ABOUT MIKE LISLE

I've spent my career trying to understand why organizations work. And why they don't.

Organizational architect. Author. Speaker. Curious observer of the human condition.

Experience changes how you see organizations.

For more than 25 years, I've worked inside organizations with different missions, different structures, and very different definitions of success.

I've served in executive leadership roles across the nonprofit sector, including as a CEO, COO, and CFO. I've led economic development initiatives, managed a Main Street organization, and served as the Town of Summerville's first Economic Development Manager.

Those experiences gave me something that no single leadership position could: the opportunity to see how organizations function from multiple perspectives.

I've been responsible for financial performance, organizational operations, strategic planning, economic development, and the execution of public and nonprofit missions.

And I've seen the same problems surface repeatedly.

Organizations grow without adapting their operating structures. Responsibilities accumulate without clear authority. Processes develop independently. Capable people find themselves compensating for systems that were never deliberately designed.

Over time, I came to recognize that many problems attributed to leadership or individual performance were actually problems of organizational architecture.

Today, through RBI Consulting Group, I apply those lessons to helping organizations deliberately design and maintain the structures, systems, authority, information, and processes necessary to operate effectively.

My writing, speaking, and conversations grow from that same experience.

There's more to life than organizational charts.

I'm a husband, father, baseball fan, and lifelong student of how people think and behave.

I believe in personal responsibility, the value of keeping your word, and the importance of leaving things better than you found them.

My worldview has been shaped by Stoic philosophy, professional experience, and the occasional reminder that life doesn't always follow the plans we make.

I also believe there's room for humor in serious conversations. Sometimes the absurdities of organizational life deserve to be examined. Sometimes they deserve to be laughed at.

And sometimes both.

Ideas worth exploring. Conversations worth having.

My work continues through several complementary pursuits.

Breakin' Beans with Mike Lisle is a video podcast launching in 2027. It brings together practitioners and subject-matter experts for candid conversations about organizational growth, leadership, and the challenges of making organizations work.

Writing and books give me the opportunity to explore ideas in greater depth, particularly through my work on The Operational Organization and the development of organizational architecture as a professional discipline.

Speaking engagements allow me to challenge assumptions, share practical lessons, and help audiences reconsider how they approach leadership, responsibility, and organizational effectiveness.

Through RBI Consulting Group, I put these principles into practice, helping growing organizations develop the capacity to operate effectively.

Different formats. Different audiences. The same commitment to understanding what works, what doesn't, and why.