WORK MATTERS
In her previous career in the financial services industry, Gayle Lantz frequently heard co-workers complaining — about their work, about their team, and about their boss — but doing nothing to change their situation. These days, Lantz, a member of the Summit Club in Birmingham, Alabama, makes it her mission to help business executives enjoy their jobs. She truly believes that work matters. So much so that she named the organizational development consulting firm she founded in 1998 WorkMatters. Today, she helps companies build leadership strength and improve performance. Her work with professionals and organizations, big and small, includes such business big hitters as Microsoft, Lockheed Martin, and NASA. She has served as president of the National Association of Women Business Owners-Birmingham, and has made the Birmingham Business Journal list of top Birmingham women. Finding out what makes an employee tick is becoming easier, she says, as more firms smartly move away from stiff and formal annual performance reviews to ongoing year-round conversations, which creates a more collaborative environment. With a background in psychology and mental health, Lantz counsels her clients “to pay attention to what drives them so they can bring it to their work,” she says. “If they pay attention to what they are good at and enjoy doing, they can make the best impact.” — Helen Bond

Photography by Jamie Martin.