In today's volatile business landscape, the alignment between Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) and Chief Sales Officers (CSOs) isn't just a nice-to-have—it's critical for sustainable growth. Deborah Fell dives deep into why this partnership is more crucial than ever for mid-market companies. Drawing from Chief Outsiders' experience across 5,000+ engagements, she explains why the most successful [...]
Leadership is a craft—refined through experience, challenge, and continuous growth. This past quarter, Success Beneath the Surface brought together some of the most dynamic CEOs and business minds to explore what it takes to lead with impact. From James Hyman’s masterclass on corporate turnarounds to Ryan Clark’s formula for urgency-driven culture, these episodes aren’t just [...]
Deborah Fell recounts a chance meeting with J. Nicole Martin-Lawton, CEO of Phoenix Language Services, during an Amtrak service disruption. What started as strangers standing together in a crowded café car became an enlightening conversation about leadership and resilience. Nicole had stepped into the CEO role following her father's sudden death, successfully leading an all-women [...]
When Nicole Martin Lawton suddenly became CEO of Phoenix Language Services in May 2020, it was under extraordinary circumstances. Not only was the world grappling with a global pandemic, but she had just returned from maternity leave with her second child when her father, company founder Bill Martin, passed away. In that moment, Nicole stepped [...]
What happens when a hard-charging CEO realizes their leadership style is holding back their organization's potential? In Deborah Fell's commentary on last week's conversation with Scott Jackson of Global Impact, we explore the counterintuitive truth about scaling impact. Sometimes, the fastest path forward is creating space for others to lead. In this episode of Leader [...]
#10: EP57: Lessons from a SEAL - Culture Improvement with Culture Fit to Build Your Elite Team Deborah Fell welcomes Kyle Buckett, a former Navy SEAL and author of "Leadership is Overrated." Buckett shares lessons from his military career and consulting work, emphasizing the importance of trust, delegating authority, and developing leaders at all levels. [...]
When Scott Jackson says his role as CEO of Global Impact is to be a 'follower of leaders,' he challenges conventional thinking about executive leadership. In the conversation with Deborah Fell, he explains how this counterintuitive approach—empowering others while providing crucial behind-the-scenes support—has helped his organization channel over $2.5 billion to global causes. Scott's practical [...]
In this commentary, Deborah Fell examines the psychology of entrepreneurship, drawing from her conversation with Net at Work Co-Founder and Co-CEO Eddie Solomon. Through stories of infrastructure pioneers, transformational leaders, and second-generation successors, she reveals how true entrepreneurs share an unshakeable mindset – they may pivot, but failure is never an option. Mod Op’s AI [...]
In this episode of Success Beneath the Surface, Deborah Fell sits down with Eddie Solomon, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Net at Work, a technology services company he started with his brother, Alexm in 1996. From their humble beginnings as Russian-Ukrainian immigrants in Brooklyn to building a thriving enterprise serving over 5,000 businesses, Eddie shares insights [...]
A lot of CEOs talk about humility, but it's rare to meet one who truly embodies it. Last week, Deborah Fell - host of Success Beneath the Surface - spoke with Ray Hatch, CEO of Quest Resources Holding Corporation, and what struck her most wasn't his impressive track record but his genuine humility in action. [...]