BACKGROUND AND EXPERIENCE
Q: What led you to become a partner at Green Leaf? What inspired you to take on this role?
A: It was time to move on from a previous company where the four partners met each other. We all wanted to do something a little different in IT consulting.
Q: What experiences earlier in your career most shaped your leadership philosophy?
A: When I briefly practiced law, I learned to listen more, say less, and rely on experts.
Q: Looking back, where have you found the most meaning or success in your professional journey?
A: Starting Green Leaf has been the most rewarding time in my professional life…by far.
VISION AND LEADERSHIP
Q: How would you describe your vision for Green Leaf’s future?
A: My vision is to continue doing the same things we do now. I know that sounds counterintuitive, but we are a consulting company. Being such, we inherently adapt to change as it happens. When I say doing the same things, I mean sticking to our formula of openness, honesty and our devotion to customer and employee satisfaction. If we continue performing in that way, we will grow the right way.
Q: What do you see as the biggest opportunities for our clients in the next few years?
A: I think the biggest opportunity will be in what they shouldn’t do, which is chase the shiny objects. They should have a measured approach to maximizing their business goals with a thoughtful application of new developments in tech.
Q: In your view, what qualities make a consulting team stand out in today’s market?
A: High performance and honesty, period.
Q: How do you approach mentoring and developing future leaders within Green Leaf?
A: We are fortunate to have seasoned leaders already on our team. As we grow, we are now able to hire more employees who are closer to the beginning of their career. We expose them to all of our leaders and opportunities to develop as professionals while expanding their technical skills.
ROLE AT GREEN LEAF
Q: What aspects of your work as a partner do you find most rewarding?
A: All of it. We are very egalitarian in our approach to managing the business, and when you have the smartest partners to share decisions with, life is easy.
Q: Is there a project or client engagement that has been especially impactful for you and why?
A: I get excited about all of our engagements because we truly love working with all of our clients. It’s like asking me which child is my favorite, well, that’s actually easier to answer…. it’s Sam, hands down.
Q: What personal philosophy guides you in serving clients and leading teams?
A: It’s summed up in one of my favorite quotes from Marcus Aurelius “Just that you do the right thing. The rest doesn’t matter.”
INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE
Q: What emerging trends or technologies are you most excited about, and how should organizations prepare for them?
A: Ok, so here is where 99% of people asked this question say Artificial Intelligence which is my answer as well, but for a different reason. I don’t believe AI is artificial at all. I believe intelligence is intelligence, and we humans are witnessing the evolution of intelligence beyond our human capacity. AI and human intelligence are both just the result of systems and code within those systems. Obviously, there are quality issues with both forms, but I believe the path we are seeing is just evolution in progress. That being said, I am equally excited for the role humanity will play in the growth and use of AI. Being more human in your approach to others is going to be extremely important in business and in life in general. We naturally operate with high levels of humanity at Green Leaf, so we are well positioned for this transformation.
Q: What challenges do you think will be most important for our clients to navigate in the years ahead?
A: Navigating speed of change while looking out for employee welfare.
CLIENT AND TEAM IMPACT
Q: How do you approach building trust and long-term partnerships with clients?
A: By listening and being truthful, which seems to be on the decline these days.
Q: What do you think is the key to delivering sustained value over time?
A: By continuing to hire people who are smarter than me, which is obviously a low bar, and by hiring people who are as or more empathetic as me, which is a higher bar, lol.
LOOKING AHEAD
Q: What are you most excited about as you look toward the future of Green Leaf?
A: All the new employees, partners and clients I will become friends with. I get better every day by dealing with amazing people. I’m like a people sponge.
Q: What advice would you share with someone aspiring to grow into a leadership role in technology consulting?
A: Don’t be a selfish jerk. It’s pretty simple.
PERSONAL: INTERESTS AND HOBBIES
Q: If you could have dinner with any figure from the world of technology, who would it be and why?
A: Ugh. Most of the notable people in tech would ruin my appetite, so that’s a tough question. I’m going to take a liberty and go with one of my favorite people in history who was a technologist of sorts as well as many other things. Ben Franklin. I was married under his statue at the Franklin Institute, and my youngest child’s middle name is Franklin.
Q: What do you enjoy outside of work that helps you recharge or stay inspired?
A: Most of my “free time” is full of helping others. My youngest son Sam is intellectually disabled or differently abled, and he requires a lot of assistance with nearly everything he does and this will be the case for his whole life. Beyond helping Sam, we run a nonprofit charity which also helps children and young adults in our community as well as surrounding communities. I get a real charge out of helping others and the added bonus is I get to do 90% of it with my wife who is proof that surrounding yourself with people smarter than you is a winning formula. But if I had to choose one activity that I love outside of helping others, it would be fishing. Surf fishing to be precise.
Q: Is there a book, podcast, or resource that’s influenced you recently?
A: Yes. I read a daily passage of Ryan Holiday’s The Daily Stoic every morning. I’ve always been a fan of Stoicism, and after life has thrown a few punches my way, following the Stoic philosophy has helped and continues to help me be more resilient and way less reactionary. I highly recommend it.
Q: What’s something people might be surprised to learn about you?
A: That I’m actually a serious person. If you spend any amount of time with me, you’ll learn that my sense of humor is as pervasive as it is dark, but I’m sure a therapist would say that’s a defensive mechanism which I why I don’t see a therapist. But seriously, behind the sophomoric façade is a fairly serious bloke.
Q: Green Leaf is a place where there’s a good balance of serious business and good-natured humor. Can you give a fun example of when you’ve either doled out or been on the receiving end of some of that humor?
A: We don’t have enough time for this answer as these things usually happen minute by minute in our office. I’ll just say that one of the highlights of my day is when I first see Kevin Bucher in the office and he greets me with the friendliest smile while proudly hoisting his middle finger in my direction. I know I’m loved…