Jim Finkelstein

Jim is the President and CEO of FutureSense, LLC, and a student and leader of people in business. With over 40 years of consulting and corporate experience, he understands the convergence of environment, culture, development and rewards in order to improve business performance through people. He has specialized in business and people strategy, motivation and reward, executive, employee and sales compensation, and organizational assessment, development, communications and transformation. He has applied his competencies in all areas that impact people at work – from why they show up to why they stay. He has worked for diverse industries – from health care to high tech. He has built programs and provided services to Boards of Directors, senior executives, management and employees. He received his MBA in Organization Behavior and Development from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a BA in Psychology and Economics from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. He notes, “Throughout my career, I have been called everything from a visionary to a contrarian. I continue to believe that businesses and organizations need to think ‘off the edge of the paper’ in order to assure themselves of the most favorable solutions and outcomes. I also believe that determining the unique right practices for each situation is preferred to “flocking like sheep to the slaughter” by following perceived best practices. In fact, they are, at best, “interesting practices”. What works for one organization may not work for another!” Jim’s experience has included being a Partner in a Big Five firm, a CEO of a professional services firm, a corporate executive for Fortune 500 companies, and an entrepreneur with his current company, FutureSense®, LLC. He has experienced business from many possible angles and through diverse and challenging change. He is the author of FUSE: Making Sense of the New Cogenerational Workplace® published by Greenleaf Book Group in October 2011. He is a regular blogger on The Huffington Post and can be followed on Twitter (@futuresense). Jim is a former adjunct faculty member at Sonoma State University and taught classes in Leading Change in the Executive MBA program. Jim started his career as a summer Camp Counselor and Unit Leader at YMCA Camp Becket in Becket, Massachusetts where he truly learned how to realize the value of people. Involved with the YMCA since he was 11, he served on Boards of Directors for various Y’s for over 40 years, including the YMCA of San Francisco, where he held the role of Chairman of the Board. He currently serves on the Advisory Board of Street Soccer USA in San Francisco, which is dedicated to fighting poverty and empower underserved communities through soccer. Jim was a soccer and basketball coach and team manager for over 15 years and is still a very active soccer referee for high school and youth matches. He has been inspired by the quote of Edward Everett Hale since his youth -- “I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything I will not refuse to do the something I can do.”