’s often brought up at leadership conferences. But, when he asked other members of the panel about love in action at their organizations, they quickly agreed.
Rachelle Snook, Global Talent Manager of WD-40, said that the employees at WD-40 think of themselves as members of a tribe. “Tribal love,” said Snook, “is what keeps our culture strong. One of our mantras is ‘we’ve got your back.’” Damian McKinney, Founder of McKinney Advisory Group agreed. “When you think about the commercial real estate industry,” McKinney said, “love isn’t the first word that comes to mind, but it’s what we practice to ensure that we are truly serving our clients and that we have faith that we’re in this together.”
Dean Carter, VP of Shared Services at Patagonia, told the audience that employees at Patagonia think of one another as family. With a child care center located on Patagonia’s Ventura, CA, campus, the lines between employee and family are blurred. “Some of the children whose parents worked at Patagonia 30 years ago are now employees,” Carter said. “We are much more than co-workers. We are family members who look after one another. We know each other’s children by name and we’re there for each other through all stages of each other’s lives.”
In her 2015 leadership book, Dare To Serve, former Popeye’s CEO, Cheryl Bachelder, writes that turning around the flagging company in 2007 required a decision to serve its franchise owners. The problem was, Bachelder writes, “This decision [to serve] is not typical in our industry. Franchisors and franchisees are constantly in conflict – arguing about the contract, the business strategy, the restaurant design, the promotion pricing, or the cost of food.”
Bachelder continues, “Here’s a tough question. Do you love the people you’ve decided to serve? It helps. One Popeye’s leader says it this way: ‘If you’re in the franchising business, you should love the franchisees.’ To love franchisees, you have to love entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs are passionate. They take risks. They invest for the future. They are ambitious. They are definitely not corporate bureaucrats. They do not have much patience with people holding MBA degrees or offering up expensive harebrained ideas. What if the most important people in your business are entrepreneurs? You must decide to love them.”
What Joe Lara, Rachelle Snook, Damian McKinney, Dean Carter, and Cheryl Bachelder have in common is that in order to truly serve the people you work with and are in the business to serve, you must set aside your differences, and look for ways to develop a love for who they are. Doing so requires you to set aside your ego, be aware of your biases, and have the courage to make love part of your organizational culture.
Question: Is there someone that you are in conflict with at work now? What would happen if you dared to love them?
![Meet 8 Special Ops Team Members Ready for Service in Your Organization]()
Employee Engagement, People
As our Employee Engagement Specialist, Jenny Jacobs brings an infectious humor and midwestern sensibility to everything she does. Jenny is a lifelong learner and a natural teacher who guides our clients through a structured employee engagement method that improves bottom lines and results in changes that last. Jenny holds a B.A. in Organizational Psychology from the University of Michigan and is a 2017 Masters candidate for Organizational/Industrial Psychology from Azusa Pacific University. And don’t forget to check out the short video below where Jenny introduces herself and our new program.
By: Jenny Jacobs
What does it mean to operate from a place of your strengths? I’m not talking about how strong you are or if you are able to leap tall buildings in a single bound… I am talking about helping your employees recognize the talents that naturally exist within them. Each of your employees serves a special purpose within your organization based on their strengths. When we tap into them as a strengths-based team, we can build a vibrant, healthy work environment.
I recently heard a fascinating radio program about Suzanne Simard, a forest ecologist. In a study on collaboration among trees, Simard discovered that trees work together through a network of forest floor communication. Simard states that trees need a complex and diverse community to thrive in.
In her June 2016 TED Talk, Simard explained the symbiotic needs of trees in a forest. Trees are connected to their forest community in a kind of “underground super-highway”, Simard explains. They need other plants that can cycle nutrients more quickly or that can access nutrients in different niches. They need neighbors that are resistant to insects and diseases. So, instead of competition for resources, trees are actually communicating and cooperating with their neighbors. They make sure their neighbors — their diverse community — is vibrant because that feeds back to them and impacts their health.
Simard equates the forest community to the way our communities work. We live in communities of doctors and teachers and people who run coffee shops and bakeries. A thriving community requires a whole range of skills and resources. We need each other. If you take away the baker, we’ve got no bread. If you remove the banker, financial stability is shaken.
Just as the trees in the forest share resources to remain vibrant and healthy, so must managers identify individual strengths of team members for maximum collaboration and engagement. Don’t hire people for their strengths then ask them to work on their weaknesses. Instead, unlock their natural talents, give them the tools and support that best suits their individual style and you’ll build a team that thrives!
Click here to learn more about 5 Generations. Side by Side. and reserve your seat for our June 6 workshop!
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1. Help People Connect the Dots. In my post, “
2. Help People Grow. I know a CEO who likes to joke that, “The only thing worse than training your people and then they leave is not training your people and they stay!” All joking aside, one of the main reasons people give for leaving companies is that they stop growing. Growth brings energy, vitality, life, and challenge. Without growth, we’re just going through the motions. Create a culture of learning and growth to maximize the collective talent of your team.
3. Give People Sincere Appreciation. People who don’t feel appreciated are often the first to burn out or jump ship. It only takes a minute to recognize a team member for making a positive contribution. But, doing it right requires more than the occasional “Attagirl!” Give timely and specific praise to show your team members how you value their contribution. Here’s a quick