David is president and founder of The Grossman Group (www.yourthoughtpartner.com), an award-winning Chicago-based communications consultancy focusing on organizational consulting, strategic leadership development and internal communications. The Grossman Group’s client roster includes Fortune 500 clients such as Cisco Systems, Heinz, Intel, Lilly, LifeScan, Lockheed Martin, McDonald’s, Microsoft, Rockwell Automation, WellPoint and Virgin Atlantic.
David’s book, You Can’t NOT Communicate: Proven Solutions That Power the Fortune 100, has received accolades and praise from leaders, communication professionals and educators for “reminding leaders (everywhere and at all levels) of the importance of getting communication right” and for providing “proven and practical insights, methods and tools” to enhance results and ensure overall engagement.
Twice named PR Week’s “Boutique Agency of the Year,” The Grossman Group uses its unique Grossman Methodology — encompassing its award-winning proprietary tools, training and thoughtpartner™ approach — to deliver proven, breakthrough strategies that solve their clients’ business challenges:
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- Minimize the downside of change when business could be interrupted, slowed or stopped
- Turn employee confusion, skepticism and apathy into productivity and engagement
- Maximize the upside of change to accelerate business results
Known for his thoughtful, personal and pragmatic approach, David coaches leaders at all levels to utilize communications as a strategic business tool. The “anti-social media guy,” David addresses both the importance of effective internal and leadership communications and the critical need for face-to-face communications amid the surge of electronic mediums. By acting as an advocate for employees and a thoughtpartner to senior management, David and his team help organizations unleash the power of communication to engage employees and drive performance. The Grossman Group is a member of Worldcom Public Relations Group. A certified diversity supplier through the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC), The Grossman Group has been named by DiversityBusiness.com as one of the Top 500 Diversity-owned businesses in the U.S.
Prior to founding The Grossman Group in 2000, David was director of communications for McDonald’s. There he helped evolve what was the Publications Department into a world-class internal communications function and pioneered the “agency model,” building a leadership communications support function for the company’s senior executives.
The Grossman Group’s work has won all the “Oscars” of communications — the prestigious Silver Anvil award from the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), the Gold Quill Award from the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) and the Golden World Award from the International Public Relations Association (IPRA).
David currently teaches the only graduate-level course in internal communications in the U.S. at Columbia University. He has been published in numerous industry journals and is the author of “Internal Branding: How to Create and Sustain a Successful Internal Brand,” “The Practitioner’s Guide to Essential Techniques for Employee Engagement,” and the CD-ROM “messagemaps: A Guide to Creating Clear, Credible and Impactful Messages.”
David was recently named to USA Today’s corporate management and leadership CEO panel and was a finalist for the 2010 NGLCC Wells Fargo Business Owner of the Year Award, honoring his entrepreneurial spirit for business performance, innovation, growth and personal service to the community. He is President of Worldcom University, serves on the Editorial Board for the Melcrum Internal Comms Hub, and has served as president of PRSA Chicago, co-president of IABC-Chicago, president of the PRSA Foundation, co-vice chair of the Universal Accreditation Board, on the National Conference committee and Strategic Planning Committee for PRSA, and as a Silver Anvil judge.
David graduated Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with an honors degree in journalism and holds a master’s in Corporate Public Relations from Northwestern University. He began his career as a journalist, working in radio news and television.