Chris Wolf’s 5-Year Journey at Cardinal

At Cardinal, our culture embodies many different elements: it’s about improving as a team while having fun growing together both personally and professionally. Our team members are the heart and soul of our culture! We are so grateful for the efforts our team members put in daily to go the extra mile to help change the industry and challenge the status quo.

Today we’re celebrating Chris Wolf and her dedicated years of service to the growth of our team over the last five years.

Learn more about Chris’s journey below!

What is your role? 

Director of Learning and Development

Describe your Cardinal Journey 

I was hired as Training Operations Manager – Develop as in content development. It was part of a new org structure that allowed me to quickly get connected to the organization and its leaders. That role and team evolved into Sr. Manager of Learning and Development where my focus shifted to implementation and optimization. Now, as Director, I’m responsible for leadership development at all levels. Getting to partner our senior leaders with executive coaches, and administering 360 reviews and engagement surveys has really accelerated my own growth and my understanding of organizational behavior and culture. My team plays a big role in supporting team member development and change management. They are a thoughtful bunch; leading them has been an enjoyable part of my journey too.

If you were to live at any Cardinal property outside of your own city for a year, where would you go and why?

BB Living Union Park in AZ! They’re new, beautiful, and located in northern Phoenix close to Lake Pleasant, Sedona, and the airport if I need a break from the heat. Our owned asset, Sol Tempe, was a close second. That’s student housing so it might be too lively for me; I’ve entered my bird-watching era!

What has been the most interesting change that you’ve seen in the industry and why?

The emergence of the AI-powered collections agent. Talk about a job no one wants to do! She also has infinite warmth and patience to keep following up–ruthlessly and for good reason. The evolution of the resident journey has also been interesting to observe. Specifically, the concept of seamless and attentive service looked a lot different five years ago compared to today’s Aigentless self-guided tours, one-stop-shop resident portals, and after-hours maintenance troubleshooting support.

Can you share a home office tip that has improved your work-from-home office experience?

Create a calm, serene vibe. Work is stressful and fast-paced. A quiet and organized space promotes focus and that’s a super power right now.

What is a skill you have developed during your career that you didn’t know you had?

Systems thinking. Throughout my career, I thought I was just an observant person who would process detailed solutions through my brain like a math equation, looking for the checks and balances. After 10+ years in high-end hospitality management, my thinking had been conditioned to see how quantitative inputs like steps of service and recipe adherence led to qualitative outcomes like overall satisfaction and guest loyalty. I started to see how behaviors, emotions, and decisions within a system connect to larger outcomes, instinctively looking for patterns, feedback loops and second order effects. Now, my scope of work allows me to sharpen this skill even more.

If you could invite any historical figure to dinner, who would it be and why?

I’d go with Socrates. He was a bit of a divisive figure, but I admire his curiosity and I’d want to explore it. I also agree with his sentiment: The unexamined life is not worth living. That’s probably why I’ve carved out a career in L&D.

Who has been influential in your life (professionally or personally), and how have they helped guide you?

It would be impossible to isolate one person so I’ll group a few. I have a new appreciation for my immediate family. As an adult, I’ve realized my family is kind, generous and funny in our own way. I’ve worked with a few great leaders who were stewards of company culture, and who saw my potential and invested in my development. Most recently, I’ve had the privilege of working with executive coaches who really challenge me and my limiting beliefs. I think Hemingway was the first to describe something as gradually, then suddenly, and that’s how I’d describe my growth over the past year as a Director at Cardinal Group Companies.