SCANNER FREEMONT / Data Analyst
Freemont is responsible for the digital conversion of survey responses while adhering to strict quality standards set forth by its managers. Freemont began its career at TruScore in 1996 as a Data Analyst and quickly became pivotal to TruScore's success. As the years passed, Freemont has slowly matured into part-time Data Analyst while also holding many positions in the work environment including On The Floor, On The Empty Desk, and Hold The Door (AKA Hodor).
RON SACCHI / Master Coach
A former Operations Manager in the High Tech Industry, Ron Sacchi brings decades of leadership and management experience to the organizational development and the executive coaching arena. An energetic thought-leader with a track record of success in all areas of Human Capital development, he has consulted and coached managers in start-ups, joint-ventures, high tech, pharmaceuticals, and media. Because of his business acumen and creative approaches to behavioral change, he is respected in the HR community specifically for the ability to direct, motivate, influence and inspire leaders to improve performance.
Holding an MBA from Saint Mary’s College, Mr. Sacchi is also licensed in various management, leadership and psychological profiling tools.
CARLANN FERGUSSON / Master Coach
Carlann inspires leaders to reconnect to their individual purpose and lead with contagious energy. She ensures leaders gain deep self-awareness and eliminate self-sabotaging behaviors. Her guidance is based on coaching, training and selecting hundreds of executives across diverse companies as well as her own journey into the executive ranks.
Carlann is the author of the highly acclaimed book The Insightful Leader: Find Your Superpowers, Crush Limiting Beliefs and Abolish Self-Sabotaging Behaviors (Praeger, June 2018). She holds a master’s degree in Industrial-Organizational Psychology. Her thirty years of experience include leadership roles in Fortune 500s, the private sector, and the U.S. Government. Carlann has been a featured guest on ABC News Radio, Wharton Business Radio and has been cited in CBS MoneyWatch, International Business Times, Newsday and Workday.
DR CHUCH MELTZER / Master Coach
Dr. Chuck Meltzer is a Master Coach and President of the SynTECGroup, an organizational development consulting firm. As an executive coach, he draws on his training at a doctoral level in psychology, direct senior management experience and management consulting with a wide cross section of industries. He has developed an extensive series of strategies to assist leaders in creating organizational wide and personal change. Dr. Meltzer has a decade of direct senior management experience and 20 years’ experience functioning within his consulting and coaching practice. His coaching approach is solution focused and time framed. Based on determined goals, a personally customized approach to the process has enabled his clients to realize sustainable change in a manner that allows them to enhance their effectiveness and success as leaders within their organization.
Dr. Meltzer is certified and a master trainer in several coaching assessment tools that he employs within his practice.
ERIN HIRSCHLAND / Master Coach
Erin is an organization development expert with nearly two decades experience serving organizations of all sizes across industries on a broad range of issues. Working with leadership teams, she helps articulate an actionable vision and corresponding values, connecting these to organizational strategy, execution and results. Her tools of choice include senior team retreats, one-on-one executive coaching and proven survey and related instruments.
Erin’s additional expertise includes designing employee selection systems, developing performance management tools that increase performance across the organization over time and employee and customer experience metrics. An effective facilitator and coach, Erin works with leaders and their teams to build trust, commitment and results.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara and a Master of Arts degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the University of Colorado.
SONYA D HAMILTON / Senior Assessment Consultant
Sonya is a Senior Assessment Consultant at TruScore with over 24 years of experience designing and delivering 360 feedback solutions and providing 360-based coaching, training and interpretation.
Sonya has extensive experience working with Managers and Leaders, guiding them through the feedback and development journey and providing insights and direction to help maximize their impact within the organization. Sonya’s areas of expertise include 360-based coaching, 360 data analysis and interpretation, Train-the-Trainer certifications, facilitation, survey & questionnaire design, and the design and delivery of assessment programs.
Sonya has a Bachelor’s degree in psychology and a Master’s of Science degree in Industrial & Organization Psychology from Springfield College with a specialty in Counseling and Psychological Services. She is a Master Trainer for TruScore and the Clark Wilson Task Cycle surveys receiving a Certificate of Achievement in “How to Train a Trainer”. In addition, Sonya is certified to administer a variety of other psychometric instruments including employee engagement and organizational instruments as well as the line of Hogan Personality Assessments.
KAYLEY MOTZ / Assessment Advisor
Kayley draws on her extensive customer service background to provide clients with prompt, quality support. In her role as Assessment Advisor, Kayley works to ensure clients’ needs are being met. She assists in project set up and management, as well as processing and quality checking feedback reports. Kayley also aids in the execution of the day-to-day responsibilities of the production team, such as coaching session scheduling and tech support.
CRYSTAL HUGHES / Assessment Advisor
Crystal leverages her extensive background in Industrial-Organizational (I-O) psychology as she manages the day-to-day operational and tactical aspects of multiple and large scale projects for TruScore.
Crystal assists clients with setting up and managing feedback projects, and serves as the point of contact throughout the entire process. She quality checks feedback reports, and provides tech support when needed.
ELLIE SOLOMON / Assessment Advisor
Ellie manages project implementation for the entire 360 assessment feedback process and ensures that each client’s unique needs are met on time and in an efficient manner. Ellie consults with clients who use TruScore’s off-the-shelf Task Cycle® instruments as well as providing hosting solutions for clients using their own survey content, including custom processes and reports. She helps clients navigate through the TruScore® survey hosting software, having literally written the handbook that several clients are using.
She coordinates and implements all translation efforts, including soliciting bids, managing timelines, providing files to the translation companies, implementing translations for the web pages, and testing.
ULLA WESTERMANN / Software Engineer
Ulla uses her years of experience as a software engineer to maintain and add new features to TruScore's applications. She also helps with customizing feedback reports based on client needs.
HANK CURTIS / Business Development Manager
Hank manages and assists in the analyzing, planning, research, and development of TruScore’s objectives and strategic plans in order to achieve business opportunities, growth, and financial profitability.
Hank drives the expansion of TruScore’s direct sales, establishes relationships with TruScore’s clients, identifies clients, and keeps up-to-date on industry trends and client developments.
TAYLOR BRANTON / Bookkeeper
Taylor is responsible for managing payroll and employee fringe benefits programs, in addition to organizing company gatherings and outings. Taylor oversees day to day accounting needs as it relates to client invoicing, accounts payable, and general compliance requirements. She also has a hand in month, quarter, and year end reports and works closely with the CEO and CTO to furnish details necessary to make accurate business projections and decisions.
KURT BLAZEK / Design Director
Kurt uses a unique blend of strategic thinking with dynamic executions to create TruScore’s visual and interactive design. He is responsible for creating, evolving, and sustaining the company’s brand to internal and external stakeholders through multiple mediums. He oversees all of TruScore’s digital strategies, along with the implementation of social media tools and techniques.
Kurt leverages TruScore’s marketing and messaging information to identify, evaluate, and apply methods to maximize the effectiveness of the search campaigns across all of the major search engines. He tracks and measures the ROI of search engine rankings, direct print, and marketing websites.
JOSH SHEETS / Chief Operations Officer
Josh is responsible for all day-to-day aspects of managing the operations and various functional areas including business development, sales and marketing, client delivery, vendor relations, human resources, and IT.
Josh helps to ensure outstanding customer service, and the administration of long-term and day-to-day business processes that complement the delivery of high quality, innovative customer-focused survey tools, assessments and hosted survey offerings.
TOM KUHNE / Managing Partner and CTO
Tom joined TruScore in 1995 and has served in a number of roles, including Data Analyst, IS Manager, and VP & CIO. In his current role as Managing Partner and CTO, Tom is the driving force behind TruScore's technology vision for the present and the future. He manages all aspects of TruScore’s information systems, ensuring all systems meet the highest functionality and security standards.
Tom enjoys working hand in hand with clients and partners to make sure TruScore® delivers the technology and advancement that has become expected of it as a leader in the online assessment marketplace.
DEREK MURPHY / Chief Executive Officer
Derek joined TruScore in 1996 and has served in a number of roles, including Data Analyst, Operations Manager, and President & COO. In his current role as CEO, he is responsible for planning and implementing the strategic direction of the company. In addition, Derek is involved in product development and overseeing the day-to-day business operations for TruScore.
TruScore founder Dr. Daniel Booth, a pioneer in the field of assessment of leadership and management skills, served as a mentor to Derek for more than a decade. During this time, Derek became certified on TruScore’s full line of management and leadership assessments. He currently uses these skills to lead content debriefings with customers and partners on a regular basis.
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People are always looking to adopt famous leadership styles of various people, hoping to one-day mimic the success of respected business men and women who helped change the world. These people don't fit the usual mold. They are independent, different, maybe even weird in some cases.
Mark Cuban doesn't stray from the narrative of ingenious leaders that are, well, not like everyone else.
People outside of Dallas, TX probably know him best by his role as one of the sharks on ABC's hit showShark Tank. Basketball fans know him as the crazy yet cool owner of the Dallas Mavericks.
“WE MUST PROTECT THIS HOUSE!” If you remember the commercials in which intimidating athletes stared at you with this declaration, then you remember when Under Armour started to dominate the athletic apparel, equipment and accessories market. Its CEO, Kevin Plank, is a leader that young entrepreneurs can take examples, advice, and leadership style tips from.
Here are a few reasons why Plank is an inspirational leader to learn from.
He Remembers the Past, Looks Clearly to the Future
Plank did not have success out of the gate. Shortly after college, he was at rock bottom and living in his grandmother’s basement. However, he worked hard and persevered, and now uses the methods of his football playing days to build his business for the future.
Those who believe in Myers-Briggs say that there are two types of people in this world: introverts and extroverts. The tropes are upheld by psychology majors and anyone who utilizes the art of sociological observation. The stereotype that introverts are incapable of making decent business interactions compared to the extroverts continues to mislead people. It's not that introverts and extroverts establish a hierarchy over the other, it's how they have different outlooks that pace unique methods of success. There are exciting elements to explore when looking into the difference between introvert/ extrovert leadership styles!
If your company is looking for a leadership role model, you might look no further than Google CEO and co-founder Larry Page. Recently tapped as Fortune’s 2014 Businessperson of the Year and lauded by Forbes as being one of the ten most powerful people (he’s number nine), Page is undoubtedly a success. And his company’s results speak for it—Google posted third-quarter 2014 earnings that marked a 20% year-over-year increase, and among other successes from its vast array of products and services, Google now commands more than 2 million internet searches per second. But it’s more than the numbers Page and his company put up. It’s his way of getting people to perform—and perform not just well, but spectacularly.
Like him or hate him, you’ve got to hand it to Mark Zuckerberg—there’s no denying that, at a mere 30 years old, he’s a multibillion-dollar success. His baby—the social-networking site Facebook—recently posted shares worth nearly $75, almost double its May 2012 IPO price of $38 per share. Which means that, not only did he have a solid, viable idea in social networking, he also has had some success at company leadership. And we all—millennial and office veteran alike—could learn a thing or two from his style.
To start, Zuckerberg shows us that, to be a good leader, you first need to be true to yourself and have passion. Continually in the pursuit of the next cool thing, Zuckerberg proves he believes in his goals and is passionate about what innovation can do for his product. And it’s worked. As the old adage says, you can’t sell what you don’t believe in, and Facebook’s creator believes in the product, which cultivates in his employees the unwavering confidence and support that leads to success. And all of that is reflected in the fact that the company’s mission, “to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected,” is the same today as it was ten years ago, at Facebook’s inception.
What makes Richard Branson so cool? For starters, he built the first airline to sell tickets into space with Virgin Galactic, he was chosen by young entrepreneurs as the Ultimate Business Role Model and he’s probably the only CEO you can name who has won a Grammy.
To call his management style “unconventional” would be a gross understatement. For example, he promotes a hands-off approach to management that encourages employees to make their own decisions. Failure is taken in stride as proof that his people are really stretching themselves. For another, he has made it clear that brand awareness is a much higher priority than profits. It sounds like a recipe for disaster, but there’s no question he has been successful. The Virgin brand has proven itself successful across a range of industries, from a record shop, to an airline, to a telecom provider and 400 other companies. His personal wealth is estimated over $4 billion and he shows no signs of slowing down. His supporters say he has astounding foresight. His distractors say it’s just dumb luck.
Is your sales team suffering from low-productivity? This may not be the symptom of poor work ethic, but rather your leadership style. Some leadership styles work great for businesses within your same industry, but they may not work well for your business. However, the great thing about leadership styles is that there are many, so you can borrow from any or all of them, to find the style that best suits you and your company.
Below are 5 unique leadership styles that you can emulate for success.
The Growth-Oriented Participative Leader
Participative leaders don't seclude themselves from their team when making decisions about how to run their organizations. Instead, they work with customers and their team members to build the company as a participant instead of a leader. By bringing themselves down to their team members level, they can provide a sense of community and familiarity, which works to drive better results. Donald Trump is a great real-world example of a participative leader.
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