Feedback: February 2020

What are you doing to nurture leadership within your organization?

Calvin Goetz

Founder and President
Strategy Financial Group
Sector: Finance

In order to nurture leadership within our organization, I focus on creating systems and processes for each role within the firm. That way, each person has a clear understanding of their role and expectations, and their teammates understand what each other team member is responsible for. This transparency allows each team member to see how their role contributes to the entire firm, and foresee how they can create additional leadership opportunities.

In addition, we’ve created our Vivid Vision, which is a three-year business plan that clarifies each role and expectation of the team within the plan. Employees are then compensated based on their effectiveness for each individual role. We have multiple compensation structures customized for the outcomes of each division. This Vivid Vision has two main goals: reduce complexity, and create a self-managed company that is not reliant on any one individual. By reviewing this vision on a quarterly basis, each team member is aware of their leadership position and how it fits in to the overall vision of the firm.

For more than 15 years, Calvin Goetz has dedicated himself to helping retirees and pre-retirees attain their financial and retirement planning goals. Goetz is author of the books Climbing the Retirement Mountain and The Retirement Roadmap. He is also a Forbes Finance Council member, contributing original articles on Forbes.com. An Arizona native, Goetz is a proud graduate of Northern Arizona University.

Debbie Hertle

Human Resources Director
MST Solutions
Sector: Technology

One of MST’s core values is to “encourage and support the growth of our colleagues.” Thiru Thangarathinam, MST’s founder and CEO, is a strong advocate and a promoter of a growth mindset and a continuous learning culture. He along with our executive leadership team are truly committed to facilitating and empowering whole-person growth where colleagues develop personally as well as professionally. At MST, we have taken a comprehensive and blended approach comprised of formal and informal strategies to build and nurture leadership. We offer group-based development opportunities, from book reviews, lunch and learns, and external coach-led trainings, to individualized coaching and mentoring to all colleagues. Every year, MST hosts an immersive Leadership Development Program for our internal emerging leaders. The program focuses on foundational and essential leadership skills from emotional intelligence to stretched assignments. Other benefits that include reimbursing paid certifications and trainings and offering generous PTO and flexible work hours are just some of the things we provide to nurture our colleagues’ overall growth and leadership skills.

Debbie Hertle, leads the HR team at MST Solutions. She has more than 15 years’ experience and is most passionate about scaling innovation, diversity and inclusion, and to provide opportunity for borderless careers. Founded in 2012, Chandler-based MST Solutions is a leading provider of CRM and marketing automation consulting, specializing in higher education, healthcare, financial services, manufacturing and public-sector technology solutions.

Darlene Newsom

Chief Executive Officer
UMOM New Day Centers
Sector: Nonprofit

UMOM is a business; we operate very similarly to a profit-making business. If we are profitable at year-end, the excess goes back into mission programming. I strongly believe in shared leadership and building our bench strength in developing leaders. Investment in employees allows us to create an environment that prioritizes ongoing learning and recognition of achievement, and provides the backdrop to make decisions.

This past year, we conducted several exercises with the leadership team to identify emerging leaders within the organization and what level of resource commitment is necessary to grow UMOM’s leadership strength, and then invested in tools and coaching that provides us the information to better understand individuals’ talents. The reports give us insight regarding behavior, driving forces and competencies. We believe these reports allow us to understand strengths and weaknesses in each of the three areas, which will lead to personal and professional development and a higher level of satisfaction. As a result, we have increased internal promotions by 20 percent and have moved to a bi-monthly structured discussion on reviewing each other’s metrics that will improve overall performance.

Darlene Newsom has worked in the nonprofit sector in Arizona for more than 44 years. As CEO at UMOM New Day Centers since 2002, she has led UMOM to expand its capacity and improve the services offered to families experiencing homelessness. She oversees the entire $20 million agency budget and 280 employees. Newsom is widely recognized as an expert on issues affecting homeless families.

Rachel Sacco

President and CEO
Experience Scottsdale
Sector: Tourism

When I was coming of age in the ʼ70s and ʼ80s, there were few professional role models for women — especially in leadership roles. Once I earned the title of CEO, I wanted to define myself and my values into that title very differently from what I had experienced in the past. What makes a great leader is less about the words ‘chief executive officer’ and more about ‘compassionately encouraging opportunities’ or ‘creatively evolving the organization.’ I tell every employee I hire that I expect them to operate as if they were the CEO of their own area. Their response is often telling. It tells me where they may need to be coached. It tells me where they lacked support in the past. And it tells me their view of the world. My goal is to help everyone function at their highest level. To allow them to be creative and unafraid of making mistakes. To be responsible, not just for themselves, but for their team. To understand that everyone matters, everyone is accountable and no one stands alone.

Experience Scottsdale President and CEO Rachel Sacco has been an integral part of this highly regarded Arizona organization since 1986. Sacco is a national board member for the U.S. Travel Association and sits on the Arizona Lodging & Tourism Association Board. In 2016, the Past Presidents’ Council of the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce inducted Sacco into Scottsdale’s History Hall of Fame, recognizing her contributions to the hospitality industry.