Episode 251: There Are Good Things in the Short Straw w/ Tom Kosnik

a man in a suit and tie is featured on something extra

Tom Kosnik, President of Visus Group and Founder of Presidents’ RoundTable, says he got into the staffing industry because he drew the shortest straw. Now, he will be the first to laugh and tell you that this was the best thing for him. Tune in as he and Lisa discuss the intersection of community and entrepreneurship, as well as the importance of examining your blind spots for business growth.

Bio: Tom Kosnik, founder and president of the Visus Group is one of the staffing industry’s leading experts in organizational design, profitability improvement and work culture transformation. With a commitment to empowering staffing firms with the knowledge and tools to help business owners increase the value of their enterprise asset by helping them grow their business. Tom has coached and consulted hundreds of staffing executives throughout North America using his empirical based “Organizational Development Business Model” (ODBM). Most notably, Tom is the founder of the Presidents RoundTable, a nationwide leadership forum program strategically aimed at helping staffing professionals collaborate and solve industry challenges. With over 25 years of consulting experience in the staffing industry, Tom’s diverse array of services have helped numerous staffing firms across the country improve their operations and bottom lines. As a RoundTable facilitator, Tom leads real world business problem-solving sessions in which he advises top executives on a variety of matters, including how to make winning business decisions; achieve profitability benchmarking; and reach peak performance through best practices. To date, he has conducted over thousands of RoundTable forums for all types of staffing professionals, including presidents and CEO’s, CFO’s, CRO’s, and CMO’s. Throughout the course of his career, Tom has been a frequent speaker for many world-renowned industry organizations and corporate groups, including the American Staffing Association (Staffing World); National Independent Staffing Association (NISA); Illinois Staffing Association (ISSA); California Staffing Professionals (CSP); Missouri and Kansas Search and Staffing Association (MKSSA); and Massachusetts Staffing Association (MSA). He has presented on a variety of topics, including leadership development; strategic planning for small and large staffing firms; compensation planning; best management techniques; and mergers and acquisitions, among countless other topics. Tom’s research and expertise has been published in dozens of national industry publications, including Staffing Industry Review; International Human Resource Management Journal; and Chicago Law Journal, just to name a few. Tom holds an M.A. from Bowling Green State University in Organizational Development and a B.A. in psychology from Seattle University. In addition, he is certified with the Center for Creative Leadership and a leading sales enhancement organization, MH Group. 

Tom’s Something Extra: “Every leader, if they are honest with themselves, knows that there are gaps. They need humility, curiosity, and compassion to address those gaps.”

Guest Links:

– Lisa Nichols, Host
– Jenny Heal, Executive Producer
– Joe Szynkowski, Marketing Support
– Kendall Brewer, Director of Leadership Programs
– Portside Media, Podcast Engineer

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