Dave Ramos is an author, speaker, and CEO of SHIFTPOINTS, Inc.
He is an expert at helping companies unleash the accelerating power of alignment.
Prior to founding SHIFTPOINTS, Dave applied his passion for alignment in a broad range of settings, including large global corporations, venture-backed start-ups, and innovative nonprofits.
He held executive positions with global leaders like Nortel Networks, where he was the Vice President of Global Marketing. At Nortel, Dave won the company’s highest award, The Chairman’s Award, for innovations in marketing. At IBM, Dave won the company’s highest award, The Golden Circle, for excellence in sales.
He was employee #13 at AnswerLogic, a venture-backed software company, where he led sales, marketing, and business development.
After AnswerLogic, Dave spent four years doing pro bono consulting, volunteer work, and teaching.
One of his consulting clients, McLean Bible Church (a 15,000 person megachurch) asked him to join the staff full time. Surprising everyone, Dave accepted the job. He spent three years as the Director of Adult Ministries and led the church through a strategic alignment initiative.
He left the MBC staff to start The Dashboard Group, which changed its name to SHIFTPOINTS in January, 2013.
Dave has an MBA from the Harvard Business School, and a BS in accounting from Drexel University.
Dave is a sought-after speaker and engages audiences with his humorous yet challenging style.
THE JUMP START PROGRAM
The Jump Start Program is a one-hour keynote about the Drive One Direction philosophy, delivered by SHIFTPOINTS founder and CEO, Dave Ramos.
It is a perfect way to jump start an executive team retreat or all-hands meeting.
Here is some feedback about The Jump Start Program:
- Dave is a VERY dynamic speaker and subject-matter-expert.
- Dave is a very engaging speaker.
- Really enjoyed his content and approach.
- I would love to have Dave back next year.
- I really appreciated Dave's energy, candor, and approachability.
- Dave is very knowledgeable.
- Great insight - great speaker getting everyone engaged.
- Fantastic speaker. Provided great insight into working as One Team in an easy to digest manner.
- His new book is excellent. Dave was extremely key to the entire event.
- Enjoyed this meeting tremendously!
- Excellent. Very inspiring and passionate.
- Awesome!!! Inspiring!!! Engaging!!! Passionate!!!
- I would give The Jump Start Program a 10 out of 10.
- Wow!
BOOKS BY DAVE RAMOS |
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Develop One Team How to Develop a High-Performance Executive Team |
Drive One Direction How to Unleash the Accelerating Power of Alignment |
Decide One Thing How to Develop a Differentiating Competitive Advantage |
Shift Points How to Shift your Organization into Top Gear |
| www.DevelopOneTeam.com | www.DriveOneDirection.com | www.DecideOneThing.com | www.ShiftPoints.com |
| AVAILABLE IN 2025 | BUY NOW | BUY NOW | SOLD OUT |
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ONE COMMON DENOMINATOR ... HOW DAVE RAMOS DEVELOPED HIS PASSION FOR ALIGNMENT
In 1995, I was promoted to VP of Marketing Communications for a division of Nortel Networks.
It was my first exposure to the devastating impact of misalignment.
I discovered that my division had thirty-seven different advertising, branding, and public relations agencies. And our materials made us look like we were thirty-seven different companies. There were different sizes. Different color schemes. Different designs. Different taglines.
Theoretically, Nortel was selling a portfolio of networking equipment designed to help customers build a seamless network. I remember asking my team, “How can we expect customers to believe we can build a seamless network when we can’t even get our brochures to fit in the same folder?”
Over the next three years, we aligned everything. We went from thirty-seven agencies to two. We developed a unifying theme and a consistent value proposition.
Our team won The Chairman’s Award, Nortel’s highest honor, for our work.
Shortly thereafter, Nortel acquired Bay Networks in a $7.1B transaction, one of the largest networking deals of that time. I was promoted to Vice President of Global Marketing for the new Nortel/Bay division and we moved to San Jose, California.
Mergers are always challenging, but this was a colossal mess. In this case, it was not just the marketing collateral that was out of alignment. Everything was out of alignment.
We had two CEOs. Two cultures. Two agendas. Two visions. Two of everything.
To integrate the global marketing team, I launched an initiative called One Team. We had our first global marketing conference. There was a glimmer of hope.
One month later, my boss—who was from Bay Networks—called me into his office and fired me. Less than One Year after winning the Chairman’s Award, I was gone.
We moved back to Washington, D.C., and I joined a software startup called AnswerLogic. The vision was to develop a natural language search engine. We called it an answer engine, and the concept was brilliant.
Unfortunately, the founder and the president could not agree on which market to target, what product to build, or how to build it. They fought constantly. To make matters worse, the board could not agree either. The company failed, and $11M in venture capital went down the drain.
All caused by a lack of alignment.
After a year or so, I did a consulting project for the Pentagon. Their problem? Lack of alignment.
Then, I started doing some pro-bono consulting for a mega-church in Virginia with 15,000 attendees. The church was the most fragmented organization I had ever encountered. Every ministry was a complete silo.
Five radically different and tragically dysfunctional organizations. One Common Denominator: massive dysfunction caused by a lack of alignment.
Now you know "the rest of the story."
