Hi, I’m Barry.

I’m a creative who loves to develop people and ideas. I help organizations innovate, drive employee engagement, and accelerate workplace transformation. Currently, I’m working with HR leaders to implement personalized career development and learning paths within their organizations.

I’ve taken an adventurous approach to my career since my early 20’s, when I co-led the underwater research for the University of Hawaii’s Humpback Whale Project for two years.

Today, my experience spans leading innovation, strategy, organizational change, and growth initiatives across technology, healthcare & wellness, consulting, and sustainability organizations.

I’ve built and led innovation teams that turned ideas into market-leading products, grown start-ups, and delivered inspirational keynotes to thousands.

An insight that has grown stronger in recent years is this: the greatest opportunity for innovation and organizational change today is found in redefining — and reinventing — how organizations, leaders, and individuals approach and execute work.

This realization led to extensive research and to my developing, "The Adventure Mindset" and "Chart Your Own Path" keynotes and workshops (more here). Both of which are innovative approaches to driving real progress in personalized career development.

Just as precision medicine was advanced by innovators in healthcare, personalized career development programs will be driven by innovative HR departments and organizations. Companies such as Atlassian, Google, Patagonia, and Whole Foods are using a cadre of tools and AI to support personalized career development and learning paths. 

These programs empower team members to better understand who they are, recognize their strengths and weaknesses, discover what truly motivates them, and build skills that matter most to them — and the market.

The benefits of personalized career development programs include:

• Increasing team member engagement (currently at a 10-year low of 31%) by enabling people to shape their careers around what matters most to them and fits within organizational needs.

• Strengthening the connection between the company’s mission/purpose and their job (currently at 30%). 

• Enhancing retention, as team members feel more valued and invested (50% are currently watching for or actively seeking a new job).

Personalized career development is one of today’s most promising opportunities for innovation. If your organization is looking to launch a new program or advance an existing one, DM me to learn how I can help.

More about me here, LinkedIn