Flywheel Leadership

https://eidigital.com

https://grahampeelle.com

Establishing Organizational Rhythm: Finding Alignment with People and Work Planning your work, working your plan Organizational | Design, Structure, Discipline, Culture, Development, Effectiveness, Change….all things we do or follow as leaders and managers, and much of the time we don’t even actively think about them or label them. We’re on cruise control, at least those with more experience in leadership, and we tend to get things set-up, have some regular change, otherwise we have a lot of firefighting, customer attention aspects, and supporting internal/external priorities. For those newer in leadership positions or that have been at it for sometime, we can use a good pulse check on ourselves - are we proactively driving the business, or is the business driving us? Planning our work This isn’t referring to how you track action items or to do’s, rather the approach to your actual work - the business your group or company executes on to serve its internal or external customer, while driving service and profitability. The approach to how you look at the following: Work to be done Resource allocation Investment People, process, and technology Where you are today, compared to where you want to go How do you get there from a work perspective Quality product or service Continuous improvement Operational process control Performance management Profitability In a sense, I’m talking about how you’re going to operate, how you want to approach this job or this business, all focused on building an organization to grow opportunity for your people and stakeholders. Failing to plan, is planning to fail Yes, when you create a plan, a lot of it will change during the course of day-to-day business, but have you seen work without any plan at all? Exactly. You can wing it for awhile, but if you haven’t yet, you will likely find that building even a high level plan, and iterating along the way is a better way for operation. And before you get into the debate of your location of work, meaning where your team actually sits to get the work done, consider planning your work to support your vision. Work location is a byproduct of the work and needs of the business. We’re not talking about mission or vision statements either, we’re talking about our approach to the actual work. Your plan to getting the work done and advancing the work is so important to support the vision which encourages much needed innovation. Having a vision is great, but if you’re ultimately going to let the business run you from there, your vision is a myth. It’s a hope, not a vision. If you have a vision, it’s best to structure work to support it, which means having a strategy to achieve that vision, and some kind of tactical plan to support your overarching strategy. Your plan is what will drive how you structure your organization’s work. We often jump in and just want to work, we don’t want to slow down and plot out how we want to work, and truly consider what the work is meant to achieve. Others plan and don’t want to do the work out of fear; too much planning isn’t helpful either. Moving with urgency is important, but urgent work and action haphazardly focused, shouldn’t mean, rushed building or aimlessly productive cycles. Rushed without proper consideration equals a mess of a business driving in all the wrong directions. Photo by louis magnotti on Unsplash The view from 50,000 feet It can be helpful when building from scratch or transforming your current operation to step back and consider: How your business supports your customer How your business develops current customers and new business How your business is sustainable and profitable How it fights fires How it promotes simplicity and collaboration How it supports your vision How does the market perceive your business compared to the competition Step back and take a look at your organization at the 50,000 foot level and consider, how does your current mode of operation really promote your vision. A lot of clarity comes from alignment, and in this case, alignment with vision and organizational dynamics. An article published by IGI, touches on organizational discipline. “Organizational discipline is the practice of self-restraint and learning to follow the best course of action which may not be according to one’s desire. Discipline is important as it binds the employees and also motivates them to respect their organization.” This takes me to discipline over motivation and which one is more sustainable, with discipline being the logical answer. Motivation can come and go, but if you can build your discipline muscle, you can have sustainable operations, and organizations act similarly to people. Discipline wins, because it sustains over time, versus running on motivation which can come and go. Disciplined alignment matters. The more your organization is aligned to your people, the more opportunities are created for connectivity, innovation, and promotion of a shared vision which is imperative. Your associates will share in your vision if you can communicate it and show the alignment for them and the organization overall. Help your people understand your vision, and the organizational plan, and you can have them on board for the ride, even if they don’t necessarily agree with the entire concept. Understanding a strong vision often leads to associate buy-in and execution. The main thing is the work Often in business the actual work gets pushed aside. Sounds funny, but when you think about it, how often do people in the company spend time on actually getting the work done. And how many jobs are actually focused on productive quality work. And then on the other side, we spend a lot of time putting out fires for customers, and fires for employees. Spending a lot of time in the current course of business is important for certain roles and levels, but not everything is urgent and important. It takes management maturity to learn the difference. The reality is that companies and many of its people often don’t spend a lot of time on what we’re actually trying to accomplish. If organizations and individuals even spent 70-80% of their time, actually working on trying to accomplish designing that thing, and building that thing, thinking of what the next thing is, or collaborating to solve problems, we would make a lot more progress in a lot less time. That’s the advantage entrepreneurial organizations often have as smaller to medium sized business is more nimble and intentional. This is where large corporate orgs must fight through the noise, and organizations with clarity have the ease to actually focus on the work. Put work into action The smaller the entity, the more chance for success that capitalizes on swift changes to the market, product, demands of your customer, and strengths of your talent. Large orders, large responsibility, larger groups for communication, the harder it is to actually drive action that is driving business results, performance, profitability, and growth from action. I don’t have a study the back this up, but as you look at your business, it may become quite clear, your segmentation and specialization, just like marketing segmentation, similar to technical engineering skill sets, become critical. You don’t have a doctor caring for your car. You don’t have a plumber putting on your roof. Specialists with action drives results, performance, and profitability so we need to prioritize action. Having a mindset similar to what I heard from Alex Hormozi “think end of day, not end of week”. Want to accelerate your business and have an action-oriented mindset, then shift the parallel to end of day, not end of week. We’re here to get things done now, so it should be done now. It does not mean to launch large projects and move around priorities unnecessarily, but that means if it needs to be done, just get it done. Is that a simplified approach, probably. But, I believe in business we need more action, and we need more simple. Keep close to Nature’s heart and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean. - John Muir Photo by Christopher Burns on Unsplash Action based on ownership There is a shifting tide with the conversation, whether you’re an upper-level executive, your mid-level exec, or as supervisors and managers, we need to change the narrative. It’s time to shift from thank you for bringing up that problem, thank you for bringing up that error or challenge, to thank you for addressing the gaps and profitability, margins, and revenue. Prioritize action, empowerment in action. Action with an ownership mindset drives business results - not talk, not strategies, not even the mission or vision. Your mission and values help enable and guide action, your strategy and planning help you have a path, but they don’t do it for you. Change the culture, and shift your company and leadership mindset to a center of action-oriented purpose. Again, is it simple, yes, easy, no. If it were easy, you would have Fortune 500 companies making decisions in an instant. You wouldn’t have months or quarters to make decisions on simple, or fundamental concepts or questions, but you would have weeks, days, moments in some circumstances. Faster decisions, drive faster actions. And faster action drives faster results. Because performance and results are what we’re here to execute on what our stakeholders expect, it’s time to align our people priorities with our results priorities, and our results with profitability. Does this mean less people to get the job done in some circumstances, it can. But your ability to repurpose and reassign labor to revenue generating activities will allow for your growth goals. Getting more done with less people, can transition to getting more done with those same people, and that’s where the game changes for labor allocation. Don’t think of your people as an expendable resource, but instead as a valued partner, an investment in your business, and solid foundation of your company, an essential to growth and getting the work done. If you need work done, don’t reduce your high-performing people, but instead identify how to make them profitable through their work. Value people and culture We tend to glamorize and hype thousands of hiring numbers in the thousands, and in a lot of ways, we glamorize thousands of people being let go. It’s news, drama, it’s what sells. We don’t seem to spend as much time putting focus on actual profitable growth as a net income either. Small and medium sized businesses are here to make margins, not build empires, and somewhere along the line, that got a little foggy for some organizations. Planning and structuring your work, forces your introspection on what’s important to an organization’s growth and what is the underlying fuel that isn’t cash, equipment, or ideas. It’s the people, and culture, from leadership through those sweeping the floor. I heard someone reference that culture is overrated, and too touchy feely. They mentioned they would “take a winning team over culture”, with all due respect, guess what, the behaviors, mindset, teamwork, that is part of what makes up your culture. Your culture may be a performance based culture, or a winning culture, whatever it may be. That just shows how much some great business leaders miss describing their methods, culture, and still see the people side as the woo-woo stuff. I would venture to guess that not all, but there is a strong commonality seen in organizations that have great results, strong market reputation, solid people retention and NPS scores - they also have a strong performance operations culture and some just don’t know it. They can’t effectively describe it or feel something tangible they can articulate. In some cases, that means you have a strong culture, in others maybe the “lack of a culture” you think you have, is a reflection on a poor organizational culture. It’s a critical mistake to throw organizational culture in within the context of a perceived “soft” aspect of society that some may have. Ignore culture and you ignore long term sustainability of your team and results, you ignore your clients, and your employees, effectively ignoring your business. Build the organization of the future, weaving culture as the underlying connective tissue that grows your leadership confidence and organizational intelligence regarding people, but also grows your business. Side Note If you’re interested in reading more about a legendary business mind that serves as an inspiration for some of the thoughts and business concepts I share in OpCo, and even Warren Buffett learns from and molds much of his mindset from, check out Henry Singleton. The Founders podcast covers it well. Climb Higher, Raise Your^ROI

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://eidigital.com/ Building brands by fostering deeper connections with your audience at every step of their journey. https://grahampeelle.com Developing a Performance Operations Culture Through People Alignment, Development & Commitment Each leader in operations may have a different application of operations fundamentals across industry, product, service, application, areas of focus, level of technical aptitude, etc. But the core of operations principles still hold true, supporting the science of delivering a product or service to an internal or external customer. There is a lot of nuance to operations because it is a common thread across business delivery which varies so widely, however there is so much commonality that allows us to breakdown the operations science and learn from all industries and specialties, versus demanding separation. Keeping an open mind into how we can take away concepts and fundamentals from others is key to developing greatness in your operation. Below are a few rudimentary fundamentals that transcend any differences in operations. Yes, some may very, but this is the start of a list of the basics. Learn to master these areas, start learning to be an operations leader, or step-up as an operations executive. Fundamentals for a Successful Operations Leader View the business from high level and low level at fundamental level until ELT (or next level down), is built out to own itself Break down the business in People • Process • Technology Hire great people Promote high performers and leaders Pay your people what they worth, and even better if you can, pay them a bit more to show your deep level of appreciation, and to take challenges with retention for compensation off the table Develop your people Let your team run and execute on what you hired them to do (don’t get in the way) Lead and manage your people with respect Mediocrity is the opposite of growth Clear expectations, accountability, & ownership Control what you can control Hit production numbers Trust but verify (inspect what you expect) Align key metrics to key outcomes and business process - measure what matters Hit financial numbers, not for revenue sake, but in order to create opportunities for your people - this concept alone will drive growth beyond your imagination if you can cultivate this Performance Operations Culture with genuine development of your people and their careers Add technology to build efficiency, save money, or make your associates’ job better, and not for the sake of tech Keep it simple. Complexity should be kept to technical aspects of product or service, not to impress, be fancy, or make you feel like you accomplished something of significance Progression over perfect, process over persnickety Competition is only competitive if you let it exploit your weaknesses- the market is big enough for both, if it was big enough to launch both companies in the first place - find and cultivate your differentiator, don't dwell on what others are doing, but be aware of it Build your teams, process, scalability, profitability, efficiency, culture, customer connectivity, and technology Keep the main thing, the main thing If you don’t get the people part right, the rest will never happen. Focus on your people.

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

Simplified - it’s about the location of the work I prefer to avoid the hot, trendy, or touchy subjects across business {enter catch slogan or phrase here on corporate work or business}. Trends aren’t really my thing. But after seeing so many individuals, organizations, articles, and posts focused on remote work as their focus, it pushed me to consider what are some of the other points of view on remote work. If that’s your passion and focus, more power to you, and certainly not passing judgment, but it makes me wonder more - why is this debate even a thing at this point? Remote, hybrid, virtual, work from home, etc. have been around a long time, but in 2020 it of course changed dramatically, with so many working from home, completely unplanned and with so much immediacy. But this concept isn’t new, it just became more mainstream and more impactful in the world of work, across less autonomous workers compared with the past. And for three years there has been so much talk about all of the benefits, and yes the in office stalwarts have been popping up, but overall a positive sentiment remained clear - remote work, works, generally speaking. Well, the battle continues, and I wonder why it’s still a conversation when so many other important topics need more attention. Over the last three years, preferences can certainly vary, and some environments and work styles work better for others, but the sentiment was quite positive. For mid to high performing workers, what are the concerns with allowing them to work where they can and want to work best as long as it doesn’t hold the business back directly? And for low performers, maybe it’s time we address those performance concerns head on, instead of allowing them to simmer. For intentional in person collaboration, there is certainly a time and a place for that in meetings, conferences, 1:1’s, group meetings, etc. For newer team members in certain groups, maybe there is an argument at times to start in office, with certain peers or leaders. 100% work from office, or even 50%+ really should be scrutinized on the value it brings based on the work and the role. Hearing stories of people required to sit in their company’s office space, only to spend all day on video meetings and calls- so what are they bringing in value by being in office, if most work is local, regional, national, global, anyway, and not in the office? Much of collaboration is remote now anyways, so even if you want people in office, leaders and workers must be great at remote collaboration and work. Who cares where people work, if work is getting done? If work isn’t getting done, what is the real gap - work location, how it’s being communicated, leadership, the organization, or the people, etc. I’d like to see a more logical approach to designing work, including work location. Let’s make it about what makes sense for the actual work to be done for specific jobs, teams, or divisions, blended with associate job satisfaction, and the company’s communication and collaboration culture, product, and customer requirements. It has nothing to do with where associates are sitting The question remains, is on-site or off-site essential to the work. Similar to the mindset from the Jobs to be Done Framework. What is the work, and lets create a structure that supports getting the work done. Establish a framework that is focused on hitting the targets goals set up to support your internal or external customers. Don’t set parameters that limit your potential to justify preferences, preconceived notions, or an old-school mentality. That’s really just to serve themselves instead of supporting the actual work getting done. Let’s get back to working our plan, and planning our work, and targets for work, versus building structure to serve the purpose of serving the organizational entity. It’s location of work, not a strategy - are some leaders still spending countless hours and resources on this topic? The headline in this CNBC interview, got me thinking a bit more of the benefits and detractors from remote work- “Remote work expands labor force participation”. Increasing your talent pool alone was a huge benefit to some companies through the really tough hiring periods. Being able to hire across the country or the world, is a whole different game. So I wonder - is the tightening only because of the current economic uncertainty, and not just because we’re further away from 2020. Probably a little of both, and a lot of the former. It’s natural for companies and leaders to want to pull back freedoms when financials get tight. It’s natural, but it’s not correct in many cases. Our greatest opportunities often come from our tightest times financially, and if we are overly tight with finances, we will squander the opportunity away, trying to pinch pennies, instead of focusing on capitalizing on the business opportunity in front of us. Consider this course of events and see if resonates, as just one example - 1. Economy gets uncertain and financials get tight 2. Layoff workers 3. Force remaining workers in office 4. Economy picks up 5. Current workers leave because they’re forced in office too much compared to market, and new jobs are available 6. Hiring picks up in the company, but also in the market, so, the talent pool is tight with more innovative and fresh companies are taking your people 7. You raise pay rates and benefits, and offer more remote work I think you see what I am getting at here. Much of the HR and TA people centric cycles are created by our own organizational missteps, overreactions, or misaligned reactions to changes in the market, not because of logical and impactful business thought and plans. Similar to quiet quitting, catch phrases like “remote work”, “WFH”, or “virtual”, seem to grow beyond their value in the conversation It’s about control, and if execs are required to be in office in some cases, they want their teams in office, and you have investment in real estate, mediocre management skills, lack of confidence leadership skills or insecurities, resulting in a lack of trust, seeking control, desire for visibility, and so on. It seems there is a strong semblance of leadership insecurity, or you have the wrong team members on the bus. For some, they preach about culture or collaboration, yet those same orgs have some of the worst associate reputations, Glassdoor ratings, or NPS scores - so the story doesn’t add up. For some jobs, you just can’t create reasons why people must be in person. It is clear there is significant motivation for control or micromanagement, or both. Others certainly have (seemingly) currently insurmountable value for work in the office, or maybe more so work that is “on location”, in the manufacturing plant, in the lab, on the construction site, in the school, or other areas where the impact in person cannot be equaled remotely, at least not yet. For those jobs, we can continue to look at how work must be done, but for the standard office job, can we get beyond locations being a driver for significant decisions that aren’t related? Let the work guide the location, based on the need for on-site work or collaboration, not because a leader or company wants to control its people. The market will work it out- organizations driving in office for no good reason, will lose in the market eventually. It plays out this way continuously. If it’s your people that are the issue, you may need new people, you may need tech to support those people, and you need to get the right people on the bus, and the wrong people off the bus. And if performance looks better And if performance looks better with in person work, take a real look at if it is having associates in the office to work, or is it really your talent or leadership and how they deliver. Understanding this will make your people strategy stronger. It’s easy to focus on the work location, instead of looking at the more meaningful and critical items like talent autonomy, productivity, quality, leadership confidence and insecurities that drive lack of overall confidence in management’s perception of remote work. Unfortunately we often pick the quick hitter that may or may not be our actual issue. It’s essential to dive deeper and find the true cause of challenges, issues, problems, customer complaints, and even successes. What is really behind a success or an area for improvement- incorrect assumptions can really set you back. That is a Management 101 topic. You can’t assume that outcomes are tied to something, unless you take the time and effort to prove it out objectively. Consider the real factors, what’s really going on in your business, and what is a true solution, versus throwing out some quick patch work and targeting work location as the reason. Is in person work being driven as a distraction from long-term issues that are going unresolved? Is a lack of management experience or remote leadership gaps guiding leaders to finding the tool for control or power like some industries or companies? I think about professional roles that have been remote for years, like sales roles. How many sales positions are rarely in the office, and does a sales leader need their sales people in the office to babysit them, no, you look at their results. The results over time flush out and speak for themselves in many roles. Taking a look at sales roles is a great way to put in context of what’s really going on with in office versus remote What is the impact when we go from an office, to remote, and back office? How does that really impact business? What are the implications? This is a significant sway for people that will be difficult to overcome. Once some people at some companies had the taste of remote work, there won’t be any going back for those people - you have just lost them, even if they are still there. This may be a more limited view, but it’s a real look into the perspective of seeing how so many companies are missing the mark on what’s really important performance over presence. It’s not about whether remote work is right or wrong, it’s about whether it makes sense, going back to the simplicity and logic of great business. It’s not a declaration of your leadership bravado or capability, but it’s a determination by each organization based on the available information, facts, and results, coupled with listening to your people, and their results. Remote work is simply about the location of where the work is getting done, nothing more. Let’s not make it more. As leaders, let’s treat our people like grown-ups, expect them to act like adults, hold them to it, and let’s start planning the work to complete it in the best way possible, not to patch other holes, issues, or move the focus away from other weakness in the business that may be the real problem. Focusing on the work that supports your growth and success is where your main focus is best concentrated. Not where people work

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://grahampeelle.com Building a Performance Operations Culture: Raise Your Culture Index Define & Craft Intentional Organizational Culture Define & Craft Intentional Organizational Culture Culture continues to be that mythical concept in much of the business world. Culture can be hard to comprehend when you’ve never experienced a clear and strong culture, appreciated an organization’s culture, or truly felt the energy and power of what culture really is. For some, they have seen a bland or negative culture for so long, it doesn't seem important, because they haven't that shining example. If your organization is trying to build something unique and capable of so much more, but you are still trying to crack the secret of culture, consider raising your culture index for your leadership style and your organization. The ROI from great culture driving business results can be substantial, yet it's so foggy on how to define, measure, and build it. Great culture can be felt, it's an energy that buzzes distinctly, and produces an amazing environment, and can produce incredible results. How do you build a strong culture as a leader? First, define why you need it and what a “great” or “strong” culture really means to you and your organization. If you can’t define it, it’s tough to communicate what it is and build it. You hear about unique cultures at places like Netflix, Google, or Tesla, for good or bad, depending on what your idea of culture is and what good looks like. Craft Your Culture: Articulate & Define It Why: Culture exists whether intentional or not Why not create and steer it, promoting your ideals, not allowing a culture to grow that is counter-productive to your core values and mission What: Culture Definition & Determination Company culture is a shared set of workplace beliefs, values, attitudes, standards, purposes and behaviors. It reflects both the written and unwritten rules that people in an organization follow. Your organization's culture is the sum of all that you and your colleagues think, say, and do as you work together. (Bamboo HR) Culture Determination Aligned Passion & Mission - Know Your Organizational Why Communication Focus Operational Ways of Working Mindset It’s about aligning the core company competency, community, and care, with how you work together and serve your customer. Yes, customers see your culture and often feel it through how you serve them, and associates living your culture, translates to customers feeling the culture. How: By creating strong alignment of what’s important with the right people who care. Aligning people with purpose. But going deeper, how do we achieve this? By breaking up the core areas to build a framework of successful culture. I saw a quote that said something like, “if you look at a teams leader you will see a snapshot of what the team will look like.” I didn’t record the source of that quote and haven't found it yet, but it made me think about being the example as a leader, after all, we as leaders should be the model showing our team the way. Here are a few of the raw concepts and areas to consider in shaping your organization's Performance Operations Culture - Values Business Ethics aligned with purpose Character Over Competence Doing things the right way the first time (FTQ = First Time Quality) If you don’t have the fundamental framework of doing things with excellence and character, then why are we even here? Make your work important enough to care Taking care of each other - Associates #1, Customers #2 Ethical behavior and mindset is the root of being a good human, and in turn will have the truth shine through and your customer and team will see the truth eventually Personal Validation Recognize what people have going on at home and in their lives is more important than work Find fundamental trust in people - trust but verify Treat people like people, not machines or property Align their personal and professional goals with their journey within your organization, just like a true customer partnership Empathy An empathetic leader can command respect and drive results Being realistic with goals and expectations Aligned to personal purpose is a way of empathetic leadership Caring for your team is fundamental You have to care about them as people, before they will respect you as a leader. If you don’t care about them, why should they truly care about a future with your team or org? Doing the job is different than actually giving your all and being invested…we have heard enough about that topic in 2022. Authenticity Drives trust, transparency, and healthy level of feeling secure Your flaws are your power, show you're real and allow your team to be real Your ability to show you’re a human, make mistakes, even some vulnerability, grows respect, empowers your team, and helps them know there is safety in 99% of mistakes if intentions are good Your team knowing they can’t break the operation by making an error and that everything can be fixed is a big vote of confidence to run freely and grow No one enjoys running scared with unhealthy fear Resignations & Terminations How you handle team member resignations shows a lot about your culture and what’s important. Not everyone is a fit for every business. If someone leaves, it may or may not be due to your leadership or something you can control, but the way you handle those leaving will have an impact on your organization in the market and will steer how your existing team views you and the company. Treat people with the same respect you would if you fired your grandmother (maybe not to that extreme, but hopefully that makes the point) Purpose Stakeholder/Customer Prioritization Customer obsession Excellence and quality Deliver a product or service that your customer will rave about and your own associates and family will or would use Standards Performance Driving results Striving for excellence by serving others Development of yourself and others No patience for mediocrity Negativity is a cancer, positive outlook and attitude is essential Behaviors Fundamentals The boring and hard stuff Productivity Optimization Communicate fully, clearly, and ahead of time Perseverance Your team’s success relies on your ability to knock down barriers, navigate the organization’s goals, customer objectives, and align them with your team’s development Your grit and resilience as a leader will show through in your team Technology Tech doesn’t run the company or get a paycheck, don’t forget who is running it, what the priority is Tech doesn’t exist to give you something to serve or work in or around, it serves as a platform or way to get work done and drive value. Tech works for you Adoption, usage, and complexity to use should not be major challenges Measure It: The Culture Index Associate/colleague NPS Client NPS Referral Volume Retention Market Brand Power Promotions/Team Member This is culture from the top down in an organization: “It’s an obligation for me to share with other entrepreneurs about what I have learned.” “My favorite day of the week is Monday…because that is the day me and my team go over all of the inbound messages we get from the people who have read my book and how it changed their lives.” ⁃ Sam Zell courtesy of Founders, David Senra (may be paraphrased a bit) Resources: Performance Operations Culture & Culture Index “It reflects both the written and unwritten rules that people in an organization follow. Your organization's culture is the sum of all that you and your colleagues think, say, and do as you work together.” https://resources.franklincovey.com/blog/building-a-winning-culture-lead-with-purpose Bamboo HR: What Is Company Culture? (Plus 10 Expert Tips for Improvement) A16z Podcast: “Culture as a Code”, Ben Horowitz thoughts on culture

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

Go after the hard stuff After hearing about the story of James Cameron on the Founders podcast by David Senra, it has provoked a lot of thought about what it takes to be great. Not good, but actually great, meaning a level that is at the top of your profession, industry or specialization, top 1% great at what you do. The more I reflect, the more I realize that most don't actually want to be at that level. Many want to be good, and many say they want to be great and would certainly take it, if it weren't for the time, effort, and sacrifice, blood, sweat, and tears that it takes to get to the truly exceptional, great level. When you look at someone like James Cameron, Michael Jordan, Steve Jobs, or other true greats, you realize the level of sacrifice it requires, which most of us just aren't willing to make. It's a brutal reality that most of us want the positives, but don't want to take on the negatives that go along with it. We don't want to give up that time with family, friends, that time on the golf course, on the lake, or binging Netflix. We want to do great things, but also have that balance, harmony - we want both. And that's okay that many of us aren't willing to give up everything for that GOATlevel, and I would argue it's actually good that most of us aren't from that perspective - we're not all built like a robot, raised like Tiger Woods, or so cold, calculating, or with a touch of crazy, that we put all aside to achieve what we want or feel pulled to create. Not everyone can be the greatest at the same time. And we of course need those who have more of a caring side, have other community motives, or are willing to put aside careers for others. Sacrifice for the greater good, versus achievement in many cases, which has a different kind of power, and a whole lot of earned respect for those who can dedicate so much to others or a cause. Regardless if you are willing to go to the James Cameron level, or work like Kobe, you can still have the focus, intensity, and work ethic that can allow you to do exceptional work. You may not be a star or celebrity that everyone knows, but you can do great work, making a meaningful impact across an industry, supporting a significant mission. You're capable of delivering or creating work that is at a different level than others, and still have a life. How do you have both? This isn't a piece on work-life balance, it's about doing the difficult work. Getting into the real work of your specialization or profession. Finding your niche and not shying away from the level of work it takes to become one of the best in your field, and develop yourself. In order to get to that higher level, being better than most, you need to have that killer instinct. People talk about being a killer, but what does that mean? For me, it means an achiever or striver, a level of dedication, commitment, effort that allows you to power through, and develop a passion for the work that few can find or maintain. It's about developing a passion for the most difficult work. Channeling your energy into your passion and not letting anything get in your way to winning and growing as a person. Difficult work doesn't mean simply working on hard things, rather it means not shying away from the most challenging, complex, or far-fetched projects, tasks, or initiatives. You seek out challenging, you seek out the work no one else wants because others think it's the impossible. This is what hit home with the story of James Cameron, with it being how he thrived on difficult. He sought out difficult and did anything to stay away from easy. This sets us a part many from ordinary. In my own career, I can relate how I was able to find success at different points, with some coincidental and some instances more intentional of finding the hard stuff, not focusing on taking the easy route. Looking back, I intentionally took on the challenging work because I loved the challenge. If others were scared of it, didn't think it could be done, or didn't have success with it, I gravitated to it. Not because of intelligence or some magic answer, but I aligned well with the projects where an organized approach, resilience, grit, and a get it done mentality worked well. It wasn't rocket science, but it was more of aligning with the other side, the non-glamourous work. I gravitated towards the dirty work, and it thankfully went over well that others didn't understand it, because you couldn't be placed in a box, like other projects or programs. No comparison intended to underwater filming or making Terminator, like Cameron, as there is no comparison to individuals at this level, but I share this to say - go do the hard stuff. Find the difficult work, don't shy away from complex or messy, as you can do that impossible. Impossible was meant to be transformed into what has been done. The difficult work was put before you to tackle it, not hide from it. In terms of what this means for Operations - you can get by with the simple stuff, routine, fundamental, and yes, this works. Often in Operations, executing on fundamentals is what separates those who can, versus those who cannot. But in order to get to the next level where your group or company is irreplaceable, you need to go after what others shy away from, or simply aren't willing to do. Your team becomes valuable at the highest level, once you are willing to do the impossible, the hard stuff, the dirty work. When you consider your People, Mission, and Purpose, and want to drive Results and Profitability - go after the hard stuff. It's the level where you rise from the fray and build the sustainable and fully scalable operational framework that competition only dreams of. The difficult work is where your growth and your own version of greatness can be found.

"Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

The key lies with empowering your people through ownership in their work

Graham Peelle

The key lies with empowering your people through ownership in their work

Empowering associate ownership drives everything else. With an empowered team, you have a team that cares beyond basic “employee” care for their work. There is another level that not every team or individual maintains. A notch up to a level of ownership and a strive for excellence where proactivity, accountability, deep care for outcomes, and an inherit responsibility are rooted in the associate's work. Here are a few benefits of an empowered team working with an ownership mentality:

A team that cares, accomplishes more

Retention increases with the level of ownership

Care beyond compensation - missionary not mercenary

Performance and productivity

Innovation thrives

Empowered ownership leads, drives, and incentivizes not only the best fit behaviors for your business, but leads to outcomes through work aligned to the mission. In short, you have your employees working in the right way for your business, with the right mindset, all focused on driving the desired results. Sounds simple? It may be more rare than we would expect.

Hiring for Empowerment

If you want great empowered associate and team performance, consider looking for the characteristics in people you hire:

Hold the desire and drive for success

Looking for responsibility

Ownership in what they say and what they do

Proof of accountability in their life and career

Ability to learn and apply

Pride and care in their own education or previous work experience

Genuine care and interest in the work and other people

Provide signs of interest in being a teammate, not an individual

Show up on time

Self-awareness

Incentives

Incentives often drive ownership, yet don’t align with the culture that leadership is hoping to drive. Companies may offer an ESOP (employee stock ownership plan), preferred stock, performance bonuses, merit increases, etc., but then don’t link the work with their incentives for their people. There essentially is a work-incentive gap, where both exist, but they don’t coincide to actually support each other. They are siloed. Consider creating incentives aligned to what you will allow your people to impact - why provide a bonus, if an individual can truly not impact the metric or it doesn’t actually incentivize any tangible action? And if an overall company or group incentive bonus, exude transparency up front on the target to hit that incentive, to actually incentivize the work and results.

Strong alignment, often correlates to strong incentives where outside factors aren't overly powerful. Providing a bonus that someone feels no way to impact and feels completely out of their control, actually provides little value, maybe as low as 25% of what you are compensating for when you consider the dilemma, and in some cases could be demotivating when you look at the psychological side of your compensation plan being tied to goals you really have little to no control over. This impacts the strength of the incentive, but also the interest working to achieve the target.

Level of Power, Aligns with Level of Output

The more power and responsibility you give to your people the more empowered they are to lead, run, operate and own, and be your business. One approach I have seen work tremendously well, is really pushing your people to step-up into their roles, and start leveling-up to that next role where it applies. This is not just a form of intentional delegation and empowerment, rather a push towards ownership in the actual business leadership. Bring each team member up to allow for them to work to their potential, elevate to the next level potentially, and beyond:

Your people will surprise you positively, if you let them. They can often do more than you allow them to do.

Build your business so you don’t have to be there for it to survive.

Empowering your team and elevating them to the level they should be and what the business needs, drives a level of ownership you won't experience otherwise.

For the highest leader on the team to help elevate your team individuals and org, they must have time and autonomy to build and think beyond day-to-day ops, and thankfully that’s what your team is meant to run, and own.

Addition by Subtraction: Building by Not Doing

How do you build a Performance Operations Culture centered with associate empowerment? It starts with letting go:

Control

False pressure or urgency

Distractions

Intimidation or threatening style

Busy work adding little to no value

Reports, attendance, meetings, recurring responsibilities --> if they serve little to no value

Babysitting or micro-management

In office work to serve leadership’s lack of self-assurance or prop up their insecurities

I see it in the classroom with my children, or hear about it with my wife's classroom. Something revolutionary, groundbreaking, and frankly far too rare; treating people as an adult. No, it's not rocket science, but we often make it this way, by going the opposite direction with our management tactics. Or in the case of children, treating them appropriately for their age, with respect, with dignity, and as a partner, not as a tyrant, which fosters a collaborative and community-oriented environment, growing passion, care, and ownership for their work and joy with supporting their peers.

Is there a time and a place to get employees or children back in line, of course, and as a leader you must, but it's about setting expectations, and letting people surprise you with their ability to work within them and actually enjoy the clarity of expectations you establish. Your team wants clear expectations. I see it over and over again, associates thrive on clarity with their role, responsibilities, and expectations. The ambiguity grows uncertainty, poor confidence, and testing the system. In order to establish team member empowerment and grow a Performance Operations Culture, it requires some groundwork.

Build Blocks for Empowerment

The right people on the bus (hired or developed)

Trust

Communication

Clarity in ownership of responsibility (RACI concept)

Proactive approach

Confidence

Calmness in leadership

Alignment of culture, interest, vision, and goals

Genuine care for people, their interests, goals, and ways of working

The list goes on, but those are a few to get started. And if you’re still curious on how to make all this happen, it requires your mindset shift. It requires you to find belief in the intentions of your team and the commitment of an empowered team. You will need to believe your people know more than you, can achieve more as a unit, belief that innovation stems from freedom and productive collaboration, and that your ego is a fault, not the purpose being served. You will need to see reality, not the stories made up in your head. You may need to think differently, if you’re not there yet.

If you are currently running a kingdom, not an organization, it's going to take some work. Try taking away all directives and mandates in one swoop, and it may be eye-opening at either how your team has no idea what to do without your micro-management, how they move forward and can just run without all the nonsense, or they will think something is wrong and wonder why you have abandoned them. It will be telling how quickly the culture changes as you pull back.

Associate Performance

Your ability to drive empowerment is contingent on having at least some of the right people on the bus and working through your talent roster optimizing for the best available talent. It’s hard to empower your people, if your people don’t have the basic skills or knowledge. As you navigate this leadership journey, consider two buckets - poor or good performance. Quick and simple system to understand what and who you’re working with and how to approach it.

Poor Performance- focus on their ability to support the team mission. Ensure they understand that their performance is a poor representation of themselves and shows a lack of respect for their team. Your poor performer will quickly set-up for the short term or long term, and recover or work themselves out of a job with your organization.

Good/Great performance- give them more, and pay them handsomely for their sacrifice, commitment, and ownership. Your willingness to acknowledge and reward, will directly align to their continued performance elevation, and retention. And don't make the mistake it must be grand - simple acknowledge and extending some additional responsibility can work wonders! Never allow your people to get stale in their role- continue to support the evolution aligning to their personal career journey. This is where organizations often falter- they fail to allow for alignment and growth between an individual’s aspirations and the organization’s goals.

Big Picture & Bottom Line

Profitability comes from people owning their sh!t. The higher you elevate and empower your people to own their role responsibilities, careers, and lives, the more you promote financial stewardship in alignment with their goals. Align their performance and incentives with the organization's, profitability. Mutual success comes from a mutual sharing in values, mission, and the upside. Does this mean the organization or owner must give away all their earnings, no, but you may be surprised the more you align your team's performance to their incentives, and pay just a bit more for it, your earnings will go up, not retract. See your performance incentives as an investment, similar to smart marketing, where the incentives are making you money, not costing you. Well-structured incentives drive profitability, they don't drain it.

From a cost perspective, natural cost reduction comes from understanding of the business, and ownership of the business. Cost reduction is a byproduct of your ownership philosophy and practice, and the culture you are driving. Want to increase your profitability? Increase the level your people pay attention to the inputs and outputs, not by criticizing every cost, but through education on how it works and potential solutions, impacts, and so on; improved margins will follow.

As a leader, consider an empowered organizational structure to allow for optimization of your group’s financial opportunity, and areas like cost reduction, efficiency, and waste elimination, will take care of themselves, the more your empowerment index increases.

Add associate empowerment to one of the factors to your index, measuring your Performance Operations Culture. Living this leadership and cultural approach, could spur the growth and employee satisfaction alignment that you desire. Empowered people deliver powerful results.

Additional Resources: Associate Ownership & Empowerment

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

Business Results Through People, Process, & Technology

My passion for operations and delivering on customer needs started while in high school, spending summers and breaks, working at a small electrical controls business. This interest grew sharply as I worked in automotive, heavy truck, and industrial environments while servicing staffing and recruitment needs for clients I managed. My focus always started with the people or talent needs, and quickly gravitated towards a holistic program operations approach, and discovering how I could help deliver a full solution, not just people to fill a gap.

Growing up earlier in my career, so much of the organizational mindset was geared towards a high growth sales environment, and I felt there was a lack of formalization or context of what operations really was, or maybe it was my own inability to understand and align with what I excelled at, and for which I was unknowingly growing as a specialization. I found a niche without seeking it, but by giving the work my full attention and immersing myself in the business I led, or was involved with in some way, I learned the business at a deep level to understand the full story, not just where my role plugged into that story.

Getting out of the office and into the field, working with teams who are leading, staffing, recruiting, and the doing the physical work through staffing, managed, and engineering services, always brought a great deal of fulfillment for me. Seeing a team move the needle from barely surviving in some cases, or running on the hamster wheel, to seeing teams run with an organized, scalable, and profitable approach, brought a lot of satisfaction. Seeing teams come together to achieve tangible results that serve client deliverables is fun to be a part of.

I have been fortunate to work with teams responsible for some amazing results, delivering on expectations, driving internal and external results, or against significant odds. Below are a few to share as examples:

Checking 1000+ assembled vehicles parked outside in 30 degree weather for a part underneath the vehicle, in the dark

Taking on a fully outsourced maintenance department, delivering higher quality work at a quarter of the cost

Hiring 50+ niche sales reps in less than 6 months across Europe, against all odds given by internal or external stakeholders

Stabilized and accelerated a program with more than 10,000 hires per year

Established customer satisfaction within Germany at a remote manufacturing plant by delivering on hourly manufacturing talent

Upgraded and formalized a decentralized coast-to-coast multi-site SOW-centered set-up, transformed to a structured consolidated program with a unified mission

I share these achievements as examples of teams coming together to produce great work, delight customers, and deliver real business results. These teams were experts at their craft, and when I started leading these teams, I was an expert at none of these. How does that work? What allows this to happen where someone who isn’t the most knowledgeable, doesn’t have the most experience, and has so much to learn, to be a part of engagements delivering these significantly improved and sustained results?

Operations.

Yes, technology, leadership, investment, account management, project administration, all play a role, but it all comes down to Ops and making the business run with all of these different areas considered. What makes up Operations? It comes down to People, Process, and Technology, drilling down further to Customer, Culture, Talent Development, Business Management, and Productive Performance. The list goes on of what makes up Operations, what is closely tied to Ops, or is fundamental to Ops, but these are a start to get you thinking in the Ops world. Operations is different across industry, product, service, application, areas of focus, etc., but many of the principles are transferrable and apply seamlessly in other areas.

Operations requires a strong methodology to continue elevating business to the next level. Building a sustainable fully scalable operational framework, is something I will reference as Performance Operations Culture. This framework encompasses the core of so much within Ops:

Performance | Results, Metrics, Profitability

Operations | Delivery, Productivity, Quality

Culture | People, Mission, Purpose

When assembled together, it gives you the ability to deliver on business and build something special. I love the critical aspects of performance, ownership, accountability, motivation, and that each day is different. Numbers show the performance facts, and much of the story comes from the people, culture, and customers together proving the value from those operational results.

Others may dream it or sell it, but Operations makes it happen. If you’re a strategic and proactive, solutions-minded, both process driven and creative, a leader of execution, if you are all about getting the job done right the first time, or you know how to fix or lead through the toughest of challenges, you may be an operator at heart, and you may not even know it yet.

In Operations, perfection is not attainable, but having perfection as the target keeps you moving in the right direction. Below are a few resources for anyone looking to learn more about Ops.

Operations Resources

COO Alliance

OpsSpot

Operations Nation

Simple Scaling

"Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

- Mark Twain

OpCo: The People Ops Blueprint — Operations | People | Culture | Opportunity

If you would like to be notified for future posts on operations leadership, culture, and people related topics, make sure you click the 🔔 on my profile page. Or subscribe to my OpCo newsletter and find it in your email or LinkedIn monthly. For additional daily content, check out grahampeelle.com. You can also find additional articles on Medium.

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

 How Culture Can Shape an Intentional Life & Career

I have had a few ask about what the 1914 represents in the “GP” monogram. It is the year the Panama Canal construction was completed in Central America. It’s a tribute to my family’s heritage with my grandmother who is Panamanian who met my grandfather, an American, while working in the Panama Canal Zone in multiple jobs as part of the US presence there. After meeting my grandmother, my grandfather, a WWII veteran, started raising a family in Panama, including my mother who was born there and moved to the US when she was five. My grandmother traveled and moved permanently to the US, making her way over by plane. For more on her story, please see this college paper, outlining her story, based on an interview written thirteen years ago, when my grandmother was 82 - Victoria's Story - Immigration from Panama to the US.

I take a lot away from my grandmother's story. Victoria of course had a significant transition when moving to the US, leaving all her own family and friends, her entire life as she knew it, to move with Robert (my grandfather) to start their new life. The trust, resilience, and courage it must have taken had to be tremendous. The faith and love in that relationship and future, must have been powerful. How does that translate in life for me today? It reminds me to have faith in the future, curiosity with what’s in front of me, continue learning, and continue pushing forward with what’s important and be relentless to get there, while remembering, that journey on the boat is one step that matters along the way, not the end destination.

When I reflect on the takeaways from Victoria’s story, I consider multiple aspects of how this applies to my own growth and development, and becoming the person I want to be, which may bring some relevancy for you as well.

Consider the Parallel

Value of putting yourself out there, breaking through your comfort zone

Raising your perceived ceiling in life

Going to get what you want

Not settling for the status quo

Intentionality with life, not allowing life to drive you, but you drive life

Why

Family and friends

Your own fulfillment and enjoyment

Live your dreams

Do something rewarding and worth your time

Step up to match your full potential

If you have interest in living towards your potential, I have had success with creating a map of my interests, abilities, and experience, and identifying how they match up with where I want to be with goals and the vision for my own life. Building an intentional vision takes some time, but the value gained is undeniable.

How to Create Your Intentional Life

Map out your priorities to find your “Hedgehog”, in the words of Jim Collins

Consider what you do now and want to do soon - goals, expectations, and vision

Identify who your advisors are, whether they know it or not- who are you modeling to help get there or taking advice from, to build your own version.

Develop your life game plan, vision board, your ideal path. Below is an example Matt Gray assembled for his own life

Discover, realize, and align on how you will execute on your plan, by breaking your vision down into fundamental steps to achieve your journey and future

Matt Gray - Vision Board

If you doubt the value in building your vision of the future and the steps to get there, take one hour to walk through it, and then try to tell me it’s honestly not helpful. You won’t be able to dismiss it. You will have the direction laid out all in front of you, with clarity on the steps to get there, or at least a start, leaving you with no choice but to to go out and do it. Removing all excuses besides fear is great, but remember that fear is often what holds us back.

So effectively if you try to say it’s not powerful and useful, it’s because of the fear holding you back with what scares you about seeing what you want and the gap in where you are. That fear is there by human nature, telling you to stay safe, comfortable, and in the known.

But that vision is giving you the ultimate roadmap to focus, clarity, and conviction to go after the future you, the life you are meant for deep down inside. Sounds a bit woo-woo, you bet, but it’s real. Vision and roadmap execution is how we do everything else in business, school, and in many parts of life, but we discount the time and importance dedicated to our own life. Sure it'll change, you'll take a varied route, but the plan keeps you focused on what's important, not all of life's distractions. Would you rather have a plan that changes, that gives you a chance to achieve your dreams, or just ignore those dreams so your plan doesn't change?

Get on that boat and set sail on your voyage towards your full potential, you. You won’t regret trying, but will regret what you don’t try. And when things get tough, think of the story of Victoria or someone in your own life, and consider why it was worth it to them for the steps they took towards their dreams.

grahampeelle.com

"Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

- Mark Twain

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

https://grahampeelle.com

These lessons, some learned or realized throughout my career, with some from the last year, have helped me grow personally and professionally. Sharing perspective and experience can be a meaningful way to help others find encouragement, accelerate learning, and bolster their own personal or career progression, or simply help professionals find fulfillment.

By taking a moment to record a few thoughts and share realizations, it may help support a few on their journey with People, Operations, and Culture, or just life in general.

“None of this matters, at the end of the day we're all gonna die. Let's have fun along the journey” (CAMERON HEROLD). Everything is temporary, we’re all just making money to live, so don’t make everything an emergency or end of world event.

Character over competence…yes both are ideal, but character is #1 (Steve Bisciotti & Jim Davis, Warren Buffett).

Everything involves sales, and in Operations everything is tied to the People formula.

"The more you make it about others, the more you are fulfilled and opportunities find their way to you." (John C. Maxwell)

Leadership (not management) and Teaching is your path to fulfillment.

Developing others leaves a lasting impact, much more than giving something to others. (Alex Hormozi)

Operations delivers on the vision, while Sales leverages Ops' success to further monetize and grow. If they aren’t working in alignment, neither is your business.

Culture is more important in business than everything, except character: these two attributes drive everything else. Aligned Character and Culture drive value, profitability, and growth.

"Empower your people, don’t suppress them." (Simon Sinek)

Relationships matter…you will eventually value close relationships even more than you do today

Study Warren Buffett (perspective and fundamentals), Steve Jobs (marketing and creativity), Jeff Bezos (customer), Simon Sinek (leadership), CAMERON HEROLD (Ops) for many keys to the game.

The definition of professionalism has changed for the foreseeable future. If Alex Hormozi doing YouTube videos and interviews in “jorts” doesn’t prove that, I’m not sure what does.

You often don’t realize how much you appreciate something until it’s gone, and that performance or masterpiece you have witnessed has ended. I realized this with many, including Mears, Miller, Manning, and my dad.

Mindset matters. If you think mindset, perspective, or the lens which you look through isn’t important, spend two hours listening to Alex Hormozi and Andreessen Marc L.

Leadership without strings attached has the power to change the world by impacting people for the greater good, not a selfish agenda.

Let it go. Control the controllable, keep the main thing, the main thing, focus on what matters…can’t express enough how much this can help center you when times get tough, or distractions pressure your path forward (Several past leaders and various thought leaders).

Leave everything better off the way you found it…great overall guidance to remember on your journey. (Many have said something similar, most recently I heard it from Jim Collins, Good to Great)

Effort promotes achievement to a certain point, but being savvy, business acumen, and real life experience, while seeing the big picture and learning all you can, helps leverage resources beyond one’s own effort. The sooner you realize you need both hard work, knowledge from experience, leverage, and learning to be great, the better off you’ll be.

Start sooner and be intentional…once you are in a spot in life with enough experience and perspective, really sit down to evaluate what you’ve learned, what you enjoy, and where you want to go in life. You won’t get there if you don’t determine a focus and work towards it. Some of us realize it at 16, for others its 50 years into life. It’s doesn’t mean wait until it's “a good time” or convenient, it means allow for yourself to be in a spot where you recognize and want it, and have enough in your head and heart to go get it. Justin Welsh teaches this practice well.

It’s up to you to prioritize what matters to you. If you don’t, no one is going to do it for you. You are responsible for you…and no one is going to make it happen for you. So do it for yourself and commit to you, and it allows you to impact others in a more meaningful way. It will be worth it. Alex Lieberman has been inspirational in being introspective and showing the importance with taking accountability for yourself. Accountability for your own life and career seems obvious, but how many of us coast through doing what we are "supposed to do" at various points along the way.

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.

CHRO/I 

Pavithri Kilgore of KPSK Consulting joins us to talk about government compliance and how to manage and de-risk your SMB.

Pavithri shares some great insights into the world of government compliance, associate relations, and several areas related to people and organizational risk.

The thoughts shared on this podcast, whether original content or content from others, represent my own personal views or those of other individuals, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of organizations for which I am affiliated. This is not legal or investment advice, please seek professional advice for such advice.