SCANNER FREEMONT / Data Analyst
Freemont is responsible for the digital conversion of survey responses while adhering to strict quality standards set forth by its managers. Freemont began its career at TruScore in 1996 as a Data Analyst and quickly became pivotal to TruScore's success. As the years passed, Freemont has slowly matured into part-time Data Analyst while also holding many positions in the work environment including On The Floor, On The Empty Desk, and Hold The Door (AKA Hodor).
RON SACCHI / Master Coach
A former Operations Manager in the High Tech Industry, Ron Sacchi brings decades of leadership and management experience to the organizational development and the executive coaching arena. An energetic thought-leader with a track record of success in all areas of Human Capital development, he has consulted and coached managers in start-ups, joint-ventures, high tech, pharmaceuticals, and media. Because of his business acumen and creative approaches to behavioral change, he is respected in the HR community specifically for the ability to direct, motivate, influence and inspire leaders to improve performance.
Holding an MBA from Saint Mary’s College, Mr. Sacchi is also licensed in various management, leadership and psychological profiling tools.
CARLANN FERGUSSON / Master Coach
Carlann inspires leaders to reconnect to their individual purpose and lead with contagious energy. She ensures leaders gain deep self-awareness and eliminate self-sabotaging behaviors. Her guidance is based on coaching, training and selecting hundreds of executives across diverse companies as well as her own journey into the executive ranks.
Carlann is the author of the highly acclaimed book The Insightful Leader: Find Your Superpowers, Crush Limiting Beliefs and Abolish Self-Sabotaging Behaviors (Praeger, June 2018). She holds a master’s degree in Industrial-Organizational Psychology. Her thirty years of experience include leadership roles in Fortune 500s, the private sector, and the U.S. Government. Carlann has been a featured guest on ABC News Radio, Wharton Business Radio and has been cited in CBS MoneyWatch, International Business Times, Newsday and Workday.
DR CHUCH MELTZER / Master Coach
Dr. Chuck Meltzer is a Master Coach and President of the SynTECGroup, an organizational development consulting firm. As an executive coach, he draws on his training at a doctoral level in psychology, direct senior management experience and management consulting with a wide cross section of industries. He has developed an extensive series of strategies to assist leaders in creating organizational wide and personal change. Dr. Meltzer has a decade of direct senior management experience and 20 years’ experience functioning within his consulting and coaching practice. His coaching approach is solution focused and time framed. Based on determined goals, a personally customized approach to the process has enabled his clients to realize sustainable change in a manner that allows them to enhance their effectiveness and success as leaders within their organization.
Dr. Meltzer is certified and a master trainer in several coaching assessment tools that he employs within his practice.
ERIN HIRSCHLAND / Master Coach
Erin is an organization development expert with nearly two decades experience serving organizations of all sizes across industries on a broad range of issues. Working with leadership teams, she helps articulate an actionable vision and corresponding values, connecting these to organizational strategy, execution and results. Her tools of choice include senior team retreats, one-on-one executive coaching and proven survey and related instruments.
Erin’s additional expertise includes designing employee selection systems, developing performance management tools that increase performance across the organization over time and employee and customer experience metrics. An effective facilitator and coach, Erin works with leaders and their teams to build trust, commitment and results.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara and a Master of Arts degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the University of Colorado.
SONYA D HAMILTON / Senior Assessment Consultant
Sonya is a Senior Assessment Consultant at TruScore with over 24 years of experience designing and delivering 360 feedback solutions and providing 360-based coaching, training and interpretation.
Sonya has extensive experience working with Managers and Leaders, guiding them through the feedback and development journey and providing insights and direction to help maximize their impact within the organization. Sonya’s areas of expertise include 360-based coaching, 360 data analysis and interpretation, Train-the-Trainer certifications, facilitation, survey & questionnaire design, and the design and delivery of assessment programs.
Sonya has a Bachelor’s degree in psychology and a Master’s of Science degree in Industrial & Organization Psychology from Springfield College with a specialty in Counseling and Psychological Services. She is a Master Trainer for TruScore and the Clark Wilson Task Cycle surveys receiving a Certificate of Achievement in “How to Train a Trainer”. In addition, Sonya is certified to administer a variety of other psychometric instruments including employee engagement and organizational instruments as well as the line of Hogan Personality Assessments.
KAYLEY MOTZ / Assessment Advisor
Kayley draws on her extensive customer service background to provide clients with prompt, quality support. In her role as Assessment Advisor, Kayley works to ensure clients’ needs are being met. She assists in project set up and management, as well as processing and quality checking feedback reports. Kayley also aids in the execution of the day-to-day responsibilities of the production team, such as coaching session scheduling and tech support.
CRYSTAL HUGHES / Assessment Advisor
Crystal leverages her extensive background in Industrial-Organizational (I-O) psychology as she manages the day-to-day operational and tactical aspects of multiple and large scale projects for TruScore.
Crystal assists clients with setting up and managing feedback projects, and serves as the point of contact throughout the entire process. She quality checks feedback reports, and provides tech support when needed.
ELLIE SOLOMON / Assessment Advisor
Ellie manages project implementation for the entire 360 assessment feedback process and ensures that each client’s unique needs are met on time and in an efficient manner. Ellie consults with clients who use TruScore’s off-the-shelf Task Cycle® instruments as well as providing hosting solutions for clients using their own survey content, including custom processes and reports. She helps clients navigate through the TruScore® survey hosting software, having literally written the handbook that several clients are using.
She coordinates and implements all translation efforts, including soliciting bids, managing timelines, providing files to the translation companies, implementing translations for the web pages, and testing.
ULLA WESTERMANN / Software Engineer
Ulla uses her years of experience as a software engineer to maintain and add new features to TruScore's applications. She also helps with customizing feedback reports based on client needs.
HANK CURTIS / Business Development Manager
Hank manages and assists in the analyzing, planning, research, and development of TruScore’s objectives and strategic plans in order to achieve business opportunities, growth, and financial profitability.
Hank drives the expansion of TruScore’s direct sales, establishes relationships with TruScore’s clients, identifies clients, and keeps up-to-date on industry trends and client developments.
TAYLOR BRANTON / Bookkeeper
Taylor is responsible for managing payroll and employee fringe benefits programs, in addition to organizing company gatherings and outings. Taylor oversees day to day accounting needs as it relates to client invoicing, accounts payable, and general compliance requirements. She also has a hand in month, quarter, and year end reports and works closely with the CEO and CTO to furnish details necessary to make accurate business projections and decisions.
KURT BLAZEK / Design Director
Kurt uses a unique blend of strategic thinking with dynamic executions to create TruScore’s visual and interactive design. He is responsible for creating, evolving, and sustaining the company’s brand to internal and external stakeholders through multiple mediums. He oversees all of TruScore’s digital strategies, along with the implementation of social media tools and techniques.
Kurt leverages TruScore’s marketing and messaging information to identify, evaluate, and apply methods to maximize the effectiveness of the search campaigns across all of the major search engines. He tracks and measures the ROI of search engine rankings, direct print, and marketing websites.
JOSH SHEETS / Chief Operations Officer
Josh is responsible for all day-to-day aspects of managing the operations and various functional areas including business development, sales and marketing, client delivery, vendor relations, human resources, and IT.
Josh helps to ensure outstanding customer service, and the administration of long-term and day-to-day business processes that complement the delivery of high quality, innovative customer-focused survey tools, assessments and hosted survey offerings.
TOM KUHNE / Managing Partner and CTO
Tom joined TruScore in 1995 and has served in a number of roles, including Data Analyst, IS Manager, and VP & CIO. In his current role as Managing Partner and CTO, Tom is the driving force behind TruScore's technology vision for the present and the future. He manages all aspects of TruScore’s information systems, ensuring all systems meet the highest functionality and security standards.
Tom enjoys working hand in hand with clients and partners to make sure TruScore® delivers the technology and advancement that has become expected of it as a leader in the online assessment marketplace.
DEREK MURPHY / Chief Executive Officer
Derek joined TruScore in 1996 and has served in a number of roles, including Data Analyst, Operations Manager, and President & COO. In his current role as CEO, he is responsible for planning and implementing the strategic direction of the company. In addition, Derek is involved in product development and overseeing the day-to-day business operations for TruScore.
TruScore founder Dr. Daniel Booth, a pioneer in the field of assessment of leadership and management skills, served as a mentor to Derek for more than a decade. During this time, Derek became certified on TruScore’s full line of management and leadership assessments. He currently uses these skills to lead content debriefings with customers and partners on a regular basis.
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It’s right there on your TV, your computer screen and the front page of the newspaper. The world is changing, and it’s changing fast. The Cubs even won the World Series! How are we supposed to adapt effectively to all this change and help our teams and organizations navigate into this brave new world? Here are some ways to lead during these uncertain times.
1) Allow yourself to admit what a big deal change is. We are all taught from childhood to say “It’s okay,” whenever anyone asks us what is wrong. In times of accelerated change, that message feels false to say and false to hear. While leadership definitely means taking responsibility for making it okay, it also means acknowledging real challenges when they appear. When your boss or someone on your staff says “How are you doing?” it’s healthy to say something like “Wow, there’s a lot going on. I’m trying to prioritize the important things and not lose too much sleep.” That lets the people around you know that you’re not sticking your head in the sand and ignoring potential struggle ahead. It also gives them permission to do the same thing, to share their concerns and look for constructive ways to handle them.
2) Look at the big picture. Change makes us all nervous. We’re hard-wired to be suspicious and even fearful when our routines are disrupted. Strong leaders find ways to frame change in non-threatening terms, which means reminding our colleagues to step back and get a fresh perspective when anxiety strikes. We are all experienced with change; we encounter it frequently in our personal and professional lives. If we survived it — and most of us did or you wouldn’t be reading this — then we gained some valuable skills that will help us keep our balance now. Focus on what “old” skills, tasks and procedures will still be helpful in the “new” scenario. Bolster your team’s confidence by reminding them of their past successes. Leadership through change requires a vision of dedication and optimism, to keep all team members fully engaged.
3) Get creative. The dismantling of old routines creates an immensely fertile opportunity to replace them with something more efficient and more effective. This is an opportunity for leaders to offer meaningful feedback that may change the course of the organization. If you have experience or information that may help your organization avoid wasting money or time during times of transition, speak up. If you see new ways to streamline processes or redistribute resources, make sure those ideas have a chance to be heard. While uncertainty makes us nervous, it also breaks down many of the assumptions and self-imposed barriers that we create for ourselves, opening new options for growth. Leadership means grasping those opportunities and using them to strengthen our performance, our teams and our organizations.
4) Do your homework. All of our familiar landscapes are shifting right now, from the political world to the business environment. New ideas are being created and discussed and new protocols are being piloted and studied. Leadership means taking the time — even outside of business hours — to become informed about what is happening in and around your industry. Are you in healthcare? Make sure you understand the ramifications of the government regulations on your team’s goals and metrics. Make sure you understand all of the concepts in current journal articles about your field — and look them up if you don’t. It’s way less embarrassing than being called out on misunderstanding in a strategy meeting.
5) Stay flexible and responsive. The only sure thing about change is that there will be more change. It’s very tempting to hunker down and wish it would all go away, but leadership doesn’t work like that. If you want your team to be open to new ways of doing things, to ask questions and think outside their comfort zone, you will need to model that behavior yourself. To achieve a leadership position, you had to prove your ability to handle change gracefully. Use those skills now, to show your team what effective change management looks like. Treat new processes and procedures as learning opportunities, not as ways to seek out and punish weakness. Admit your own mistakes when you can, and make sure your team sees you working to correct them. Ask for suggestions and take them whenever possible, to build mutual trust between you and your staff. During times of stress people tend to bond together around common work. Help your team see change as a pathway to demonstrate their unique excellence.
As the flow of information becomes ever faster, change will become more and more the norm in professional life. Learning how to adapt to it, even to embrace it, is part of any leadership role. If you can learn how to relax in a rapidly-changing environment, your team will follow you. If you can confront uncertainty with humor, courage and enthusiasm, you will give strength to your colleagues and to your organization. As we all move forward into times of increasing change and uncertainty, we each have the chance to model what real leadership is. Don’t waste it.
