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Category: Leadership

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Entrepreneurship Leadership Operations

Crisis-Proof Leadership: What Boards Want in Uncertain Times

Uncertainty isn’t coming, it’s here, and it’s staying. Economic shifts, global disruptions, cyber threats, and social unrest are no longer rare. For C-suite leaders, the question is no longer if a crisis will happen but how prepared they are when it does.

Boards are watching. Closely.

They expect more than technical skill and business acumen. Today’s boardrooms want leaders who can remain composed, communicate clearly, and move decisively under pressure. These traits aren’t just “nice to have”  they are non-negotiables.

1. Risk Management Must Be Proactive, Not Reactive

Gone are the days of reactive crisis planning. Boards now expect executives to have well-modeled scenario plans with clearly defined ownership across functions. Regular stress testing of processes, supply chains, and talent pipelines should be standard practice.

Risk isn’t only operational or financial, it’s also reputational and cultural. If your workforce isn’t part of the crisis-readiness equation, you’re exposed. Board members want to see leaders who make risk everyone’s responsibility, not just Legal or Compliance.

Key Question from the Board:
“What risks are we not seeing, and how are you surfacing them?”

2. Communication Is a Leadership Discipline

In a crisis, silence breeds speculation. Boards expect executive leaders to be masters of message delivery. That doesn’t mean sugarcoating, it means communicating early, often, and honestly.

Internally, your people want transparency and direction. Externally, stakeholders demand facts and accountability. The leaders who stand out are those who can deliver tough news without creating panic and provide optimism without making empty promises.

Key Question from the Board:
“Who is your audience, what do they need to hear, and how quickly can you deliver it?”

3. Decisiveness Is the Currency of Leadership in Chaos

Boards don’t expect perfection, they expect movement. Leaders who stall for more data or consensus during a crisis risk losing momentum and control. That doesn’t mean rushing blindly. It means acting with the best information available and adjusting quickly when new data arrives.

An imperfect but well-intentioned decision, quickly owned and corrected if needed, can strengthen credibility. Indecision or hiding behind hierarchy creates instability.

Key Question from the Board:
“When you had to act fast, what did you do, and what did you learn?”

4. Emotional Composure Builds Organizational Confidence

Leadership presence matters most when things go sideways. Boards observe not just what you say, but how you carry yourself. Panic, reactivity, or emotional volatility trickles down fast.

Composure doesn’t mean detachment. It means staying centered while being empathetic and visible. A calm leader creates psychological safety. A volatile one makes people retreat.

Key Question from the Board:
“How do you regulate your response when everything is uncertain?”

5. Culture Is the Real Shock Absorber

Boards are more interested than ever in organizational culture, particularly during instability. Why? Because culture influences how people respond under pressure. If the culture is already fractured, a crisis will widen those cracks.

High-performing companies invest in culture before the storm hits. They build trust, recognition, communication norms, and transparency into daily operations, so that in crisis, teams pull together, not apart.

Key Question from the Board:
“How resilient is your workforce, and what have you done to earn their trust?”

6. Post-Crisis Reflection Is Part of Strategy

The work isn’t done when the crisis ends. Boards want leaders who hold post-mortems, evaluate response gaps, and institutionalize what they’ve learned. The best executives document lessons, revise plans, and make real-time changes to ensure the next disruption is met with even more confidence.

Key Question from the Board:
“What have you changed in the organization since the last disruption?”

What It Means for Today’s Executives

Crisis-proof leadership is a blend of preparation, emotional intelligence, communication skill, and fast thinking. It cannot be faked and boards know it when they see it.

The C-suite must be equipped to handle not just the operations of business, but the psychology of leading through fear, uncertainty, and risk.

How Boardwalk Can Help

At Boardwalk Human Resources Consulting, we help executive teams prepare for uncertainty before it happens. Our work includes risk-aligned leadership development, crisis communication planning, cultural diagnostics, and post-crisis debrief facilitation.

Whether you’re preparing a board presentation or recovering from an internal disruption, we provide the strategic people solutions and executive support to help you lead with confidence, even when everything else is in motion.

Categories
Advice Leadership

Redefining Success Through Stoic Wisdom

“What would the Stoics think about how we measure success?”

It’s a question I’ve often asked myself — especially in a world where metrics are driven by followers, likes, bank accounts, and headlines. But one of my favorite quotes from Marcus Aurelius grounds me every time: “Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.”

That’s the foundation for this conversation with someone I deeply admire professionally and personally.

Dr. Chuck Chakrapani has been a mentor, a friend, and a source of unshakable clarity in my life for over 25 years. Our relationship has been built over long walks, shared meals, and the kind of deep, introspective conversations that linger in your mind for decades. From his roles as President of Leisure Analytics and CEO of Millward Brown Canada to his extensive work in legal IP cases as a leading expert witness, Chuck has built a professional legacy that spans industries and borders. He’s been editor-in-chief of industry-defining magazines, authored numerous books, is a Fellow of both the Canadian Research Insights Council and the Royal Statistical Society, and currently serves as Chief Knowledge Officer at Blackstone Group. Oh—and in his “free” time, he’s a day trader and a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Toronto Metropolitan University’s Ted Rogers School of Management.

Yet it’s in this next evolution of his life — as an author and advocate of Stoic philosophy — where Chuck has made, perhaps, his most profound impact.

During our conversation, I asked Chuck a simple but revealing question: “What does success look like to you?” His answer wasn’t a list of accolades or achievements but a reflection on a moment that changed the course of his life. It was his grandmother, questioning the frantic pace of his life and the empty reward of external validation. That voice stayed with him. And years later, when Chuck had achieved what most would consider the pinnacle of success, he realized he still wasn’t at peace. He was still rushing. Still not present. That’s when the real shift happened.

He began to define success from the inside out—not by what others expected of him, but by what truly mattered to him: time with friends, good meals, space to think, freedom from external validation. As he put it so beautifully, “Success is whatever you do from inside out.”

That is a radical idea in today’s business culture. But it’s also deeply Stoic. Stoicism teaches that true freedom comes from within—specifically, from focusing only on what is within our control, and releasing the rest.

When I asked Chuck about one of the hardest lessons he’s learned along the way, he didn’t hesitate. “You have to learn to be independent of other people’s opinions.” That statement landed deeply with me. As leaders, we are constantly surrounded by voices telling us what we should do, how we should be, and what should matter. But there is profound power in freeing ourselves from that external noise. Chuck admits it’s a lifelong lesson; one he’s still learning. “I worry about what you’ll think of me,” he laughed, “what the audience will think.” That humility, that openness to continued growth, is part of what makes Chuck’s leadership so extraordinary.

It’s also part of why his embrace of Stoicism is so meaningful. When asked to explain it simply, he laid it out with characteristic clarity: “We spend most of our time worrying about things we can’t control—and very little time acting on what we can.” That’s the Stoic paradox. And that’s the mental model Chuck lives by. It’s changed my life. Truly. As a leader, as a human being, as a mission-driven business builder – it has helped me stay grounded in what matters.

What struck me most in our conversation was Chuck’s response to the idea of disruption. So many of the executives I speak to talk about “disrupting markets” or “leading transformation.” But Chuck’s approach is different. He simply asks: What needs doing here? That quiet clarity guides every role he steps into. He doesn’t aim to disrupt. He aims to serve — effectively and purposefully. And ironically, that often is the disruption. Because in a world obsessed with noise and scale, calm, deliberate action rooted in internal alignment is revolutionary.

That mindset isn’t just admirable, it’s actionable. Imagine if every leader paused and asked: What needs doing here? Imagine how many more mission-driven, human-centered decisions we would make.

And in true Stoic fashion, when we asked Chuck what we could do for him, he said, “I don’t need anything.” That, to me, is the truest measure of success — not needing anything because you’ve already built a life aligned with your values, your priorities, your joy.

So, to everyone reading this—take a page from Chuck’s book (literally, if you haven’t read Stoicism, Cobwebs, and Gems yet, it’s a must!). Redefine success on your own terms. Measure it by the quality of your thoughts, not the weight of your resume. Build it from the inside out.

Because very little is needed for a happy life.

And it all begins within.

If you want to learn more, watch the full interview on C-Suite TV or download the podcast on C-Suite Radio or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Categories
Human Resources Leadership Management

Replace Annual or Semi-Annual Job Reviews with Frequent Touch-Base Meetings

Manager/employee touch-base meetings were created to be better than yearly or twice-yearly job reviews; they are especially effective when you are leading younger employees.

Why are touch-base meetings more effective than old-fashioned, standard job reviews?

First and foremost, they take place monthly, or even every few weeks, and therefore, they provide the frequent feedback that younger employees value. (Again, they dislike working in a vacuum.)

What was wrong with traditional job reviews? Most are unmotivating. A supervisor usually pulls up a document that was created in the last job review and says, “Here are the to-dos we talked about last time. Have you done this? Have you done that?” Followed by the next killer question: “Well, why not?”

If you conduct reviews like these, you are sending the message that you, the manager, know everything and that your supervisee must prove him or herself. You are older, you know better, and your younger generation worker feels stifled. He or she leaves the session feeling blamed, pressured, and maybe even threatened.

There are simple, highly effective ways to turn touch-base meetings into opportunities for mentoring, coaching, and positive motivation for younger employees.

The strategy is to reverse the process so you’re letting your employee take responsibility, rather than “catching” what they’re doing wrong.

  • Start with a simple question. Questions like “Has it been a good few weeks since we last talked?” or, “Have you been enjoying work lately?” kick off a give-and-take conversation that allows you to then talk about anything in a safe way. They also offer you a chance to get a general feel for how things are going for your employee.
  • Replace “Let’s see how you’re doing on your to do list” with “What do you feel good about accomplishing since we last talked?” If you follow this advice, you will start out focusing on positive changes and accomplishments that the younger generation worker has made. Next, give positive reinforcement for what they’ve gotten done and let them feel proud of their achievements. Then, move on to any items that are still undone, which you can now discuss in a positive and upbeat way. This approach drains the blame from your meeting and creates positive and motivational conversations.
  • Ask, “Are there areas where you need help?” This is where you can coach and assist employees. Your offer of help prevents them from feeling bad about something that is undone and lets them feel comfortable about getting the help they may need. Be sure to listen for underlying reasons why your employee might not be tackling certain tasks. The issue could be time, meaning they don’t have enough of it to do everything. Perhaps others in the organization could help? It could be that they lack some piece of technology that would help them, the services of a consultant, or possibly something else. By offering assistance, you are helping someone avoid feeling guilty about not being able to get something done. Under the old system of job reviews, people would often feel shamed and want to mislead or try to divert blame from themselves—that is very unhelpful. Having a frank and honest discussion is much more effective.
  • Let the employee set his or her own “to-dos” and priorities. As a supervisor, there will be times when you need to make firm assignments. But as often as you can, allow your younger generation employee to set his or her own priorities and projects, building a sense of ownership and enthusiasm.
  • Observe the “five to one” rule when meeting with supervisees who could benefit from an extra dose of positive inspiration. How does it work? For every one thing you say that could be interpreted as criticism, say five things that are positive and encouraging.

After the steps I recommend above, ask your employees how they’re doing on their career plan (a better name than a “to-do list”) to see if anything has been overlooked. Then, ask if they have anything they would like to add to the list. You can follow up with questions like, “Why do you think this is important?” and, “How do you plan to tackle it?” If there’s something you would like them to put on their list that they didn’t already think of, now’s the time to mention it. Most of the time, it is likely the employee has already thought of the new idea you suggest.

 

Categories
Best Practices Leadership Personal Development

The Role of Emotional Intelligence in Executive Decision-Making

Strong leadership isn’t just defined by logic and strategy. At the highest levels of business, emotional intelligence (EQ) sets the great leaders apart from the merely competent. For executives making complex, high-stakes decisions, EQ influences how decisions are made, communicated, and received across an organization.

1. Self-Awareness Creates Clarity
Self-aware executives understand how their emotions influence their thinking and behavior. This level of insight allows leaders to recognize bias, control reactivity, and make clearer, more balanced decisions. Instead of reacting emotionally in tense situations, emotionally intelligent leaders pause, reflect, and respond with intention.

2. Empathy Builds Trust
Empathy is more than being nice, it’s a strategic leadership tool. Executives who can anticipate how decisions will affect employees, partners, and stakeholders are more likely to lead with compassion, foster loyalty, and reduce resistance to change. Empathetic leaders build bridges that data alone cannot.

3. Emotional Regulation Strengthens Decision-Making
Leadership is stressful. But how a leader handles pressure often determines the quality of decisions made. Emotionally intelligent executives are able to manage their emotions, avoid impulsive reactions, and remain composed under fire. This calm presence creates psychological safety and allows others to focus and perform under pressure.

4. Social Awareness Shapes Strategy
Great leaders read the room. They’re tuned in to unspoken dynamics, shifts in morale, and the emotional tone of the workplace. Socially aware executives can navigate conflict, resolve tension, and lead more effectively through periods of uncertainty.

5. Relationship Management Drives Performance
Emotional intelligence enhances a leader’s ability to influence, coach, and resolve conflict with integrity. Executives who excel in relationship management build stronger teams, foster accountability, and create a culture where people feel valued and motivated.

Why EQ Is a Must for Executives Today
In today’s workplace, employees want more than a paycheck, they want purpose, connection, and authenticity. Leaders who develop EQ are better positioned to meet these expectations while making decisions that align with both business goals and human needs.

How Boardwalk Can Help
At Boardwalk Human Resources Consulting, we work with executive teams to strengthen emotional intelligence as part of leadership development. Through coaching, workshops, and culture transformation programs, we help leaders gain the self-awareness and empathy needed to lead with impact. Because smart decisions don’t just come from the head, they’re guided by the heart.

Categories
Entrepreneurship Personal Development Women In Business

The Empathy Deficit: Negotiating Connection in a Polarized World

Have you ever felt like the world’s just… louder these days? Like everyone’s shouting, but no one’s really listening?

We’re living in polarized times. It’s not just political debates or social media arguments. It’s at family dinners. In boardrooms. Between friends. Even within ourselves. Lines get drawn. Opinions harden. And suddenly, connection starts to slip away—not because we disagree, but because we’ve forgotten how to disagree with grace.

In this climate, empathy has become a radical act. A form of resistance. A strategic superpower. And at its heart, a core tenet of The Art of Feminine Negotiation.

We’re Not Just Divided—We’re Disconnected

It’s easy to blame algorithms and politics, but the truth is more intimate. We’ve stopped being curious about each other. We’ve replaced conversation with confrontation, understanding with certainty, and vulnerability with performance.

This isn’t just happening in public spaces—it’s happening in our most personal ones, too. In our relationships. Our partnerships. Our communities. And it’s taking a toll.

The result? An empathy deficit. And like any deficit, it comes at a cost: trust erodes, opportunities are missed, and relationships fracture.

Empathy Isn’t Weakness—It’s Leverage

Let’s bust a myth right now: empathy isn’t about being nice or passive or avoiding conflict. It’s not about abandoning your beliefs to make someone else feel better.

Empathy is power. It’s what allows us to understand what’s truly driving someone’s behavior—not just what they’re saying, but what they need. And when we understand that, we can respond more effectively, more strategically, and with far greater impact.

That’s feminine negotiation in action. It’s not about domination. It’s about influence. Connection. Collaboration. Choosing to understand, even when it’s uncomfortable.

Listening to Understand (Not Just to Win)

One of the simplest—and most profound—shifts we can make is to start listening with the intention of understanding, not responding.

Most people listen with their rebuttal already loading. They’re not really in a conversation. They’re in a performance.

But what if we got curious instead? What if we asked questions like:

  • What’s really behind this reaction?
  • What are they afraid of losing?
  • What values are they trying to protect?

Those questions don’t make us weak. They make us wise.

Empathy with Boundaries Is Still Empathy

Now let’s be clear: empathy doesn’t mean tolerating toxicity. It doesn’t mean you have to stay in conversations that are abusive, demeaning, or unsafe.

You can have empathy and boundaries. You can say, “I see where you’re coming from—and I’m sure you prefer to treat people with dignity and respect, but I feel like we’re off track and maybe need to take a step back for now.”

Empathy without boundaries is martyrdom. But empathy with boundaries? That’s leadership. Feminine leadership at its finest.

Reclaiming Empathy as a Feminine Strength

In a culture that often rewards volume over values, choosing empathy is a rebellious act. It takes courage to listen when you’d rather shout. To soften when everything in you wants to armor up. To see the human being underneath the opposing opinion.

But this is exactly the kind of negotiation that changes the world.

It doesn’t always win headlines. It doesn’t always win arguments. But it builds trust. It opens hearts. It lays the groundwork for real, lasting change.

So, How Do We Start?

Here are a few small (but mighty) ways to start negotiating connection—especially when you disagree:

  • Truly listen with a view to understanding. Don’t simply wait for your turn to speak.
  • Pause before reacting. Ask yourself: What’s underneath their position?
  • Lead with curiosity. Replace judgment with genuine inquiry.
  • Use “I” statements. Reduce defensiveness and create space for vulnerability.
  • Speak from your values. Not just your volume.
  • Hold your center. Empathy doesn’t require you to lose yourself—it requires you to remember yourself.

Empathy is not a soft skill. It’s a powerful negotiation tool. And in these noisy, divided times, it might just be our most valuable currency.

Let’s be the ones who bring it back.

Categories
Entrepreneurship Leadership

From Adversity to Altitude — Redefining Success on Your Own Terms

What defines success?

It’s a question we all face at some point, and if we’re lucky, we get to redefine it on our own terms. On this episode of C-Suite Success, I had the great honor of speaking with someone who has done exactly that—and helped countless others along the way: James W. Keyes. Or, as I know him, Jim.

Jim is the former CEO of not one but two iconic Fortune 500 companies—7-Eleven and Blockbuster. He’s a bestselling author, philanthropist, commercial pilot, artist, and a true modern-day Renaissance man. Whether he’s shaping the future of education, serving on the boards of elite institutions, or flying high (literally), Jim’s life is a masterclass in leadership, service, and possibility.

When Jim joined me for this conversation, I asked him to define what success meant for him. His answer was as insightful as it was personal. He recounted a transformative moment: walking across the campus at Columbia University—years after attending graduate school there—and seeing a student wearing a T-shirt that read: “Education is Freedom.”

That moment became the seed for his book Education Is Freedom: The Future Is in Your Hands, and a turning point in his own understanding of success. “It stopped me in my tracks,” Jim said. “I realized I had thought it was all about the money. I was wrong. It’s about freedom—the freedom to learn, to grow, to chart your own path.”

That freedom, as Jim powerfully shared, doesn’t come from a paycheck—it comes from knowledge. “I learned how to learn,” he said, “and that means I can pivot, evolve, and do anything.”

It’s no accident that Jim became a pilot. “The sky’s no longer the limit,” he told me. “It’s just the beginning.” But what he said next struck even deeper: he sees every opportunity to learn not as a checkbox, but as a responsibility. “Even as a pilot, every year I go through intensive training. They lock me in a simulator for three days and try to kill me,” he joked. “Because learning is ongoing. To lead, you must continue learning. It’s a license to learn—not a finish line.”

We spoke about success not as a destination, but a journey of resilience—one that, in Jim’s case, began long before the boardroom. From a turbulent childhood marked by instability and adversity, Jim developed the grit and perseverance that would later serve him through some of the biggest corporate storms in modern history.

Jim didn’t just lead companies—he led them through crisis. At 7-Eleven, he joined just before the 1987 market crash. At Blockbuster, it was the 2008 financial meltdown. But what many would call setbacks, Jim saw as fuel. “My childhood prepared me for this,” he said. “I had no safety net. So I learned to ask: ‘How do I figure this out?’”

When 7-Eleven filed for bankruptcy, Jim leaned in. “Everyone around me had their heads down, but I chose to see the opportunity. We had to reinvent ourselves.” That mindset didn’t just lead to a turnaround for the company—it earned Jim a promotion and set the stage for the strategic vision he’s known for today.

As we talked, it became clear that Jim’s view of leadership is deeply rooted in this idea of transformation through change. In his words: “Change equals opportunity.” That’s not just a mantra—it’s the title of a chapter in his book, and the throughline of his career. He’s the kind of leader who runs toward disruption, not away from it.

But what makes Jim so exceptional—beyond the accolades and board seats—is his heart. He’s a passionate advocate for education, equity, and community. From founding the Education Is Freedom Foundation to serving on the boards of the American Red Cross, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and Columbia Business School, Jim continues to give back with purpose and impact.

I asked Jim what it was like to be a man who wasn’t expected to “do even a tenth” of what he’s accomplished—and his answer was disarming in its humility. “One one-thousandth, maybe,” he smiled. And yet, with every barrier he’s broken, he’s created a pathway for others.

Our conversation was a powerful reminder: success is not about titles, trophies, or tenures. It’s about who you become in the process—and who you lift up along the way.

Jim Keyes is a walking testament to that truth.

So, here’s the takeaway for all of us in the C-Suite community and beyond: define your own success. Own your freedom. Keep learning. Embrace change. And when the world hands you turbulence, find the opportunity to fly higher.

Watch the full interview on C-Suite TV or listen to the podcast on C-Suite Radio (or wherever you listen to podcasts).

Categories
Advice Leadership Management

Discovering Ingagement

A key insight from my book Ingaged Leadership: The Ultimate Edition

by Evan Hackel

 

Ingagement is a leadership philosophy for those who believe that it is not enough to tell people what to do, but to involve their minds, creativity and even their emotions. In this chapter, we will get a first glimpse at how Ingaged leadership works and how powerful it can be. 

 

 

What is the philosophy of Ingagement? It all starts with a belief that:

 

When you align people and create an organization where everyone works together in partnership, that organization becomes vastly more successful.

 

Ingagement isn’t a single action that you take just once. It is an ongoing, dynamic business practice that has the power to transform your organization, your people, you, and ultimately, your success.

 

Everyone in a company can create Ingagement—company leaders, members of a top leadership team, middle managers and people at many organizational levels. Ingagement goes beyond the management you will find in many companies today, where top executives and middle managers believe that effective leadership means giving instructions or offering incentives.

 

Ingagement is different—it offers a way of moving from good to great. Ingaged leaders trust people to participate actively in the creation and development of a strategic vision. They openly involve key stakeholders in an ongoing conversation about the organizational vision and how it can be put into action through planning and follow through.

 

You develop Ingaged leadership when, through your Ingaged attitude and open listening,  you let people know that you are partnering with them and that you truly listen and believe what they are saying has value.

 

Authenticity is key to Ingagement. When you listen sincerely, you cooperatively create plans and practices that are supported by everyone in your organization, not only initiatives that have been developed at the top.

 

To be clear, Ingagement doesn’t mean having a democracy. In most organizations, it is the role of senior management and the board to ultimately make the best decisions for an organization in the long term. Yet when people at all levels feel heard, they are more likely to support company plans, even if their own ideas might not have been utilized completely. When people know they have been heard, they are more likely to become invested in their work; they become more eager to continue to share ideas and to cooperate. As a result, the entire organization improves and grows.

Ingagement is a highly effective way to lead members of the millennial and Generation Z groups—a cohort that I will refer to in this book as the “younger generation.”

Ingaging Your Key Stakeholders

 

Ingagement is not limited to internal operations. When successful Ingagement extends beyond company walls, it can help you multiply your success. You can achieve such success by involving your customers, vendors, distributors, and other stakeholders in open conversation.

 

From a management perspective, the result is that you build an organization in which more people focus on executing the right, productive things. But getting everyone’s priorities and to-do lists directed toward your organization’s immediate goals is only part of the picture; both the power and the reach of Ingagement are transformative, not just habitual or “standard practice.”

 

Categories
Advice Leadership Operations

Building a Resilient Organization: Lessons from Recent Disruptions

The last few years have taught businesses a critical lesson: resilience isn’t just about bouncing back. It’s about bouncing forward. For C-suite leaders, building a truly resilient organization requires foresight, adaptability, and a people-first mindset. The global pandemic, labor market volatility, and ongoing economic uncertainty have all tested the limits of traditional leadership models. Now, the most successful organizations are those that anticipate challenges and use disruption as an opportunity to rethink the way they operate.

1. Scenario Planning Is Non-Negotiable
Executives must lead their teams through “what if” exercises, developing contingency plans that prepare for multiple futures, not just a best-case scenario. Scenario planning should be integrated into quarterly reviews and strategic planning sessions. It’s not about predicting the future perfectly, it’s about ensuring your organization can respond with agility.

2. Decentralize Decision-Making
Empowering teams at all levels to make decisions quickly allows organizations to react faster and more effectively in crises. When leadership hoards decision-making authority, responsiveness suffers. Organizations that invest in leadership training at every level can distribute accountability and speed up their response time without sacrificing quality.

3. Strengthen Supplier and Talent Networks
Building strong, diversified supplier and talent relationships ensures greater flexibility when disruptions occur. Relying too heavily on a single supplier, technology platform, or recruitment source leaves a business vulnerable. Resilient companies are those that build in redundancy and diversity across every layer of their supply chain and workforce.

4. Prioritize Culture and Communication
Resilient organizations are rooted in strong cultures of trust, transparency, and collaboration. During a disruption, employees must feel seen, heard, and valued to stay engaged. Clear, honest communication, even when the news is tough, reinforces trust and boosts employee alignment. Leaders should make space for two-way communication to ensure feedback is heard and acted upon.

Case Study: How One Logistics Firm Bounced Forward
In 2023, a regional logistics company experienced major disruptions due to supply chain volatility and labor shortages. Initially caught off guard, the executive team quickly restructured their crisis response approach with help from Boardwalk Human Resources Consulting. We worked with their C-suite to implement a decentralized decision-making model, allowing managers in different locations to act swiftly in real time.

We helped them redesign their hiring strategy by expanding their talent pipelines, investing in cross-training, and leveraging predictive analytics for workforce planning. Culture became a strategic priority. Weekly town halls, recognition programs, and wellness resources were introduced to re-engage staff and stabilize morale. Within 12 months, not only had the company recovered, but it had also expanded into two new markets and reported the highest employee engagement scores in its history. They also reported a 15% reduction in turnover and saw customer satisfaction scores climb for the first time in two years.

The Takeaway
Resilience is not accidental. It is engineered through intentional leadership, adaptive systems, and a deep commitment to people. Organizations that plan proactively, empower decision-makers, and prioritize cultural wellbeing are the ones that turn disruption into transformation. It’s not about eliminating risk, it’s about being ready to face it with confidence.

How Boardwalk Can Help
Boardwalk Human Resources Consulting partners with executive teams to assess organizational resilience, guide strategic recovery plans, and create people-first structures that thrive in uncertainty. From emergency workforce planning to long-term culture alignment, we help businesses future-proof their leadership approach. Resilience is not just a recovery tool, it’s a leadership mindset that sets high-performing companies apart.

Categories
Culture Human Resources Leadership

The Secret to High Performance: Stop Managing the 5% and Start Trusting the 95%

Do you know the real secret to high performance? It’s not just systems; or strategies. It’s people. And few people understand this better than Sue Bingham, founder and principal at HPWP Group. With over 35 years of experience transforming workplaces, Sue is a ferocious disruptor though you might not guess that at first glance. But make no mistake: her work, her impact, and her mission are all about radical, people-first disruption.

 

I had the absolute pleasure of sitting down with Sue for this episode of C-Suite Success, and I was blown away by her clarity, courage, and compassion. Her insights don’t just change companies, they change lives. And the ripple effect of that impact is immeasurable.

 

Let’s begin with how Sue defines success. She shared something profound: sometimes, the best way to define success is by understanding what failure looks like.

 

Early in her career, Sue worked at an aerospace company in Southern California. As a young HR professional, she was tasked with the kind of work that makes your stomach churn — laying off engineers, enforcing senseless policies, and watching employees be treated with shocking disrespect. She described seeing long-term employees banned from the executive lobby so they wouldn’t “track in dirt,” and 200 people being laid off on a Friday while scaffolding was up to renovate the executive offices.

 

It was in those gut-wrenching moments that Sue made a decision: she would not be part of that system. She would be the force that changed it.

 

What she created through HPWP Group is a consulting approach that redefines leadership. It’s not about command and control, it’s about trust, empowerment, and accountability. Her approach is custom to each client, and the results speak for themselves: $1.2 million in reduced operating costs for a milling company. A 50 percent drop in absenteeism for a furniture manufacturer. Nearly half a million saved by building a leaner, more empowered warehouse team.

 

Sue co-authored Creating the High-Performance Workplace: It’s Not Complicated, and that title couldn’t be truer to her message. What she teaches isn’t complicated; it’s courageous. And it’s about making a conscious decision to see people differently.

 

As Sue shared, “Most people are good people.” That one simple belief — if practiced consistently — can transform everything. When leaders begin with positive assumptions, everything shifts. Instead of asking, “Why would they do that?” you ask, “What happened? How can I help?” That creates cultures of trust, not toxicity. Collaboration, not silos.

 

She told me, “Too many companies create all their rules for the 5% of employees who might take advantage and end up punishing the 95% who are there to do good work.” That’s not leadership, that’s fear-based management. And it’s the antithesis of high performance.

 

We also discussed the hardest lessons learned along the way. Sue shared a powerful story of working closely with a CEO over many years, someone who believed in the work and helped implement lasting changes. But over time, the relationship shifted. The CEO became the “smartest person in the room,” and Sue found herself no longer part of the conversation.

That’s a painful lesson so many of us learn: you can’t force transformation. You can only guide it. “I had to learn that I can’t control the outcome,” she said. “I need to know their version of success, not try to impose my own.”

 

That kind of wisdom only comes from experience—and heartbreak. But Sue carries it with such grace and humility. She never stopped caring about that leader, or the organization. In fact, she and her team still support the company today. It’s just a different kind of relationship—and sometimes, that’s okay. Sometimes people are in your life for a season, and the impact you made is enough.

 

As we continued our conversation, I asked her how she defines her brand of disruption and impact today. She didn’t hesitate: it’s about showing leaders that people are not problems to be managed. They are assets to be unleashed.

 

“If you create a place where people feel valued,” she said, “they will work so hard for you. You just have to believe in them.”

 

And that’s what makes Sue Bingham such an extraordinary force in the business world. She doesn’t just believe in people, she fights for them. She’s not afraid to challenge leaders, challenge norms, and challenge entire cultures to evolve. Not for the sake of change, but for the sake of people.

 

Because at the end of the day, that’s what success really looks like: people going home at the end of the day proud of what they’ve accomplished. Sharing that pride with their children. Raising a new generation that wants to contribute, not just clock in.

 

That’s the world Sue is building. And that’s the kind of disruption we need more of.

So, if you’re ready to create a high-performance workplace—one where people actually look forward to Mondays—then take a page from Sue’s book: start with trust. Lead with positive assumptions. And stop building systems for the 5 percent.

 

Have you ever experienced a workplace where leaders truly led with trust?

 

Watch the FULL interview on C-Suite TV. Or listen to the podcast on C-Suite Radio.

Categories
Entrepreneurship Personal Development Women In Business

Negotiating Mother’s Day: Not a Hallmark Holiday

Let’s be honest—Mother’s Day isn’t a Hallmark holiday for everyone.

Sure, it’s meant to be a day of celebration—of soft embraces, flowers in bloom, and handwritten cards filled with gratitude. But for many, this day doesn’t feel like a celebration. It feels like a reckoning. A reminder. A wound.

Celebrating Mother’s Day without my own mom is still new to me. After years of watching her slip further and further away—first physically, then mentally, as dementia and Alzheimer’s slowly stole the woman I knew—her absence now feels both quiet and deafening. Even before she passed, I had already started grieving. Losing someone in fragments is its own kind of heartbreak.

I know I’m not alone in that. So many of us carry complicated relationships with the idea of motherhood—whether we’ve lost our mothers, never had the mother we needed, are navigating estrangement, have struggled with infertility or pregnancy loss, or are mothers ourselves, trying to live up to impossible standards while quietly wondering if we’re getting any of it right.

So how do we negotiate a day like this when it doesn’t match the script?

Honor Your Truth

The first and most important step? Allow yourself to feel what you actually feel—not what you think you should feel. Grief. Anger. Relief. Loneliness. Gratitude. All of it is valid. There’s no gold star for pretending everything’s fine. Give yourself permission to show up exactly as you are.

That might mean stepping away from social media for the day (or the weekend). It might mean skipping the family brunch or choosing not to send a card. You get to define what Mother’s Day looks like for you. That’s not selfish—it’s self-honoring.

Reframe the Day

If traditional Mother’s Day celebrations don’t resonate, reframe it. Instead of focusing solely on the mother you’ve lost—or the one you never had—consider expanding your definition of “mothering.” Maybe it’s a mentor who guided you when you needed it most. Maybe it’s a sister-friend who always shows up. Maybe it’s you. Yes, you—mothering yourself with tenderness and care in the way you may have longed for.

Try creating a new ritual: light a candle, write a letter, go for a solo walk, donate to a cause that uplifts women and girls. These simple acts can turn a painful day into a sacred one.

Set Boundaries with Grace

If your relationship with your mother—or your child—is strained, Mother’s Day can dredge up a lot of guilt and emotional landmines. Remember: it’s okay to draw boundaries. In fact, it’s necessary.

You don’t owe anyone your peace.

Set limits on the conversations you’re willing to have. Choose not to engage in forced rituals that leave you feeling depleted. Boundaries aren’t walls—they’re doorways to self-respect and healing.

Make Space for Grief and Gratitude

Grief and gratitude are not opposites—they often sit side by side, holding hands. You can miss your mother deeply and still be thankful for what she gave you—or what you’ve learned in her absence. You can resent the pain and still celebrate the love. It’s not a contradiction. It’s what makes us beautifully human.

For me, I miss the sound of my mom’s voice. Her laugh. Her stubbornness. I miss the way she could sometimes read my mind it seemed. But I also hold onto the lessons she passed down—about strength, resilience, and speaking truth, even when it’s hard.

You’re Not Alone

If this day feels heavy, know this: you are not alone. You’re not broken. You’re not bitter. You’re just real. And real is something to be celebrated—especially in a world that so often expects us to gloss over the hard stuff in favor of shiny surface smiles.

So whatever Mother’s Day looks like for you this year—whether it’s joyful, painful, quiet, loud, or some tangled mix of all of the above—I invite you to negotiate it on your own terms. Make space for your truth. Show yourself radical compassion. And remember: there’s power in rewriting the script.