CXO Conversations

From Musician to CTO, Family Offices and Turnaround CEO

Keep listening, new podcasts are coming next year

C suite advisor to CEOs on a bad day and crisis management

From global maritime sailor to AI startup co founder

Importance of professional associations for career advancement

Founding then hiring a CEO to run your company and Board Member perspectives

Taking and building a business on your passion

VPs Perceptions of getting to CXO and the reality of being a CEO.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertcmulverhill/

Today we're going to discuss the pros and cons of staying with the same company for an extended period, creating an HR organization from scratch, and the lessons that Michelle Anastasi has learned throughout her career.

ABOUT OUR GUEST

Michelle is an outgoing CPO who has worked at CompSych, GiveForward, Dell and ASAP Software. She earned her Business Administration degree from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business and an MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

[1:52] Michael introduces Michelle Anastasi and asks her to share an interesting tidbit about herself — She has had a bear visit her kitchen while she was home!

[4:00] Michelle touches on the roles she embodied and the mentors that guided her during her 16-year stint at the same software company, from the accounting department to building an HR department from scratch.

BUILDING HR FROM THE GROUND UP [6:18] Michelle breaks down how she went about tackling the HR department build with very little experience from establishing priority lists to finding the right mentors.

REGRETS? [11:50] Michelle admits to having made her share of mistakes, but she wouldn't trade any of them — she does share the one thing she would have done differently: networks and relationships.

STARTING FROM SCRATCH [12:36] Michelle packs so much advice in a minute, you won't believe it — we counted 11 really important and insightful tips.

SHAKING ASSUMPTIONS [15:30] Behaviors can help in preventing people from pigeonholing you — think about your executive presence and be strategic.

WHY SO LONG? [18:46] Michelle opens up on the reasons why she stayed so long at ASAP, the first of which is that she kept having opportunities to learn and be challenged. She touches on the increasingly short windows companies get to show how engaging they can be to new hires.

THE DELL MERGER [22:21] She did work through a few mergers, but Dell was at a different scale! She talks us through the ups and downs of the experience.

C-SUITE, CPO VS CHRO [25:38] Though there seems to be a push away from the human resources terminology, Michelle sees very little difference between the roles themselves. She delves into what best prepared her for the C-Suite, including a tough boss that knows how to push you outside your comfort zone.

GETTING TO THE C-SUITE [30:04] Michelle hands out fistfuls of advice for aspiring CPOs.

SURPRISES AND REWARDS [33:22] Michelle shares the aspects of being a CPO that she finds surprising and rewarding — even if a lot of the work is covered by NDA!

OVERSEAS EXPERIENCE [33:50] Michelle's approach to HR is influenced by having lived overseas and being culturally aware.

A BAD CALL [35:18] Michelle shares the time she joined a company led by a narcissist.

MBA [36:56] Michelle touches on the value her MBA has had in her career.

CANDIDATE ATTRIBUTES [38:15] What are the things Michelle looks for in a successful candidate to hire.

BEST WORST JOB MICHELLE EVER HAD [39:19] Waitressing is such a good background for everything in life!

FINAL THOUGHTS AND GOOD READS [42:02] Michelle shares a very generous amount of titles to read and a recap of her tips for emerging CXOs.

[44:20] Michael thanks Michelle for coming on the podcast to share her insight and closes out the podcast with his favorite takeaways.

SPECIAL THANKS TO

Jalan Crossland for the music

Angela Johnson at OC Executive Search

This is Part 2 of the interview with General Kevin Patrick 'Chilli' Chilton. Tune in for discussion filled with advice on reaching the C-Suite, sitting on good boards , role of the Board, interacting with CEO and more.

A note to those who have not served in the Armed Forces: I will be referring to our guest as either General or by his call sign of 'Chilli' out of respect for his rank and his service to our country.

ABOUT OUR GUEST

General Kevin Patrick 'Chilli' Chilton graduated from the United States Air Force Academy and has flown pretty much every aircraft in the Air Force inventory including the RF4, F15, U2, and the B52. He attended test-pilot school, served around the world and was selected as an astronaut that included three shuttle missions. He was also the Deputy Program Manager of Operations for the International Space Station. He then returned to the Air Force for key postings such as the Commander of the Ninth Recon Wing, Commander of the Eighth Air Force, and Commander of the Air Force Space Command and the United States Strategic Command. He is currently the only astronaut to obtain the rank of 4-star General. Chilli has served on the boards of Anadarko, Orbital, Aerospace Corporation and both level three and post-merger with Centurylink today as well as with Aerojet Rocketdyne.