About Alissa Tuschall

My name is Alissa Tuschall.  I am with Tau Prime. My current role is HR leader for an engineering group with a high tech company.

Well the biggest change is with MSOD I've gained a huge community that became my family. So that's a big change, and that was not expected. The other change that MSOD brought to my life is the whole concept around self as  instrument. When I first initially decided to join MSOD, it was more around just the intellectual rigor, and the toolkit, and the knowledge that you're gaining. I didn't expect how powerful that would be post-MSOD.

And the idea that as practitioners, it's not just about practicing within a certain function whether it's HR, whether it's OD, it opened up a completely wide birth of career opportunities. You can practice in any field that you want, in any function that you think you want. It really brings home the idea that who you are really influences whether every interaction is an intervention, and what you want that intervention to be. So you don't really have to stay within the same career trajectory like I had in mind whether it's staying in HR or whatnot. It just completely opened the window for me.

And the other part, just in a more micro level I think, it allowed me to stand up in front of those tools and knowledge instead of beside it, and hide behind frameworks, and models, and things like that. As a practitioner, I was able to just kind of move and take the lead around what that looks like.

I think the legacy that I bring to the table is probably going to be realized throughout the relationships that I've encountered and I've touched whether it's deep personal relationships, or just hopefully maybe on a day-to-day interaction, right? Even with you and I here today. And I think the legacy that I hope that I bring or what I'm remembered by is the idea that I hold a space for others, and for the people in my life to just play, navigate and thrive in the gray area.

I think the world always provides us with black and white choices, and sometimes it makes sense. But at the same time, I think being able to thrive in the space of the unknown and the ambiguity is difficult, and to have someone in your life that can provide that safe space for you is important, and I hope I'm remembered by that.

Yeah, building that community or even just being a partner or even having an interaction when somebody is experiencing crossroads in their life, right? Like being able to just help them navigate and tell them that it's okay to actual close guidance and building teams around that, shaping people's careers around these things. I think even when people are in my team even though they work with me, I understand it's a privilege. I'm humbled for that experience. They don't have to, and the world is large. They don't have to always stay within the same field, and I'm okay helping them explore and navigate new things based on whatever comes up in their lives.

My contribution for the next 10 years is going to be around the evolution of Democracy 3.0. And I'm not really sure how that would look like specifically, but it's the intersection around business, people, and the humanity, and humanness, and creating somewhat of an equilibrium where our government really reflects the goodness of its people, and what the capabilities are that we have here. In the US, and also in the US in the framework of the citizen of the world, right?

I do a lot of work for advancing women in business, and I've been really playing with the idea of helping women thrive whether it's in different economic conditions, or in government, and kind of pushing under represented forward within whatever small way possible or big way hopefully. And just changing the landscape, and creating somewhat of an equilibrium for everybody. 

I think some of the sessions in the MSOD conference was super inspiring, and I think one of the things that resonated with me was around the world does need what MSOD brings to the table. So I think to me, it's like, "Let's put on our oxygen mask first, and let's see who we are," back to the core fundamentals of selfless instrument, right? What is our role in this, and what is our part, and how can we really challenge ourselves in building a better world. What do we need to do on a day-to-day basis, and a minute to minute basis, and a monthly basis.

But let's take the time. Look in the mirror, and then get ready, and just tackle that world.