2. MY BIO
Mark Griesbaum is the Managing Partner of affinITy4U, LLC since November, 2014. affinITy4U, LLC is focused in the following key areas: IT
Strategy/Vision Development, Operational Integration, Top Line Revenue Growth, and Executive Leadership Development.
Mark joined TCS Education System (TCSES) in 2010 as President of TCS Online Services. Mark’s progression through TCS increased with
additional responsibilities during his four years serving the company. As Senior Vice President of Operations Mark oversaw Marketing,
Admissions, International Services, Operational Integration, Information Technology, Online Learning course development and learning platform
technology, Academic Operations, and Student Services for all of TCSES affiliates including The Chicago School of Professional Psychology,
Pacific Oaks College, Santa Barbara and Ventura Colleges of Law, Dallas Nursing Institute, and Saybrook University.
While at TCSES, Mark’s leadership enabled the company to grow top line revenue from $87 million to $140 million.
Prior to joining TCSES, Mark was EVP and Chief Information Officer for Cardean Learning Group from 2008 – 2010. While at Cardean, Mark built
a solid infrastructure framework across all operational departments that enabled Cardean to incorporate additional colleges into the portfolio.
Prior to Cardean, Mark was Chief Information Officer at Career Education Corporation from March 2000 – March 2008. Mark’s award-winning
leadership was recognized by Computerworld Magazine, where he was recognized as one of Computerworld’s “Premier 100 IT Leaders 2006.”
He led a staff of over 220 professionals that worked closely with the Presidents and staff at Career Education Corporation’s 80+ schools around
the world. His group strategically put in place a common worldwide infrastructure, including a common set of business applications, and a focused
competency on how to integrate new acquisitions, and start up schools into this fast paced growth company’s operation. During Mark’s tenure at
CEC, top line revenue increased from $200 million to over $2.0 Billion.
Mark began his career in the Financial Services Industry, working at a large money-center bank and well known commercial finance company in
Chicago. He held senior leadership positions with responsibility for cash management processing and operational improvements in the following
areas: trust, treasury, private banking, check processing, letters of credit, transfer of funds, accounting, and the corporate departments’
technology.
Mark is involved in various non-profit organizations across Chicago including the Society for Information Management (Trustee), Illinois
Technology Foundation (Board Member), 1871 Chicago Innovation, I.C. Stars, and the Higher Education CIO Special Interest Group (Co-
Founder).
Mark received his Master of Business Administration in Finance from DePaul University, Chicago, Illinois, and his Bachelor of Science degree in
Finance and Management from the University of Dayton, Dayton, Ohio. Mark is married to his wife Paula for 36 years and has two daughters,
Lauren and Lindsey. He enjoys golf, the outdoors, and relaxing in South Carolina as time permits.
3. AGENDA
Welcome and Introductions (Today is a Foundational session,
setting the “tone” for the remainder of your program)
Office Culture (Politics?)
Dress for Success / Act for Success
Importance of Professionalism
Where you want to be (career goals)
The “New World Connected” – are you and your staff ready? Is
your organization ready?
Identify your situation!
Are YOU Relevant
Video and discussion
Next Steps
Benefit for individual
Benefit for the manager
4. PROFESSIONAL ETIQUETTE - WHAT IS IT?
Respect
Building credibility
Reality of not “burning bridges”
Know what is worth “falling on the sword” for
Team work – collaboration
Cognitive Diversity – I.D.E.A.
It’s still critical for “climbing the ladder”
5. YOUR SELF ASSESSMENT
What did you learn about yourself
Your style of leadership
Your adaptability
What you are good at
Changes that are necessary – what you want to
work on in this program
6. IMPORTANCE AS A LEADER
In the office
You are being watched every day, all day by your
staff and team mates
Act with respect and earn people’s trust
Stay Current with trends
Stay “in touch” with your staff
Stay “in touch” with your peers and upper level
leadership
Take a stand in what you believe
7. IMPORTANCE AS A LEADER
In Public
You are always on display
People notice what you do
The world is very small (no matter where you go)
Improper behavior can ruin a career
Remember, you are dealing with human
behavior and all the impressions and psychology
that goes with that. It is very complex, but the
higher you go, the more important public
behavior is (It comes with the “territory”.
8. THE “NEW WORLD CONNECTED”
Handout and discussion
Are you ready and is your staff and
organization prepared?
9. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY – NEXT PHASE
Leadership skills necessary – being asked
for Growth and Innovation at the same time
controlling costs and stable infrastructures /
applications
10. SHORTAGE OF SKILLS IN 3RD ERA
Beyond not being ready now, 42% of CIOs
believe their IT organizations do not have the
right skills and capabilities in place to get
ready for the future. And in confidential
discussions with the group about what
proportion of their existing IT talent could
make the shift to meeting the digital
challenge, many CIOs estimated this to be
25% or less.
11. DRIVING THE BUSINESS WITH IT
Now we are entering a third era of enterprise
IT, where these new trends are not only
improving what businesses do with
technology to make themselves faster,
cheaper and more scalable, but
fundamentally changing businesses with
information and technology, changing the
basis of competition and the portfolio of
businesses people are in, and in some cases
creating new industries
12. FUTURE THOUGHTS
Career Goals
Where do you want to end your career (what
position?) How to get there from here.
All your experiences make up your career
Take advantage of every position/experience you
were put in to form your leadership and expertise
you offer to your organization
Every day counts and matters
13. BREAK – 15 MINUTES – BE BACK ON TIME
Break into 4 groups (45 minute exercise)
Each person identify your “situation” at work
Team identifies ways to improve that challenge for you
Share Stories last 15 minutes of session
14. ARE YOU RELEVANT?
Are you Relevant?
How do you stay Relevant
in your organization?
Potential Actions you can take
Watch VIDEO – Ross Shafer and
Handouts
15. NEXT STEPS
Take a hard look at your assessment
Identify 1-2 things you will focus on and
improve upon – set goals for this program
Take a check point in 6-12 months with
feedback along the way.
16. BENEFITS OF THIS INDIVIDUAL ASSSESSMENT
For the Individual
Self awareness
Honest feedback from business professionals
Identifies your improvements at work that benefit the team
and senior leadership (your boss)
For the Boss
Provides objective assessment of individual
Confirms performance strengths
Identifies areas for change
Helps to acknowledge or confirm Boss’s assessment of the
individual
Aids in helping leadership provide the right environment, and
also the right assignments and challenges to the individual
