People Business w/ O'Brien McMahon

Loran Nordgren is an Associate Professor of Management and Organizations at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. His research considers the basic psychological processes that guide how we think and act. The overarching goal of his work is to advance psychological theory and to use theory-driven insights to develop decision strategies, structured interventions, and policy recommendations that improve decision-making and well-being. Professor Nordgren's research has been published in leading journals such as Science and has been widely discussed in prominent forums such as the New York Times, The Economist, and the Harvard Business Review. In recognition of his work, Professor Nordgren has received the Theoretical Innovation Award in experimental psychology. In this episode, he shares many of the ideas he's currently working on as part of his upcoming book on influence.

Mike Sarraille is a retired U.S. Navy SEAL officer, a graduate of the University of Texas McCombs Business School, and now a leadership instructor, speaker, and strategic advisor for Echelon Front as well as the CEO of Echelon Front Overwatch. EF Overwatch specializes in the recruiting, training, and placement of U.S special operations forces veterans with companies seeking leaders with an Extreme Ownership mindset to build their ranks and dominate on their battlefields. Mike has a book coming out in the fall of 2020 titled, "The Talent War: How Special Operations & Great Organizations Win On Talent".Mike served fifteen years as an officer in the SEAL Teams after five years in the U.S. Marine Corps as an enlisted Recon Marine and Scout-Sniper. Mike served in SEAL Team THREE, Task Unit Bruiser alongside "Extreme Ownership" authors Jocko Willink and Leif Babin where he led major combat operations that played a pivotal role in the Battle of Ramadi in 2006. Mike later assumed duties as the primary leadership instructor for all officers graduating from the SEAL training pipeline before being selected for assignment to the Joint Special Operations Command where he completed multiple combat deployments.Mike is a recipient of the Silver Star, six Bronze Stars, two Defense Meritorious Service Medals, and a Purple Heart.

Jennifer Fondrevay is the Founder of Day1 Ready, a consulting firm that advises forward-thinking business leaders, owners, and executives on how to prepare for the human capital challenges of M&A transactions. As a Fortune 500 C-Suite “survivor”of three multi-billion-dollar acquisitions, Jennifer has been on all sides of the deal equation. She saw countless growth strategies fail due to a workforce that couldn’t pivot and adapt as quickly as leadership anticipated. That prompted her to write the book, "Now What? A Survivor’s Guide for Thriving Through Mergers & Acquisitions". 

Chrisanne Christ currently serves as a Senior Partner at Centier Bank, a 125-year-old, private, family-owned bank headquartered in Merrillville, IN. She has worked at Centier for the past 24 years overseeing HR, Talent Development, Risk, Audit, Financial Intelligence, and Information Security. Chrisanne’s position allows her to work closely with Centier’s CEO and Senior Management team to help shape the bank’s strategic future. Centier has over 900 associates and 60+ branches within the state of Indiana, but with clients across the United States.

Dr. Victoria Mattingly is an organizational psychologist passionate about improving the human experience at work. She is CEO and Founder of Mattingly Solutions, an HR/management consulting firm that measures workplace inclusion and trains majority group members to create a better workplace culture where everyone can thrive. Dr. Mattingly is offering People Business listeners 25% off her new virtual course on Allyship, which you can get by contacting her through this special link. 

Rusty Bland is the Senior Vice President of Engagement & Serving at KeHE. As one of their longest-tenured leaders, Rusty has led KeHE’s effort to institutionalize and perpetuate its unique culture and embed the company’s mission, vision, and values into all talent processes. As a B-Corp, KeHE is focused on doing good in the world by doing well in business (and vice versa). 

Jim Sharpe joined Aventri as CEO in January 2020 and is focused on leading the global Aventri team as it executes on its vision to help the world Connect Better. Throughout his career, Jim has led high-performing teams in private equity-backed tech-enabled businesses. Prior to Aventri, Jim was Managing Director and GM of Gerson Lehrman Group’s (GLG) largest and most profitable business unit, Financial Services. In this capacity he led several hundred professionals and achieved significant expansion of the userbase while growing revenues to over $200 million. 

Tommy Choi co-founded the Weinberg Choi Residential team in 2007 with his business partner Josh Weinberg. They celebrated the opening of their own Keller Williams brokerage in January of 2017. The Weinberg Choi Residential team has sold over 1,000 properties, and over $470 million dollars in sales volume. They are consistently ranked in the top 10 real estate teams in Chicago, which puts them in the Top 1% of the Chicago Association of Realtors' top producers. Tommy also served as the 135th president of the Chicago Association of Realtors and the first Korean-American president in the association's 135-year history. He also serves as an active member of the Illinois Realtors, and was the Chair of the National Association of Realtors’ YPN Advisory Board and will be the Vice President of Association Affairs for the National Association of Realtors in 2021.

Erin Diehl is the Founder and CEO of improve it!, a training and development company leveraging improvisational ("improv") techniques to improve employees’ soft skills in corporate settings. Erin has trained and performed with some of the top improv programs in Chicago, places like The Second City, i.O. Theater and The Annoyance Theatre and uses the skills she developed there to work with companies like United Airlines, PepsiCo, Groupon, Deloitte, Motorola, Walgreens, and The Obama Foundation. She is an expert at taking the techniques necessary to build a great ensemble and using them to develop skills, teamwork, and meaningful relationships in the workplace (and in life). Erin has a podcast of her own called The failed it! Podcast where she discusses how you have to fail to succeed. You can find Erin on social media at @Keepinitrealdiehl. 

This episode covers both sides of downsizing, including tips for employers needing to lower their headcount and individuals who find themselves in need of a new position. Cindi Carlson is a Senior Vice President for Challenger, Gray & Christmas where she is responsible for developing, delivering, and implementing outplacement consulting, job training, and executive coaching. She has successfully managed many large outplacement projects and is skilled at training others in networking techniques and interviewing. Cindi is especially passionate about helping professionals with navigating their careers. She is the creator of the Challenger List, a listing of HR job openings around the country that’s now seen by over 10,000 people each week.