The Great Conversation

Jeff Slotnick, President of Setracon, an Enterprise Security Risk Management Services provider, has boots on the ground pedigree and instincts as well as a standards-based process for delivering value to his clients. 

We had a conversation last year that touches on a variety of things that he is seeing evolve in his profession including models for the extended enterprise, useful tools for understanding your return-to-work readiness, and how near we might be to plug and play integration.

Razors and blades. Many businesspeople are familiar with the concept. The razor is the key to creating a customer for life through the blades.

However, Jeff Friedman found a way to sell a blade that could lead to a razor.

In this conversation, we find out what drives this CEO. And how he took his company from obscurity to being deployed in 7 of the 10 tallest building in Manhattan and 3 of the largest companies.

After working for several years developing solutions for facility operations and security teams, Jeffrey’s organization, Building Intelligence, introduced a new suite of products that incorporate several requirements for running some of the best buildings in the world.

Lee is one of the foremost thought leaders in security. His company is all about business creation and his media platform, Inside Access Control is insightful, provocative, and hopeful.

Our discussion centered around a much-needed transformation of the client value proposition of security that is creating a ripple effect through the supply chain. As always, there will be winners and losers. Lee is rooting for both as we wrestle with the constraints that face business owners and their teams.

We wanted to know if health and productivity were linked? We wanted to know what the real data said about employee engagement. And we wanted to know if there was an approach leaders could take that would create a path to value for the company and its employees.

We turned to Dan Witters.

Dan Witters serves as research director of the Gallup National Health and Well-Being Index. This daily assessment of U.S. residents' wellbeing provides near real-time measurement and insights needed to improve health, increase daily productivity, enhance basic needs, and lower healthcare costs. Dan frequently presents at major conferences and summits. His research insights appear regularly on Gallup.com and in national media, including in The New York Times, Time, The Washington Post, The Economist, USA Today, National Geographic and The Wall Street Journal, as well as on CBS Sunday Morning, CNBC, HuffPost Live, WSJ Live and NPR.

As a consultant and analyst for Gallup, Dan uses his expertise in survey design, methodology, analysis, business outcomes modeling, report writing and presenting results to help leaders better understand their company's marketplace, customers, and employees. He plays a vital role as an adviser and researcher to Gallup clients, creating effective strategies that enhance a business' overall health and strength through improved engagement and wellbeing. Since 1993, Dan has directed more than $150 million in research for some of the world's best-managed companies in the wellbeing, healthcare, financial services, telecommunications, hospitality, consulting, and pharmaceutical industries.

Dan's extensive experience and his understanding of customer and employee research have earned him high distinction awards throughout his career. In 1999, he received the prestigious Senior Analyst Quality of Report Award for Outstanding Writing, an award given to one Gallup senior analyst worldwide each year. In 2002, Dan became the 13th researcher in Gallup's history to earn the Diplomat Analyst certification. This distinction is awarded to tenured researchers who create an original research thesis that expands Gallup's body of knowledge.

I first met Chuck Randolph at Microsoft. Buttoned up, every inch of him personifying a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel respected by his corporate peers for his diligence and expertise with executive protection, strategic intelligence, and event risk management. Because of Microsoft’s digital DNA, Chuck was able to extend those disciplines beyond their traditional roles and make them true enablers.

We caught up with Chuck after his transition to AT RISK International as their Senior Director of Operations. Chuck is now responsible for guiding client decisions through a strategic intelligence team and directing operations that support AT RISK's global protective efforts.

You will learn what it feels like to manage ‘risk at scale’ across the globe through problem solving and story mapping: the art and mindset of a risk, resilience, and security leader.

Corporate lawyers have a very specific role within the business value chain. Very few become students of leadership. And then translate that into a multi-dimensional successful career. One man did, and our conversation focused on the ‘why’ of that success. The measure of a man that contributed to the measure of a company.

Tom Mars is an accomplished trial lawyer, a nationally recognized advocate in collegiate sports, (Where they compare him to Tom Brady in the legal world),  and an experienced crisis consultant for companies, executives, and public officials.

In the 1990s, Tom’s high-profile clients included the Governor of Arkansas. In 1998, the Governor asked Tom (a former police officer) to join his leadership team as Director of the Arkansas State Police—the state’s highest-ranking law enforcement position. He served in that capacity for nearly three years before returning to private practice as a trial lawyer in Northwest Arkansas.

Not long after returning to private practice, Tom was recruited by Walmart to manage its vast litigation portfolio as Vice President and Assistant General Counsel. Four months after joining Walmart’s legal department, he was promoted to Senior Vice President and General Counsel and became responsible for all the company’s legal matters. During his tenure as Walmart’s General Counsel, Tom led an ambitious diversity initiative and became a nationally known champion for advancing diversity in the legal profession. He received numerous awards for his leadership in this area, including the American Bar Association’s prestigious “Spirit of Excellence Award.”

Five years after joining Walmart, in recognition of Walmart’s legal department receiving national acclaim for both its unprecedented diversity and extraordinary talent, Tom was promoted to Executive Vice President and General Counsel. Two years later, he was promoted again and joined the leadership team of Walmart U.S. as Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer. In that role, he was responsible for various business units, including real estate, human resources, labor relations, external relations, U.S. compliance, and financial services.

Global Security Operations Centers are increasingly expanding their investigative capabilities by formalizing the methodology within a digital transformation model. We turn to a top-performing security professional with over 15 years of physical security experience covering the entire spectrum of Physical Security; Security Operations, Executive Protection, Security Training, Workplace Violence, Global Security Operations Centers, Event Security, Travel Security, and more; Nabih Numair of Palo Alto Networks. He was joined in our great conversation with the father of Protective Intelligence, Fred Burton, and the CEO of a leading protective intelligence platform, Lukas Quanstrom of Ontic.

When we process information, 83% of knowledge comes to us visually. But 11% comes through our ears. It turns out that the missing 11% provides rich information that can overcome our blind spots. The question for most organizations is how to bring audio into the conversation so that organizations can effectively communicate and security executives can correctly interpret what really is going on in the silent film they are watching on their screens.

Alon Blankstein has been an important bridge to supporting Israeli companies going global and helping companies outside Israel understand the Israeli and European markets.

He co-founded, invested & now sits on the advisory board of several Israeli and North American based technology ventures including Partners500, Insight Acoustics, Vidit, Arama & Benet, MultiPopoint, Foamix, CapsuLINT, and EarlySense.

As Chairman of Insight Acoustics, he has volunteered his time with the SIA Audio and Intelligent Communications Working Group providing insights to his peers on the emerging audio platform of the future.

Hollis Mignogno, Vice President of Global Security, Meetings & Events, Travel, and Trade Shows Cardinal Health, shares transparently about this strange “inconvenient” year; a year of events that disrupted our normal but also forced us to think differently.

Hollis’ key responsibilities include business resiliency, drug-free workplace, executive protection, supply chain integrity, global travel, meetings and events, trade shows, M&A, and training. Hollis has been with Cardinal Health since October 2001, working in the Corporate Aviation Department for two years, and in the Global Security Department for the past 16 years. She is a member of ASIS (American Society for Industrial Security) and participates on the Pharmaceutical Council, serving as Vice-Chair in 2012, and Chair in 2013. She also participates on AMEX’s Meetings & Events Executive Council and Anvil’s Advisory Board. Hollis is deeply committed to the community and actively involved in the Central Ohio Heart Walk through the American Heart Association.

Zachary Driskell has been with Marathon Petroleum for over 8 years. He helped develop the current GSOC moving it from concept to design to full operation. Now he and his team provide centralized services around all-hazard risks around the world. He leverages cutting edge critical event management technology as well as an artificial intelligence engine that aggregates publicly available data. This gives him a robust and full picture of risk data, news, and weather events that, when correlated provides him pre-attack indicators and informed actionable response. Having a conversation with Zachary is like having an MBA, Business Analyst, Technology Advisor, and Risk Officer all in one.

Zachary Driskell leads the Executive Protection team and Global Security Operations. During his tenure he has helped manage and improve the Travel Risk Management (TRM) program, manage the intelligence gathering and analysis group, and train employees on workplace violence and active shooter prevention program. He also developed and built a Global Security Operations Center (GSOC). He regularly conducts security and vulnerability assessments of various business units within the downstream oil industry. Finally, he is a member of the Corporate Emergency Response Team and certified as a Hazwoper Operator.