Meet Adena
Author
Growing Forward: An HR Guide for Adaptive Talent Management gives HR leaders and executives a practical framework to build organizations that adapt instead of react. Named 2025 HR Person of the Year, Strategic HR Ally.
Experienced Leader
With over two decades of experience spanning corporate leadership, consulting, and academia, I know what it feels like to lead from inside the organization. From regional university president with full P&L responsibility to VP of Talent Development, I bring hard-won perspective to every engagement.
Coach to the C-Suite
Certified as a Master Corporate Executive Coach and member of the Forbes Coaches Council. I work with senior leaders across a wide range of roles and industries, including those stepping into the C-Suite for the first time. I bring rigor and real-world experience to leaders who are navigating complexity at the highest levels.
Research-Backed
My doctorate in Management focused on strategic leadership and organizational complexity. My research has been downloaded over 2,300 times by academics and practitioners around the world. I have taught undergraduates and graduates in disciplines ranging from Organizational Behavior, Sociology, and Leadership Communications.
MY Story
Most organizations are not short on smart people or good intentions. What they are short on is the ability to see how the pieces connect. Departments operate in silos. Talent initiatives miss their mark. Strategies stall out not because the plan was wrong but because the underlying patterns were invisible. That's the problem I set out to solve.
"Strategic blindness isn't just a limitation. It's a risk. The antidote is developing the ability to see the relationships, patterns, and interdependencies that others miss."
Adena Johnston, Growing Forward"Your greatest strategic contribution isn't about controlling the ecosystem. It's about cultivating its inherent capacity for self-organization and adaptation, so that when inevitable storms arise, your organization can still grow and thrive."
Adena Johnston, Growing Forward"Where the French drain represented strategic blindness, the rain garden embodied systems sight and strategic vision. One sought to hide and control. The other aimed to understand and adapt."
Adena Johnston, Growing Forward