Acknowledgments
Saying “thank you” can be tricky because there are so many people that have contributed, advised, listened and been supportive of this interesting journey.
At the top of the list is Elise Navin. She has listened intently to conversations on this topic for years, read the book at various stages front to back providing great feedback, and has been a major source of encouragement and conviction. Her incredibly simple, clarifying questions forced better thinking and articulation of the concept. Truly an amazing person.
I’m confident the following acknowledgments will not be complete. This is a group of accomplished, interesting people who’ve made this project very real.
Thank you….
David Creelman for being an amazing collaborator on this project, which was a little over a year in the making. You taught me a great deal about the business of publishing and you have an amazing ability of bringing concepts to life. For sure this CMO of People concept would still be on a napkin or whiteboard if it weren’t for our countless hour+ phone interview sessions.
John Boudreau for taking my call, listening to my pitch and ultimately introducing me to David. Our shared HBR project was a great learning process from both a creative and a business model perspective. And your advice to “just publish it” and get moving was spot on.
To our publisher Jeffrey Pepper and Jaya Dalal at De|G PRESS, an imprint of De Gruyter. Your immediate support for the book and great feedback has pushed us to create something we are all proud of. Also, Gary Schwartz through his initial review of our book.
Ann Poletti and Czarina Chung for starting the process of helping me to formally communicate this CMO of People concept to the world at the Glassdoor Conference. Ann is a fantastic storyteller and Czarina’s graphic design capabilities consistently exceeded expectations.
To all the leaders that were interviewed for the HBR article and for this book. You dedicated the scarce resource of time and provided valuable insights, incredible anecdotes in support of the concepts, a good market test, and some periodic grounding. This great group included: David Almeda, David Au-Yeung, Paul Baldassari, George Bongiorno, Gregg Gordon, Matthew Guss, David Green, Mike Haffenden, Emma Horgan, Rick Jensen, Phil Johnston, Lucia Quinn, Jacqueline Rese, Dan Schawbel, Amy Skeeters-Behrens, Robert Teed, and Richard Veal.
To two great CMOs, John Boris and Brad Brooks, who’ve now deservedly gone on to become CEOs. You both were instrumental in giving this concept the necessary space and flexibility to grow and have the impact we all know it could have. In addition to being awesome strategic partners, you often cleared the way in terms of change management process for both the HR and Marketing organizations. And best of all, you made it fun along the way.
Owen Tripp who is creating an industry changing company in a very human way. His “patience first” focus and “assume good intent” mantra are great cornerstones to an amazing culture and brand. Since our first meeting in February 2017, he has been committed to supporting this writing project in part because of his philosophy of a balanced life: work and non-work activities keep a person energized and make for a healthier employee. We’ve also teamed up to apply the CMO of People concepts in Grand Rounds to enhance the employee experience and build a durable company for the future. His partnership on both fronts is a reflection on him wanting the best for people. He’s one of the most genuine leaders you’ll meet.
Jeff Housenbold for leading from the front on this concept in its infancy, with investments in the team, shared accountability for its success and business impact, and visible support for the CMO of People model that was new to most folks. He also encouraged me to share the model with other leaders in Silicon Valley and other HR executives. Keith Krach was also an early champion of this approach, which was implemented during an incredible period of global growth at DocuSign.
Dan Springer, Joan Burke and Pete Solvik at DocuSign as well as Christopher North, Jason Sebring and Michael Zeisser at Shutterfly for their collective support from two great companies.
Jose Martin and Susan Otto for reading an earlier version of the book and giving direct feedback that only friends can. As HR executives with a global perspective and a shared desire for the function to improve every day, your input was super important. Rusty Rueff made these lifelong connections happen by assembling a great team at EA. His idea of needing stories to be an effective coach and mentor played a role in the way in which we approached this book: concept to application (“stories”) to making progress.
To the amazing employment brand and people analytics team members and pioneers like Stacy Vorkink, Ana Medrano Fernandez, Ann Poletti, Chris Mahar, Mike Euglow, Tony Truong, Arturo Garcia Aguirre, Matt Ketchum and Daschel Benites. Thank you for starting from scratch, testing and fine tuning, building top notch story arcs, brand frameworks and valuable insights into the people that make up the great companies we work for.
Paige Lane and Lauren Shively for masterfully load balancing calendars time and time and again to account for and enable a range of full-time work, advising, writing and family commitments. It’s a full life that they help keep on track and on task. In the closing stages of the production process Lauren has played the valuable role of single source of truth to maintain version control.