TESTIMONIALS
“While we originally intended for Mark C. Crowley to speak to us in person, COVID forced us to ask him to present remotely via Zoom. And with over 150 people watching, Mark nevertheless managed to make it feel as if he was in the room with us. He is a talented speaker who captured audience attention for well over an hour. We enjoyed his sense of humor and the visuals he included. We were also very much inspired by his personal story, and the leadership insights he shared — many of which not only challenge common traditions and convention, but will prove inordinately useful to all of the educators in my school district who are trying to excel as leaders in these very challenging times. Myself included.”
“Thank you very much for your personal story and inspired presentation at the Crowe LLP annual meeting in Dallas last month. The theme of ‘Trust More; Fear Less’ seemed to really resonate with the group and your insights around “Leading From The Heart” helped set the tone. I also know your personal story touched many in the the audience, Mark — in a truly ‘heartfelt’ way.”
“Mark Crowley is an amazing keynote speaker. His message aligns with our Ph.D. program learning outcomes, and has been our top keynote speaker since our inception in 2013. We have had 16 keynote speakers to date; Mark Crowley has delivered three of those keynotes and been our most positively received speaker. Students all rate him an A+ on each speech he gives. His message resonates with everyone in our student body; educators, military, private sector, etc. alike all love Mark’s heartfelt but informative and instructive message.”
“WOW!!!! You are the single best interviewer that I’ve had out of all the podcasts, TV, radio interviewers I’ve had (and no, I don’t say this to everyone). I thought at the time it was a fun and informative interview, but listening to it just now as a third party really hammered that home. The questions just flowed really, really well and were on nuanced topics which drilled deep into the “heart” of the complex issues. Having the quick-fire round half way through was a nice way to break it up. The sound quality and editing was also really professional – please pass on my thanks to the team. I feel really lucky to have been on your show.”
I launched our university’s first “Leadership Summit” and invited business leaders from all over the state to hear Mark C. Crowley speak. I’m thrilled to say we had 275 leaders from all sectors and position levels pay to attend. I had a deep sense that people were hungry for a paradigm shift in leadership practices, and I was right.
To say it was impactful is an understatement. To this day, leaders at USM still talk about the powerful message Mark shared that day. No surprise that three other organizations later invited him to come back to Maine and speak to their employees. Mark Crowley is an uncommonly powerful human being.”
“Imagine a room packed with 100s of highly successful CEOs – standing, whooping, clapping, stomping and cheering for well over a minute. Mark is an absolute leadership rock star, with an authentic and disarming point of view. When I hired him to speak at the YPO-WPO Global Conference I expected him to be good – turns out he was GREAT. Mark’s compelling, thoughtful, funny and incredibly well-researched presentation challenged every CEO in the room to inspire true commitment and excellence in their organization by Leading from the Heart.”
“Mark C. Crowley encouraged our 4,000 associates to reach higher levels of performance. Anyone who wants to be a better person or improve their leadership performance will benefit from Mark’s message!”
Mark is the best manager I have ever worked with and I’ve worked for a lot of managers. In my work career of over 30 years, I worked for over 50 different managers and I had the privilege of working with Mark Crowley for over six years. During this time I learned the most about leadership and developing relationships than any other time in my career and that was a tribute to Mark. He was always encouraging and leading by example; he was enthusiastic and always helped us look at the possibilities of things and helped us believe that great things could happen. He entrusted his managers to do the right thing, gave us direction, goals, strategies and and then gave us the autonomy to make it happen. Mark had us read leadership books; we reported on them and discussed the great ideas in them and how to use those skills with our people. Mark helped us lead our teams to be better performing teams and by having fun doing it. Our teams were always the best in the bank and it was because Mark was a great leader. I can’t think of a more qualified person to write a book on Leadership than Mark.”
Your kick-off presentation contributed to our conference theme, Leading From The Heart perfectly. Overall, your presentation gave our members tools to improve their leadership and impact their business immediately after the conference. I would also like to thank you for your willingness and ability to interact with our members before and after your presentation. I have received feedback about the value of your presence throughout the conference that emphasizes your commitment to our event and to our members. On behalf of the GBA Board of Directors and staff, I wholeheartedly recommend you to any future group looking for an “all-in,” energetic, and intelligent keynote presentation from a friendly and polished speaker. To your continued success!”
“Mark Crowley is one the finest leaders I have ever met. He possesses all the usual qualities of a true leader – focused, inspiring, thought-provoking, motivating and true to his word. But, what makes Mark’s leadership style so unique is his unwavering ability to lead from the heart. He genuinely cares about his people and what matters to them. He really gets to know the person behind the employee. By truly understanding what matters to an employee, Mark sets them up for success in their career and in turn, produces results for the company.”
“My first job in financial services, over 20 years ago, was under the leadership of Mark Crowley. I was very fortunate early in my career to have my first manager become my mentor. I knew from the very beginning that he was truly interested in me and my professional development. He communicated well what we were trying to accomplish and why we were working so hard. Over the years Mark has continued to offer mentoring of my career as our paths have crossed at different stages. He is always the first person I call when I have another intersection to navigate.”
When I was promoted to Branch Manager by Wells Fargo in Palm Beach I accepted it and ran with it. I can attribute much of my success now to what Mark Crowley instilled in me when I was an Assistant Manager at Washington Mutual. To this day, I follow those principles. It does work and by the grace of God I am doing very well in my career. My peers and leaders have a great respect for me. So I will never forget what I learned from you, Mark. Thanks again—I have to say you have inspired a lot of people and I appreciate everything you did. This is no lip service, it is the truth!”
“I am so excited about Mark Crowley’s second edition of “Lead From The Heart”. Having spent most of our careers together, I know that Mark was inspired by managers who displayed compassionate leadership character. He sought mentorship from leaders who were passionate on foundational excellence. Under their tutelage, his own inherent leadership style of ‘people first’, paid huge dividends in his long and successful career in Retail and Investment Banking. Mark’s writings provide valuable messages that will inspire, motivate and encourage Managers and Business Owners to believe in the power, success and personal satisfaction that comes from leadership that hits people squarely in the heart. I witnessed the profound success Mark had leading this way, and fully believe it represents the future of workplace leadership.”
“Mark Crowley and I were professional colleagues for the better part of eight years. During that time I came to know Mark as a bright, sensitive and technically competent individual. Foremost among his many attributes is that Mark is a ‘people person.’ Perhaps that is a byproduct of the businesses through which I got to know Mark, first as a retail banking leader and then as an our organization’s National Sales Manager for Investment products.
In both capacities, Mark held senior-level leadership roles and was extremely successful. To this day I believe that in both these businesses there are many smart people, but the cream rises to the top because they recognize that success is based upon relationships. Mark learned this lesson early on and he worked tirelessly for his people, his customers of course, but even more importantly, for the people who worked for him. Because of Mark’s intelligence, experience and excellent presentation skills, I see him as a can’t miss in his next life as an author and a speaker. I make this statement with complete confidence having just read Lead From the Heart. He has the knack of taking complex material and breaking down into simple, actionable concepts. This skill, combined with a wonderful sense of humor, makes him a riveting speaker. As much as I admire Mark and all that he can offer, the man is not without flaws. Number one on that admittedly short list is that he is, without question, the slowest golfer I’ve ever played with. Taking a page out of Mark’s book, however, I will look at the glass as half full and concede that this attribute afforded me the opportunity to spend more time with him, always a pleasure.”
“Mark C. Crowley combines both the heart and the mind – making him an extremely effective leader.”
“As a speaker, Mark does more than just share information. He communicates from the heart in a way that touches the audience.”
“Mark is an eloquent speaker who weaves in personal stories to keep his audience engaged, while demonstrating a sense of advocacy that inspires the audience with a sense of conviction.”
“You stand out as a leader in your field by sharing the message of heart-led leadership and inspiring others to action. Your authenticity, courage and humility encourage me to share more, tell more stories to encourage others in this way of leading.”
“I have had the opportunity to work with many leaders over the years and it is rare when I work with one that truly “gets it.” Many leaders use tactics, or they attempt to follow a systematic approach that is often void of one major leadership quality; the power of emotional leadership. Mark Crowley understands that you do not lead projects or processes, you manage those. He gets the fact that a true leader leads “human beings”. People with the capacity for independent thought, people with feelings and emotions that dramatically affect their ability to perform. I have witnessed Mark implement leadership strategies that went against the “norm”. Many experts would say that his strategies would not work, that they were too far outside the realm conventional leadership wisdom. Well, those experts were right in that his strategies were unique and definitely not the normal leadership protocol. Where they were drastically wrong was in their assessment of his effectiveness and success. Mark attained better production numbers than any of his contemporaries. He attained this success while building a tremendous sense of loyalty and his teams were truly, well, a team. I believe Mark’s greatest leadership quality is his innate ability to not only lead from his mind, but to listen to his heart and follow its direction. Many leaders may scoff at the concept of a leader leading from his heart, heck, some might even say leaders don’t need heart. But those leaders do not “get-it” as Mark does and they probably will continue to limit their ability to be truly effective leaders. I believe we all have a lot to learn from Mark and his distinctive perception on leadership. Perhaps if every leader would consider some of the principles Mark discusses in his new book, we would have a much higher success rate of leaders building truly strong, loyal and effective teams.”
“Mark gave a thoroughly engaging and thought-provoking talk on his Lead from the Heart philosophy, which received an incredibly positive reaction from the attendees. I felt that it validated my approach to people management/leadership and gave me huge confidence in the benefits of managing people in this way. Both for them as individuals, and the business.”
“Mark Crowley’s brilliant insights into the science of ‘leading with heart’ lays the foundation for the future of business leadership. His groundbreaking new book demonstrates how leaders can engage their workers with empathy, passion, and heart – all while achieving even greater levels of productivity!”
“I have had the pleasure of knowing Mark for 20+ years and without hesitation I believe him to be a brilliant writer, talented speaker and highly intelligent businessman. I have had the personal experience of working with Mark and have been captivated at his ability to lead and inspire all levels of colleagues through personal connection and a deep understanding of the human spirit. Take the opportunity to read Mark’s work or better yet, to interact with him personally and I guarantee you’ll come away energized and enlightened. You won’t be disappointed!”
“If we’re lucky, we get maybe one opportunity in our work career to experience a truly great leader. Oh, we all have had great bosses, but I’m talking about that person who really makes you up your game. The one who doesn’t challenge you, but plants the seeds in you to make you challenge yourself. I was fortunate enough to be in that position later in my career when I met Mark Crowley. Mark had a way of building a strong dedicated team of driven, intelligent people who wanted to achieve great things. And all while doing that, he was (and still is) a great friend. One of Mark’s biggest strengths is his talent of portraying himself as an ordinary person, all while leading with extraordinary capability.”
I first met Mark to discuss a major new change initiative involving thousands of employees. My immediate impression was this is an extremely likeable and passionate individual, inspired to lead and perfect for the job. It turns out that Mark leaves the same impression on almost everyone he meets. Mark has a special ability to connect with others in a very powerful but always personal way. In any type of setting Mark makes it a special moment, revealing a bit of himself, creating new friends. He integrates this ability to communicate into his proven leadership style and in the process touches everyone he works with. Mark is the person we all want to be; engaging, entertaining and interesting. But mostly Mark is the friend we all want to have, which is the core of his success in his personal and his business life.”
“Mark Crowley has been the single most important positive influence in my business career. His leadership style is based on his passionate belief in taking the time and effort in developing people. Mark influenced my decision-making thought process and that is why his guidance is still instrumental to me on a day to day basis. I learned that leadership is the ultimate differentiator and that ethics are the cornerstone in making a positive impact within an organization. Mark cared about helping me become a better person and I wanted to live up to his belief in me. Therein lies the power of Mark’s leadership style.”
“As a fellow senior manager with Mark for a number of years, I got to see him and admire him from many perspectives. Mark was very creative, insightful, thoughtful, and persistent. He took on major responsibilities and delivered smashing successes. Mark demonstrated that unique characteristic of a true leader: he was compassionate about the people who worked for him and around him. He was able to draw out the best in his fellow workers. He could debate various viewpoints, while showing an understanding and tolerance of others, all while keeping the best interests of the Company in the forefront. Mark also demonstrated “Oscar” like performances as emcee at our National Financial Consultant Meetings. He combined wit and intellect as he guided participants through the Company’s long range strategy and a recap of past achievements. Finally, I would urge current managers or those hoping to ascend into management to take heed of Mark’s experience and wealth of knowledge that he is sharing to help them be the best of the best.”
Mark Crowley is a unique leader who leads with his head and his heart. He embodies the notion that “people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” I have had the opportunity to work with Mark over the span of more than a decade in three distinctly different companies. He has been a peer, friend, competitor, and mentor. The groups and organizations Mark has led and supported have always been among the most successful in the organization due to his uncommon approach to leadership. Mark has been successful in all the endeavors I have witnessed because he creates the opportunity and framework for his teams to be successful. He is a teacher, motivator, and leader who lights the fire within people and organizations. Any team is made better by Mark’s participation and leadership. I have learned much from knowing and working alongside Mark. Deeply caring for those that work for him, he provides an open atmosphere for learning and growing. Mark is a constant learner, always seeking new knowledge and self awareness. I am indebted to Mark for the guidance and care he has shown myself and others.”
Please accept this letter of appreciation as my endorsement for your wonderful presentation to CTU students during our first ever formal graduation activities at the Denver Convention Center. Your presentation was both credible with supporting data to support the premises in your book and also informative and interesting. Most importantly, you inspired a large number of our students as attested to by their engagement with you after your presentation and by feedback that the university has received from students, faculty and colleagues who attended the presentation. We thank you for serving as CTU’s Distinguished Lecturer in June, and look forward to you returning to speak to our students again in the future.”
“I have known and have been a colleague of Mark Crowley for over 20 years. Mark is an extraordinary and remarkable leader. He possesses tremendous business acumen yet always uniquely leads with his heart. His outstanding discernment, exceptional business judgment and problem-solving skills coupled with his integrity and insightfulness have consistently produced superior results. But Mark’s tremendous talent of leading with his heart and truly caring for others overwhelmingly inspires, motivates and drives not only his own employees but those around him as well to work towards even greater heights of productivity. His unusual leadership style also creates immense employee satisfaction and retention.”
“For over 20 years I’ve covered hundreds if not thousands of miles with Mark, literally and figuratively. A shared passion for running sparked our friendship and we would meet regularly for training runs. Our conversations often times focused on work and career related issues. We would share our goals and challenges and then discuss strategies and solutions. One thing that became clear early on was that Mark had a unique capacity for seeing underlying issues and subtleties in relationships that I didn’t fully appreciate. He would guide the discussion into areas that invariably dealt with interpersonal issues I hadn’t considered. Mark always had great insight into what might be motivating people to act in a certain way or respond in a way that seemed irrational to me. He seemed to have an intuitive sense for why people behaved the way they did, and helped me to develop greater understanding and appreciation for people. I’ve been privileged to spend a great deal of time talking with Mark as he wrote his book, Lead from the Heart. We would meet on Sunday mornings to run and he would share with me his research, topics he was adding to the book, experts he had interviewed, and any new directions he was considering. While he does include interesting work from outside researchers, the idea of Leading from the Heart is an authentic and intrinsic characteristic of Mark’s style. Importantly, the concepts and ideas in his book are validated by the success that Mark achieved leading teams throughout his banking career. As a close friend it is no surprise to me that Mark would have success leading from his heart, because Mark LIVES from his heart.”
“Mark always “led” a team – he did not just manage people. His employees recognized that he sincerely wanted each individual to succeed and strive to reach their potential. They recognized that he was leading from his heart and, as a result, they worked tirelessly to fulfill his confidence in their abilities. I worked with Mark for over a decade with several different and diverse teams – and this happened every time. Whenever I cross paths with one of his former employees, they tell me the exact same things: they miss working for him as he was the best leader they’ve ever experienced”
“I was very excited when Mark shared he was going to write this book. I think the timing couldn’t be better for his message. The most successful leaders in business build quick emotional connections that often last a lifetime. Mark is one of these leaders. You would think leading this way would mean settling for less but that is not the case. People with these types of relationship building skills can elevate performance even more. Mark has been able to lead this way and as a result deliver excellent results. What he says in the book – and how he leads people personally – makes great business sense.”