MISSION
StartITup!, LLC was founded to help individuals and organizations achieve extraordinary performance by simultaneously exploiting synergies/relationships among seven demanding, interrelated, and poorly understood competencies: innovation, leadership, high-performance teamwork, vision, strategy, communication, and culture building.
We cut through the clutter, complexity, and confusion by guiding clients to take specific, coordinated actions that simultaneously innovate, lead, elevate teamwork, inspire vision to reach strategic goals, show appreciation, and clearly communicate their messages.
This is accomplished using our unique process Managed Independence™ that exploits these synergies.
The outcome is extraordinary! Work forces that: are highly aligned, energized, and empowered to innovate; able to independently make decisions consistent with organizational values, mission, and vision; design value creation strategies to deliver new customer value through incremental and disruptive innovations; are focused on strategy execution and standards; build a positive, self-sustaining cultural spiral by showing appreciation for individual and team excellence and by celebrating organizational values and victories.
VISION
StartITup!, LLC strives to be the most trusted partner for the delivery of customized personal and organizational learning experiences that are highly relevant, memorable, and exceptionally effective in the context of the global, hyper-competitive, exponential economy.
OUR SHARED CORE VALUES
We stand for integrity-ethics-honesty; transformative customer value; continuous improvement via innovation, learning, and feedback; collaboration with open and candid communication; respect for culture and the individual.
CORE BELIEFS
On leadership (from Kouzes and Posner):
- Leaders make a difference.
- Leadership is a relationship.
- Leadership is everyone’s business.
- Leadership is an aspiration and a choice.
- The best leaders are the best learners.
- Leadership development is self-development.
- Leadership is a set of skills and abilities that can be learned.
- Leadership development takes deliberate practice.
- Leadership development is not an event; it’s an ongoing process.
Almost all of these statements also apply to innovation, high-performance teamwork, and communication! Trust is the foundation upon which competency with these skills is built.
FACILITATOR
Dr. Lynch’s passion is to inspire others to learn, grow and lead so that they, and those they inspire, will become the leaders the world needs now. He is an experienced executive and technologist with a 40-year career of Corporate, Higher Ed, and Non-Profit leadership in creating high-performance teams that deliver innovative technologies, IT systems/support, software designs, products, and services that meet customer needs with the highest levels of “customer delight.” He has worked in roles as an electrical engineer, medical research scientist, software engineer and architect, project/program/department manager, Vice President, and Chief Information Officer. He has worked at MIT, MIT/Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Bolt Beranek and Newman (BBN Systems & Technologies and BBN Software Products), Domain Solutions, and been a Chief Information Officer for both Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Suffolk University for a combined tenure of over 20 years.
Tom is Founder and CEO of startITup!, LLC – a leadership development and IT management consulting and assessment practice, founded in 2009, focused on creating world-class customer service organizations through innovation, leadership, high-performance teamwork, vision, strategy, communication, governance, and policy practices. Dr. Lynch is a Certified Master Facilitator and Certified LPI Coach for The Leadership Challenge®—one of the most widely used and effective leadership programs in the world. Dr. Lynch also holds an Exponential Organizations (ExO) Foundations certification, is a Trust at WorkTM Certified Practitioner, and is ITIL Certified.
Tom earned his MS, EE, and Ph.D. degrees from MIT in Electrical Engineering, and BSEE from the University of Cincinnati. He has taught technical and business topics at MIT, WPI, BU, Suffolk University, and the College of William and Mary.
His publications span the fields of physiological acoustics, hearing, expert systems, multi-processor based data acquisition and analysis systems, customer service, campus networking, library technologies, and IT Governance.
Tom has worked with executives from Autodesk, the EcoTarium, Emerson College, Clark University, The College of the Holy Cross, University of Missouri, Suffolk University (Student Leadership Challenge Workshop), and several Boston area startups and entrepreneurs.
Customer Statements: “Tom is extremely passionate about learning, but he is even more passionate about sharing what he has learned with others. Tom shared that he had first experienced The Leadership Challenge more than 30 years ago and had been hooked ever since. Due to this history, he has a deep understanding of the content of The Leadership Challenge and with his gift of analysis and synthesis, he links the practices, commitments, and behaviors easily and often. He not only speaks with competent authority; he intentionally and consistently exhibits credibility and exemplary leadership through his interactions with others. He models, inspires, challenges, enables, and encourages with the natural ease that comes only from life-long practice.” – A Certified Master of The Leadership Challenge
“Tom led my 80-person division through a comprehensive 360-degree examination of our mission, values, and culture. He helped us to improve consistency in communication with our constituents and among ourselves. Also, he helped us commit to better measurement of our performance at every level. Most importantly, he reinforced the notion that leadership is everyone’s job. Tom’s work with us was indeed a “leadership challenge,” including a challenge to me to be a more effective leader.” – University CIO and President
“One of the greatest leadership tools Tom taught me was the importance of celebrating accomplishments. Whether a team member was developing an improved procedure, launching a new technology or achieving a personal milestone, Tom was ready to plan the party. If a member of the team was praised for a job well done, Tom always responded with even more public praise ensuring all team members and senior leadership were aware and could share in their success. Tom is authentic, insightful, committed, and compassionate. Tom is eager to engage and learn the strengths of the people he meets and genuinely wants to find ways to inspire them to grow. I am confident Tom will not only thrive in the Certified Master Certification for The Leadership Challenge, but his contributions will also challenge and inspire other members creating a fun learning environment for all.” – Executive Director, IT Experience & Engagement