Status Go: Ep. 199 – The Heart of a CIO

This week, we have a special guest joining the podcast, Paul Sylvester, an executive coach who shares his story of transformation after open heart surgery.

Paul was once a successful CIO for a fast-growing company and even had the opportunity to ring the bell on Wall Street. But everything changed after his surgery, causing him to rethink and reevaluate his life.

Now, Paul has a message for fellow CIOs and IT leaders, which he calls “where I failed as a CIO.” In this episode, Paul shares insights into conflict, which he calls positive conflict, and negotiation. He also has a reminder for all of us, but you will have to listen to hear what it is.

Join us as we dive into Paul’s inspiring story and learn from his experiences as a successful CIO turned executive coach. Let’s get started on this episode of Status Go!

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About Paul Sylvester

In 2004 Paul Sylvester began his coaching career as a licensed, certified coach as part of ActionCOACH International, which was and has been repeatedly named the world’s #1 business coaching franchise. He was consistently recognized as one of the top 100 coaches in the ActionCOACH franchise and in 2009 was named one of the top five coaches worldwide along with being awarded the prestigious Coaches Choice Award by his peers. In 2010 Paul left the franchise and rebranded to a new name and look, PS363 Management Redefined which is now Sylvester Leadership Coaching Redefined. In 2019 he was honored by HR Tech Outlook Magazine as a Top 10 Leadership Coach in the Country.

Paul sharpens his skills regularly through participating in and being certified in both Patrick Lencioni’s “Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team” and in the John Maxwell’s “Five Levels of Leadership” coaching program. He’s a noted inspirational, motivational and keynote speaker for audiences of all sizes. He developed specialized workshops for groups of 5 to 200 and motivate hundreds of evolving early leaders to senior executives.

After surviving his first emergency open-heart surgery, Paul adopted “In Abundance” as his personal tagline, denoting his transformation and recognition of life’s many, unexpected opportunities and blessings. In 2011, he survived a second open-heart surgery and in May 2013 he survived a third open-heart surgery.

Paul recognizes the importance of giving back to the community and state. He was honored by a former mayor when he was appointed as a member of the Service Efficiency and Lower Taxes for Indianapolis Commission (SELTIC) for the city’s Information and Technology Department. His work on the commission helped Indianapolis save hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. He has also spoken for chapters of the American Heart Association and is celebrating 10 years of working with IT students at Ball State University.