Mark Hannum

About Mark:

Mark Hannum is Chief Research Officer Emeritus at Linkage. An organization development consultant by training, Mark’s focus has been on understanding and improving executive processes and decision-making. Through his work with executive teams, leadership teams, and shared services organizations, his clients have credited him with helping them manage through difficult risks, improve business operations, lead and coach through acquisitions and integrations, and take advantage of growth opportunities.

Mark led Linkage’s most significant research effort to date, analyzing over 30 years of leadership data and more than 100,000 leadership assessments, which culminated in Linkage’s Purposeful Leadership^® model and approach. The findings formed the foundation for Rethinking Leadership: The Power of Purpose and his new book, BECOME: The Five Commitments of Purposeful Leadership (McGraw-Hill).

Background & Experience:

Mark specializes in using the tools and methods of systems dynamics. He spent his early career working as a group problem-solving facilitator and systems-thinking trainer before moving on to leading organizational change efforts and ultimately, acquisitions and integrations. He has been both an internal and external consultant, has held senior-level training positions, and has headed up a shared services HR operation.

While at Hanover Insurance, Mark was engaged with the Center for Organizational Learning at MIT’s Sloan School of Management. He is currently ABD at Boston University in organization development and is writing a book with a colleague on the foundational processes of executive teams.

Education & Training:

Mark earned a BA in psychology and philosophy from Bucknell University and an MA in psychology from the University of Oklahoma before completing the doctoral program ABD.

Mark’s clients include American Science and Engineering, Banco Popular, Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, BTMU, Cisco Corporate University, The College of the Holy Cross, Comcast, Disney University, EMC University, FAA, Farm Credit Corporation of America Corporate University, Intuit, Jeppesen, JM Family Enterprises, Leprino Foods, Macy’s, MetLife, NASA, The National Cancer Institute, ProBuild, Shawmut Design and Construction, United Nations, University of Michigan Health System, University of Notre Dame, Verisign, and Xilinx.