We’ve been breaking all the rules for decades.
We’re on a mission to change the world of work through strengths-based talent development. And when it comes to talent, there is no one-size-fits-all rule that serves everyone. Instead, we empower team leaders with content, coaching, and technology that enable everyone to do their best work. We start with the team leader because the team starts there. We help team leaders unleash their own talent and the talent of the people they lead.
Marcus Buckingham
Founder
Once you’ve broken all the rules and launched your career by writing an instant classic management book, what do you do for an encore? If you’re Marcus Buckingham, you dedicate yourself to understanding what makes world-class managers tick, bottling it, and sharing it with the world.
Marcus first conquered the bestseller lists in 1999 with First, Break All the Rules. While the title may imply an iconoclastic streak, his continuing plea for managers to break with tradition has nothing to do with rebellion; instead, he argues, rules must be broken and discarded because they stifle the originality and uniqueness — the strengths — that can enable all of us to achieve our highest performance.
With StandOut 2.0, he launched not just a new strengths assessment but an entire productivity platform based on a new research methodology to reveal people’s top two “strength Roles” — their areas of comparative advantage. StandOut 2.0 goes beyond description to give people practical innovations that fit their strengths, and provide managers and leaders with quick insights on how to get the best from each member of their team.
As an internationally renowned thought leader and business expert, Marcus has been the subject of in-depth profiles in The New York Times, Fortune, Fast Company, Harvard Business Review, USA Today, and The Wall Street Journal and has appeared on numerous television programs, including “Larry King Live,” “The Today Show” and “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” He is routinely lauded by such corporations as Toyota, Facebook, lululemon, Coca-Cola, Box, Master Foods, Wells Fargo, Microsoft, and Disney as an invaluable resource in informing, challenging, mentoring and inspiring people to find their strengths and sustain long-lasting personal success.
Meet The Team and What We Bring
We are a team of passionate individuals who thrive by bringing the best of ourselves to work every day. We love knowing that each individual’s uniqueness is what makes him or her an extraordinary asset. We want to make the world of work a better place, team by team!
JOE SULLIVAN
Equalizer / Influencer
Chief Operating Officer ...
As Chief Operating Officer at The Marcus Buckingham Company, an ADP Company (TMBC), Joe is responsible for all commercial elements of ADP’s Talent Activation business, including the award-winning product, StandOut.
Prior to becoming COO of TMBC, Joe led successful teams through three acquisitions, was SVP of Sales and Strategic Alliances, and held various operations positions. His tenure in the Human Capital space spans over two decades, giving him deep industry insights into HR technology.
Joe is known for his effectiveness in leading teams to attain higher than projected goals in short delivery times. Joe holds a marketing degree from Fairfield University, Connecticut and lives in the Boston area with his wife and three children.
DAVID WAGNER
Advisor / Equalizer
Chief Technology Officer ...
As Chief Technology Officer of ADP’s StandOut product, David Wagner is responsible for leading the team of Engineering, Quality, and Database associates who design, build, and test the StandOut product. When ADP acquired TMBC in 2017, he helped to grow the startup into the leader in Talent Activation software, and an attractive strategic fit for ADP’s Human Capital Management suite of products.
After graduating USC with a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics, David began his career in software development in 1995, when he joined Capital Management Sciences as a database programmer helping to build back-end systems that supported their classic fixed income analytics product, BondEdge. He later moved on to health care marketplace startup HealthAllies, where he was head of Technology when they were acquired by UnitedHealth Group. After seven fruitful years at the health insurance giant, including building their Gym Reimbursement Program, he joined TMBC in 2010 to lead software development of the Talent Activation software that complements the company’s suite of content and coaching services.
AMY LESCHKE-KAHLE
Pioneer / Advisor
Vice President, Performance Acceleration ...
As Vice President of Performance Acceleration at TMBC, Amy Leschke-Kahle collaborates with clients to transform organizations by activating talent. Using her first-hand experience to customize her approach to the unique culture of each company, she helps clients turn TMBC’s revolutionary research into groundbreaking results.
Before coming to TMBC, Amy led talent, HR technology, and HR analytics for several Fortune 500 companies. Most recently, she served as Vice President of HR Services Solution Center at Kohl’s Department Stores. She has also been involved in implementing global lean manufacturing initiatives, knowledge management and employee collaboration solutions, talent acquisition, and academic leadership.
Amy holds a chemical engineering degree from Miami University (Ohio) and an MBA from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
CHRISTIAN GOMEZ
Influencer / Stimulator
Vice President, Strategy ...
As Vice President of Strategy, Christian is charged with serving as the connection point to the needs of the business community and ensuring that we are partnering with our clients to help solve for some of their most critical outcomes, from creating more value for shareholders to increasing productivity, forging a culture of high performance or ensuring that their people are more connected to their work, thus leading happier, healthier lives as a result. He has worked closely with Marcus for years in helping tie decades of research to real-world practical business strategies that allow organizations to replicate excellence in the workplace at scale. He has partnered with some of the most innovative and respected people-focused organizations to help them incorporate some of these practices into their culture and people strategies. On a mission to change the world of work, he is deeply committed to guiding Talent & HR disciplines to deliver unprecedented business results through their people.
Christian began his career in the U.S. military as a Sergeant of Marines, and his vast experiences and roles served as a powerful foundation for corporate business. Prior to his role as head of Strategy, Christian spent 10 years working for one of the world’s leading Human Capital Management firms, ADP, as Senior Global Business Consultant, advising some of the largest and most respected multinationals in designing their BPO and HRIS strategies. He has served on TMBC’s executive team in leading all of their development efforts.
RACHELLE STEEN
Advisor / Influencer
Vice President, Client Services ...
Rachelle Steen leads TMBC’s Client Services organization – consisting of Client Success, Deployment Consulting and Field Enablement teams who are changing the world of work by delivering our innovative strengths-based Team Leader solutions to our growing customer base. Focused on creating meaningful experiences for our clients throughout their Talent Activation journey, our teams are dedicated to ensuring our clients are wildly successful activating their talent and building highly engaged, high performing teams.
Rachelle has built her career leading organizations through strategic cross-functional transformation initiatives that leverage people, process and technology enhancements to maximize business results. She has held roles from the various vantages of practitioner, consultant, and vendor which has uniquely stoked her passion and attention for client-centric service models. Rachelle is at her best when engaging people and teams and convincing them to act, and is energized by sorting through ‘what’s in the way’ to get to the best course of action, all with a strengths-based mindset.
Rachelle earned her Bachelor of Business degree, with Information Management and Human Resource Management concentrations, from the University of Auckland – Auckland, New Zealand.
AMY POWELL
Connector / Stimulator
Vice President, Leader Development ...
As Vice President of Leader Development for TMBC, Amy helps clients activate their talent through our strengths-based coaching and development offerings. In addition to leading our world-class faculty and consulting with our clients, Amy supports the growing community of professional strengths coaches and facilitators who leverage our certification programs in service of others.
Amy has two decades of experience in the leader development and learning space, including 10 years in Sales and Marketing leadership roles with global enterprise responsibility for sales training and leadership development. Her passion for driving results through developing people has contributed to her success in a variety of industries and organization types, including Fortune 500s, startups, and nonprofits. Most recently, as VP Global Leadership and Career Development for ADP, Amy introduced a new framework for individualized development that increased participation by 160%.
Amy holds an M.A. from Catholic University and a B.A. from Skidmore College.
SAM HERSKOVITZ
Provider / Creator
Director of Product ...
As Director of Product, Sam lives at the intersection of technology, business, and the organizations and individuals we serve every day. He leads the Product Management and UX Design team developing StandOut, ADP’s award-winning Talent Activation technology.
With a degree in Psychology and Human Complex Systems from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Sam joined TMBC in 2012 and has followed his own strengths journey in roles from data analytics to product management to global sales strategy. StandOut’s first Product Manager, Sam helped grow the StandOut strengths assessment into an enterprise Talent Activation suite that puts technology in the service of people to build more connected, seen, productive, thriving teams.
Sam leads with curiosity, compassion, and optimism, and loves nothing more than to hear the real-world stories of how StandOut has so positively impacted people’s lives, teams, and businesses.