CPO PLAYBOOK Felicia Shakiba, Founder & Chief People Officer

www.CPOPLAYBOOK.com [http://www.cpoplaybook.com/]

Episode Transcript [https://www.cpoplaybook.com/podcast/Alim-Michael-succession-adidas-president]

About

Efficient succession planning can significantly elevate company valuations and investor returns, potentially increasing them by 20 to 25%, according to the Harvard Business Review. Today, we have the pleasure of hearing from Aleem Dhanji and Michael Rossi, who will share their experiences in navigating successful transitions and succession planning at Adidas Canada. In 2021, Aleem Dhanji smoothly succeeded Michael Rossi as President of Adidas Canada.

*

Alim Dhanji

Alim Dhanji is Chief People Officer and EVP of Equinox Group – a luxury lifestyle collective of fitness clubs, SoulCycle, Blink Fitness and Hotels - focusing on creating compelling employee experiences that create high-performance teams & legendary consumer experiences.

Formerly, Alim was President, Adidas Canada, accountable for revenue, profit and brand development. Alim has over 25 years of international experience in HR, M&A, Sales and Operations across multiple industries. During his career, he has built a reputation for transformational change, innovative strategic thinking, growth acceleration, delivering strong operational excellence and efficiency founded on leading edge HR practices.

His advocacy and commitment for DEI and building community has been recognized by Yahoo Finance and the Financial Times as among the top 10 LGBT+ leaders in the world in 2021 and among the top 100 in 2020. In 2024, Alim was recognized as a LGBTQ+ Trailblazer by Attitude Magazine & Bentley Motors.

Alim has an MBA and completed the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School.

Michael Rossi

An accomplished business leader known for delivering results and building great culture, Michael created Voce Leadership in 2021 to bring his unique blend of coaching training and over 20 years of real-world corporate experience to his work with leadership teams. Drawing on his own experiences leading high performance teams, Michael helps CEO's and senior leaders sharpen their values, understand their strengths, and build deeper trust and cohesion on their teams through executive coaching, workshops and keynote speaking. Michael is also the Chair of the Terry Fox Foundation Board.

*

All media inquiries: media@cpoplaybook.com

www.CPOPLAYBOOK.com [http://www.cpoplaybook.com/]

Episode Transcript [http://www.cpoplaybook.com/podcast/portillos-ignite-program-leadership-impact]

About

In this podcast episode, Portillo's Chief People Officer Jill Waite discussed their leadership development initiative, the Ignite program. Designed to address managerial retention and skill gaps, the program focuses on promoting internal talent and instilling leadership skills crucial for maintaining Portillo's unique culture across all locations. Key competencies emphasized include communication, relationship building, and accountability.

*

Jill Waite [http://www.cpoplaybook.com/guests/jill-waite]

Jill Waite is Chief People Officer at Portillo's Hot Dogs, a restaurant chain with more than 80 locations, headquartered in Oak Brook, IL. Prior to joining Portillo's in 2019, she held several Human Resources and Operations roles in the retail, grocery and fitness industries with companies such as Sephora and 24-Hour Fitness.

Jill was hired to reinvigorate Portillo's culture by reclaiming the hearts and minds of our then-6,000 Team Members. She is also responsible for building the talent pipeline to support the company's growth, retaining Team Members who are passionate about creating lifelong memories for our guests, and developing world-class learning and development programs.

She has a Bachelor's degree in Management from University of Florida. Go Gators! Jill lives in Chicagoland with her husband of nearly 20 years, and is a mom to two boys who have a passion for playing soccer competitively.

Favorite Portillo's Menu Items: Italian beef sandwich, cheese fries, and chocolate cake.

*

All media inquiries: media@cpoplaybook.com

www.CPOPLAYBOOK.com [http://www.cpoplaybook.com/]

Episode Transcript [http://www.cpoplaybook.com/podcast/duncan-orourkes-insights-executive-teams]

About

The podcast emphasizes the vital role of high-performing executive teams in driving organizational success. Felicia Shakiba introduces Duncan O'Rourke, CEO of Accor, who shares insights on crafting effective leadership teams. Duncan highlights the importance of results-focused leadership and values alignment within the team. He prioritizes qualities like subject matter expertise and strategic thinking in team members. Duncan stresses open communication, diversity, and talent inclusion in decision-making.

*

Duncan O'Rourke [http://www.cpoplaybook.com/guests/duncan-orourke]

After studying hotel management at César Ritz Colleges Switzerland and earning an MBA from Reims Management School, Duncan held several hospitality executive positions across Europe, the US, and the Middle East. From 2004, he served as General Manager at Kempinski Hotel Thessaloniki Nikopolis before overseeing the pre-opening of two London hotels.

He later became Regional Director & General Manager at Kempinski Ishtar Dead Sea in Jordan, overseeing ten regional pre-openings. In 2008, he became Chief Operating Officer of Kempinski Hotels, joining the Management Board.

Duncan joined Accor at the end of 2016, as the COO Europe for the luxury segment and was responsible for 140 hotels in the region until end of 2019. In September 2018, he additionally took over as the COO Central Europe, leading teams in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

As CEO of the Premium, Midscale and Economy Division for Middle East, Africa, Turkey and Asia Pacific, Duncan oversees 1,000 operating properties, with 200+ in the pipeline, with brands including Swissôtel, Mövenpick, Pullman, Grand Mercure, Mercure, Novotel, Novotel Suites, Adagio, ibis, ibis budget and ibis styles.

In October 2020, Duncan joined the Group's Executive Committee and manages the Premium, Midscale and Economy Division across 44 countries.

*

All media inquiries: media@cpoplaybook.com

www.CPOPLAYBOOK.com [http://www.cpoplaybook.com/]

Episode Transcript [http://www.cpoplaybook.com/podcast/virgin-money-syretta-brown-hr-initiative]

About

The podcast episode emphasizes the crucial role of Chief People Officers (CPOs) in aligning HR agendas with business strategy. Key points stress the use of data analytics to advocate for business-oriented initiatives and build trust with leaders. Syreeta Brown, Group Chief People Officer at Virgin Money, highlights the importance of understanding the business landscape and prioritizing initiatives effectively.

*

Syreeta Brown [http://www.cpoplaybook.com/guests/syreeta-brown]

Syreeta Brown is currently Group Chief People & Communications Officer at Virgin Money UK PLC reporting directly to the CEO and is a member of the Executive Leadership Team.  She was appointed to the role in November 2021.  Prior to joining Virgin Money Syreeta was a Managing Director at the US Global bank, Citi, and led the HR function for the Global Functions and Operations and Technology business in Europe, Middle East and Africa region.  In this role Syreeta was responsible for the People Strategy and HR practices regionally for 20,000 employees (Global Functions covers Risk, Finance, Legal, Compliance, HR, Internal Audit, Public Affairs, Government Affairs, Security Investigative Services, AML).

Prior to joining Citi Syreeta was a HR Director at British Telecom Group PLC having joined as a graduate.  She worked across various businesses in her 12 years there in a number of roles across the HR generalist and Centre of Excellence space (Performance Management, Resourcing and Talent Management).

Syreeta has been a Board Trustee for the Access All Areas Theatre (2016-2019) – a Theatre company for learning disabled artists based in Hackney, London and sits on the 'Panel of Influential Women' run by the Advanced Boardroom Excellence Group led by Helen Pitcher OBE, based in London which is focused on the development of senior executives.  Syreeta has been recognised for 20 years of service to Human Resources by CIPD and was named Financial Services Leader of the year at 2018 Black British Business Awards.

She was also included in the UK Powerlist 2022 and named as an Involve Empower Role Model 2022.  In 2023 Syreeta was included in the UK Powerlist top 10 most influential Black British people.  Syreeta is an advisory Board member for the Black Talent charter initiative in the UK led by Harry Matovu KC, a Board Trustee of the ALETO foundation chaired by Sir Ken Olisa and Vice Chair of the Change the Race Ratio Campaign chaired by Sir Trevor Phillips. Syreeta actively advocates for and supports Parents who have children with Special Needs focusing on Autism.

*

All media inquiries: media@cpoplaybook.com

www.CPOPLAYBOOK.com [http://www.cpoplaybook.com/]

Episode Transcript [https://www.cpoplaybook.com/podcast/google-inclusivity-women-in-tech]

About

The podcast highlights challenges for women in engineering and offers solutions. Key takeaways include the low retention rate due to hostile environments and biases. Jenny Ibrahim, a Google manager, emphasizes addressing insecurities like impostor syndrome and advocating for team members. She stresses sponsorship over mentorship for career advancement and suggests fostering inclusive cultures and amplifying underrepresented voices. Overall, the episode provides actionable steps for managers to support diversity in technical roles, applicable to any minority group.

*

Jennie Ibrahim [http://www.cpoplaybook.com/guests/jennie-ibrahim]

Jennie Ibrahim has been building software and leading teams for more than 20 years. She's been working at Google for more than 14 years, working as a software engineer manager and technical lead of a team of full-stack software engineers working in Java and Angular Dart.

Prior to Google, she worked in the defense industry, in companies such as BAE Systems and General Dynamics. She was the chair of the board of directors for Project Scientist, a non-profit organization helping girls get into STEM and is now on the oversight committee at Oakhouse.  She holds a Masters in Computer Science from Northeastern University.

Jennie shares her knowledge of Java and Dart as a guest speaker at the Orange County Java User Group, Sabio Coding Bootcamp, and the SoCal Code Camp.  She is regularly invited to speak at technology-related events to inspire future software engineers.

She has been a guest of the Experian DataTalk podcast and the keynote speaker at the Women Impact Tech Los Angeles #WITLA conference. She has been a panelist multiple times at WICS at UCI. She enjoys time with her husband and three kids ages 8, 10, and 12.

*

All media inquiries: media@cpoplaybook.com

www.CPOPLAYBOOK.com [http://www.cpoplaybook.com/]

Episode Transcript [https://www.cpoplaybook.com/podcast/gary-hayslip-evolving-role-ciso]

About

The podcast underscores the crucial role of Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) in protecting organizations from cyber threats. Gary Hayslip, a seasoned CISO, emphasizes the evolving nature of the role from technical to strategic leadership. He highlights the importance of integrating CISOs into the executive team and discusses the ethical concerns surrounding their reporting structure.

*

Gary Haysllip [http://www.cpoplaybook.com/guests/gary-hayslip]

Gary Hayslip is an experienced Global CISO with repeated success delivering innovative security programs to safeguard enterprises at every touchpoint. An insightful thought leader with proven business acumen and commitment to organizational mission, values, and goals. Hayslip brings this wealth of information technology, security leadership, and risk management experience to his role as the CISO, for SoftBank Investment Advisers & SoftBank Group International. Hayslip's previous executive roles include multiple CISO, CIO, Deputy Director of IT, and Chief Privacy Officer roles for the U.S. Navy (Active Duty), the U.S. Navy (Federal Government employee), the City of San Diego California, and Webroot Software.

Hayslip is a proven cybersecurity professional; he has established a reputation as a highly-skilled communicator, author, and keynote speaker. Hayslip co-authored the CISO Desk Reference Guide: A Practical Guide for CISOs – Volumes 1 & 2, The Executive Primer: An Executives Guide to Security Programs, and Developing your Cybersecurity Career Path. He also recently published The Essential Guide to Cybersecurity for SMBs. Hayslip serves as a director on several boards and is also a technology advisor for several others.

*

All media inquiries: media@cpoplaybook.com