Tech Whisperers: Inside the Playbooks of the Best Digital Leaders

The best leaders across all industries are leading their people with HEART: humility, empathy, adaptability, resiliency, and transparency. They are balancing organizational goals with the needs of their teams, delivering consistent results along the way. For a tech leader like Kristie Grinnell, it’s a work of art to not only develop those qualities, but also balance them with the often rigorous demands of the tech world – Kristie has always been up to the challenge.

Kristie is the SVP and CIO at DXC Technology and is an award-winning executive with over 20 years of experience driving change in public and privately held professional services companies. Through our conversation, Kristie opens up her playbook to share how she leads her teams with HEART.

Join us as we discuss:

• How Kristie embodies each part of the HEART acronym in her leadership approach

More information about Kristie and today’s topics:

• LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristiegrinnell/ 

Larry Quinlan is a Hall of Fame CIO who is widely regarded as one the most successful and impactful leaders to ever take on the role.

As the Global Chief Information Officer at Deloitte, one of the world’s largest professional services firms, Larry oversaw over 10,000 IT professionals across 175 countries for over 11 years and drove impressive revenue for some of Deloitte’s larger clientele. He now provides technology professionals and C-suite executives the benefit of his leadership experience and wisdom as a mentor, a strategic advisor to private equity, and a member of 13 boards of directors.

How do you unpack the playbook and multiple superpowers of someone like Larry? You bring in the reinforcements! We invited a number of individuals whose lives Larry has impacted, both personally and professionally, to contribute to this interview. As each guest poses a thoughtful question, we gain more insight into what makes Larry Quinlan so special and how current technology leaders can apply the experience he has gained to make a real difference in the organizations they lead.

Join us as we discuss:

• How to effectively lead an organization through economic turmoil and uncertainty

More information about Larry and today’s topics:

• LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/larryquinlan/

We are back for part 2 of our 2-part series with Charlie Feld, an industry legend who helped to shape the modern CIO role before it even existed! Charlie Feld is the founder and CEO of The Feld Group Institute and currently works with 80 companies on executive leadership development. He has been instrumental in transforming the narrative about technology throughout his 55-year career journey and is credited with not just transforming companies, but entire industries, as well.

While you can listen to Part 2 without having heard Part 1, we highly encourage you to listen to both parts. You won’t want to miss all the amazing insights Charlie shared!

Join us in part 2 as we discuss:

• How evolving technology introduces new problems that must be solved

More information about Charlie Feld and today’s topics:

• LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlie-feld-a7790aa0/

As someone who has helped to shape the modern CIO role before it even existed, Charlie Feld is an industry legend who has been instrumental in moving the narrative about technology forward. He’s credited with transforming not just companies, but entire industries as well.

This giant among giants has so much leadership wisdom to share that we couldn’t fit it all into one episode! In this special two-part episode, Charlie shares learnings from 55 years of transformation, leadership experiences, and battle scars, as well as his views on the challenges today’s digital leaders are confronting.

Join us for part 1 as we discuss:

• The evolution of leadership in technology-driven transformation over the last 50 years

More information about Charlie Feld and today’s topics:

• LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlie-feld-a7790aa0/

Few people truly appreciate the complexity, effort, and vision required to establish and maintain global leadership in any industry, let alone luxury beauty products. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. is the global leader in prestige beauty and a Fortune 500 company with over 25 brands spanning across 150 countries.This week, we take a look inside the playbook of the company’s CIO, Michael Smith, who is spearheading innovation through technology in exciting new ways. Prior to joining The Estée Lauder Companies, Michael spent 22 years in IT leadership roles at Nike and 4 years leading technology and digital innovation at Mylan. Michael also sits in board advisory positions at multiple companies. He is the founder and Chair of The TechPACT, a coalition of tech leaders and CIOs that is leading the charge for diversity, inclusion, and equity in the technology industry. He also founded Tech Day of Pink to unite technologists and IT professionals worldwide around breast cancer awareness, education, and fundraising.

Join us as we discuss:

• Michael’s leadership philosophy of joy, and how it helps him bring out the best in people
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• The value of “patient persistence” and “confident calm” in a constantly changing environment
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• How Estée Lauder is using technology to anticipate customer needs and deliver innovative, superior products
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• How The TechPACT is working for increased representation and equity in the technology space
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More information about Michael and today’s topics:

• LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mwshome/
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• Company Website: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-estee-lauder-companies-inc/
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• Other Relevant Links:
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https://techpact.org/

https://www.techdayofpink.com/

In this episode, you’ll have the chance to hear from not one but three remarkable CIOs: Julie Cullivan, Wayne Shurts, and Carol Zierhoffer. In addition to being accomplished digital leaders and executives with impressive track records across a multitude of companies and industries, they currently serve on a dozen public and private boards of directors combined. Julie, Wayne, and Carol have generously agreed to share their journeys from the C-suite to the board room, their advice on how to get there, and what you can do to be a differentiator once you’re there.

You’ll also learn why you should consider pursuing a board seat even if you’re not ready to retire, especially if you’re ready to expand your influence, gain new perspectives, and take your leadership to the next level.

For more information about each guest:

• Julie Cullivan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliecullivan/
• Wayne Shurts: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wayneshurts/
• Carol Zierhoffer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carol-zierhoffer/

As CIO for Consumer & Community Banking (CCB) at JPMorgan Chase, Gill Haus plays a major role in the firm’s business and its success, leading more than 12,000 technologists globally and overseeing an annual technology budget of $4 billion — a third of ​​the firm’s overall annual investment in technology. He is also a member of the CCB Leadership Team and the firm’s Global Technology Leadership Team (GTL).

Gill’s passion for technology has taken him on a career journey that has spanned such organizations as PayPal, AOL and Capital One, and each of these diverse experiences has played a part in informing his leadership philosophy today. As he will tell you, delivering a world-class experience to JPMorgan Chase’s 60 million active digital customers requires more than just great technology, systems and processes; it also requires a team of forward-thinking engineers, technologists and problem-solvers who understand and are driven by the opportunity to make a difference in their customers’ lives.

Join us as we unpack Gill’s playbook and explore:

• His vision and intention around reimagining software delivery practices
• How he’s using agile principles to improve the employee and customer experiences
• How to strategically apply the lessons of startups and large corporations to lead a successful technology organization
• Technology’s role in creating a frictionless customer experience — and why the technology you can’t see is just as important as the end design

More information about Gill and today’s topics:

• LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/orongillhaus/  
• Company Website: https://www.jpmorganchase.com/

In the healthcare industry, advances in technology and innovative digital services are not only transforming the patient and employee experience, they’re transforming lives. It takes bold leadership, a clear vision and an engaged and supported team to deliver on those big promises.

In addition to serving as EVP and Chief Transformation & Digital Officer at Novant Health, a not-for-profit healthcare system serving communities in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, Angela Yochem has taken on significant P&L responsibilities as COO and General Manager of its spinoff, Novant Health Enterprises, with ancillary ambulatory locations spanning 13 states.

Join us as we discuss:

• Angela’s journey of building Novant Health Enterprises
• How to engage talent and technology to build a disruption-proof organization
• Best practices for building a culture that values openness, curiosity and learning

More information about Angela and today’s topics:

• LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayochem/ 
• Company Website: https://www.novanthealth.org/ 

As the technology agenda grows bigger and bolder, today’s CXOs need to empower their teams to make decisions, take action, and create real business value.

How can you draw on your experience and personal leadership style to engage your teams, accelerate collaboration, and increase business impact?

In our conversation with Neal Sample, CIO at Northwestern Mutual, you’ll hear:

• The key soft skills for leading high-performing teams
• The importance of getting started vs. having the perfect plan
• Unique approaches to attracting, retaining, and growing tech talent
• Actionable steps to show up as a true business partner

More information about Neal Sample and today’s topics:

• LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nealsample/ 
• Company Website: https://www.northwesternmutual.com/
• https://events.foundryco.com/event-series/cio100-symposium-and-awards/awards/cio100-awards/

In this introductory episode, host Dan Roberts, CEO of Ouellette and Associates, provides a sneak peak of what listeners are in store for with these candid conversations with the world’s best digital leaders..

Tune in for: 

• More about the show and its mission
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• A preview of topics and guests
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• Highlights of what you’ll learn from these influential leaders
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More information about Dan Roberts and today’s topics:

• LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-roberts-21b9357/ 
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• Company Website: https://www.ouellette-online.com/ 
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