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 the 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, DHL, Grubhub, Hillrom (now part of Baxter), Johnson & Johnson, Kimberly-Clark, Lockheed Martin, McDonald’s, Microsoft, and Stanley Black & Decker, among others.

David is an award-winning five-time author. His popular book Heart First: Lasting Leader Lessons from a Year that Changed Everything is in its second edition, Heart First: What Exceptional Leaders Do in Extraordinary Times. Heart First continues to be applauded by leaders at all levels for the practical approaches and rich stories of heart first leadership, told by senior leaders around the globe. In addition, David has published a version of Heart First for emerging leaders, which is praised by students, young professionals, and educators for inspiring the next generation to lead and make an impact. His leadercommunicator™ blog has been ranked the number one blog on communication by Feedspot eight years in a row.

David is often quoted in media, providing expert commentary and analysis on how leaders and companies can build trust and keep employees engaged through crisis and change, employee well-being and burnout, and more. He’s been featured on “NBC Nightly News,” in CBS MoneyWatch, the Chicago Tribune, Directors & Boards, Forbes, Great Place to Work, the LA Times, Newsweek, and the World Economic Forum.

David is a member of the Arthur W. Page Society and the Forbes Communication Council, is a Trustee for the Institute for Public Relations, and a member of the Board of Advisors for The Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations. He is 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 and authentic leadership at Columbia University.

Before 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, Lockheed Martin, 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.

Kyle brings more than 15 years of experience to The Grossman Group, working across a variety of industries and business models. In all his roles, he’s been a change agent, strategic counselor and dynamic storyteller. Kyle’s current and former client list includes Bojangles, CMC, DHL Supply Chain, GEICO, Grubhub, Lundbeck, Newmont, The Smithsonian Institute, Suntory Global Spirits, TPG and Stanley Black & Decker, among other leading organizations.

Throughout his career, Kyle has built and implemented successful internal communications programs both in-house and on the agency side, navigating large, complex organizations and tailoring plans to meet the needs of a variety of internal audiences.

He specializes in rolling out communication strategies and messaging platforms to support digital and business transformations, as well as supporting senior executives and developing their annual and initiative-based plans and messaging. He has led the implementation of EVP rollouts, restructuring, and key business initiatives to employees and frontline workers, navigating and leading internal communications for business and brand crises, and more.

As Head of Client Service, Kyle leads the senior team of thoughtpartners, bringing perspectives and solutions to our clients, thought leadership, and business development. An important part of his role is to ensure that the Client Service Team is set up for success in serving clients as new partnerships begin and long-standing engagements grow.

Prior to joining The Grossman Group, Kyle served as Director of US Communications at McDonald’s Corporation. While there, he was responsible for all communications that went out to the entire organization as well as the company’s big moments. He also drove orchestration and alignment on critical business issues and topics and ran the team responsible for the company’s channel strategy and execution. His work reached the company’s franchisees, employees, and restaurant-facing teams. 

Before his time at McDonald’s, Kyle held similar roles at Aon and Caterpillar. 

Originally from Springfield, Illinois, he graduated from Western Illinois University. When Kyle’s not working, he enjoys spending time with his wife and three kids, golfing, reading books, and watching sports – especially the Chicago Bulls.