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Life and News Names Keith Krach "2018 Transformational Leader of the Year"
[December 13, 2018]

Life and News Names Keith Krach "2018 Transformational Leader of the Year"


Today, Life and News announced it has named Keith Krach its "2018 Transformational Leader of the Year." The award is given based on leaders' accomplishments and transformative impact as: An inspirational leader who empowers and unifies diverse teams to achieve a noble cause; a visionary innovator who strategically builds new things that leave lasting legacies; a principled challenger who courageously achieves goals with perseverance and resilience.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181213005940/en/

Keith Krach, Chairman of DocuSign, speaking at the DocuSign Momentum conference in 2016 (Photo: Busi ...

Keith Krach, Chairman of DocuSign, speaking at the DocuSign Momentum (News - Alert) conference in 2016 (Photo: Business Wire)

According to Life and News CEO Elliott Liu, "We're inspired by Keith Krach. Everywhere he goes, his dynamism and enthusiasm light up the room. He uniquely combines vision, principled leadership, and an ability to empower and motivate people that has enabled him to have a dramatic transformative impact in business, education, philanthropy and mentorship. He sets an example for leadership that can transform the world."

2018 has been a banner year for Krach. In April, his plans came together for a successful IPO for DocuSign, where he serves as chairman after being long-time CEO. Company shares zoomed more than 30 percent on the stock's first trading day. In May, he received an honorary doctorate in Industrial Engineering from his alma mater, Purdue University, where he served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees. In August, the Sigma Chi fraternity renamed their annual 2,000-person leadership workshop, the Krach Transformational Leaders Workshop in recognition for his contributions and service as Sigma Chi's International President and 64th Grand Consul.



In October, he and his wife, Metta, were jointly honored as "Citizens of the Year" by City Year, the youth volunteer organization that inspired AmeriCorps. Just last week, Krach joined the ranks of legendary leaders like George Schultz, Andy Grove, John Chambers (News - Alert), Bill Hewlett, Dave Packard and Charles Schwab by being named "Business Leader of the Year" by the Harvard Business School Association Northern California.

"Krach has become a category kingmaker, building four game-changing companies from robotics to engineering software to e-commerce to e-signature and digital transaction management," observes Harvard Business School's former faculty chair of Building New Businesses, Bruce Harreld. "All four companies are considered disruptors, became clear market leaders through category creation, generated significant shareholder value, and chose paper or manual processes as their main competitors."


Krach believes diversity of thought is the catalyst for genius and the secret sauce for building high-performance teams. He has used this approach-distilled into a "Business Playbook," to drive a repeatable pattern of success in organization after organization.

"Throughout his career, Keith has brought powerful transformational leadership to many sectors-factory automation, engineering, commerce, education, philanthropy and even the way people sign," said Salman Khan, Founder and CEO of Khan Academy and former HBS Business Leader of the Year. "His focus on innovation and productivity combined with his approach of perpetually challenging the status quo and empowering people to accomplish more than they had ever imagined possible has resulted in a profound impact on GDP per capita, international trade and the sustainability of our planet."

A defining characteristic of the transformational leader is their ability to mobilize and empower people-challenging them to reach for the stars, and enabling them to accomplish more than they'd ever imagined they could.

In a recent analysis of Krach's Adversity Quotient and GRIT Score, published in Psychology Today, Dr. Paul Stolz, best-selling author and world's leading authority on the application of grit says, "It's not just about accomplishment. It's about how he overcomes challenges and the profound impact he has had on others." In Stoltz's view, "Along the way, Krach has touched, inspired and empowered thousands of colleagues, customers, partners and mentees to become their best selves in pursuit of noble causes."

Four-star General Stanley McChrystal makes his own powerful assessment of Krach's leadership when he says, "In the civilian world, I've had the opportunity to work alongside some leaders who are just stunningly good. They could go out tomorrow and be as good as any General in the Army. One of them is - Keith Krach. He could walk out tomorrow and be a general."

"The only way I've been able to make transformation happen is by surrounding myself with people who are smarter than me and then building a high-performance team," says Krach.

About Life and News

Life and News was established in 2013 with a commitment to transformation. Our vision is to bring a new voice and a new approach to the news business. With our Transformational Leader of the Year Award, we are recognizing leaders who share that commitment to a better future for all, and who are with us in the mission of transformation.


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