About Sandy

Sandy Hofmann spent 14 years at IBM before going on to lead through some of the toughest transitions a company can face. She served as Vice President of Technical Services at Simplex, where she broke the gender barrier in that role, and later joined MAPICS as its first woman on the executive team, guiding the company through a major re-engineering into a functional organization. She went on to take the unusual dual role of CIO and Chief People Officer — a job she didn’t originally want and ended up calling one of the best of her career.

Georgia’s CIO Leadership Association named her Georgia CIO of the Year and later gave her its first Lifetime Achievement Award. Women in Technology honored her with its Leadership Legacy Award. Today, Sandy serves as an Executive Mentor and Matchmaker with Pathbuilders, pairing rising leaders with the right mentors, and sits on Virima’s CIO Advisory Board.

8 Episodes

6:19

Why the Job You Didn’t Want Might Be Your Best Career Move “I didn’t want to be Chief People Officer… and it turned out to be the best job I’ve ever had.”

8:34

The Hardest Part Wasn’t Technology… It Was People “The hardest part wasn’t the technology… it was convincing people it was okay.”

7:08

Are We Moving Forward… or Backward? Leadership in Times of Change “Don’t focus on what’s been lost… focus on what can be gained.”

6:38

Leadership Lessons from Teaching First Grade (A Powerful Story About Growth) “If you can work with a first grader… you can work with anyone.”

9:22

Why the Best Careers Start Where Change Is Happening (Career Growth & Leadership) “Opportunity is everywhere… when change happens.”

10:32

How Life’s Hardest Moments Shape Leadership and Empathy “People carry stories you can’t see.”

5:12

The Danger of Comfort: Why You Should Create Change Before It’s Forced “If you’re too comfortable… something needs to change.”

5:49

The Most Powerful Problem-Solving Question: What Changed? “You have to be willing to feel stupid.”