Erica Stacy 🚀

Pin.com - AI Recruiting

Q2 2025 | Hit my entire year's worth of quota by June '25.

Q3 2025 | Successfully created & implemented Meta ads for Pin which resulted in an additional 25+ meetings a week.

GTM Engineering Manager & BD Team Lead

The Interseller team is back & doing it again with Pin, a whole new platform for recruiting professionals:

🔎 Find the best talent for your job within seconds.
😍 Personalize outreach to potential candidates even faster.
📞 Highly accurate phone numbers available for cold calling.
📆 Seamless scheduling tool to take away the tediousness around scheduling.
🔀 Keep track of where each candidate is in the process without breaking a sweat.

Q1 2025 | Maintained an average of 200%+ quota through successful traditional BD methodologies along with using AI to increase output without increasing headcount.

Q4 2024 | Helped to grow Pin's ARR by 108.15% by crafting several successful email and LinkedIn sequences. Booked over a meeting a day despite being in a new role. Stepped into a growth role by assisting marketing with copy and creating social marketing campaigns.

Business Development Manager

DigiTools Consulting, LLC

I’m thrilled to share that I’ve joined DigiTools Consulting as a Growth Advisor!

Throughout my career, I’ve loved helping startups and scrappy teams scale smarter and faster. From building outbound processes from scratch to consistently hitting 150–200%+ of quota, I thrive where strategy meets execution. Along the way, I’ve had the privilege of working with incredible teams at Pin, Clearfind, Included, Sprout, and Interseller — leading both growth and marketing efforts that drove measurable impact.

At Pin, I paired sales leadership with marketing campaigns that helped fuel brand growth, and at Clearfind, I scaled GTM while building out marketing strategies that supported expansion. Across every role, my focus has always been the same: connecting people to solutions, opportunities, and results.

What makes this new chapter especially exciting is DigiTools Consulting’s commitment to working with nonprofits that are changing the world. Combining my passion for growth with their mission-driven partnerships is a perfect alignment, and I can’t wait to get started.

Here’s to unlocking new opportunities, refining strategies, and making an impact — together. 🚀

Growth Advisor

Drawbridge Recruiting & Staffing

I perform full cycle sales duties by creating relationships and by walking new clients through our agreement process. I also help with some light recruiting. Focused on oil and gas, renewable energy, and IT.

Helping my client to gain new O&G and IT customers.

Outbound Consultant

Included

Included uses AI to make HR data & decision making intuitive and helpful. Just ask "Hey Included, can I see my favorite HR metrics in real time & by forecast?"

Included provides instant answers, and proactively delivers insights on your most pressing issues.

For instance, Included tells you:
1. When someone is at risk of leaving the company (Often before they even know themselves!)
2. When the ratio of men to women falls too low one way or another.
3. When you have the perfect candidate sitting in your talent pool waiting for action!

Founding Senior Sales Development Representative

Sprout

This was a six month contract, but completed the work within five.

Facilitated relationships with companies such as JPMorgan Chase, Intuit, St. Jude's Children Hospital, VITAS Healthcare, Elevance Health, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center & Pacific Dental Services.

Putting delight into ITAD with better communication & super clear chain of custody experiences. Never wonder where your hardware is, and if it's safe, again with Sprout.

Clearfind

Facilitated relationships with companies such as Disney, Twitter, American Express, IBM, Nationwide, Dell, Verizon, Walmart, GE Healthcare, DraftKings, Volkswagen Financial, EY, Sysco, Nestle, Intuit & Schlumberger. 

Organized social media marketing & worked with a designer to cultivate posts that were on brand.
Managed our email marketing & grew our email lists.
Trained one SDR & provided them with support.

Growth Manager

[Q4 2022] Achieved 97% quota while maintaining all of Clearfind's marketing function.
[Q3 2022] Achieve 116% quota & successfully grew into my marketing role.
[Q2 2022] Achieved 190% quota & was promoted to Growth Marketing Lead along with my current title.
[Q1 2022] Hit quota by 110% while building a new outbound process, with several new ICPs, from scratch.

Growth Marketing Lead

Interseller

Helped grow Interseller from $1 million AAR to $3 million AAR in 1 years time as the only SDR.
Booked over 240 meetings in a little over a year.
Hit my November 2021 quota + stretch goal before October was finished.
Booked 46 meetings in October 2021.
100% Outbound

[Q3 2021] Exceeded quota by 162%.

I help people reach their intended prospects & do it faster.
Ask me how to level up your cold outreach game.

[Q2 2021] Exceeded quota by 178%.
[Q1 2021] Exceeded quota by 167% in the first full quarter.
[Q4 2020] Exceeded quota during 2-month ramp-up period.

Founding Sales Development Representative

Rescue Relief

Singlehandedly founded & streamlined an out-of-the-box 501c3 nonprofit animal welfare organization that grew from no donations to over $8000 a month in donations in a little over a year with no marketing budget, no investors & no sponsorships. Only bootstraps.
[Grew] from having one large scale program, Raffles for Rescues, to a second nationwide program, Spay the Nation, in less than 6 months.
[Secured] Spay The Nation contracts with vets to cover all of Louisiana & parts of Texas.
[Works] with & awards funds to 70+ animal rescues, earning thousands of dollars every month to aid their efforts.
[Serving] the public with over 150 spays for unaltered pets in only two months.
[Projected] to personally spay 1000 animals within a years time, more if volunteers & financial support grows.
[Seeking] additional funding & sponsorships starting late Q3.

Executive Director Of Fundraising & Development

Uncomplicated Business Solutions

Owned & operated a consulting firm that helped executives on their go-to-market strategy.
[Singlehandedly] ran a full cycle sales process & completed all work for 14+ clients, earning $2000-10,000 per opportunity.
[Sold] solutions to overcome a wide range of obstacles to c-suite executives & SMB owners. 
[Worked] with multiple stakeholders to accomplish deals.
[Implemented] onboarding/customer success to ensure no churn.

Founder

NOLA Food Delivery

#1 third-party food delivery company in the Gulf South, 6 years in a row.
[Broke] profit within the Q1.
[Ran] a full cycle sales process for 200+ B2B clients paying an average of $8000 ARR.
[Consistently] doubled the amount of contracts we held every quarter of year one & two, and continued to increase by 15% year three, at which point every business in the area that wanted to deliver was working with us.
[40] direct reports & 3 managers.
[Ran] demand gen & field marketing.
[Oversaw] logistics to deliver over 2,200 meals per week

Founder & CEO

I connect people — to solutions, to opportunity, and to results.

I’m a business development pro with an entrepreneurial spirit and a passion for scrappy teams with big visions. My career began as a founder and operator, and that foundation drives my strategic, hands-on approach to sales and growth.

I’ve helped startups scale from $1M to $3M ARR, built outbound processes from scratch, and consistently exceed quotas (we're talking 150–200%+ on the regular). Whether I’m booking over 400 meetings in a year or crafting email and LinkedIn sequences that fuel 100%+ growth, I thrive where hustle meets heart.

Currently, I’m part of the founding team at Pin, building a cutting-edge platform that transforms how recruiting agencies find and reach top talent. Before this, I’ve worn many hats across roles in growth, outbound consulting, and marketing — always with one goal: helping businesses grow smarter and faster.

Some of the companies I’ve worked with include:

Clearfind – Scaling GTM and outbound while leading marketing.

Included – Bringing AI-powered HR insights to life.

Drawbridge & Sprout – Creating impact in energy, IT, and healthcare sectors.

And at the root of it all: the original Interseller team.

When I’m not driving pipeline, you’ll find me kayaking, reading something inspiring, or hanging with my dogs.

Senior Sales Development Representative

Erica Stacy Tarwater

Hit quota for the month yesterday. How, you may ask. Well, there are two main contributing factors, but I will talk about one today:

Cold calling using Koncert. 

Cold calling is what it is, but I can tell you these guys are SO helpful. Jagadeesh Thirunavukarasu being at the top for being on top of every question, concern or suggestion I've had through the buying process & patience while I test, test, and test some more. Jennifer Nickles has been very help post sale as well, including confirming that a feature I have requested will be coming out soon.

I don't use a permission based opener anymore (I did, it started getting hung up on, so I pivoted) and I just have a normal conversation.

It goes something like this:
Hi (First name), Erica from Pin here, how are you? (They usually reply with good, what is Pin) We do XYZ, is that something that's on your radar right now?" Yes, boom.

No need to over think it.

Sweet, simple, to the point. What's working for your BD efforts?

I connect people. Consistent 200-300% quota attainment. Open to advisory positions.

Hey guys! Meet James Corvin. He’s a sharp, seasoned recruiter who’s officially on the market & I agreed to make a post for him since most of who I am connected with are recruiters/agency owners.

With 12+ years hiring across healthcare, tech, and manufacturing, James is one of those rare folks who can actually find needles in haystacks - and make it look easy.

He’s built a reputation for going the extra mile, forming real relationships, and bringing both strategy and heart to every search.

Know of a team that could use a recruiter like that? Ping James here:
https://lnkd.in/g_jRMFDA
3Volunteer77@gmail.com

What are the best noise cancelling headphones out there y'all?

Asking for a friend...

Edit: Preferably wireless

Let's see how this does:

If you're hiring recruiters/TA Folks, comment below.

If you're looking for a job in TA or recruitment, comment below.

Let's connect some people!

Happy Sunday all! I run a group on Facebook called NOHungryBellies & cook most weekends for the homeless & we're doing a drive as well. 

So, just wanted to update everyone on the 50 backpacks for the homeless going out around Christmas time here in New Orleans.

The check marks show what we already have & no check means still needed if you feel inclined to donate.

Space blanket ✔️
Hoodies / Thermals - Still Needed
Blankets ✔️
Scarves ✔️
Gloves ✔️
Beanies ✔️
Socks ✔️
Drop cloths/ tarps - Still Needed
Backpack ✔️
Dried fruit, easy open canned fruit - Still Needed
Tuna pouches - Still Needed
Jerky - Still Needed
SPAM - Still Needed
Vienna sausage -l✔️
Markers - Still Needed
Blank book and pen - Still Needed
First Aid kits ✔️ (lots of stuff in these - I'm proud of my work on this)
Tissues - Still Needed
Wipes ✔️
Razors ✔️
Cough drops
Chapstick ✔️
Lotion - Still Needed
Ear plugs - Still Needed
Batteries - Still Needed
Mouthwash - Still Needed
Toothbrush ✔️
Toothpaste ✔️
Soaps - Still Needed
Hand warmers ✔️
Flashlights - Still Needed
Lighters - Still Needed

Change Leadership, General Manager PFA @ Batgroup & Member of the Board @ Putzfrauenagentur

Leadership isn’t about volume.
It’s about clarity, confidence and direction when the pressure is on.

I partner with HR leaders, GMs and Executive Teams across MENA & Asia to strengthen leadership capability from the ground up. My work sits where strategy, people and day-to-day execution meet in service-driven organisations.

Most performance issues in hospitality, retail and education aren’t about effort.
They come from three gaps:

❌ Leaders promoted before they’re ready to lead
❌ Executive Teams pulling in different directions
❌ No clear pipeline or succession to stabilise performance

So my work covers both sides of the leadership equation:

Strategy & alignment for senior teams
Facilitated Strategy Days that help GMs and Executive Teams:
✅ Agree a small set of must-win priorities
✅ Translate those into a 90-day execution plan
✅ Build the clarity and focus teams need to perform
✅ Name the leadership behaviours that sustain results

Leadership development for emerging & mid-level managers
Practical, human-centred programmes that build the skills to lead through others, communicate with clarity and coach across cultures.

Coaching & capability building
1:1 and group coaching, Train-the-Trainer, and tailored L&D that strengthen the pipeline and reduce turnover.

Across 25+ years with Apple Retail, Swissôtel, St. Regis and service organisations in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, one truth holds: engagement and commercial performance rise when leaders at every level know where they’re going and how to bring their people with them.

If you’re building your leadership pipeline or want stronger alignment at the top, I’m happy to explore how we can work together.

📞 Book a call: https://jeffross.as.me/

Jeff Ross

Top sellers stall when asked to lead.
Coach ICs now with lean prompts.

❌ Over-index on product expertise.
✅ Balance with coaching, listening, inclusive leadership.

❌ Feedback as annual event.
✅ Weekly 10–15 minute coaching conversations using SBI+.

❌ “Be more proactive.”
✅ Decision logs that capture judgment under pressure.

Fallout → Brilliant sellers, poor team leaders.
Fix → Clear thresholds: delegate during a peak, lead a small recovery.

Because inclusion drives voice, we hard-wire “invite the quieter voice” into stand-ups and handovers.
Outcome: candidates who already lift others.

To see the manager-as-coach prompts we use, message me and I’ll send the guide.

Helping hospitality and service brands align strategy, strengthen pipelines and deliver consistent performance | Strategy Days, L&D and coaching | MENA and Asia

Top sellers stall when asked to lead

Your manager gap began two promotions ago.
Build a leadership pipeline with this 90-day path.

❌ Cut layers, expect senior leaders to plug the gap.
✅ Grow capable first-line leaders who stabilise shifts.

❌ Promote on technical mastery alone.
✅ Promote on observed coaching, safety, and service recovery.

❌ Hope people “figure it out”.
✅ Give ICs a 90-day roadmap with on-shift experiments.

Fallout → Directionless teams, inconsistent standards, supervisor burnout.
Fix → Skill sprints: trust, influence, feedback, delegation, conflict, recovery.

Because development must fit rota reality, each rep is 2–15 minutes and logged. Managers coach, not carry.

Outcome: a bench of calm coordinators who can run briefings tomorrow.

If you want the playbook that underpins this, comment “Playbook” and I’ll send it.

Your 'missing managers' problem

If complaints spike, you’re too late.
Preload micro-leadership with this plan.

❌ Wait for complaints to spike, then book workshops.
✅ Build micro-leadership before the badge.

❌ Abstract competencies no one can see.
✅ Observable thresholds: run a 10-minute huddle, deliver SBI+ feedback.

❌ Annual talent reviews with thin evidence.
✅ Decision logs, peer feedback, capstone stories you can trust.

Fallout → Firefighting culture.
Fix → 70% on-the-job stretch with manager-as-coach prompts.

Because psychological safety predicts team effectiveness, we teach “Thank, Ask, Normalise” on live shifts.
Result: steadier service, earlier escalations, fewer near-misses.

If you’d like our L&D framework that powers this, send a note and we’ll walk you through it.

Stop training managers after the damage shows up

Strategy won’t save a shaky front line.
Six shift sprints make service dependable.

❌ Promotion-first, training-later creates “accidental managers”.
✅ Prepare high-potentials on shift before the title.

❌ One-off workshops.
✅ 70-20-10, with bite-size reps inside real service windows.

❌ Theory-first decks no one opens.
✅ Micro scripts, logs, and stand-ups people actually use.

Fallout → Missed standards, erratic guest recovery, churn.
Fix → Six 1–2 week sprints that build trust, coaching, delegation.

Because first-line leaders shape up to 70% of engagement, the cost of waiting is visible in your NPS and absence line.

Results you can expect: ready-now candidates who already run huddles, coach peers, and surface issues early.

If you’re building a 2025 pipeline in customer-centric operations, message me to discuss your sites’ needs.

JSESSIONID

li_at

Front-line managers have more impact than strategy has.

#LinkedIn is not for job hunts. It is for promotions.

Most professionals treat it like a CV warehouse. The platform’s real value is internal leverage you can use long before a role is posted.

#Gallup's 2025 State of the Global Workplace shows this tension clearly. In MENA, 46% are watching for or seeking new jobs. Engagement sits at 14%, the lowest globally. Yet most of you would rather be seen, developed and promoted where you are.

❌ Waiting for a tap on the shoulder
✅ Making yourself findable by the people who decide

A quick story. In 2005, a fellow Boston to London passenger sitting next to me (Hello, Caroline 👋) introduced me to LinkedIn. For years I used it as a digital Rolodex. Then when Starwood Hotels started moving me across continents, I stopped going in blind. Before accepting new roles I researched the GM’s leadership style, the department heads, the ownership structure and the market dynamics. It turned contacts into career intelligence. It also made me visible to decision-makers before opportunities emerged.

The MENA reality many leaders are living with:
• 14% engagement, versus 21% globally.
• 48% daily stress, second highest globally.
• 34% think it is a good time to find a job, the lowest globally.

That is precisely why visibility matters. Your next opportunity may be two departments away. Your future boss is on LinkedIn. So are the executives shaping promotion and succession.

❌ Updating a CV and hoping HR notices
✅ Proving value in public where leaders actually look

Practical moves for professionals who want internal advancement:
✅ Share insights from current work without breaching confidentiality. One observation, one implication, one next step.
✅ Engage on industry discussions with a point of view anchored in evidence.
✅ Build skills through LinkedIn Learning and post a short reflection on how you applied one idea.
✅ Connect across functions to widen weak ties. Tag colleagues when you credit their expertise.
✅ Shape your profile around outcomes. Replace task lists with two or three measurable results that matter to the business.

For HR and L&D leaders under pressure to retain talent:
✅ Fund LinkedIn Learning for high potentials. It is one of the most cost-effective retention levers.
✅ Tie access to clear commitments, such as quarterly course completions or monthly learning hours.
✅ Ask leaders to post one applied learning takeaway each month. You get visibility and a public development trail.

The uncomfortable truth is simple. Organisations invest in people who invest in themselves. With engagement at historic lows and nearly half of the region keeping options open, visibility is not optional. It is survival.

I learned this two decades ago. I put time and money into my development. Strategic research first, then LinkedIn Learning. That habit changed my trajectory and later my career. It can change yours.

Source: Gallup’s 2025 State of the Global Workplace Report

Principal at the Rocklawn Group

On paper, many service organisations look stable: good brand, decent demand, solid product.

Underneath, everything depends on a tiny group of managers holding the whole thing together.

When one leaves, the cost is bigger than a vacancy:
❌ Productivity dips while others “cover”
❌ Standards slip just enough for guests to feel it
❌ Confidence drops and people start looking elsewhere
❌ Recruitment turns reactive and costly
❌ Revenue opportunities are missed as priorities keep changing hands

That isn’t just a people risk. It’s a financial risk.
Gallup’s lesson is consistent: people don’t leave in the abstract. They leave environments where managers are overwhelmed and under-supported.

If you have no pipeline, then:
❌ Every promotion is a gamble
❌ Every resignation is a small crisis
❌ Every strategy is more fragile than it looks

Succession planning isn’t a corporate luxury.

It’s basic risk management for any hotel, school, clinic, or service business that runs on human performance.

Prepare people before you desperately need them.

Middle managers stuck between messages.
Give them crisp, consistent signals.

Executive teams in hotels and service businesses work hard.
The problem is not the effort you put in.
It is direction.

When the senior team is misaligned, you see it everywhere:
 ❌ Leaders pulling in different directions
 ❌ Conflicting signals about this quarter’s priorities
 ❌ Departments optimising for their own metrics
 ❌ Middle managers stuck between messages
 ❌ Frontline teams guessing where to put their energy

Engagement drops not because people don’t care, but because they stop trusting the signals.
 Then the financial impact lands fast:
 ❌ Turnover in key roles
 ❌ Slower response to market moves
 ❌ Lost revenue through inconsistency
 ❌ More firefighting, less improvement

Across hotels, retail, and services, one thing has been consistent:
 When the top team aligns on a handful of must-win priorities, everything beneath has a chance to stabilise.
 
Clarity at the top creates confidence in the middle.
 Confidence in the middle unlocks energy on the front line.
 That’s where guests, customers, students, and patients feel the difference.

Engagement is about seeing the direction clearly, and leaders walking it together.

If your top team’s priorities aren’t aligned, let’s pressure-test them together. Book a complimentary 30-minute call and I’ll outline a focused alignment sprint you can run immediately.

Clarity isn’t universal; it’s cultural, contextual, and negotiated.
What sounds precise in one culture can land as blunt in another.

❌ One-size-fits-all “clear communication”
✅ Culture-aware clarity: agree meaning, then message

Here’s the move I learned in hospitality and later at Apple Retail:

1. Start with intent. State what you’re trying to achieve, not just what you want done.

2. Check meaning. Ask how your words are likely to land in this context.

3. Match channel and pace. Some teams prefer written first, others live discussion.

4. Close the loop. Ask someone to replay what they heard so you can align.

On Mon 10 Nov, 09am GST / 01PM HKT, I’ll be with Veronica Llorca-Smith🎤  on how leaders blend cultural agility with emotional intelligence to lead with clarity and care in diverse teams.

Save your seat, Link in comments.

International Speaker & Corporate Trainer in 6 languages: Leadership, Communication & Cultural Agility | Penguin Author | Ironman Triathlete | CEM (Chief Executive Mom)

Training often dies at the lunch rush.
Use on-shift cues that stick at peak.

❌ E-learning that dies at peak.
✅ Two-line prompts managers can use at 12:30.

❌ One-size modules.
✅ Sector examples: queue flow, top-10 stockouts, tour-bus arrivals.

❌ “Forever” changes.
✅ Bounded experiments: next 30 minutes, this service period.

Fallout → Skills don’t transfer to the floor.
Fix → On-shift practice with buddy circles and manager check-ins.

Because we measure behaviour, not attendance, leading indicators move first: briefings run, feedback given, conflicts de-escalated.

If you want a copy of the 90-day Emerging Leader Sprint, reply “90 days” and I’ll share it.

Training that survives the lunch rush

Stop scaling AI on fear. Scale trust and control.
Korn Ferry warns: replacement-first signals crater trust and stall adoption. (from Korn Ferry: "AI Took My Job", link to the article in comments)

❌ Automate without guardrails, save now, invite resistance later.
❌ Titles feel threatened, risks go underground, quality degrades.
✅ Publish human-override rules for high-risk outputs and keep a visible review log.
✅ Communicate by task, not title: what’s automated, what’s augmented, what stays human.

I pre-sold a workshop at 60% complete and tightened review steps in public. Anxiety fell because people saw the checks.

Post your override criteria next week, e.g. legal, safety, customer comms, with named owners.

Share a one-pager: Automated | Augmented | Human-only, with two concrete examples.

Trust compounds. Which override rule will you publish by next week Friday?

#kornferry #AI #leadershipdevelopment

Managers who make every call don’t raise standards.
They raise dependence.

It feels like quality control; it is control, full stop.

Fallout:
 ❌ Bottlenecks and a silent escalation tax.
 ❌ People stop thinking and feel mistrusted.
 ❌ You burn out.

Better, and grounded in EQ:
 ✅ Decide your non-negotiables: safety, legal, brand promise, budget.
 ✅ Make decision rights explicit: what I decide, what you decide, what we consult on.
 ✅ Delegate by judgement, not task: move from “tell” to “agree” to “you run it”.
 ✅ Set a small failure budget and run quick after-action reviews.
 ✅ Use emotional intelligence in the moment: name your trigger, ask “what risk am I protecting?”, switch from answers to coaching questions, and back their call in public.

If you never let go, you will never grow leaders. Only followers.

Which decision will you hand over this week and never take back?

#leadership #leadershipdevelopment #emotionalintelligence #EQ

Your best future leads aren’t practicing.
Weekly pressure reps surface them fast.

❌ Talent spotting in annual reviews only.
✅ Weekly reps where ICs run moments that matter.

❌ “Shadow when it’s quiet.”
✅ Shadow at pressure points, harvest three copy-worthy behaviours.

❌ Vague “step up more”.
✅ Mini-campaigns with a metric, stakeholder map, and short retro.

Fallout → Quiet high-potentials stay unseen.
Fix → Simple artefacts that show the work and de-risk first promotions.

Because consistency beats heroics, we build habits: Focus 3, check-clarify-close, micro-recoveries with guests.
You’ll see who is already leading, not just hoping.

If you’re building a middle-management pipeline for 2026, DM me and let’s scope it for your context.

Leadership potential isn’t invisible, it’s unpractised

South Asia is 26% engaged, yet anger runs high.
People care, but many feel unheard.

Passion without psychological safety becomes burnout.
You won’t fix that with perks or posters.

EQ turns it around:
empathy → recognition that lands, not generic praise
self-awareness → fewer reactive decisions
coaching conversations → belonging over busywork

❌ “We’re engaged, so we’re fine.”
✅ “We’re engaged, so we must protect it.”

Boundary → Because: recognition is weekly and specific, because effort seen becomes effort repeated.

Make it practical: manager office hours, structured 1:1s, and a simple “recognise-then-redirect” script for tough moments.
Healthy engagement is the goal, not just high engagement.
It starts with emotionally intelligent managers who make safety a habit.

South Asia's Paradox

Promotions without support drain teams.
Start support before numbers slip.

We all know the pattern:
Strong individual contributor gets promoted.
Same expectations, bigger scope, little support.
They try to carry the team by working harder.
Communication wobbles.
The team quietly disengages.
Performance and guest experience follow.

On a spreadsheet, it looks like:
❌ Rising turnover and sick days
❌ Inconsistent guest/client feedback
❌ Lumpy sales and service metrics

In real life, it’s a human who was never taught how to:
✅ Have difficult conversations
✅ Give clear, fair feedback
✅ Delegate without guilt
✅ Set boundaries and protect their energy

Invest early, before they burn out or burn bridges.
The results are predictable:
✅ Teams stabilise
✅ Engagement stops swinging
✅ Financials get less lumpy and more reliable

Emerging leaders aren’t a “nice” group to develop.
They’re the infrastructure of future performance.

If this pattern is biting in your teams, book a complimentary 25-minute advisory call and we’ll map the first three fixes for your emerging leaders.

Only 14% engaged in MENA, the lowest worldwide.
Stress 48% and anger 31% tell the story.

This isn’t about “lazy employees.”
It’s about managers under pressure, hierarchy, and cross-cultural demands without human-centred tools.

❌ More control, tighter rules, tougher talk.
✅ More connection, clearer expectations, consistent follow-through.

EQ is clarity when the heat rises.
Cultural agility is respect in motion.

Fallout → Fix: when managers default to command, people hide problems; when managers default to curiosity, problems surface early.

If engagement starts with managers, prepare them to lead people, not just processes.
Start with 1:1s that build trust, not status reports.
Close the loop on recognition and feedback, every week.
Hold standards while holding humanity.

Preparation beats pressure. Train for it.

The MENA reality check

Where manager EQ is thin, engagement drops fastest.
We still promote for technical mastery, then hope for people skills.

When self-regulation is low, stress spikes; when empathy is missing, turnover follows.
Flattened layers haven’t helped. Many firms cut managers, then wonder why teams feel directionless.

Fallout → Fix: fewer managers → confusion and reactivity; equip remaining managers with EQ, coaching and feedback skills, then rebuild clarity.

Teach managers to:
give hard feedback without breaking trust
adapt tone across cultures and contexts
stay steady when pressure bites

❌ Treat EQ as “soft.”
✅ Treat EQ as the system upgrade that keeps teams steady.

Start inside, then roll out the skills.

The EQ gap that sinks engagement

The Gallup report has been stuck in my head for weeks.
We keep talking about engagement like it lives in HR.
It doesn’t.
It lives in the P&L.

In service businesses, low engagement shows up as:
❌ Turnover in the teams you can’t afford to lose
❌ Basics slipping, complaints rising
❌ Supervisors firefighting instead of coaching
❌ Sales and ops pulling against each other
❌ Mid-level leaders burning out quietly

None of that is “soft.”
All of it is expensive.

In hotels and other service organisations, you feel disengagement in:
❌ Overtime and replacement costs
❌ Guest scores and online reviews
❌ Missed up-/cross-sell and retention
❌ Managers checking out months before they resign

✅ Here’s the truth we skip: engagement is a leadership issue long before it’s an HR metric.

When leaders at every level know what matters, why it matters, and how to bring people along, engagement becomes a commercial advantage, not a slide in a report.

Treat it as a financial lever, not an annual survey.

Those weekly updates feel busy, not better.
Swap noise for direction in one day.

Hospitality, retail, service teams: you’ll recognise this pattern.

❌ Operational updates, staffing gaps, guest feedback, budget variances, firefighting.
Important. Necessary.
But not the work that aligns a leadership team.

✅ The work that does:
What are the 3–5 priorities for the next 90 days?
Where are we misaligned without noticing?
What do our people need us to clarify?
Which capabilities are missing to execute consistently?

When leaders make room for this, everything steadies:
Engagement holds. Turnover eases.
Middle managers stop guessing.
The frontline gets a clearer signal.
Customer experience becomes consistent.
Financial performance gets less erratic.

Boundary → Because: alignment doesn’t happen between agenda items, it happens when leaders pause, sit together, and focus on direction, not just today’s noise.

The most underrated tool isn’t coaching or training.
It’s one uninterrupted day to think, decide, and commit together.

Give your team that day. Twice a year. Then hold the line.

Curiosity outperforms command across every culture I’ve worked in.
This is human leadership, translated locally.

I hear it a lot: “Hierarchy here is different.”
True. Context always matters.

But the basics travel.
Mutual respect. Tolerance. Support. Collaboration.

❌ “Tough talk” as a badge of leadership.
Fallout: teams play hide-and-seek, learning stalls, risk rises.
✅ Curiosity with clarity.
Fix: issues surface early, standards hold, progress compounds.

I’ve led teams across Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
What changed: language, rituals, power distance.
What didn’t: people respond to being seen, heard and guided.

Boundary → Because: adapt delivery to the culture, because dignity and fairness are non-negotiable everywhere.

Leaders don’t have to choose between results and humanity.
Apply the same human principles, translate the wrapper, and performance follows.

Curiosity beats command every single time, anywhere.

Southeast Asia is 26% engaged, 8% actively disengaged.
Lowest global stress at 25%.

That doesn’t happen by luck.
Relationships precede results. Harmony, respect and recognition show up daily.

Add managerial clarity and you get trust that compounds:
clear expectations before tasks start
micro-feedback during the work
recognition tied to behaviours, not personalities

❌ Care without clarity drifts.
✅ Clarity without care hardens.
The win is care + clarity, every week.

Cultural agility in action means blending relational norms with modern performance systems.

Leaders elsewhere don’t need to copy culture; they can copy the cadence:
set expectations Monday, check progress midweek, recognise and reset Friday.
Borrow the rhythm. Improve your results.

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Erica Stacy Tarwater

Jeff Ross

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The Battle

Erica Stacy Tarwater

Jeff Ross

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Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Erica Stacy Tarwater's LinkedIn Performance

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