The guiding principle that inspires and drives me is empowering individuals, teams, classrooms, and organizations. This philosophy is the core essence of my work as a Talent Whisperer — a term I coined, and a role I’ve lived into so deeply I chose to trademark it. I help others thrive in ever-changing, competitive, and digital landscapes. This is achieved by helping navigate them to discover their unique strategic clarity and actionable solutions. I don’t believe people need fixing. I whisper things that awaken belief, curiosity, and confidence — guided by a deep sense of who they might become. This passion and curiosity can prove infectious, spreading well beyond my direct reach.

The Roots of My Approach

My journey includes surviving a near-death experience which cemented a core truth: even at life’s raw edge, pain can give way to serenity, and the deepest struggles can become profound gifts. These experiences shaped my way of seeing, becoming the compass for everything that followed. They also led me to coin the phrase “Learned Resilience” as something I embrace, look for in others and look to awaken in others.

My Philosophy in Action

I apply this philosophy across diverse settings. Early in my career, as a teacher, I saw how a shift in perspective could transform a struggling student, instilling confidence that defied initial assumptions. In competitive sports, I learned to shift confidence and lead teams to victory against national champions, embracing “villains” and pushing past perceived limits. Professionally, I’ve held pivotal leadership roles at a dozen companies, helping to guide many, mostly startups, through their own “near-death experiences” – moments when survival hung by a thread. Seven of these ventures bloomed into unicorns—not despite the chaos, but because we learned to dance on its edge and find order where it seemed absent. These high-stakes situations are precisely where the Edge of Chaos truly manifests: the dynamic boundary between order and disorder, where adaptation ignites breakthrough potential.

The Transformative Ripple Effect

When this transformative work happens well, it creates a powerful ripple effect. Individuals, teams, classrooms, and organizations go on to lift others, sharing their own reawakened strength, clarity, and care. This is the quiet revolution. In every encounter, I also receive. Whatever kindness, insight, or hard-earned wisdom someone brings, I carry that forward, too. I move slowly, listening not only to stated strategies but to the undercurrents—of emotion, story, and shadow. To be a Talent Whisperer is to move through the world as both mirror and sponge—seeing, serving, and absorbing, helping others see the beauty and potential already visible to me.

This isn’t a title. It’s a way of being. It’s my why, my Raison d’Etre.

A Talent Whisperer’s Creed

My approach as a Talent Whisperer is rooted in a unique blend of intuitive understanding and strategic methodology. For a deeper understanding of the philosophy, code, and values that define how a Talent Whisperer cultivates excellence, explore:

• The Unseen Hand: Deconstructing the Essence of a Talent Whisperer

My Journey & Track Record

Over my career, I’ve held pivotal leadership roles at a dozen companies, helping to guide many through significant transformations. This track record includes coaching teams to national championships, and professionally, contributing to 7 ventures that became unicorns, 3 IPO filings, and 3 acquisitions, collectively exceeding $400 billion in peak valuation. This journey often involved navigating existential threats, proving that success often emerges against all odds.

For a deeper dive into this improbable journey and the collective efforts behind beating steep odds, read: Against All Odds.

Shaping My Approach: Diverse Backgrounds

My unique perspective has been shaped by a diverse range of experiences and influences:

• Pioneering Software Development: Early in my career, I was an architect for the world’s first integrated software development environment , beginning a lifelong journey of understanding what makes software teams truly effective.
• Coaching & Teaching: My foundation includes being a K-8 teacher and extensive coaching training from The Co-Active Training Institute, informing a humble consulting approach.
• Intuitive Connection: Experiences as a horse whisperer taught me subtle communication and how to inspire cooperation without direct command.
• Family Heritage: I am a fifth-generation physicist on my father’s side, with family connections to Albert Einstein. My mother’s side contributes a fifth-generation teaching legacy, fostering a deep love for learning and sharing knowledge.
• Continuous Learning: My passion for understanding is fueled by extensively consuming books and research, constantly seeking new and better ways of seeing and doing.

My Professional Footprint

I’ve had the privilege of holding pivotal leadership roles in various capacities, contributing to Against All Odds story of repeated success at many organizations. Below is a list of companies where I’ve been a full-time employee, followed by organizations where I’ve helped improve SDLC processes or contributed in other advisory roles.

Companies I’ve Worked For (Full-Time Roles):

After Moving to Silicon Valley

• Cooperative Solutions
  Joined as an early-stage startup. Most funded tech startup in Silicon Valley at that time. Acquired by Bachman Information Systems for undisclosed amount.
  Employed as: Director or Product Development and site director for product BU when acquired by Bachman, Inc
• Informix, Inc – joined as a mature company. It was acquired by IBM for $1B or $1.7B in today’s dollars.
  Employed as: Senior Manager Engineering
• BroadVision, Inc. – joined as an early-stage startup. Reached profitability before filing for IPO as the second fastest growing company on Nasdaq during dot com. It achieved a $26B valuation (or $47B in 2024 dollars).
  Employed as: VP Engineering responsible for 7 product lines at the fastest growing software company on Nasdaq in the dot com days

After my sabbatical to Teach K-8

• Intuit, Inc. – joined as a mature company. I started as an individual contributor. Led internal startup to build QuickBooks Online. Current Valuation $175B.
  Employed as: Director, Engineering
• Yahoo – joined as a mature company. Lead world’s largest casual gaming platform. Yahoo’s peak valuation was over $125B.
  Employed as: Head of Engineering for Yahoo!Games Engineering as the biggest social gaming site of the time
• IMVU (now Together Labs) – joined as a mid-stage startup. Aka “The Lean Startup” Still going and being coached/advised by myself. It has raised a total of $77.6 million in funding. The Lean Startup is a methodology for creating and managing startups by using continuous innovation to build products.
  Employed as: Director, Engineering – Improved agile and continuous deployment at the company behind the book “The Lean Startup” and the world’s largest virtual goods catalog.

Twitch and Beyond

• Twitch – joined as an early-stage startup. Acquired by Amazon. Current Valuation $45B.
  Employed as: Exec V.P. Engineering at Rapid growth/paradigm shift in video streaming.
• Pure Storage – joined as a mid-stage startup Pre-IPO. Filed IPO. Current Valuation $16B.
  Employed as: Director Engineer at the fastest growing infrastructure company to date – joined pre “unicorn” IPOing
• Prosper Marketplace – joined as a late-stage startup Pre-IPO. Filed for IPO, still pending.
  Changed Rituals that saved the company, As of 2024, Prosper Marketplace has originated over $25 billion in loans.
  Employed as: V.P. Engineering at one of the pioneer Fintech companies using ML and AI to determine personal loan, HELOC and Credit Card credit worthiness to match with investors.
• Hum Capital – joined as an early-stage startup. Now profitable and still growing. It has deployed $165M in capital to date.
  Employed as: Exec V.P. R&D Funding platform pairing growth companies with investors through the use of AI and ML to evaluate whether companies live and trending financials match investor criteria to democratize access to capital. Acted as interim CPO.

Before Moving to Silicon Valley

• Kleen-Rite, Corp – First paycheck was as a janitor cleaning floors in federal buildings First “promotion” when my boss discovered I knew how to fix cleaning machines. Also did some minor construction work.
• Kasemir Construction – Built a house from the ground up doing carpentry, masonry, flooring, roofing, plumbing, electrical work, etc.
• Darden Business School (U.Va.) Executive Program – waiter and bartender to pay for school. Got to meet lots of interesting execs.
• Atmosphere Sciences Research Center– Acid Rain Data Analyst – Results published in Scientific American and presented to the U.S. Senate.
• Softlab, GmbH – joined as an early-stage startup. I was architect for the World’s 1st Integrated Software Development Environment which began my journey of learning what makes software teams succeed. Initial acquisition by BMW was at $300M valuation or $8.2B in today’s dollars.

Companies I’ve Helped (SDLC Processes & Advisory Roles):

There are other companies I’ve helped with their SLDC process without being a full-time employee.

Books that have informed my Journey and Approach

My passion for what I do also invoves consuming a lot of books so that I may learn from the isights others have gain. Here are some of the books I’ve consumed – often more than once.

I’m always open to new connections and conversations. Feel free to reach out, or explore more about the various facets of my work and philosophy: Calendly.com/C_D/Intro

Background – Deeper Dive About CD (Chris Dolezalek)

Helping engineering teams be more effective started when I was an architect for the world’s first integrated software development environment Maestro is where this journey began. A journey that has taken me through vary many transformations. I currently leverage my industry experience and training as a teacher, sports coach, and Co-Active coach. I also apply a Humble Consulting approach in helping mentor, advise and coach people within and outside my current company. Certainly not having all the answers, I’m continuously transforming. I share what I’ve learned from so many talented and insightful people I’ve encountered on my journey. I’m learning more each day and discovering new and better ways of seeing and doing things.

There is no one right way.
The path to enlightenment lies not in the footsteps of another.

I’ve coached national level teams and teaching K-8. Also, I’ve benefited from working alongside some of the brilliant, inspired, competitive, collaborative and productive people. I’ve done this in small and large companies in two cultures. I’ve lead and experienced rapid growth before and after acquisitions and IPOs. Coaching and competing in national and world championships has also shown what’s possible. I enjoy leading teams of engineers, managers, players on the field or classrooms of students. Mentoring, teaching and coaching have always been an aspect of those responsibilities I have thoroughly enjoyed.

About CD (Chris Dolezalek) – a love for learning and teaching

I learned of Google’s Project Oxygen where they concluded after much research that the most important behavior exhibited by their best managers was being a good coach. I decided to look into enrolling in the best coaching certification program I could find. I’ve since completed the 5 courses needed towards a certification as a Co-Active coach with CTI and as recognized by the ICF to add to my toolkit and experience in helping others grow their leadership skills.

Strength Finders Results for CD

As a horse whisperer, I learned to quietly and without a word can connect with a horse I’ve never seen before and ask it to move around an arena, change speed and direction, walk backwards, follow me, nuzzle its head on my shoulder, … It’s also important to recognize that it’s a dance that both beings contribute to. You make less progress with a horse if you only see yourself as leading them – appreciating their hesitations and desires to move in another direction are useful cues to pick up on and work with. So too can we as Talent Whisperers quietly and deeply move and motivate others to grow, develop and broaden their impact.

About CD’s Patents

While working at Intuit, I realized what a wealth of information we help on the financial state of startups across the US and world-wide. The value of this data and its potential for analysis seemed like a great opportunity to understand how companies are doing in agregate in the economy. Intuit holds insights to financial states, employee growth/reductions, inventory status, etc. So, I got help from some others to put together two patents.

Family and Personal History

My ancestral journey of episodic curiosity got a boost between 1914 and 1920 when my grandfather Friedrich Dolezalek worked with Albert Einstein in Berlin and my dad was inspired by this fascinating man whenever he came to visit their house. As a fifth-generation physicist on my father’s side, my fascination on how things work and my belief that our understanding of the world is just a series of ever refining theories that are tangentially approaching the truth has remained alive and become stronger with time.

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My fascination of acquiring and sharing knowledge also comes from my mother’s side where I became a fifth-generation teacher. Her vigor and fascination with learning new things continues to this day at age 98. Here she is just two weeks after having gone through a stroke and internal bleeding and having the doctor tell me I should just let her go…

Encounter with the Dalai Lama

My soul and empathic curiosity had a rebirth in 1979 when I rounded a corner at U.Va. on the way to class found myself face to face with a man I’d never seen before. We both stopped, smiled and looked deeply into each other’s eyes and souls; it felt like I recognized a kindred spirit that I had known for several lifetimes. To this day I clearly remember the sensation that he looked into my soul and knew me better than I knew myself. We then both smiled, nodded, bowed towards each other and went on our ways. It wasn’t until the next day upon seeing his picture in the paper that I first learned of this person known as the Dalai Lama.

My heart truly sprung to life when I first heard Kristy’s laugh. Destiny had our paths cross several times over many years and I’m now blessed to have her as my life partner, muse and greatest inspiration.

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See Also

• LinkedIn for CD (Chris Dolezalek)
• Against All Odds – CD’s unlikely journey.
• Inner Voices Journey – CD’s joruney as it influenced the understanding of inner voices.
• Saboteurs & Allies – CD’s exploration into the inner voices that hold us back or propel us forward – It’s been the top search result hit for “Saboteurs and Allies” for some time now.
• Radiant Energy – CD’s perchance encounter with the Dalai Lama and how that influenced things
• Atomic Rituals – CD’s View on Incremental progress for Organizations a la Atomic Habits
• CD as a Tech Leader – I asked ChatGPT (and Gemini) to describe what they would say about me as a Tech Leader. They used both external info and internal info such as prompts, docs and emails to paint the picture they hold of me.
• CD as a Coach – I asked ChatGPT (and Gemini) to describe what they would say about me as a coach. They used both external info and internal info such as prompts, docs and emails to paint the picture they hold of me.
• Strength Finders Results for CD – the results of the GALLUP – Clifton Strengths Survey on CD
• PinciplesUS on CD – Results for CD from Ray Dalio’s Survey Questionnaire
• Leadership Mindset – Leadership Mindset as described by R. Michael Anderson resonates on many fronts with my life and work experiences.
• Shelter Cove – CD’s second most favorite place to be in the world. (Where’s the most favorite place to be? Wherever Kristy is.)
• Talent Code Applied – CD’s thoughts on how organizations of talented individuals most effectively make constant and reliable progress through small, incremental and continuously examined progress.
• Dedication – CD’s site dedication to a former colleague that left us too soon.

What else?

Talent Whisperers® is a Registered Trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Talent Whisperers’ site is continuously transforming and improving as are we all.

See also the sister sites: HumanTransformation.com and AtomicRituals.com

It’s about being in service of leaders in their quest to inspire, empower and transform talent to become their best. Human Transformation has become essential in the rapidly evolving Age of Digital Transformation. The content is based on insight gained from decades of experience, and lots of research by myself as well as the research and experience that went into various books and other sources referenced throughout.

For fun see also a small selection of CD’s poems.