A smaller, faster-growing company
President or CEO. This is the setting where I built Centricity: setting direction, building the operating model and developing the team.
What I’m looking for
Which seat depends on the company.
President, CEO, Chief Experience Officer, Chief People Officer. The title changes with the size and stage of the company. The assignment stays the same: build, transform or scale something that matters, with real accountability for how the whole organization performs.
How I choose
The company decides the seat.
A larger, established company
A people and experience chief who owns strategy, culture and the link between the employee experience and the customer experience.
Either way
I am a visionary. I see what an organization can become, set the direction and develop the people who make it real.
The throughline
Leadership happens before the comma.*
The function after the comma may describe technical expertise. What comes before it increasingly describes the responsibility: perspective, clarity, trust, direction and making the whole team stronger.
That is the common thread in the roles I’m considering. The title can change. The leadership assignment is the thing I care about.
*Inspired by a leadership framing used by Alex O’Brien, CEO of Cardinal Group.
The assignment
I want to be accountable for making the whole organization stronger.
President / CEO
The clearest fit when the assignment is to lead a business, set direction, build the operating model and make the whole system work. At Centricity, I built a startup with a 51-person U.S. and India team supporting 100+ properties.
Chief Experience Officer
A strong fit when the mandate spans customer experience and the employee experience underneath it. I believe you rarely sustain a remarkable customer experience on top of a broken employee experience.
Chief People Officer
A fit when the need is people strategy, culture, leadership and organizational vision. At Centricity, I promoted an HR generalist into a director role and paid for her SHRM and global SHRM certifications.
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3:30 · stay for the bloopers
The arc behind the seats
Why I can be effective in any of them.
The 3:30 introduction walks through the path that connects these roles, and shows the work I have done in each. Stay until the end for the bloopers.
What I want to be true
The right problem, the right people, real human impact.
Build
There is something meaningful to create, whether that is a business, function, operating model, service or experience.
Transform
The organization is willing to question how work gets done and redesign systems that no longer serve the mission.
Lead
I have real accountability and the opportunity to set direction, develop people and make the whole leadership team stronger.
Serve
The end result matters on a human level. Doing good and doing well should reinforce each other.
For search partners
The short version.
Roles
President or CEO of a growing company, or a chief people and experience role in an established one. The company decides which.
Sector
Open. My track record is in residential real estate, and the work applies wherever people and customer experience drive results.
Location
Denver, Colorado.
Timing
Open to conversations now. I am finishing a transition advisory engagement through early December.
Materials
Still wondering where I fit?
Ask Jerry.
My AI assistant has the longer version of this story, including how these role shapes differ and why the throughline is broader than the functional label.
The next conversation
Tell me what you’re trying to build.
If the assignment is interesting, the mission matters and the leadership team values both performance and human experience, I’d like to hear about it.
Hiring or searching
Book 30 minutesPrefer to write
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