Capstone Project - Gonzaga University - 2025 - Jordan Wall
Capstone Project
Welcome to my website dedicated to my Capstone Project for my Master's program at Gonzaga University in Organizational Leadership and Development. Here, you'll find insights and resources related to my research and findings. I invite you to explore the content and engage with the material as I share my journey in field. Thank you for visiting!
My Portfolio
Welcome to my portfolio. Here you’ll find a selection of my work. Explore my projects to learn more about what I do.
About
My name is Jordan Walll
I'm a unique being. For me, my bread and butter is to "get busy living." In other words, I like to make the most out of life. My hobbies include mountain climbing and distance running, and I run or exercise every single day. I've climbed in four continents, ran 21 marathons, ten ultramarathons, and have even won a marathon. I believe that life is embraced through discomfort, where we force ourselves to be resilient, take calculated risks, and push the limits of our own comfort. Once you become willing to get uncomfortable and push the boundaries of what you think you are capable of, life really begins and you learn more about yourself than you can possibly imagine.
I am a multiple-time combat veteran, having served in a logistics role with the 10th Special Forces Group. Post military, I worked for four years as a Wealth Manager for Merrill Lynch, where I became the #1 ranked Merrill Edge advisor in the country on four separate occasions, in our ranking of 2,400+ Advisors. Not wanting to travel for work, I ended up turning down a promotion opportunity to move to a local company in the Tri Cities, where I currently live with my wife, Mary. We share our home with a young puppy named Maui, and our roots are firmly planted here for the foreseeable future.
As a general paradigm, my goal in life is simply to contribute as positively to the world as I can, and to give back and extend as much love and service to others as I can. I am almost four years sober, and that plus my renewed work on my relationship with God has been a life changer for me. I got my Undergraduate degree in Business from the Foster School of Business at University of Washington, my MBA from Washington State University, and am headed to Harvard for my Executive Education beginning July 2025.
My general mantra in life is to explore, adventure, love, be inquisitive, and experience the world as much as possible, all with a faith in the Lord and a trust that everything will be alright.
Leadership Philosophy
My leadership philosophy centered around leading from the front and by example when I began this program. Coming from a military background, I was molded into the understanding of getting the job and the mission done first and foremost. Since beginning this program, I have expanded my understanding of leadership and expanded my leadership philosophy a lot.
Since getting out of the military and expanding my thoughts, I have taken on a new understanding of leadership which revolves around service to and support of others. To me, leadership is not simply getting the job done, it is also guiding, coaching, supporting, and loving those around me. Leadership to me means inspiring others to be the best that they can. When we love others, and extend compassion and generosity, we give people the tools they need to feel comfortable and to be the best that they can. When people have the proper support systems, they can achieve anything.
CAPSTONE PROJECT
My Capstone Project is ongoing, and combines my knowledge and expertise in finance with the program learnings and components. Specifically, I wanted to incorporate on ongoing level of service to the project so it would not be a one and done type of deal. For starters, I prepared a financial presentation to teach my Organization the ins and outs of basic finance; that is, what is a 401(k), how to make investment choices, the importance of a Brokerage Account, IRAs and ROTH IRAs, Insurance Considerations, and more. The plan is to extend service through finance, to help others within the organization to develop personal financial plans that can help their long-term well being. I am also in talks to work with the Rotary Club of Kennewick and the City Planning company for Tri Cities to do similar presentations.
The plan, which I'm working on with my leadership and CEO, is to make these presentations ongoing every quarter. However, I wanted to extend farther than simply talking to people and giving presentations, so we are also working to figure outa way to get other managers and team members involved with presenting. The initial framework is pass the torch to other managers and team members to present in the future, and I will personally work with them to help them be ready to present and to step up and take the lead. Our goal is to work with our team and our management to guide and develop their own leadership and and business skills, and to give them an opportunity to lead.
Furthermore, we are working to implement a new peer mentor program, and I will be coaching and mentoring two people for a year in leadership, finance, and general life planning. As the mentor/mentee relationship comes to the end of the year, I will then work with my mentees to help them develop a plan to mentor other new and young team members, and therefore start an ongoing plan of service and guidance to our young teammates to not only help them succeed at the job, but to help them succeed in life. As part of this peer mentor program, we will also touch on core learning within this program, such as: servant leadership, deep and empathetic listening, moral and ethical decision making, diversity and inclusion, and more. In addition to covering these topics, I will also be helping our mentees create a lifelong financial plan with short-term, mid-term, and long-term financial goals.
In all, we hope to improve communication, culture, and financial well-being within our organization.
There will be measurable goals and outcomes to this project, which we will look at and analyze to determine overall effective and to make changes as needed. Some of the positive measurable factors we are shooting for will include:
- reduced turnover rate
- increased retention rate
- increased percentage of employees enrolled in 401(k) plan
- higher contribution rates, on average, to 401(k) plan
- increase in percentage of employees with Brokerage Accounts and ROTH IRAs
- overall decrease in "Bad Debt" (which we will teach people about and define in our presentations)
- increase in internal promotions
- higher employee satisfaction results (based on surveys)
- higher results on company culture surveys
- better management feedback results (based on surveys)
- more diversity within the workforce and in promotion to management
COURSES TAKEN
- ORGL 535, LISTEN, DISCERN, DECIDE
- ORGL 506, INT'L & INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
- ORGL 530, SERVANT LEADERSHIP
- ORGL 516, RELATIONAL DYNAMICS & ORG DEV
- ORGL 518, TRANSFORMING LEADERSHIP
- ORGL 600, FOUNDATIONS OF LEADERSHIP
- ORGL 605, IMAGINE, CREATE, LEAD
- ORGL 610, COMMUNICATION ETHICS
- ORGL 615, ORGANIZATIONAL THEORY AND BEHAVIOR
- ORGL 620, LEADERSHIP SEMINAR
ARTIFACTS
- ORGL 506 : Intercultural Communication and Embracing Diversity : This class taught me a lot about the importance of noting and understanding diversity and the fact that segregation still exists, even if I personally do not feel racist or that I devalue others. In other words, this class made me understand that just because something does not nececssarily affect me directly, does not mean it does not exist, and that we should not take that thing seriously and affect others. As leaders in our organizations and our communities, we have a responsibility to address and work with problems, even if they do not directly affect us, and diversity poor treatment of marginalized groups are main issues that deserve our attention and care.
- ORGL 530 : Servant Leader Dispositions Chart (specifically: principle centered empathetic moral-capacity, listen first mentality, practicing foresight, and capacity for systems thinking) : This chart was one of the first major building blocks of this program for me, and described the attributes of being a servant leader, and the characteristics it took to lead out. servant leadership in practice and in real life. This chart provided me with a basis of behaviors and characteristics I will lean into and use for the rest of my life as I look to extend the values of service from this program for my remaining years.
- ORGL 518 : Ghandi Film : I had seen this film before, but the profound story of Mahatma Ghandi continues to compel and inspire me to this day. Similar to Nelson Mandela and his powerful voice as a servant leader of South Africa and in turning around apartheid, Ghandi played a powerful role in bringing peace to India, and exemplifying how to take a stand and make an impact in a peaceful manner. Ben Kingsley won an Oscar award for Best Actor in this film, and it still serves today as one of the most powerful films in history. It also still stands as a powerful message for how peace and servant leadership can work.
- ORGL 516 : Being a Change Agent : This was the class that reminded me most of my Harvard schooling (what I have taken thus far). The learnings on being a change agent seemed particularly pertinent and necessary for how we should up in our organizations today, and for what is needed as leaders to push our organizations forward. As we seek to develop as leaders and grow our organizations, we will be relied on to be voices of change and innovation, recognizing that keeping the status quo means losing ground to our competitors. If we can embrace the nuances of being a change agent and push innovation and the status quo, we stand to stay ahead of the market and the bell curve, allowing our organizations to thrive and be forward thinkers in complicated and complex times.
- ORGL 535 : Deep and Empathetic Listening : This was an amazing class for me, as the descriptions of how to listen better and to transform how we listen and hear other people hit very deeply with me. As leaders, we are tasked with listening and understanding the problems and issues our reports and colleagues are going through. If we are not listening well enough, we lose the ability to see and understand the needs of our team, and we risk not addressing the roots of foundational issues. Furthermore, listening better allows us to connect more deeply with our team, and have empathy with our teammates, our reports, and our people. The ability to have empathy can increase overall culture and trust, which are both significant to increasing organizational effectiveness.
- ORGL 600 : Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paolo Friere : When I began this book, I was suspicious of what is about, since I had come from a military unit who's mantra was 'De Oppresso Liber,' which means "Free the Oppressed" in Latin. As such, I felt like the author of a book on oppression. should have experienced oppression themselves to give credible writing to the subject. As such, I did a dive into Friere after reading the first chapter, and read about his own experiences with oppression as a young child in South America. Upon realizing Friere had personal experience in being oppressed, this opened my heart and my mind to this book, and it ended up being my favorite reading of the entire course. I thought this book was extremely powerful and poignant, and gave a great insight into how we can be better for those in need.
- ORGL 605 : The Immersion : The immersion was special to me for several reasons. First and foremost, meeting some of my cohort was incredible, and after three years in graduate school without ever meeting some of my fellow cohort, this get together was particularly special. What elevated the immersion for me, however, was seeing the impact Gonzaga is having with the local Spokane community. The food kitchen, the affordable bookstore, and the subsidized housing program were incredible to witness, and gave instant credibility to everything this program is teaching us.
- ORGL 610 : Facebook Content Moderation Case : In this Communication Ethics class, I really enjoyed getting to choose a case which presented a difficult ethical situation, particularly a case with ethical. gray areas and multiple perspectives to analyze and consider. In real life, we are tasked with the responsibility as leaders to handle many difficult ethical situations, and some of the time, the right thing to do is not necessarily straightforward or easy to figure out. This class gave us a framework to analyze and work through difficult ethical situations, and that was really powerful as I can use that framework to make proper decisions in the future. I really enjoyed applying the framework to this Facebook case and using our discussions to go back and forth to understand various perspectives and understand a little bit about what Facebook may have been going through in making their own ethical decisions and considerations throughout the entire moderation process.
- ORGL 615 : Everest Simulation and Teamwork : As a mountain climber myself, it wae easy to be attached to our Everest simulation. It was fun working through the variables and seeing the similarities to real life situations in the simulation. Working together as a team proved difficult with everyone having different goals, so the importance of communication and getting on the same page was not lost on me. This simulation reminded me the importance to get on the same page with your team and to be totally transparent about your goals. Ultimately, everyone fails individually if the team fails as a whole, and in the simulation, we all ended up dying on the mountain. Not only was this simulation fun, but it. minded me of the importance of proper team dynamics. As a side note to the Everest Simulation, I also felt like I got a lot out of the causal loops and systems framework for a systems first thinking - I thought those learnings were very important and pertinent to organizational development.
- ORGL 620 : Capstone Project : While my Capstone Project is ongoing and will be for ther significant future, I am incredibly excited for it and for the results and what lies ahead. The implementation of a financial program to mentor new young hires is necessary and should have an immediate and positive impact, and the implementation of a peer mentor program is also something that should have lasting and positive impact. I am happy with the implemented course learnings into my Capstone Project, and look forward to utilizing my experiences and learning to implement what should be a long lasting major impact to my organization. I'm hoping that the implementation of said peer mentor program will ensure the value of service is carried forward in our organization for years to come, inspires others to carry forward service in the future, and benefits the overall culture of our organization, and I honestly and firmly believe that all of these things will come
"Impossible is not a fact, it's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration, it's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing."
-Muhammad Ali
THANK YOU TO ALL MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY WHO HAVE LOVED AND SUPPORTED ME THROUGHOUT THIS PROCESS AND THIS JOURNEY. I CAN'T WAIT TO MAKE YOU ALL PROUD IN THE FUTURE.
