Leadership Communication Training

Founder & CEO

David Grossman helps leaders drive productivity and get the results they want through authentic and courageous leadership and communication and is a sought-after speaker and advisor to Fortune 500 leaders.

Leveraging his background in organizational development and psychology, David is known for his thoughtful, personal, and pragmatic approach, and coaches leaders at all levels to utilize communications as a strategic business tool. By acting as an advocate for employees and as a thoughtpartner™ to senior management, David and his team help organizations unleash the power of communication to engage employees and drive performance.

David is Founder and CEO of The Grossman Group, whose client roster represents a wide range of industries and includes some of the world’s leading companies such as Abbott Laboratories, Amazon, Hillrom (now a part of Baxter), Lockheed Martin, McDonald’s, Microsoft, and SC Johnson, among others.

A four-time award-winning author, David’s latest book, Heart First: Lasting Leader Lessons from a Year that Changed Everything is applauded by leaders at all levels for its practical approaches and rich stories of heart first leadership, told by senior leaders around the globe. His leadercommunicator™ blog has been ranked the number one blog on communication by Feedspot six years in a row.

David is quoted in media, providing expert commentary and analysis on employee and leadership issues, including flexible working, email overload in the workplace, why employees don’t get strategy, and more. He’s been featured on “NBC Nightly News,” CBS MoneyWatch, in the Chicago Tribune, Forbes, LA Times, and the World Economic Forum.

David is a member of the Arthur W. Page Society and the Forbes Communication Council. He’s also a designated Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) through the National Speakers Association, an MBTI® Certified Practitioner, a Prosci Certified Change Practitioner, and taught graduate-level internal communications at Columbia University.

Prior to founding The Grossman Group in 2000, David was director of communications for McDonald’s. 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.

David and his husband Steve have two girls, Avi and Noa. On the weekends they sometimes enjoy getting out of the city and heading to Wisconsin to swim and boat, or taking the girls to an Anime convention or to buy manga. David is also a big fan of musical theater. His favorite Broadway shows include The Color Purple, Next to Normal, Little Shop of Horrors, and Wicked.

President

Kate is President of The Grossman Group and works closely with the team to deliver innovative and strategic communication solutions for clients that address their everyday and defining business challenges. She has worked with leaders across a variety of functions and industries to connect employees to strategy, improve the employee experience, and drive change.

Over the years, Kate has worked with companies such as Astellas, Johnson & Johnson, Molex, NiSource, SC Johnson, Tenneco, The Hartford, and Wyndham, among others.

Having served on the corporate and agency side, Kate applies her breadth of experience in corporate communications – which includes employee communications, leadership communications, public relations, issues communications, and research – to offer clients trusted, proven counsel and shape and implement strategic solutions that accelerate results.

Kate counsels leaders in Communications, HR, Learning and Development, Supply Chain, Commercial Operations, DE&I, Ethics and Compliance, and more to help them tackle pressing challenges affecting their teams and organization.

Kate’s work has been recognized by clients and the communication industry. Her contributions helped The Grossman Group win the prestigious PRWeek Boutique Agency of the Year and Product of the Year by SABRE for the firm’s messagemap™ methodology. She has helped companies like McDonald’s, Motel 6, Tenneco, Lockheed Martin, Gerber, and Pillsbury win prominent awards for their communications programs.

Kate holds a bachelor’s degree in Communication/Journalism with honors from Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, CA., and a Master’s in Science degree in Communications from Northwestern University’s School of Communication/Management Program. She is a member of Page Up for senior communications leaders, a group within the Arthur W. Page Society.

When not helping clients tackle their everyday and defining moments, Kate enjoys spending the everyday and defining moments with her husband and two children and volunteering in their school.

Executive Vice President

Linda is an award-winning leadership, communication, and employee engagement expert. She’s served in executive communications roles on both the corporate and agency sides for more than three decades. During her career, Linda has worked with a wide range of clients including American Airlines, Abbott, DHL Supply Chain, Dow Chemical Company, Hyatt Hotels, Kaiser Permanente, Sage Therapeutics, and more. 

At The Grossman Group, Linda works with and advises leaders across functions and industries to help them improve their communication capability to drive meaningful change and achieve business results. She develops innovative strategies and helps leaders hone clear, concise messages to communicate corporate initiatives in a way that internal stakeholders can relate to and act upon. Linda also specializes in guiding internal communications during high- and low-profile mergers and acquisitions in a way that keeps employees engaged and focused. 

Linda’s work has been recognized by clients and the communication industry. She was awarded Employee Communications campaign of the Year from PR Week and received a Bronze Anvil from PRSA.

Before joining The Grossman Group, Linda spent 13 years leading corporate and employee communications practices at the global public relations firm Golin. Prior to that, she served seven years as chief communications officer for Kemper Insurance Companies. Linda was also an executive in the Chicago office of Hill and Knowlton, an international public relations firm. She started her career in government and was a key advisor and chief of staff to the president of the Illinois Senate.

Linda is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago and the Arthur W. Page Society. She is a Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow and a past president of Kenilworth Union Church and of Illinois Women in Government. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Political Science, with an English Literature minor, from Illinois State University.

Linda and her husband, Jim, enjoy sailing their boat on Lake Michigan, spending time with their son, Spencer, and traveling the world.

Senior Vice President & Head of Client Service

Jason combines an extensive communication background with strategy expertise to drive large-scale transformation in big organizations. Across various senior communications, strategy, and leadership advisory positions, his expertise is driving change and inspiring growth during business-critical moments. Some of his current and past clients include General Mills, Molson Coors, Navistar, Stanley Black & Decker, Tyson Foods, and United Airlines, among others. 

Prior to joining The Grossman Group, Jason spent 20+ years at the McDonald’s Corporation, working with top leaders – including three CEOs and seven Presidents – on business and cultural transformations, implementation of new growth strategies, and the articulation of those strategies in relatable and applicable ways. 

Most recently, Jason led the team responsible for advancing McDonald’s core enterprise transformation across all facets of internal, executive, and franchisee/employee communications. His work impacted more than 14,000 restaurants, 3,000 franchisees, and nearly 750,000 employees. In this role, Jason devised the communications and change strategy for the most significant business transformation in company history. Through his work, he was able to grow understanding of strategy, confidence in business direction, and trust in leadership. Jason specializes in counseling C-suite leaders on using communications strategy and orchestration to solve complex business issues and challenges.

Jason is the recipient of McDonald’s Circle of Excellence, awarded to the highest impact global cross-functional teams, and McDonald’s President’s Award, which is given to the top 1% of employees worldwide. 

Before his time at McDonald’s, Jason worked at a strategy execution firm focused on turning corporate and operating strategies into reality by aligning an organization’s leaders, culture, strategies, and communications. 

Jason has been a featured speaker at the Advanced Learning Institute (ALI) and Poppulo conferences, and a featured thought leader in Harvard Business School publications, SmartBrief on Leadership, PR Week, and the Journal of Integrated Communication. He guest lectures at both Northwestern University’s IMC Program and the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism. Jason also serves as Strategy Advisor for Immerman Angels, a one-on-one cancer support community.

Jason holds a Master of Science degree in Marketing Communications from Northwestern University. 

What he holds most dear is that he’s a husband, dad of two high school girls, stepdad of two younger kids, and a dog dad to two Golden Doodles. He’s also a photographer, runner, beer aficionado, and collector of old Superman artifacts.