Recognized as a top business leader by ValiantCEO magazine and featured on The Today Show, ABC, the Global BV-TV Network, Beyond the Business Radio Show, and CEO World, Dr. Troy Hall is an award-winning talent retention consultant, international speaker, and author of the bestselling titles: Cohesion Culture: Proven Principles to Retain Your Top Talent, Fanny Rules: A Mother’s Leadership Lessons That Never Grow Old, and Back After Burnout.
As the founder of Cohesion Culture™, Dr. Troy has dedicated his career to establishing a cycle of culture wellness in the corporate and professional sphere. His consulting and executive coaching engagements are built on the strategic framework of Cohesion Culture™, making the concepts of belonging, value, and commitment easy for organizations to adopt and implement.
Dr. Troy Hall, Consultant, International Speaker and Author
Introduce yourself! Please tell us about you and your life, so we can get to know you better.
Hi, I’m Dr. Troy Hall, a simple man of faith who married his high school sweetheart in 1977. Vickie and I were blessed with two children and six grandchildren. Today we live in a multi-generational house with our daughter, her husband, and four kids on one side and V and I on the other. I’m not new to multi-generational living. Back in 2008 to 2012, there were four generations living under the same roof. My mom, aka FANNY, had dementia and my father, SLIM, was dealing with macular degeneration. During that time, our son lost his job, so he and our other two grandchildren lived with us for five years.
Around then, a friend of mine asked me, “With all of the commotion in your house, what space do you call your own?” I thought for a moment, realizing I had been married for 30 years or more. There was no way I could claim the bathroom or the closet. So, I quickly responded with “I’ll claim the hallway.” He then began laughing. “That’s funny. Your last name is Hall, you’re in the Hallway.” From there on our family experiences have been known as ‘Life in the Hallway.’
When people ask me about my leadership journey, I refer back to 1969. At 12 years old, my mom, aka FANNY, was diagnosed with breast cancer. We lived in a small rural town in West Virginia that offered limited education, poor economic conditions, and we were 30 to 45 minutes from the nearest hospital or major employer. Back 50-some years ago, when a person was diagnosed with cancer, your immediate thought was the person would die. We thought the same would be true for mom. But she had other things in mind and felt that it was important to live her life fully until the good Lord took her away.
Mom embraced her cancer and followed the doctor's order and through the miracle of surgery and cancer treatment, mom survived 43 years beyond that awful summer.
Mom said that we were poor by circumstance, not by choice. She had cancer by circumstance, not by choice. She taught me that my character would always be defined by choices not circumstances.
Mom and dad instilled in me the concept that a person can be anything they want when they put their mind to it. She told me that if I wanted to sweep floors for a living, fine with her. However, I had better be the best floor sweeper ever.
Mom gave me that look, drew me closer to her, and whispered, “Because one day, when I get out of this bed, I’m going to come to your business and look in the tight places on the floor. Anyone can sweep in the middle; the best sweeper would get into the corners.”
Can you provide an overview of your business? What services do you offer?
I love my role guiding leaders to retain talent within their organizations by infusing cohesion. Everything I do is based around the three strategic elements of cohesion: belonging (inclusion), value (meaningful work), and commitment (collaboration and trust). The Cohesion Culture™ Program offers culture, gamification, and strategy consulting, professional coaching, leadership development initiatives, and educational curriculum that guides leaders on a journey to create a comprehensive culture wellness plan for their organizations. My proven processes, initiatives, and educational content has helped organizations retain talent and build a “best place to work” environment.
When we work with a client on a full range consulting engagement, there are five unique phases: cultural discovery, assessment, plan, education, and sustainability. Within the education phase, our programs include non-traditional, interactive, experiential learning workshops for executives, middle management, and individual contributors. Every session is built around the philosophy “experience today and implement tomorrow.”
Participants can sharpen their skills in the areas of communication, collaboration, conflict resolution, and creative thinking to name a few.
Our team has helped organizations achieve a ‘best places to work” status. I know this might sound salesy but it’s the essence of the value of the Cohesion Culture™️ program. We don’t offer rope courses, trust falls, or death by powerpoint. That’s why people want to come back and do our programs over and over again. People want experiences today and they don’t want to be sold to. They don’t want to be told what to do. They want to have the autonomy to self-discover what to do and then make it happen.
What inspired you to start this business, and what is your mission or vision for it?
My mission is to help organizations retain their talent. I want them to devote more of their time to delivering products and services and less time recycling for employees in the marketplace. The goal is to infuse cohesion into organizations, to build safe workspaces where people have a sense of belonging, value, and mutual commitments.
My primary leadership principle is that everyone in the organization is a leader, whether explicit or not. Every employee is an implied leader and has the responsibility to motivate, influence, and enable others to be successful.
Who is your target audience or customer base?
Our programs appeal to founders, CEOs, executives, middle managers, and HR practitioners as well as individuals who want to grow, develop, and advance.
For instance, in our Cohesion Culture™ course, a five-week, five-module online development program, both seasoned and emerging leaders may take this course because each participant is asked to commit to three things: agree they are teachable, identify themselves as a leader, and view this course through the lens of a CEO.
What sets your offerings apart from competitors?
There are two primary differences that the Cohesion Culture™️ program offers:
As I mentioned earlier, we don’t offer rope courses, trust falls, or death by powerpoint. We involve participants in experiential, hands-on learning. They work on real-world issues through experience today and implement tomorrow.
Everything we share in the sessions can be implemented immediately when the leader goes back to work without costing the company money.
Can you describe any notable achievements or milestones you achieved?
In my book, Cohesion Culture: Proven Principle to Retain Your Top Talent, I talked about seven attributes of an effective leader. One of them is humility. To answer this, I must put a pause on humility to answer your question.
I have been able to speak internationally in Asia, Africa, and Canada. This year, Valiant CEO Magazine recognized me as a Top Business Leader to watch.
Some media achievements included feature articles on The Today Show, ABC, the Global BV-TV Network, Beyond the Business Radio Show, and CEO World.
In 2018, I earned the distinction as an International Development Educator. I received a South Carolina statehouse resolution for my Global Leadership Exchange Program.
I created the protege mentoring program for the Carolina’s Credit Union League in conjunction with Will Crosswell. What started out as a program of two has served hundreds of leaders over the past decade after its creation.
So, to properly wrap up this section of the interview, allow me to share advice from Grandma Goldie. I asked her as a child if it was okay to tell other people what I did. She looked at me and said “If you don’t honk your own horn, nobody else will either.” Then with a chuckle quickly added, “But don’t lay on it.”
Tell us about your greatest career achievement so far.
Although I answered this before, I want to make sure your readers are clear. My greatest achievement is being a devoted husband, father, and grandfather. From a professional perspective, please see my previous response where I put a pause on humility. To be the most effective leader I can be, I have turned my humility back on now (wink face).
If you could change one thing about your industry, what would it be and why?
It isn’t so much an industry thing, as it is a people thing.
What I would change is people’s mindsets to be more teachable. To be open to new viewpoints. To want to learn about another’s culture and historical perspectives. In essence, to be more inclusive without making people wrong, uncomfortable, or fueling conflict.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to wake up in a world where people embrace the similarities that we have and not focus so much on the differences?
Understanding what a person thinks, or how they celebrate cultural customs, rituals, or traditions does not mean agreement; it means being open to and a part of promoting a safe space where belonging and inclusion are valued as the norm and not the exception.
And taking a play out of my friend, Chris Singleton’s playbook, find someone who doesn’t look, think, or act like you and tell them you love them. Chris has been able to overcome a tragic event losing his mom when he was eighteen. Today, Chris is a national speaker promoting a message of love, forgiveness, and acceptance in schools and organizations.
