Episode Summary
Barry Klein of Talroo discusses leading through change and building alignment in hybrid work. He shares insights on balancing trust and accountability for remote teams through communication and addressing performance issues supportively. Klein stresses maintaining cultural alignment through in-person meetings for companies adjusting to remote work. He advocates treating people with empathy, dignity, and brevity when delivering difficult news like layoffs. Klein also fosters shared success across departments by prioritizing lifetime customer value.

About the guest

Barry Klein is Vice President of Success and Enablement at Austin-based Talroo. Barry provides leadership to Talroo’s Customer Success Analysts team who have revenue and customer service responsibilities for multiple verticals. Passionate about establishing “customers” as “partners”, he focuses on long-term relationships, lifetime value, and establishing raving fans. 

With more than 30 years of experience in customer-facing and executive roles, including Vice President of Sales Engineering for Vignette Corp, Barry also spent several years running his own small business and consultancy. As a result, he is equally comfortable with enterprise-class relationships as he is with start-ups and small businesses.

Connect with Barry Klein

Key takeaways

- Balance trust and accountability for remote teams through clear communication and addressing performance issues supportively

- Maintain cultural alignment for companies adjusting to remote work by periodically bringing teams together in person  

- Treat people with empathy, dignity, and brevity when delivering difficult news like layoffs

- Foster shared success across departments by prioritizing lifetime customer value over short-term gains

- Lead through change by building alignment in hybrid work environments through open communication and supportive leadership

Quotes

"I don't want to lose the best of what we have, which is we do get along and we do like each other. And we do learn from each other."

This quote highlights Klein's focus on maintaining the positive aspects of company culture even in remote work.

Recommended Resource

Books:

- The Infinite Game

- Books by Jon Meacham

Shout-outs

-⁠ Emilia D'Anzica, Growth Molecules⁠

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