Recent Posts by Dave Stark

The importance of strong HR leadership during COVID-19 has been a key theme of late on this blog. The right leadership tactics in today’s environment might mean the difference between a calm workforce and one that wonders what comes next.  For some inspiration, we recommend—not as an official Oracle endorsement— an inspirational book on leadership, James Kerr’s Legacy, subtitled What the All Blacks Can Teach Us About the Business of Life.  In it, Kerr spends 15 chapters...

In January, we published “Ten Books to Develop Your Career in 2020” to kick off the year with a focus on personal and professional development. As a follow up, not as any official Oracle endorsement, we also recommend 10 Stories Great Leaders Tell by Paul Smith.  As HR leaders, being able to tell a story is important. Whether our audience is prospective applicants, current employees, or interested investors, communicating a compelling message is important to drive clarity and...

Famous for family movies, theme parks and a cute mouse, Walt Disney also knew a thing or two about building great customer experiences. Even though his death was more than a half-century ago, his wisdom lives on. Here’s one of his quotes: “Do what you do so well that they will want to see it again and bring their friends.” If Walt was alive today, his thoughts on customer experience would be more sought than ever, especially with consumers expecting so much from the companies...

Working with customers today requires speedy delivery of the product or service, but also mandates a full understanding of the customer experience itself. This ranges from how a customer discovers a brand, engages with the provider, consumes the product or service and also how the customer works through any service needs. I kept these elements in mind when I read "Unlocking the Customer Value Chain" by Harvard Business School professor Thales Teixeira. I felt it an excellent...

Part of career growth is continual learning and to help give a path to that, below are ten books that I personally, not as any official Oracle endorsement, feel could be great reads for someone looking for new ideas to help build their career. Some of the concepts from the books will resonate more than others, and more with some people than others, but there’s some good content for the new year.               The Talent Code and The Culture Code by Daniel Coyle The Talent Code was...