According to Fortune magazine, “business leaders believe the importance of a company’s culture has increased in the current business climate”. In order to maximize the human potential (skills, knowledge, abilities) within any organization, both culture and leadership style must be proactively managed.

Join us as we discuss with Tessa Dent her global experiences and how an organization’s culture (the accepted or perceived way we do things here and why) and leadership impacts:

• Strategy execution
• Sustainability
• Managing change
• Employee commitment, effort, loyalty (engagement)

Whiteboard Notes:

Reflection Questions:

1. How effective is your organization in routinely gathering (formally and informally) the voice of the employee (VOE) – asking, using, and recognizing its’ value?
2. Is change management in your organization treated more as a methodology or mindset that influences behavior?
3. What biases may be creating ‘waste’ in your organization? How can you proactively address this?
4. Do you effectively know and measure the key tangible elements of your organization’s culture?
5. Does your organization have the right balance of task-oriented and transformational leaders?

We choose what we pay attention to. Choose wisely because in an organization what leaders pay attention to and measure will fix firmly and deeply the way employees think, feel and act. It will drive organizational culture and ultimately performance.

Join us as we discuss with Florian Kluge his vast experiences as a Financial Officer for two German companies operating in the U.S. Topics discussed include:

• The power of purpose
• Underestimating the importance of identifying key criteria to achieve results
• Making effective decisions
• Leading when things are going well – not getting complacent
• Balancing business needs with customer and employee needs

Whiteboard Questions:

Reflection Questions:

1. Does your organization have a succinct purpose statement – the fundamental reason you exist?
2. How well do your employees understand the critical criteria to achieve key success metrics?
3. How much is lost productivity and human capability costing your organization?
4. Balancing requires holding on to or letting go. Are there cultural elements (things reinforced and/or tolerated) that are hurting performance?

An entrepreneur sees what some would call ‘impossible’ as ‘possible.’ They make a choice to go and get it! No obstacle is too big.

Join us as we discuss with Abby Reel her amazing start-up and success with a dinner theatre and events center. Topics discussed include:

• Creating a new business model compared to adopting former owners
• Considering it a privilege to serve customers, not a burden
• Establishing hiring criteria that protect your culture
• Modeling, coaching, and teaching what you expect from others

Whiteboard Notes:

Reflection Questions:

1. Do you believe employees can work hard and have fun – that these are not mutually exclusive? Why or why not?
2. What are all the ways you ask employees to be flexible for the business? Provide flexibility for employees to have meaningful lives outside of work.
3. How well does your organization celebrate its clients/customers and employees?
4. What simple, high-touch activities tell customers they are special and important?

Poor customer service (CS) costs over $3.7 trillion dollars annually across the globe – up 20% from the year before. Rod and Brian discuss a variety of topics, using research and real-life examples, including:

• How critical it is to treat CS from the inside/out – practicing internally with each other the behaviors expected externally with customers/clients.
• Importance of ‘convenience’ to the customer and determining specifics through ongoing gathering of the voice of the customer (VOC)
• Truly empowering CS reps to make decisions while minimizing ‘asking for permission’
• Avoiding the trap of automating broken, ineffective processes

Whiteboard Notes:

Reflection Questions:

1. How does your organization communicate, teach, and reinforce the importance and impact every employee has on the total customer experience?
2. Regarding CS, what metrics matter the most from your customer’s perspective? How do you know?
3. How does your organization capture and learn both CS best practices and lessons learned?
4. What decisions can your employees make without ever asking for permission?

Discover how the global pandemic accelerated digital adoption and reduced some resistance to change in a major healthcare organization. Jennifer Junis, Senior VP of OSF OnCall, will share many valuable lessons learned including the importance of:

• Clarity, through the use of Guiding Principles, to drive consistent, aligned decision-making.
• Evidence-based Management instead of fads or opinions.
• Realistic expectations when developing a high-performance culture.

Whiteboard Notes:

Reflection Questions:

1. What do employees in your organization use (documents/tools/techniques) to help drive consistent, aligned decisions with your mission?
2. What innovative ideas might your organization be missing by only benchmarking within your own industry?
3. Where does your organization need to ‘stay the course’ and be realistic on its’ milestones of success?

This episode features a conversation with the founder and owner of Russell Cycling and Fitness – a 45+-year-old small business that has been named several times as a Top 100 Best Bicycle Retailer in the United States. Joe Russell will share many valuable lessons learned, including the importance of:

• Recruiting for cultural fit.
• Teaching inspiration and pride.
• Doing common things uncommonly well in customer service.

Whiteboard Notes:

Reflection Questions:

1. How many of your employees truly ‘hate’ their jobs? It’s just a paycheck. What can you proactively do to help inspire them?
2. What common things in customer service does your organization do uncommonly well?
3. How much pride is at the center of your business today? What could be done to improve this even more?

This episode features a conversation with a President of Client Services responsible for six geographic regions, 260+ clients, and 7000 employees. Among the many ‘nuggets’ you will hear how they:

• Recalibrate constantly to meet changing clients’ needs
• Work to create a ‘safe’ culture so tough questions can be asked and answered
• Make sure the right voice/perspective/people at the table to make the best decision

Whiteboard Notes:

Reflection Questions:

1. How well does your leadership team create strong Vision, Execution, and Legacy for its employees?
2. Do your organization’s incentives enhance collaboration across all functions and locations?
3. Does your organization use data and analytics ‘more often’ to ask better questions or answer all the questions?

Welcome Back! In Season 2 we are revisitng some of our favorite episodes for all our new listeners, this is REWIND WEDNESDAY!

In this episode, Rod and Brian interview the Founder and President of Creekmur Wealth Advisors. This highly successful business has grown since its inception to now serving over 1700 client households, managing over $420M of assets, and advising on $1B.

Episode Summary:

John shares how better understanding, acting on, and actively managing their culture like an investment has created differentiation and much success. He describes his organization’s culture with this simple formula.

Culture = The sum of all the decisions all of his employees make to serve people

Join us for this real-life success story of an organization deciding the best way forward was to chart a different course than others.

Whiteboard Notes:

Reflection Questions:

• What concept or idea that John shared:
  • Reinforces something you are currently doing to navigate business culture effectively?
  • Presents a new/different perspective that is worthy of further discussion for possible execution?