What I love about Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) are the opportunities they present for leadership development. Especially for folks who are earlier in their career. These tend to be some of the most promising future leaders in those businesses who bring an admirable amount of passion and commitment to their work. Detrek Cooper with SAP is no exception. To me Detrek is joy, light, laughter, integrity and heart.

On June 21, the team hosted Chris Rollins, Founder & CEO, Ripple Effect Leadership, in an internal event on strengthening our path to allyship using small moments of vulnerability, kindness, empathy, curiosity, and humility to create ripple effects on your team, no matter where you sit in the organization, and impact your efforts toward inclusion.

I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Kara Duffy, Business Coach, Entrepreneur and so much more on her Powerful Ladies Podcast. While most of her guests are women, she’ll occasionally switch it up (because she can!) and we had a great conversation about how golf makes me a better speaker, how to know when to be the CEO vs the talent, and we deep dive into why my methodology is radically changing today’s corporate landscape.

It was the sweet Nike high-tops that admittedly first drew me to Adrien at a local networking event with the Tampa LGBT Chamber of Commerce. But it was her smile, kindness, charm and warmth that had me think “I need to be friends with this person!”

I come to find out that Adrien, among other things, leads the HR function for Ice Cold Air, the business that she and her wife run together in Tampa.

Adrien has a deep commitment to leading people-first, and being the kind of leader who is intentional about the ripples she creates in this community and world.

Our Pride celebrations this month featured a keynote address with executive coach Chris Rollins on how to become a ripple-effect leader. Presented by our Pride ERG in partnership with our VetNet and NextGen ERGs, the session addressed ways we can build cultures of inclusion and trust so that we can all bring our authentic selves to work.

The first word that comes to mind when I think about Noelle is generosity. She’s generous in spirit and generous in her commitment to serving and helping others. She’s also a generous connector, thoughtfully facilitating mutually beneficial relationships.

When I first met Noelle at a networking event in Tampa, I immediately felt safe in her presence. She became a haven for me at events where I didn’t know many people, and quickly became a friend I respect and admire.

Companies and organizations have always measured the performance of their employees through one lens: results. As the world evolves into a younger generation and new work-place dynamics, this level of measurement misses an important factor; employee development.

Employees are becoming more selective of where they decide to work, and in turn they measure the “performance” of their company and managers. What individuals are most focused on is their overall experience, and if they face burnout from pressure, they often lose motivation to stay.

I have to admit, the growing wave of anti-LGBT legislation in Florida has given me pause with the work I'm doing.

Am I safe to get up on stage and share my coming out story?Will people use hateful language toward me?
Are people going to get up and leave?
How will they respond?

I've played out the scenarios in my head.

And the truth is, some of them are scary.

To me, Geronda is heart, warmth, courage, kindness and play. Geronda has been a consistent presence in our QueeHR community the last couple of years, and models leading with vulnerability. She never shies away from asking hard questions, or sharing challenges she’s facing to support the learning of the group. I experience Geronda as incredibly humble; someone who genuinely elevates and supports others without seeking anything in return. I’m thrilled to spotlight Geronda Wollack-Spiller, DEI Program Manager at thougthbot, and share her truly authentic wisdom with you all!

Any time I deliver a talk - whether in person or virtual - I always setup a final prep call with the client about 48 hours in advance of the event. It's mostly for tech checks, but also to make sure I'm up to speed on any changes in the business since we last spoke, or recent company news or events that I should be aware of. In preparation for this virtual talk for FormFactor Inc., things were a little different.

I was in studio two weeks ago with the dynamic and bold Ashley Jarocki and Stephanie Markese to record an episode for Live Bold & Boss Up. We talk about everything from golf to building trust to coming out in college. More than anything, we talk about what it means to be a #RippleEffectLeader and how we can make a difference for the people in front of us.

I've been talking with many companies about coming in to speak to their organizations during Pride month in June. One conversation stuck with me in particular with someone at a Fortune 100 company.

To me, Andrew is joy, generosity, kindness, passion and integrity. He’s had an incredible growth path and even with all of his success, I find that it’s his humility, vulnerability and openness to learning that give his leadership so much power.

And it’s incredibly refreshing to meet someone who is so dedicated to their industry. You’d be hard-pressed to find anyone as passionate about retirement as Andrew. He even traveled across the country for weeks producing a documentary about the inequities in America around saving for retirement.

I’m pleased to spotlight Andrew Meadows, SVP HR, Brand + Culture @ Ubiquity Retirement + Savings, and share his wisdom with you all!

Elias is not only a model HR leader, they’re a model human. And we need more model humans running our HR and People teams. To me, Elias is joy, love, generosity, connection and commitment. One of their superpowers as a leader is to tenaciously not let things go unsaid; a true practice in vulnerability.

What immediately strikes me about Brooke (aside from the joy she brings) is how seriously she takes her responsibility as a leader. As the Principal People & Talent Partner at Hyperproof, she knows the kind of impact she can have on people’s lives, and honors that with her level of commitment to the work. For Brooke, it’s not about checklists, roles and responsibilities. She is helping people thrive.

I sat down with EPN host Eric Dye to discuss current trends in the workplace and how building a coaching culture can help address some of the people and business challenges we can expect this year.

When I was working in corporate, I used to tell my friends that as the leader of our people function, I was the keeper of all secrets. Not in a gossipy way, but to illustrate that there is so much sensitive, emotionally charged, personal information that I would take in on a daily basis from people across the company. And complex, challenging, interpersonal situations to navigate. Plus, I’d often have to make decisions about things I’d never encountered before. If you’re a Head of People/VP HR (or similar role), you know what I’m talking about.

Meet a Change Agent is our interview series on professionals who have devoted their lives to social and environmental impact. This week, we met up with Chris Rollins to learn more about what inspired him to pursue purpose-driven coaching for people-focused leaders in Tampa, FL.

A simple question. But why can it feel so difficult to answer? It’s a question I ask in some form in all of my coaching sessions. What I often hear from people who are struggling to figure out what they want out of a job, their career, a relationship, a conversation or a key leadership decision is a desire for clarity. And perhaps there’s some frustration that comes along with not being able to figure out how to move forward.

When professional services network giant EY was thinking about its employee experience strategy last year—about employee engagement, about its return-to-office strategy, about the struggles facing the organization and its workers—there was one theme that executives kept coming back to in their conversations: wellbeing.