Technology executive — WIDE-RANGING EXPERTISE

Leadership – Strategy – Culture – C-Suite Advisory – Start-Up — Small and Medium Business — Enterprise

Successfully Driving Business Leadership through a Commitment to Growth, Performance and Profitability

 
  • Directed the successful turnaround of three start-up companies by improving revenue and operating discipline.
  • Planned, designed and implemented a comprehensive and holistic talent management and succession planning program for a $1b global consumer products company to mitigate succession risk, improve organization capability and ensure sustainable growth.
  • Architected and orchestrated the redesign of the finance and operations business management system for a global network management and services company to ensure effective planning, customer service and support.
  • Designed and implemented the development of a team-based collaborative leadership and customer model as part of the strategy initiative for a $600m global network management and services company ensuring improved business leadership across the markets, products and geographies.
  • Led end-to-end organization improvement initiative for a global $1b SaaS software product and service company to increase efficiencies,  innovation, leadershipand overall organization capability.
  • Redesigned and transitioned an $8b manufacturing company to a consumer products company over a four-year period, inclusive of overall leadership and business strategy.
  • Advised and mentored CEOs and senior executives, many have progressed to become successful CEOs and assume relevant and meaningful role and career transitions.
 

Thirty year professional career distinguished by rapid advancement, dynamic and impactful performance in providing strategic business, financial and operating leadership and a record of sales successes.  Offer a breadth of expertise and experience that includes high-level exposure and experience with global enterprise companies (including IBM, Microsoft, Cisco Systems, Huawei, Motorola); software start-ups; as well as an extensive network of business contacts.  Excel at visualizing the big picture; painting a vision and enabling organization; following up on details; executing difficult decisions; communication and moving initiatives forward.

Outstanding creative thinker with well developed listening, interpersonal and observational skills — fact-based, decisive leader, inspirational, sees the system, strong pattern recognition and connects the dots.  Recognized for having a sense of humor, a reliable intuition and for maintaining motivated and positive attitude, energy and style; characterized as entrepreneurial, focused, transparent, competitive, collaborative and results-driven.  Sought out by customers, clients and peers as a true change leader, and the ability to engage and motivate early in career professionals.

Summary of qualifications:

  • Business Partnerships and Alliances
  • Top Team Performance Acceleration
  • CEO and C-Suite Executive Development
  • Culture Alignment
  • General Management and Leadership
  • Business Development and New Market Entry
  • Board-backed CEO Evaluations
  • Vision, Strategy and Execution
  • Strategic and Product Planning
  • P&L and Operations Management
  • Turnaround and Reorganization
  • Talent Management and Succession Planning
  • Start-Ups and Founder Transition
  • Due Diligence and Acquisitions

Core Experience

President and CEO

Front Desk, Inc.
Seattle, WA
2015 to Present

Led turnaround at this Series A funded SaaS technology company after revenue stall and two years of underperformance.

  • Achieved stability reducing cash burn 50%, leveling customer churn to 1.4%; improved gross margin from 76% to 90%.
  • Replaced 80% of the workforce, attracted and hired experience and expertise talent at lower overall operational cost.
  • Led initiative for financial and operational systems integration.
  • Maintained CAGR of 78% year over year revenue growth. 
  • Attritted the management team, attracted and hired new team with management maturity to lead and execute.
  • Improved productivity and collaboration of all functions through role clarity and process efficiency improvements.
  • Led the financial restructuring of the company.
  • Led the creation of a new vision through five-year strategic and product planning work.
  • Expanded company into new markets through organic growth and partnerships.
  • Managed monthly/quarterly Board of Director meetings; owned all business strategy and operational decisions.

CEO and Founder

Convergency Partners
Kirkland, WA
2010 to 2015

Target Customer: CEO, Board, C-Suite Executives.  Value Proposition:  Improve and accelerate business growth through direct improvements in business operations via systemic initiatives in strategy, leadership and culture that deliver results that last.

  • Planned, designed and implemented company business plan and performance, responsible for growth and profitability.
  • Grew and managed the international business and provided consulting services to small, medium and enterprise businesses.
  • Established new clients and grew revenue from $1.7m to $5.2m over three years while maintaining operational cost of $1.7m.
  • Established and worked directly with CEO and other C-level executives on large, systemic business initiatives. Clients were stratified by company size, industry and business lifecycle.  Examples of marquis client businesses:
    • Enterprise:  Cisco Systems; Huawei; Liberty Mutual; IBM; Microsoft; Domtar; etc.
    • Medium:  Silver Spring Networks; NBBJ; LexisNexis; Weitz Company; ProQuest; etc.
    • Small and Start-Up:  Redfin; Continental Mills; Chef’n; Seattle University; WebEx; Distant Lands Coffee; etc.

Chief Growth Officer and Senior Partner

The Clarion Group
West Hartford, CT
2005 to 2010

Opened and grew the West Coast operations.  Led client development; business growth; IP development; operational performance; and, regional P&L accountability.

  • Consistently and personally developed, delivered and serviced $1.6M to $3.0M of client work per year, 50% of firm total.
  • Successfully grew client-base across multiple industries, company sizes and business models.
  • Client’s consistently report executive and organizational improvement attributed to engagement work.
  • Led the innovation of new products and services that attributed to 20% new business growth year over year.
  • Over-delivered market growth by 200 basis points each year (new services/new markets/new industries/partnerships). 

Senior Director

Organization Consulting and Enterprise Change Management

Microsoft Corporation
Redmond, WA
2004 to 2005

Launched an entrepreneurial global venture within the Company by creating and deploying internal consulting capacity to work within each business unit and on large Company initiatives requiring change leadership. Addressed companies top 200 corporate executives.

  • Accountable to the CEO and CHRO to grow MSFT business from the inside out, led and integrated four functions (Culture, Talent and Succession Planning, Organizational Consulting and Organization Research and Assessment) on a core, common and consistent leadership and organization development platform.  Aligned content functions to the Leadership, Management, Employee Development and with the Learning organization.
  • Architected the organization to deliver cutting edge internals services in alignment with company growth and people strategy.
  • Provided strategy and consulting expertise to large company initiatives and Microsoft partner ecosystem.

Director

Global Organization and Executive Development

IBM Corporation
Armonk, NY
1998 to 2004

Led IBM’s global internal consulting practice focused on change leadership, organization improvement and talent and succession planning for IBM and its P&L business units.  Served as a member of the company’s five-person management committee that set practice, policy and process standards for talent management and succession planning.  Provided oversight to an 80-employee organization; had direct accountability with the CEO, Senior Staff and Group Executives.  Client Group:  IBM’s Senior Management Team – the top 300.

  • Achieved strong client success and satisfaction as the lead consultant in IBM’s Global Software BU and Storage BU.  Worked on the executive team of each BU providing leadership advising, organization consulting engagements and talent and succession planning/management.
  • Collaborated and co-created with the Strategy organization, Mergers and Acquisitions, and Executive Education on the design and implementation of core, common and consistent methodologies, frameworks and tools and integrated them into the consulting practice.
  • Created the Sales Leadership Competency Model implemented across the Company.
  • Designed and deployed a “dyad” consulting delivery model working in teams of two led by a senior consultant typically paired with a more junior consultant.
  • Drove leadership transformation for IBM Software in Europe with the EMEA geography SVP.

Senior Director

Business Performance Measurement

Motorola, Inc.
Schaumburg, IL
1997 to 1998

Directed a global staff of 10 to drive Motorola’s “Performance Excellence” initiative globally.  Co-designed the business measurement system (balanced scorecard methodology and process) tied to MOT’s business rhythm and aligned with the Performance Excellence criteria and strategy process.

  • Rebuilt and improved the performance of the measurement and evaluation capability within Motorola.
  • Implemented development program to grow consultative capability within Motorola University to deploy company-wide.
  • Collaborated with the Six Sigma development of their organizational intervention process and build greater leadership consultative competency with the Black Belt population.

Senior Organization Analyst and Consultant

Phillip Morris Companies
New York, NY
1995 to 1997

Achieved success as an organization consultant within Philip Morris USA division.  Worked collaboratively with the CEO, staff and business unit leadership on organizational engagements for important Company and functional initiatives.  Known for strong systems thinking and drive to get the right work done.

  • Initiated and completed the enhancement of PM USA’s strategy process for the sales and marketing organization and delivered strategic planning and alignment engagements.
  • Performed 2-year change management consulting and process with IT on the Y2K initiative. 
  • Forged a partnership with the Succession Planning group in HR to align organization consulting with talent planning and management.

Senior Research and Assessment Consultant

Eastern Assessment Research and Development

US Department of Labor
New York and Washington D.C.
1993 to 1995

Senior member of a team working nationally to transform the Dictionary of Occupational Titles from a static book to an online, interactive occupational development and job finding application with a suite of assessment tools to support the nation’s job finding capability.  Involved creating all the “person-side” assessments for abilities, literacy, work values, interests, and personality to be deployed to the US population through Job Centers and local Department of Labor branches in service of the Secretary of Labor’s Welfare to Work initiative.

  • Created, validated and deployed the O*NET online, the technology-based national job/person matching program.
  • Designed and deployed individual assessment tools to identify abilities, values, motives, personality and interests.

Staff Psychologist

Psychological Services
Virginia and New Jersey
1982 to 1990

  • Internal practice to conduct disorder children, acutely disordered adults, alcoholics and narcotics anonymous, and assisted in the rehabilitation and adjustment of people’s return to the workforce.

Education

 
  • Ph.D. (abd), Psychometrics – Fordham University – Bronx, NY
    3.75 GPA; Passed Ph.D. Comprehensive Exam with Distinctive Honors; President of the Applied Psychometric Society.
  • M.A. Industrial Psychology – Fairleigh Dickinson University – Madison, NJ
    4.0 GPA; Passed M.A. Comprehensive Exam with Distinction; President of the FDU SHRM.
  • B.A. Psychology – Virginia Wesleyan College – Virginia Beach, VA
    3.85 GPA; President of Psi Chi (the honor society in psychology); President of the Psychology Club; Circle K member; Resident Assistant; Teaching Assistant; and,  Mr. Wesleyan, 1982.
  • Professional Development:  
    • Executive Education, Harvard Business School; IBM
    • Executive MBA, The Wharton School; Microsoft
    • Organization Development Education, Columbia University; Philip Morris 
  • Electrician (Journeyman Apprentice); Norfolk Vocational and Technical Institute
 

Professional and Community Service Affiliations

 
  • MBA Mentor for Seattle University Albers School of Business and Finance.
  • Member of the Washington Technology Industry Association (WTIA).
  • Member of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce.
  • Former Big Brother, Virginia Beach Community Service.
  • Served on the Organization Development Network conference leadership committee.
  • Member of the Bay Area Organization Development Network.