From West Point to the Boardroom: Jack Blaha's Leadership Odyssey
CXO Conversations
Join host in a conversation with , CEO of , as they delve into his journey from and military service to becoming a prominent figure in the corporate world. Blaha delves into the synergy between his military discipline and his achievements in the fast-paced world of SaaS industries like hospitality and social media marketing. He sheds light on the pivotal role of emotional intelligence in shaping company culture and the profound impact of a CEO's leadership style, offering invaluable advice for ambitious leaders on mastering the art of adaptability, the art of building robust professional...
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The Importance of Community Engagement for Your Career
CXO Conversations
As the leader of a large public university and former undersecretary of the U.S. Navy, has dedicated 30 years of her career to academic, civilian, and military service. Since 2017, she has been the President of , where she has been a staunch advocate for underrepresented students, DACA recipients, and military and veteran students. Prior to her work in higher education, she was appointed by former President Barack Obama as the 32nd undersecretary of the . She's also a trailblazing pilot, being the first woman to fly the 's tactical C-130. In today’s episode, Janine reflects on...
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Building Your Career Transition Elevator Pitch
CXO Conversations
From the frontlines in Afghanistan to the center of the Texas startup ecosystem, has built an incredible career developing technology that solves real-world problems. He’s now General Partner at a venture capital firm in Austin that invests in technology startups, with a special focus on those founded by military veteran entrepreneurs. Join us as we delve into Craig's inspiring journey, his insights into technology investments, and the unique perspective he brings to the entrepreneurial world. In this episode, Craig shares with Michael his experience: Crafting an elevator pitch...
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How Unlocking Human Potential is True Servant Leadership
CXO Conversations
Perry Kamel has served in numerous leadership roles; Global executive, COO, CEO many times. He has led many organizations through growth and turn arounds by focusing on the people- not the numbers. Perry shares his experiences and thoughts on: Difference between management and leadership It’s all about the people- the rest will follow Never stop learning- never stop reading Also, Perry speaks to how his experience in the US Navy created his servant leadership skills. Siemens, Accenture, McKinsey, BroadPoint Communications, Ciena, Maxamine … Perry has been a CEO, CMO,...
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Sean Odendahl on the Importance of Direct Feedback & Candid Mentorship
CXO Conversations
Sean Odendahl has worked for only four organizations, including his current employer of 17 years. For the last three years, Sean has been serving at the Chief Transformation Officer for the global law firm Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner. Sean shares his perspective on: The importance of direct feedback as a path to improvement Power of candid mentor relationships for professional growth What a successful mentorship looks like Also, Sean speaks to how his experience in the US Army influenced his leadership skills and approach. Sean’s legal and professional career has been...
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Community Service by Applying CFO skills to City Council Appointment
CXO Conversations
As was wrapping up being CFO of , after a Accel KKR transaction to Terminus Capital Partners, he was asked to complete the final year of a City Council seat, provided he would not run for reelection. Tyson readily agreed - he wanted to give back to his community. Tyson shares his thoughts on: How serving as a Company Executive helps him be a good public servant Corporate skills and experiences that he is able to utilize as a City Council member Shared thoughts to those who are interested in serving their community Tyson served as COO/CFO for Delta Data until a change of control...
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Leading an iconic brand through a global transformation
CXO Conversations
While a CFO for , led the iconic brand through a global transformation from print to digital and live events globally. David shares his thoughts on: Early digital adoption and transformation of a globally respected brand Listening to the client base What he learned and advice offered from the global experience David led the project management of the transformation with consulting selling both internally and externally. He also listened to clients and subscribers as they went from weekly print only to digital and took the brand live with events from Africa, Europe to North...
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Creating the President role for yourself at 32 years old
CXO Conversations
After Travelers Insurance acquired several companies, as a Director, wrote a transition memo and proposed he lead the initiative. His superiors countered by promoting him to President, relocating him to California and told him to run the whole thing. Stephen speaks to: Experience of going from Director to President overnight and how he prepared Overcoming self-doubt by continuously learning and improving As a 32-year-old, leading an older C suite Generation Advice 55-year-old Stephen would give to 32-year-old Stephen Stephen went from Director to President overnight and...
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CTO Leadership Skills from Engineering to C Suite
CXO Conversations
has served as a CTO for numerous technology companies in France and the US. He speaks to the differences in managing technical vs non technical staff and aligning to their motivations. Frederic talks to: Differences in leading technical and non-technical professionals Role of the CTO on the executive leadership team Advice to those who seek the C suite. For the last seven years, Frederic has served as the CTO for and held the CTO chair at 3 other companies after serving as a Project Manager for IBM. Thank you to for being a sponsor of CXO Conversations...
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Entrepreneurial Passion from Big 4 to business owner then CFO
CXO Conversations
, CFO for talks to her creativity and passion for embracing challenges as opportunities with an entrepreneurial spirit. During the interview, Kathleen speaks to: · Being promoted from VP to CFO · Overlooked Roles and responsibility of being a CFO · How being a Big 4 consultant helped prepare her for the C Suite Kathleen was a partner track consultant at KPMG when after 13 years, she decided to become a small business owner. Then Kathleen...
info_outlineBill Wosilius joins the show to discuss matters ranging from declaring your role and how to obtain it, assessing the situation and making hard executive changes, why become a CEO, and how to prepare for it. He has a wealth of advice to share and the experience to back it up; don’t miss this episode.
ABOUT OUR GUEST
After graduating from the U.S. Airforce Academy and serving for eight years, Bill worked for companies such as InFlow, Sunguard, Healthgrades, CoreSite, Optiv, and now NexusTek.
GET IN TOUCH WITH BILL WOSILIUS ON LINKEDIN
THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS
Podfly Productions: Podfly.net
Veterans of Foreign Wars: VFWpost1.org
OC Executive Search: OCExecutiveSearch.com
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[1:52] Michael introduces Bill and asks him to share an interesting tidbit about himself — Bill made a promise to himself that he would run one adventure race a year, every year until he couldn’t.
Bill talks about what NexusTek does and who they are.
ACCIDENTAL CEO [5:55] Bill shares how he came to be a CEO at NexusTek, and shares a few pieces of advice for reaching the C-suite, including avoiding target fixation!
ALL OF IT IS IMPORTANT [9:35] Looking back on what led him to where he is today, Bill shares that every single experience in the last 10 years has contributed to him being an accidental CEO and IT guy.
FIVE FROGS [12:24] Bill shares the story of how he led his first integration and what cascaded from it, including the challenges of merging and integrating the Hatfields and the McCoys!
M&A BACK OFFICE [19:02] Although he wasn’t directly responsible for the back-office functions, Bill did get a chance to see how an M&A affects them. He touches on how important it is to hire strong, competent leaders for each of the functions.
NEWLY MINTED CEO [21:36] Bill describes his first 30, 60, and 120 days at NexusTek. He shares the first four questions he asks:
- What’s working?
- What’s not working?
- What should we start now?
- What should we stop now?
H.A.C. G.A.S. N.A. [24:54] Bill breaks down the acronyms he used to keep himself on track in choosing a team.
HUGE CHESS MOVES [27:36] Within his first 120 days, Bill had brought in — among others — a new CFO, COO, VP of Professional Services and a VP of Integration; he speaks to those decisions.
MANAGEMENT STYLE [30:22] Bill describes his management style, which he’s been both praised and criticized for!
ADVICE FOR ASPIRING CXO’s [32:32] Quit focusing on it! Just do a good job — the best job you ever had is the one you have right now.
HIRING EXECUTIVES [38:34] Bill shares the qualities he looks for when hiring for executive positions. He shares the use of the FORMS acronym.
FINAL THOUGHTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS [44:38] Bill shares his final advice: every job prepares you in some way; all of them are important. Michael shares his best worst job for the first time!
BEST WORST JOB BILL EVER HAD [46:52] All of them were good: except two where he worked for authoritative micro-managers.
Michael shares his own best worst job for the first time!
MORE FINAL THOUGHTS (as the music plays Bill off the stage!) [49:18] Bill has more invaluable advice to offer.
[50:35] Michael thanks Bill for coming on the podcast to share his insight and closes out the podcast with his favorite takeaways.
We hope you learned something today and enjoyed the conversation. Please give us 5 stars on iTunes and share your comments so we can improve and ask the questions you want to hear.
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
Five Frogs on a Log: A CEO's Field Guide to Accelerating the Transition in Mergers, Acquisitions & Gut Wrenching Change, by Mark L Feldman and Michael F. Spratt
Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win, by Jocko Willink and Lief Babin
Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life… And Maybe the World,
by Admiral William H. McRaven
SPECIAL THANKS TO