The Great Conversation

The Bridge to the Business

Razors and blades. Many businesspeople are familiar with the concept. The razor is the key to creating a customer for life through the blades.

However, Jeff Friedman found a way to sell a blade that could lead to a razor.

In this conversation, we find out what drives this CEO. And how he took his company from obscurity to being deployed in 7 of the 10 tallest building in Manhattan and 3 of the largest companies.

After working for several years developing solutions for facility operations and security teams, Jeffrey’s organization, Building Intelligence, introduced a new suite of products that incorporate several requirements for running some of the best buildings in the world.

With a wide variety of industry knowledge, Mr. Friedman is able to apply his unique set of skills to the convergence of security and facility management particularly in how it applies to risk, operations and asset management.

SV3 is his blade and his razor. It is s a cloud-based enterprise platform to manage an organization’s network of visitors, vehicles and vendors requiring temporary entry to your facility.

The Customer Experience

How did a Security Executive become nominated and awarded his company’s highest individual honor for leadership? How did he become the #1 Global Influencer in Security among his peers? Perhaps because he learned a lesson from a very simple spin of the bottle that anchored his DNA of always putting the customer, internal or external, first. And to do that you have to understand what creates a unique customer experience, even in Security.

We sit down with Paul Moxness, former VP of Corporate Safety and Security of the Radisson Hotel Group and the current Managing Partner of NorthPoint International, an exciting collaboration of former Chief Security Officers from some of the world’s largest, most well-known, global hotel companies complimented by cyber-crime and resilience experts.

We not only get acquainted with his journey, but we also learn something about his new book, co-authored with his wife Kristen. In the book, the authors share examples from over thirty years of international travel and experience in the hospitality industry. From this, Kirsten and Paul explore key elements of creating personal experiences with people, including:

• Making genuine gratitude a natural and contagious habit
• Respecting upgrades and freebies and handling necessary downgrades.
• Encouraging supportive teams and empowering each employee to provide exceptional experiences.
• Taking a compassionate and proactive approach to safety and crisis management and resolving problems

Digital cannot replace human interaction, and hospitality is all about making memorable moments of personal experience. Spin the Bottle Service is here to show you that making the most of the touchpoints beyond digital can be as easy as a twist of the wrist. You can find the book on their publisher’s page at: http://bit.ly/SpinService

Crisis: An Opportunity for Growth

Most technology vendors were faced with a conundrum during the pandemic. They had solutions that would help their clients through the crisis. But reaching them, aligning their value proposition with their sense of urgency, and pivoting the internal culture of their team, would be the measure of their performance.

We were able to sit down with the president of a company in the security market who has been known as a visionary leader with an ability to identify an assess market potential and then align this with the go-to-market engine. This was particularly important during this season of change. We learn how his strategic pivot did just that and has created a platform for continued growth as we move out of the pandemic.

Chris Meiter has been President of Salient Systems since 2009.  Prior to joining Salient, Meiter was Director of Business Development for Honeywell Video where he was responsible for Honeywell’s Key Vertical Markets, international sales management in Europe, Asia and South Africa, and developed Honeywell’s Digital Video sales program.

Salient offers comprehensive video surveillance management systems designed for the full range of surveillance technology needs from analog to IP to Cloud. Based on open architecture, CompleteView, Salient’s Video Management Software, scales from entry level to enterprise and provides everything needed to manage a multi-server, multi-site video surveillance installation from desktop, laptop, and mobile smartphones.

Turning an Idea into a Valuable Company

I think we can all agree that the ‘dreamer’ is often only recognized when the idea becomes a reality. For those who do this; the stay up at night, roll up your sleeves, dirt in the fingernails, part of this; we call them entrepreneurs. Better yet; when the dream, idea, and company become something valuable to others.

Fred Cary, the CEO of IdeaPros, believes that journey requires a mindset and a skillset. He evaluates the first and arms the dreamer for the second.

“My goal is to help build successful businesses that can make a positive difference in their sector. I don't care if you have an idea on the back of a napkin or if you've built a 1,000-employee company.  If you need help, inspiration or direction and you are doing something unique and compelling I want to be your partner.”

We sit down with Fred to explore this journey from dreamer to doer to being “legendary.”  

Fred Cary is a senior executive, strategic consultant, attorney, and investment banker. He has focused on building global companies from startup stage through exit by IPO or M&A. As an operational executive (CEO/Chairman) he has built high-growth businesses in finance, enterprise software, mobile technologies, Web services, and digital video, HDTV, broadband and Personalized television, as well as consumer related product companies. He oversees the development and growth of over 250 startups. He has led many mergers and acquisitions both as an executive and as counsel. Mr. Cary received his JD degree from Thomas Jefferson in California, completed post graduate studies at Harvard Law School, and obtained his international MBA with Honors from the University of Liverpool.

IdeaPros is a Super Venture Partner™, guiding entrepreneurs with great ideas through the complexities and pitfalls of the startup world. Set on elevating the success rate of new innovative products and apps, their team leverages their collective experience to create demand among consumers and maximize upside potential for their partners.

The Stories and Patterns of Your Culture are Key to Your Success

I can think of two things that get in the way of personal and corporate success: jargon and a lack of understanding of how your business functions. That is, the true story, not the organization chart.

We found a cultural transformation thought leader and global executive, Siobhan McHale who has written an Insider’s Guide to Cultural Change. The operative word is ‘insider’. Siobhan, pronounced Shiv-awn, has been featured as a case study by professors and business book authors. But this is not theory. This is a real-world practitioner of transformative and high performing cultures.

Amazon.com: The Insider's Guide to Culture Change: Creating a Workplace That Delivers, Grows, and Adapts eBook: McHale, Siobhan: Kindle Store

Siobhan takes us through an explanation of the patterns and the stories behind them that hold the secret of transformative change. Afterall, she will tell you, “culture is really about how things function”.

Siobahn is the Executive General Manager of People, Culture, and Change at DuluxGroup, a global provider of paint, adhesive, garden-care, and other products to the residential home improvement, commercial, and infrastructure markets. The company boasts a solid portfolio of brands, including Dulux (paints), British Paints, Yates, Selleys, and B&D Doors.

She has had a similar role in other companies as well, including with ANZ, a 180-year-old company operating in 33 markets globally with representation in Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Pacific, Europe, America, and the Middle East. 

ANZ is among the top 50 banks in the world.

The Art of Ronin Leadership

In the 1954 film Seven Samurai a village of farmers hire seven rōnin to combat bandits who will return after the harvest to steal their crops. The ‘Ronin’ were unemployed or ‘masterless’ samurai. But despite their status many took up arms for others using their mastery of the sword.

In today’s business environment, more than ever, we need leaders who serve the village not just the master. We turned to a master-less leader who spent 16 years with Microsoft as the Chief Security Officer after 22 years in the Central Intelligence Agency to find out how we too, might become valiant ronin in the service of others.

Upon the release of this podcast, his book, The Art of Ronin Leadership: Strategy, Execution, Sustained Success, will be available on Amazon.  Amazon.com: The Art of Ronin Leadership : Strategy. Execution. Sustained Success. eBook: Howard, Mike, Howard, Mike : Kindle Store

Mike also is the President of Howard Consulting Services and is a sought-after keynote for corporate and security events.

Finding Your Voice: The Leadership Journey

Wanda Townsend has a passion for 𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥-𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐬𝐲𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. She leverages her knowledge and skills as a foundation to help employees at every level reach their fullest potential.

We met her in a WiLD Leaders Friday Conversation, an open forum for leaders from all markets to learn, share, and ideate on best practices in leadership. Wanda is a Leader in Residence and an Executive Fellow with WiLD.

We later found out she was going to be published as a co-author in a leadership compendium called The New Next.

What we discovered were some lessons that could be immediately applied through Wanda’s deeply empathetic voice and intellect.

Changing the Narrative: An Outcomes Based Approach to Risk Management

Although Jason Veiock leads a converged security team responsible for protecting GoDaddy's workforce and workplaces from a full spectrum of threats, he also is a student of business. We had a great conversation last year on workplace standards and his unique approach to people, process, and technology. Outcomes matter and standards should enable that. He leads us on a journey focusing on the North Star of business value.

Jason is a data-driven and risk-informed security executive with a focus on strategy development, enhanced resilience, and business enablement. He has been successful in building and leading teams defending against full-spectrum threats spanning the cyber, physical, and global security realms. He has a proven track record in managing programs, vendors, and budget with on-time execution & delivery. He is also experienced and proficient in both the corporate and government sectors as a seasoned law enforcement, intelligence, and security professional.

As a speaker and a participant in The Great Conversation, on the ground and in the cloud, we have come to know him as an innovator and acute mind for recognizing gaps in the performance of technology and programs.

Creating a Community of Leaders

John Hartman, the founder, and former leader of CEOtoCEO, wanted to know what was front of mind for CEOs. He was curious as well as motivated. To drive his talent management business, it was important to know the mind of his clients. In 2005, he jumped in with both feet and started a monthly breakfast meeting that provided CEOs a place at the table with their peers along with a keynote of other leaders in the community. It was an immediate success. We sat down with him last year to learn about his journey and what he learned about CEOs along the way.

Getting to “There”: Inside the Mind of a Security Consultant

Jeff Slotnick, President of Setracon, an Enterprise Security Risk Management Services provider, has boots on the ground pedigree and instincts as well as a standards-based process for delivering value to his clients. 

We had a conversation last year that touches on a variety of things that he is seeing evolve in his profession including models for the extended enterprise, useful tools for understanding your return-to-work readiness, and how near we might be to plug and play integration.

Amplifying Your Business and Security with Audio

Pause for a moment and reflect on how you use your voice and your ears in everyday life. Your brain is best leveraged when it can integrate disparate data through all your senses. Without audio and voice, you lack a complete picture. We have seen evidence of this in footage from video surveillance cameras that lacked sound. We wonder: “what really did happen and why?”

Cameron Javdani, the President of SoundSecure helps us navigate how we are processing audio today through technology. And he provides context around privacy issues recommending some fairly simple best practices to help us complete the picture in our businesses and security programs.

Unifying the Business through Technology and People

Many of us believe that our people best perform their roles within a measurable process using integrated tools that optimize their performance.

This interaction between business process, technology and people is the focus of our conversation with Kami Dukes of AMAG Technology, a unified technology platform.

This conversation is infused and informed by the unique experiences Kami has had in the field as a Security Design Engineer for a Federal Defense contractor. She oversaw the design, installation, and commissioning of complex security systems, primarily in Japan and Korea, for the US Army, US Air Force, and US Marine Corps. She also has experience in corrections at the Midland County Juvenile Care Center, a maximum-security detention facility in Michigan. Kami holds a B.A. in Criminal Justice.

Currently she is the Director of Business Development for North America where she and her team work closely with end users and the consultant community to drive new enterprise opportunities through road-mapping, specifying, and systems execution planning.

Security: the ‘tip of the spear’ for Innovation

Interesting new research from Gartner advises CIOs take on the ‘COO’ role of digital transformation due to the inability of most organizations to create the interoperable and secure roadmap demanded of this strategic transition.

We sought out Gary Gooden who has recently transitioned into the CTSO role after becoming the CISO at Seattle Children’s a few years back. As you listen to the conversation, you will see the kind of thinking that Gartner is referring to which bodes well for the future of Seattle Children’s and the industry.

Prior to the CTSO role, Gary was driving the IT Security Strategy for the organization (people, process, and technology). He and his team were executing against a roadmap that was created by him to modernize the Information security footprint within the hospital, research, and foundation environment both from a technology and governance perspective (inclusive of the technology for physical security). This is currently being done in close collaboration with other IT departments and related business areas within the larger enterprise environment. In his current role as CTSO he is now creating an aligned strategy for core infrastructure and security.

Is Your Company Healthy?

We wanted to know if health and productivity were linked? We wanted to know what the real data said about employee engagement. And we wanted to know if there was an approach leaders could take that would create a path to value for the company and its employees.

We turned to Dan Witters.

Dan Witters serves as research director of the Gallup National Health and Well-Being Index. This daily assessment of U.S. residents' wellbeing provides near real-time measurement and insights needed to improve health, increase daily productivity, enhance basic needs, and lower healthcare costs. Dan frequently presents at major conferences and summits. His research insights appear regularly on Gallup.com and in national media, including in The New York Times, Time, The Washington Post, The Economist, USA Today, National Geographic and The Wall Street Journal, as well as on CBS Sunday Morning, CNBC, HuffPost Live, WSJ Live and NPR.

As a consultant and analyst for Gallup, Dan uses his expertise in survey design, methodology, analysis, business outcomes modeling, report writing and presenting results to help leaders better understand their company's marketplace, customers, and employees. He plays a vital role as an adviser and researcher to Gallup clients, creating effective strategies that enhance a business' overall health and strength through improved engagement and wellbeing. Since 1993, Dan has directed more than $150 million in research for some of the world's best-managed companies in the wellbeing, healthcare, financial services, telecommunications, hospitality, consulting, and pharmaceutical industries.

Dan's extensive experience and his understanding of customer and employee research have earned him high distinction awards throughout his career. In 1999, he received the prestigious Senior Analyst Quality of Report Award for Outstanding Writing, an award given to one Gallup senior analyst worldwide each year. In 2002, Dan became the 13th researcher in Gallup's history to earn the Diplomat Analyst certification. This distinction is awarded to tenured researchers who create an original research thesis that expands Gallup's body of knowledge.

Every Executive Wants and Needs a Platform

Lee is one of the foremost thought leaders in security. His company is all about business creation and his media platform, Inside Access Control is insightful, provocative, and hopeful.

Our discussion centered around a much-needed transformation of the client value proposition of security that is creating a ripple effect through the supply chain. As always, there will be winners and losers. Lee is rooting for both as we wrestle with the constraints that face business owners and their teams.

We Are Always at Risk

I first met Chuck Randolph at Microsoft. Buttoned up, every inch of him personifying a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel respected by his corporate peers for his diligence and expertise with executive protection, strategic intelligence, and event risk management. Because of Microsoft’s digital DNA, Chuck was able to extend those disciplines beyond their traditional roles and make them true enablers.

We caught up with Chuck after his transition to AT RISK International as their Senior Director of Operations. Chuck is now responsible for guiding client decisions through a strategic intelligence team and directing operations that support AT RISK's global protective efforts.

You will learn what it feels like to manage ‘risk at scale’ across the globe through problem solving and story mapping: the art and mindset of a risk, resilience, and security leader.
 

The Measure of a Company

Corporate lawyers have a very specific role within the business value chain. Very few become students of leadership. And then translate that into a multi-dimensional successful career. One man did, and our conversation focused on the ‘why’ of that success. The measure of a man that contributed to the measure of a company.

Tom Mars is an accomplished trial lawyer, a nationally recognized advocate in collegiate sports, (Where they compare him to Tom Brady in the legal world),  and an experienced crisis consultant for companies, executives, and public officials.

In the 1990s, Tom’s high-profile clients included the Governor of Arkansas. In 1998, the Governor asked Tom (a former police officer) to join his leadership team as Director of the Arkansas State Police—the state’s highest-ranking law enforcement position. He served in that capacity for nearly three years before returning to private practice as a trial lawyer in Northwest Arkansas.

Not long after returning to private practice, Tom was recruited by Walmart to manage its vast litigation portfolio as Vice President and Assistant General Counsel. Four months after joining Walmart’s legal department, he was promoted to Senior Vice President and General Counsel and became responsible for all the company’s legal matters. During his tenure as Walmart’s General Counsel, Tom led an ambitious diversity initiative and became a nationally known champion for advancing diversity in the legal profession. He received numerous awards for his leadership in this area, including the American Bar Association’s prestigious “Spirit of Excellence Award.”

Five years after joining Walmart, in recognition of Walmart’s legal department receiving national acclaim for both its unprecedented diversity and extraordinary talent, Tom was promoted to Executive Vice President and General Counsel. Two years later, he was promoted again and joined the leadership team of Walmart U.S. as Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer. In that role, he was responsible for various business units, including real estate, human resources, labor relations, external relations, U.S. compliance, and financial services.

 

From Me to We

We have never found the secret sauce for persistently turning our collective ‘Me’ into a collective ‘We”. In The Great Conversation we have identified the ‘Why’, we have pursued ‘Meaning’, and we have yearned for a culture that would be highly adaptable and engaged, but we are still yearning for a tried-and-true system for rallying human beings around a singular goal.

And that might be the problem.

We speak with Jeffrey Leinaweaver, consultant, practitioner and co-founder of Find Mino, a personality and career assessment platform that simplifies the process for individuals to find their path and design the life they want. We explore the disruptions in traditional systems and see another approach evolving. And Jeff is the right one to have a conversation around this topic. He has been a senior human resources leader, strategic business partner and certified sustainability professional with a unique track record of helping top organizations address challenging talent acquisition, workforce planning, and leadership development and sustainability/ESG.  In this great conversation, we search for the integration of our individual story with the story of us and the larger undefinable "awe" story within us.

Hear with your Eyes

When we process information, 83% of knowledge comes to us visually. But 11% comes through our ears. It turns out that the missing 11% provides rich information that can overcome our blind spots. The question for most organizations is how to bring audio into the conversation so that organizations can effectively communicate and security executives can correctly interpret what really is going on in the silent film they are watching on their screens.

Alon Blankstein has been an important bridge to supporting Israeli companies going global and helping companies outside Israel understand the Israeli and European markets.

He co-founded, invested & now sits on the advisory board of several Israeli and North American based technology ventures including Partners500, Insight Acoustics, Vidit, Arama & Benet, MultiPopoint, Foamix, CapsuLINT, and EarlySense.

As Chairman of Insight Acoustics, he has volunteered his time with the SIA Audio and Intelligent Communications Working Group providing insights to his peers on the emerging audio platform of the future.

The Digital Transformation of Protective Intelligence within a GSOC

Global Security Operations Centers are increasingly expanding their investigative capabilities by formalizing the methodology within a digital transformation model. We turn to a top-performing security professional with over 15 years of physical security experience covering the entire spectrum of Physical Security; Security Operations, Executive Protection, Security Training, Workplace Violence, Global Security Operations Centers, Event Security, Travel Security, and more; Nabih Numair of Palo Alto Networks. He was joined in our great conversation with the father of Protective Intelligence, Fred Burton, and the CEO of a leading protective intelligence platform, Lukas Quanstrom of Ontic.

Data at Your Service: How a GSOC Transformed Our Value Proposition to the Business

Zachary Driskell has been with Marathon Petroleum for over 8 years. He helped develop the current GSOC moving it from concept to design to full operation. Now he and his team provide centralized services around all-hazard risks around the world. He leverages cutting edge critical event management technology as well as an artificial intelligence engine that aggregates publicly available data. This gives him a robust and full picture of risk data, news, and weather events that, when correlated provides him pre-attack indicators and informed actionable response. Having a conversation with Zachary is like having an MBA, Business Analyst, Technology Advisor, and Risk Officer all in one.

Zachary Driskell leads the Executive Protection team and Global Security Operations. During his tenure he has helped manage and improve the Travel Risk Management (TRM) program, manage the intelligence gathering and analysis group, and train employees on workplace violence and active shooter prevention program. He also developed and built a Global Security Operations Center (GSOC). He regularly conducts security and vulnerability assessments of various business units within the downstream oil industry. Finally, he is a member of the Corporate Emergency Response Team and certified as a Hazwoper Operator.

Are Schools Safer?

The Virginia Tech shooting on April 16, 2007, was the seminal event that created the awareness of an entire ecosystem that a trend was unfolding that would challenge our notions of risk, resilience, and security for the education sector. Kristina Anderson was a student at Virginia Tech when she was shot by the active shooter. It changed her life. She founded an organization, Koshka, that is having a major impact in schools across our nation.

Gene Deisinger intersects with Kristina. Dr. Deisinger served as Deputy Chief of Police & Director of Threat Management Services for Virginia Tech, positions to which he had been recruited following the 2007 mass casualty incident at that campus.

In this short but compelling conversation we learn what they believe is our progress since the incident.

Framing the Future of Risk and Emergency Management

Christopher Stitt has spent more than two decades in international security, emergency management, and law enforcement with the Federal Government. He is also Adjunct Faculty at George Mason University and is credentialed as a Certified Emergency Manager by the International Association of Emergency Managers.

His specialties include: Emergency management; multi-jurisdictional crisis management; enterprise-wide crisis management policy development; program development and management; strategic planning; risk analysis and mitigation strategies; policy and procedure development; technology/policy/process integration; criminal, personnel, internal, and counterintelligence investigations; and dignitary protection. 

So, it was natural for us to turn to him to get his take on a framework for evaluating emergency plans and preparations.

New Language and Tools for Leaders

Annette White-Klososky has been advising CEOs and their teams on leadership and organizational culture. She shares her tools of engagement including the need to be human and digitally aware to adapt to the changes ahead.

Annette Klososky is a founding Partner at Future Point of View - a boutique technology advisory firm. She is a sought-after consultant and executive coach in all facets of organizational culture and leadership development. She is the owner of the Women’s Executive Board, a leading advisory board for executive women and Chair for the Oklahoma Chapter of the Women Presidents' Organization. Her executive advisory boards include female executive members representing companies with over 40,000 employees and $23 billion in total annual revenues. She was recognized by The Journal Record as a Woman of the Year nominee, has been featured in Entrepreneur Magazine and Forbes. 

An Inconvenient Year

Hollis Mignogno, Vice President of Global Security, Meetings & Events, Travel, and Trade Shows Cardinal Health, shares transparently about this strange “inconvenient” year; a year of events that disrupted our normal but also forced us to think differently.

Hollis’ key responsibilities include business resiliency, drug-free workplace, executive protection, supply chain integrity, global travel, meetings and events, trade shows, M&A, and training. Hollis has been with Cardinal Health since October 2001, working in the Corporate Aviation Department for two years, and in the Global Security Department for the past 16 years. She is a member of ASIS (American Society for Industrial Security) and participates on the Pharmaceutical Council, serving as Vice-Chair in 2012, and Chair in 2013. She also participates on AMEX’s Meetings & Events Executive Council and Anvil’s Advisory Board. Hollis is deeply committed to the community and actively involved in the Central Ohio Heart Walk through the American Heart Association.

Cracking the Genetic Code of Leadership

Talking about leadership is one thing. Creating an empowered, engaged workforce and a leadership culture is another. There is every reason to believe that this should rise to a level of urgency when you speak with Daniel Edds, a researcher, practitioner, and thought leader in reinventing and innovating leadership for the 21st Century.

One of the first things we address is what George Clifton the CEO of Gallup states: "The American leadership philosophy simply doesn't work anymore".  We naturally want to know why it does not work and what should take its place.

Dan has written a book on the subject: "The Genetics of Leadership: Cracking the Code of Sustainable Excellence“. It provides case studies and results of personal interviews with experts such as General Barry McCaffrey, 4-star general and Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy for President Clinton.

You will want to hear what the general said about leadership. It might just change the way you lead.

The Measure of an Organization Rests on a Covenant Called Relationship

The core mission of Human Resources is focused on organizational strength: how an organization activates its purpose and mission by attracting the right people, integrating them into the operational processes, and sustaining a high level of engagement over time.

We turned to the Assistant Vice President of Total Talent Management at the University of Washington, Ujima Donalson, to help us understand what that looks like. Ujima first asked two questions before she assumed the role: “What are our strengths and how can we crank that up a notch? How do we move from excellent to premier?”

And now she has become an articulate and inspiring advocate for the university’s stakeholders.

This has become even more important during the era of the pandemic: not just the virus, but, according to Ujima, the pandemic of economic disparity and racial injustice. Now more than ever, leaders must come to terms with the fact that “Their next will become our next.”

Conversations of Trust Leading to High Performance Teams

We took a virtual ride up north from Seattle to sit by a virtual fire outdoors in the woods near Puget Sound. It was a camp that is used for corporate retreats and much more. Over 350 organizations visit Warm Beach Camp and Conference Center in Washington State every year. We wanted to know its secret sauce for creating the context for profound organizational change and innovation that for many, is repeated year after year.

We had a conversation with Ed McDowell, the Executive Director, to get his insights into why this venue has prospered, what he has learned, and how he is growing to meet the needs of our time.

Located just one hour north of Seattle Warm Beach offers year-round camp, conference, and retreat rental facilities and has programs for youth, families, and adults. Serving greater Puget Sound since 1956, Warm Beach Camp provides rental facilities and event planning services for church, school, non-profit, and governmental groups throughout the Pacific Northwest and the lower mainland of British Columbia, Canada.

“People need hope and purpose to sustain what they are doing in life”, Ed says. “The combination of camps, retreats, conferences and consulting provides a rich platform for me to help people sustain hope and purpose in their lives. My faith informs my purpose.”

The Authentic and Productive Business Owner

How do you become whole while you are becoming a successful leader of a business?

To be whole, you must know who you are, what your purpose is, and how you show up authentically within your chosen pursuits.

Authenticity infers trust.

One you have authenticity; how does it inform your actions and your mindset? Optimization implies you have the right people in the right roles, doing the right things in a measurable process using tools. (or technology) Authenticity requires empathy, humility, and discernment.

We turned to a business that helps owners of dental practices begin this journey to their authentic and productive leadership role transforming their practice into a business. And we quickly realized the principles apply to business owners across all markets.

Regan Robertson is the President & Chief Marketing Officer for Productive Dentist Academy. As an award-winning marketing professional, she is driven to help business owners communicate their vision so they can capture the market share they deserve.

A certified Storybrand Guide as well as member of the Women Presidents' Organization, Regan understands the importance of using messaging to generate revenue growth and make a lasting impact in the community. She is also the co-host of the  Everyday Practices podcast with Dr. Chad Johnson.

You Can Lead a Meaningful Life – Better Yet, You Can Help Others as Well

We have all been through some form of personal development. One of the courses I took was the Clifton Strengths Finder that later was purchased by Gallop. I read the original book, took the assessment, and, later, as a parent, experienced my kids doing the same. But you know the drill. The path to value is littered with good intentions without a persistent practice of discipline in achieving your goals. 

Because of this, I would later ‘rediscover’ Strengths Finder through a course taught by Brandon Miller of 34Strong right before the lockdown in 2020. I also recently noticed that Brandon has recently co-authored a book with his wife called ‘Incredible Parent’ and I asked him into a Great Conversation to help me connect great parenting with great leaders.

The Art of Strategy and Innovation Begins with Play

Kim Quaintance is the co-founder of two unique companies, ‘IQ Gemini’ and ‘Move to Think’  focused on personal development, organizational engagement, and the digital transformation of both.

Our conversation starts with a huge source of human suffering: feeling disconnected from your work. If your employees experience this it builds pressure in the systems of your company eventually causing cracks that create uncertainty, doubt, and fear. With Covid amplifying these pressures, we must begin the journey of reinventing our dialogue and discovering the lost art of play in imagining our future.

Intelligence at the Edge: Technology and Behavior

Words are real things. They shape our world. Security Leaders do not often talk about their employees as customers who deserve an exceptional experience from their services and the technology that facilitates those services. Words like convenience, frictionless, and delightful experience are not often associated with security. Which is why it is an excellent market for digital transformation. If Security is focused purely on keeping the bad guys out, it gets disconnected from the rest of the workplace/building experience that customers are looking for. Security and Convenience have been inversely related to each other - does that always need to be the case? Can we challenge that assumption and create "high security AND frictionless" access experiences?

We wanted to meet up with someone who has lived through the disruption of other markets and found Saurabh Bajaj, the CEO and Founder of Swiftlane. Saurabh’s long tenure with companies like Instagram, Facebook, and Lyft gives him a unique perspective on how to best disrupt an established industry. It wasn’t too long ago that he was leading a team at Lyft exploring the advancement of the driverless car, before developing Swiftlane’s touchless access control and video intercom solutions.

Swiftlane’s story has attracted investment capital because of the rapid intersection of computer vision and audio providing the context for creating a positive, delightful physical security and identity experience. Saurabh began exploring this with his Silicon Valley contacts and their security teams before creating the investment value proposition that started Swiftlane. 

Capturing the Voice of Healthcare in Security

Brine Hamilton is an example of someone who does not wait for position or power to have an impact. Yes, he has spent his career in the industry starting as a front-line guard and now a Healthcare Specialist and consultant. But he decided that the voices in the industry carried so many interesting stories and learnings that he launched a podcast that is now reaching hundreds of people. We sat down with him to learn more about what drives him and what he has learned.

Resilient in the Face of Disruption

Cheryl Steele, Vice President, Global Security and Resilience at Starbucks, is someone you instantly recognize, a purpose-built leader. Our conversation last year, starts with her journey to Starbucks, but then shifts to capture her innate curiosity around people, individually and as a culture. She has created her own conversation with her company and her community. This “great conversation” has created the foundation of trust that leads to the security and safety of her people and company.

The Art of Becoming

Laura Berland and Evan Harrel join us representing The Center of Compassionate Leadership. In many conversations with security leaders, we have seen more and more emphasis in building empathy into the leadership toolkit. But empathy takes a mindset that is foundational to the core curriculum that the center is using in its association with Cornell University and to its students worldwide.

Laura Berland is the Founder/CEO of the Center for Compassionate Leadership.  She is a weaver of transformative businesses and experiences, as a serial entrepreneur, Fortune 500 executive, meditation teacher, yoga therapist, executive coach, and creator.  Now, through the Center for Compassionate Leadership, she is sharing a new model for our time that melds evidence-based principles of leadership and the latest scientific research with the wisdom of contemplative practices.  Laura has extensive experience in teaching and facilitation with groups including military veterans, entrepreneurs, post-doctoral students, and yoga teachers. She is an E-RYT500 (accredited educator) from Yoga Alliance, and C-IAYT (certified yoga therapist) from International Association of Yoga Therapists. Laura is an alumna of Cornell University and New York University.

Evan Harrel is the Chief Operating Officer of the Center for Compassionate Leadership. He leads the Center’s thought leadership efforts and the integration of scientific and business research into the work of the Center. For the last fifteen years, he has worked in the nonprofit field, including as the executive director of a group of inner-city Houston preschools and of Houston Habitat for Humanity. More recently, as a consultant and board member to several nonprofits, he has focused on developing meaningful measurable outcomes and devising strategies to further organizational mission and impact for a number of clients. Evan has taught about compassion to both nonprofit organizations and for-profit corporate boards.

Prior to beginning work in the nonprofit sector, Evan was an investment manager for over twenty years where he managed a thirty-billion-dollar equity mutual fund. He was awarded a Master of Business Administration degree, with distinction, from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude, from Princeton University.

Seizing the Moment with a Leadership Mindset

Cheryl Michaels is Director of Emergency Management and Associate Director of Safety and Security at Seattle Pacific University. Cheryl walks us through her evolving insights on how great leaders see, hear, and act in a defining moment.

Our conversation during the 2020 pandemic, reaffirms the need for a fundamental baseline for all leaders to ensure we imaginatively and confidently confront anything that happens in our business or in our lives.

Cheryl has worked in the security field for 31 years. In 1990 she joined Raytheon’s naval weapons-manufacturing division in Security Operations, where she oversaw the physical security and classified information protection program. In 2001 she began working for the Office of Safety and Security at Seattle Pacific University. As Associate Director, she is responsible for the Security Operations Center, a 24/7 emergency dispatch center for the campus that also monitors surveillance systems, fire systems, and the campus emergency notification system. For the last 16 years, she has been responsible for implementing the University’s emergency and crisis management plan, which has included training for first responders and the campus community through seminars and exercises.

Finally, she is also responsible for the campus gender-based violence awareness program which includes investigations of crimes and provides threat assessments for at risk individuals. She is a certified self-defense instructor with Rape Aggression Defense Systems. 

Leaving a Legacy with Brian Tuskan

Brian Tuskan, CSO of Physical Security at Microsoft, shares his thoughts on his path to a senior leadership position and the intentional values-based approach that he employed including transparency and trust.

Brian is known as a generous leader within his market sector of risk, resilience, and security. He started his career as a patrol officer in Hawaii and became known, early on, as an innovator in the use of technology.

Although busy managing a multi-faceted global program as CSO, he still manages to give back to his original community of law enforcement officers by helping them understand the steps needed to cross the chasm into private enterprise.

The WiLD Ride of a Security Leader

Tim Wenzel, the Head of Privacy Protection at Facebook, addresses the core skill sets of a Security Leader. He then works with leading organizational psychologist Dr. Rob McKenna and Dr. Daniel Hallak of WiLD Leaders to attempt to capture the essential experiences that created the foundation for leadership and change. We begin to articulate a "scorecard" for the emerging risk, resilience, and security leader... and perhaps for all leaders.

Tim is also the co-founder of The Kindness Games; an online forum focused on bridging the civil conversation divide by focusing on empathetic, but serious discussions about life and business.

Dr. Rob McKenna is focused on Whole and Independent Leadership Development (WiLD) and a global community of whole leaders transforming the world.

Dr. Daniel Hallak is the Chief Commercial Officer of WiLD and drives strategic commercial initiatives, and other operations, product development, and marketing initiatives that support the development of whole leaders.

The Power of Story

The Power of Story impacts how customers relate to your brand. The Power of Story impacts how employees buy into your purpose and vision for your business. Once you know your story and are able to articulate it, you have many avenues for telling it. One of those is business-to-business (B2B) Media companies. Pick the right one, and your story might be consumed and acted upon. We turned to one of the most experienced editorial directors in the risk, resilience, and security industry to have him reflect how he got into the business and what he is seeing as media is redefined in the age of digital transformation.

Steve Laskey is an experienced Group Publisher and Editorial Director with a demonstrated history of working with the marketing and advertising industry as a B2B Media Executive. Steve is highly skilled in Sales, Journalism and Corporate Communications. His company, Endeavor Business Media, is now one of the largest B2B Media companies in the world.

A Coat of Many Colors and Backgrounds: Leadership’s Competitive Weapon

We are always interested in pursuing leaders who are focused on employee engagement and powerful self-correcting cultures that promote innovation and change. Avoiding the peril of scotomas (blind spots) requires cultivating a diversity of thinking. Diversity of thinking comes from a melting pot of cultures, education, and experiences. Diversity is not about numbers. Diversity is about organizational strength.

One such leader is Eddie Reynolds, CEO and co-Founder of Iluminar. Iluminar is a specialist manufacturer and supplier of IR and white light illuminators and license plate recognition products. Co-owners Eddie Reynolds and Joni Hamasaki bring over 30 years of combined industry experience. Together they launched Iluminar in 2009 with a mission to supply high quality and reliable lighting and license plate recognition products to the video surveillance industry, backed by unsurpassed customer service.

Eddie happens to be black and a woman. We get inside her head on the value of diversity, how mentors make a difference, and her experiences within the industry. She is also a member of the Security Industry Association (SIA) and the SIA RISE Steering Committee. They are launching Talent Inclusion Mentorship Education (TIME) – a new mentorship program for early and mid-career professionals in the security industry.

The TIME program is designed to promote diversity, equity and inclusion and empowerment of underrepresented identities in the security industry by creating a well-defined pathway for learning and development.

An Inside Look at Our Greatest Challenges in Technology Innovation

Min Kyriannis, the Managing Director of a consulting company called JMK, is unique. Her knowledge of technology, systems that run our buildings and security, and her grasp of our times, fuels a great conversation. When asked what the greatest challenges were going forward, she links our ability to be agile and innovative to our emotional IQ, our ability to be empathetic, and our integrity. The human issue needs to be in place to be able to grasp and leverage the opportunities ahead.

What is The Business of Before®?

Torchstone Global is in the security business. They have a network of employees, independent contractors, and trusted partners that help them provide their clients with a broad range of services and expertise in over 70 countries.

We spoke with co-founder David Niccolini to understand his journey and philosophy in creating Torchstone's The Business of Before^®

This conversation not only covers the complexity of protective intelligence, but also helps each of us really search our hearts and the organizations we are creating to answer the questions "Who are We?" and "Who will we Never Be?"

Leading by Example

We are always looking for success stories of women leaders. Especially in the security industry. Many of the more successful women we have spoken with have found their path to value starts with a mindset of no barriers. Elisa Mula, the Founder of EMD is one of those women. We discuss the front of mind opportunities she sees emerging and gain insights into how she conducts her business.

Elisa formed EM Designs, LLC (“EMD”) in 2004 to achieve her vision of creating a consulting business focused on forging new paths for women in industries where they are typically underrepresented. Elisa researched a variety of industries across the international community and ultimately determined that committing to one field would allow EMD to make a greater difference. Focused on an industry in which she had extensive education and years of experience – Elisa was able to leverage her expertise for the benefit of EMD specifically and women as a whole. That industry, Physical Security, is one to which Elisa has dedicated more than a decade of her life, developed an unparalleled network of professional colleagues, and demonstrated an unrelenting work ethic. 

During her decade-long immersion in the Physical Security industry, Elisa worked on the manufacturing, integration, and consulting aspects of the industry, while simultaneously securing her Masters’ Degree in Protection Management from John Jay College. Her depth of experience allowed her to develop her practice with both public and private sector security professionals. These partnerships have imparted a distinctively fresh and inimitable perspective that allows Elisa and EMD to offer a new means of recognizing, evaluating, and remediating threats and vulnerabilities.

A Winning Formula for Security

Jim Sawyer has been one of the key architects of the physical security program at one of the largest children’s hospitals in the USA for over 40 years. We sit down with him to see what he has learned and how it is informing the future of security at Seattle Children’s and the industry. Learn how customer service, collaborative risk management, “zero incidents”, and information aggregation and reporting are fueling the success of his program.

The Digital Transformation of the Security Integrator

The Digital Transformation of key sectors of our economy is complicated. In many cases, the ecosystem is unable to adjust because their tried and true practices are good enough to produce the profits they are comfortable with. For some, the ability to invest in new operational models requires heavy lifting in re-training their people and constrains their ability to innovate and change.

When I met Eric Yunag, the Vice President of Technology and Innovation at one of the largest security integration companies in the world, he was the CEO of a much smaller integrator in South Dakota. During his sixteen-year tenure at the company, he led numerous operational and sales initiatives, as well as the expansion of the company into new locations around the country. But now he is helping Convergint Technologies pivot from providing security solutions to becoming a strategic advisor on digital transformation initiatives to security and business executives. This has been happening in the midst of an aggressive acquisition spree; innovation and change and aggressive growth. The recipe for their success is a meal that security executives want on the menu: business and security intelligence as a service that promises to create strategic advantage for their organizations.

The opportunity is open to many integrators and to their customers. The risk is their ability to adjust to the speed of change in our social and business worlds that technology is demanding of all of us.

Is Security a Silent Movie?

Whenever I review the security technology architecture of a business, I look for a simple answer to a nagging problem. Why can’t I hear what is going on before, during, or after an incident? You would think that most security organizations strive toward real-time situational awareness leveraging all the tools they own by embedding audio and voice into their business processes. But instead, many have cameras that are producing a silent movie.  

Why isn’t audio ubiquitous in the building, on the campus, and in our cities? 

I press on this question with Cameron Jadvani, the President of an audio technology company called SoundSecure, and I am pleasantly surprised and hopeful that we finally will see an acceleration of a simple premise: in a sensor driven world, I need to see, hear, be heard, and be understood now more than ever. 

Capturing the Mind of the Risk Leader and Transforming Protection

2020, for most organizations, was a time to reflect, pivot, and live to fight another day. But during every crisis, there are a few leaders and organizations that are prepared for the moment and thrive. One such company just announced its 2020 results. They shared revenue growth of 177%, a 68% increase in Fortune 500 customers, a 319% increase in the number of users, and an exponential increase in their ability to scale through human and digital assets.

This is an organization that purports to have a “living threat assessment” based on their market, location, brand, and operational reach.

We speak with the co-founder and CEO of Ontic, Lukas Quanstrom, about his entrepreneurial journey into the risk, resilience, and security industry. It is a story that is as much about mining, capturing, and uniquely presenting the mind and the methodology of the risk leader as it is about qualitative and quantitative scale. Meet the digital transformation of “Protective Intelligence” through our great conversation.

From Turnstiles to a New Category called “Presence”

Steve Caroselli, the CEO of Orion, joins us to talk about the next generation of entrance controls and his unique approach to innovation in collaboration with his clients. Just when you thought you were talking about turnstiles, Steve opens our eyes and minds to a new sensor driven world. 

He will tell you he is not a turnstile company, although he is a leader in that product category. To Caroselli, turnstiles are access control systems. To innovate and lead in this rapidly expanding category, Orion must be a technology company. To Caroselli, that is important. With technology rapidly evolving, every security product that you purchase today will likely be disrupted by new and imaginative approaches to identity, presence, and access control. 

To Caroselli, innovative technology companies must practice "speed lane" thinking. “We must own our responsibility for getting our customers brand right as well as mitigating the risk to their company”, he said. And mitigating the risk from a ‘speed lane’ requires Orion to know the use case that impacts their people, process, and other technologies in the building. “We must be the ones that help our customer ask the right questions.”

And Caroselli takes his own medicine. One of his main jobs is to stay in front of leading indicators of change including the risk, the uberization of core assumptions we make about situational awareness and actionable response, and the technology. Today one of his biggest projects is reimagining and repurposing the turnstile. “The age of Covid has taught us that we need to not just validate entrance, but also validate presence”, said Caroselli. And that means we have to be tied into other security, building, and enterprise systems. And we have to reimagine the internal and external entries and the behavior in and around it.” Caroselli believes that this will radically expand the market for Orion’s solutions.

As you listen to our conversation, you will hear how his mind works, and why a bet on his success might be a sound investment. 

 

The New Scorecard for Excellence in Education Demands Security

Parents: Are you Listening?

We sit down with Joe Souza, Director of Security for the University of Florida and discuss his journey in helping the university in their quest to be a top five public university.

Joe is sold out on the mission of his university to be a preeminent brand within the public education sector. And that is the difference. He starts with the vision, mission, and core values of the university, and then determines how his program contributes. 

For those of you who are parents of prospective university students, pause for a second and reflect whether you and your child prioritized security and safety in your scorecard for evaluating a university. Do they prosper because you and they know they are safe and secure?

What I appreciated is Joe’s efforts to help his university leverage his program to ensure that all the other elements of the scorecard are not radically diluted by an otherwise predictable event or a poor response. That is value protection and value generation.

 

The Market Forces Driving the Fourth Industrial Revolution

Cascadia Capital is tackling the Fourth Industrial Revolution head-on with one of the nation’s first emerging growth investment banking practice groups dedicated to Robotics, Automation, and Artificial Intelligence (“RAAI”). Learn what they see as the market forces driving this and how you might evaluate your next steps as an end user, service provider, or technology vendor. We sit down with their Managing Director, Firdaus Pohowalla, in a great conversation about this upcoming wave.  With seven investment banking professionals and over 100 years of combined experience, the Cascadia team has significant industry knowledge and a successful track record of advising companies in the RAAI space.