Make My People Better

Episode 11: Jeffrey McDermott | President & CEO, The Center for Performing Arts/The Great American Songbook Foundation

Jeffrey McDermott is the President and CEO of The Center for Performing Arts and affiliated Great American Songbook Foundation. Their mission is to engage and inspire the Central Indiana community through enriching arts experiences. Prior to serving at the Center, Jeffrey worked 31 years as an attorney.

The Center for Performing Arts is famous for its world-class artists and performances. This didn’t happen by accident. Jeffrey has purposely fostered a culture of excellence and strives to deliver a first-class experience to his patrons. This means greeting them personally as they walk in the doors and thanking them as they leave.

This type of high-performance environment wouldn’t be possible if not for an intrinsically motivated team working behind the scenes. Listen in to hear how Jeffrey fosters this intrinsic motivation through acts of servant leadership.

Episode 10: Jim Schleckser | CEO, Inc. CEO Project

Jim Schleckser (@incCEOProject) is the CEO of Inc. CEO Project. His team has helped over 100 CEOs overcome the things standing between them and continued organizational success. Jim is also the author of Great CEOs are Lazy, and his ideas have been translated into 9 languages.

He decided to write his book after working with hundreds of CEOs and noticing a few distinct traits the most successful ones had in common. Most notably, the best CEOs were the ones who worked the least. As counterintuitive as it sounds, it’s true.

The CEOs interviewed are extremely clear on what they need to be focused on at all times. In this week’s episode, Jim shares his “five hats” approach you can use in your organization to make a greater impact in less time.

Episode 9: Doug & Zach Bawel | CEO and Chairman/President and COO, Jasper Engines & Transmissions

Doug Bawel, CEO, and Zach Bawel, COO are brothers who run Jasper Engines & Transmissions together. With more than 2,100 associates, five manufacturing facilities, and 46 branches, Jasper is the largest remanufacturer of gas and diesel engines, transmission, and differentials in the United States.

Jasper is unique in that they are 100% owned by their employees. This means the more the company grows, the more each employee benefits. Not only has this had a drastic impact on employee ownership, but their accountability has skyrocketed as well. In fact, the program has been so effective that revenue has almost doubled since its inception in 2010 (from $300 million up to $590 million in 2017).

In addition to their unique employee ownership structure, the Bawel brothers have implemented several other programs to foster a culture of engagement. Listen in to this week’s episode for practical culture-building ideas to incorporate in your organization.

Episode 8: Daryle Doden | President and CEO, Ambassador Enterprises

Daryle Doden is the President and CEO of Ambassador Enterprises, a “philanthropic equity firm” that has helped optimize more than 1,100 for-profit and nonprofit organizations. Prior to Ambassador Enterprises, he founded Ambassador Steel, which was the largest independent steel rebar fabricator and distributor in the US with annual revenues surpassing $500 million.

Growing up as a Pastor’s kid, Daryle as an adult considers himself to be a man of great faith. He recognizes much of his success, both personally and professionally, as stemming back to his formative childhood years.

As a leader, Daryle is intentional about seeing the value of the people he has around him. With a humble spirit, he recognizes his weaknesses and strategically partners with those who complement his strengths. In this week’s episode, he shares why—contrary to popular belief—you should focus on your weaknesses rather than your strengths.

Gregory Simons, CPAPrincipal & Founder

In 1995, Greg founded Simons Bitzer & Associates and has focused his time on providing services to small and medium-sized businesses in central Indiana.  He has served as Chief Financial Officer for several organizations and specializes in working with tax agencies to resolve difficult tax matters. Greg enjoys the process of developing strategic plans, budgets and cash projections for our customers.

Greg started his own firm as a result of his passion to provide business consulting to busy entrepreneurs.  He knows a business must have accurate books and financials in order to understand the pulse of their business.  He also enjoys assisting with the firm’s business development efforts.

With over 20 years of experience as an accounting professional, including work for two of the Big Four accounting firms and a Fortune 500 company, families trust Greg to provide objective expertise and insight into their financial issues that helps them make sound decisions for their future.

Dan Moore joined Home Bank in 1978. He is a graduate of Indiana State University and holds a Master of Science in Management from Indiana Wesleyan University. Dan is also a graduate of the School of Executive Development and has served as an Adjunct Instructor in the Business School at the University of Indianapolis. Moore is a vice chairman of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis. Moore also is on the Board of IU Health Southern Region. On a national level, he is a director of the Confessing Movement of the United Methodist Church and serves on the Mutual Advisory Board of the office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).

Gary Brackett (@GaryBrackett58) is most widely recognized as the starting linebacker of the Indianapolis Colts Super Bowl Championship team. Since then, he has become the CEO of Brackett Restaurant Group and Stacked Pickle Restaurant Franchise.

Gary has learned many unique lessons from his athletic career that have transferred over to his business success. One of his football mentors taught him “the speed of the leader determines the rate of the pack.” As a CEO, this continues to resonate with him. It’s taught him he can’t be demanding of his team if he’s not demanding of himself.

For him, he’s realized that real leaders get respect by fighting alongside their troops, not sitting back at headquarters. If you want to build a strong culture, you need to be willing to get in the trenches. Doing this communicates to your team that you believe the work is important, so it should be important to them as well.

Randy Lewandowski enters his 25th year with the Indianapolis Indians and fourth as the club’s general manager in 2018. He is just the team’s fourth general manager since the organization was incorporated in 1955. In addition to his duties as GM, he was named president by the Indians board of directors in November 2016.

Lewandowski was named the International League’s 2016 Executive of the Year, marking the third Executive of the Year award for the Indians front office staff since joining the International League in 1998.

After joining the Tribe as a ticket office intern in 1994, Lewandowski was hired full-time as assistant ticket manager the following year. He served in that capacity for two seasons, including during the Indians’ transition from Bush Stadium to Victory Field in 1996.

Lewandowski took over as director of operations in 1998, helping Victory Field host the 2001 Triple-A All-Star game. He transitioned to assistant general manager in 2002, serving as one of the team’s two assistant general managers before becoming the sole assistant GM in 2005. In this role, his primary responsibilities were overseeing the marketing, operations and ticket departments.

Over the final five seasons of Lewandowski’s tenure as assistant general manager, the team recorded five straight seasons of increased attendance, including leading Minor League Baseball in 2013 and setting a Victory Field record the year after.

That success would continue following Lewandowski’s ascension to general manager in October 2014 as the team eclipsed its top season attendance mark for the second consecutive year. In 2016 and 2017, the Tribe once again led Minor League Baseball in attendance.

Lewandowski has been active in the Indiana chapter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society as past president and board member, and past chair of the LLS Light the Night Walk. For a seven-year period, he was active in the youth sports coaching and mentoring ministry at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church and School. Lewandowski spearheaded a partnership between the Indians and Play Ball Indiana in 2015 and now serves on the organization’s board of directors.

A native of Fort Wayne, Indiana, Lewandowski graduated with a degree in business management from Anderson University in 1993. He was also a four-year starter on the Ravens baseball team, where he earned academic All-America honors as a first baseman and pitcher. Lewandowski resides in Carmel, Ind., with his wife, Christina, and their two children, Alyssa and Sam.

Jim Boyce is President and Chief Executive Officer of DEFENDERS. Before being named President and CEO in January 2015, Jim was DEFENDERS’ President and Chief Operating Officer, and was responsible for the company’s revenue and profit growth, leadership development, and all aspects of the customer experience including sales, customer care, installations, permits and collections.

Business first. That’s the tagline of Element Three, a full-service brand and marketing agency in Indianapolis that works across channels to solve real business problems for clients who want to be market leaders. But it’s also the axiom that fuels E3 President Tiffany Sauder’s own approach to growing an enterprise.

When the former financial analyst took the helm of the company in 2006, Sauder was 24. Over ten years later, she’s catapulted annual revenues by over 950 percent. From coaching executives through the brand considerations of an acquisition to helping them use marketing and sales technology to track marketing performance, Sauder understands that success results from an integrated approach to business, brand, and creativity. Sauder has been interviewed by the Harvard Business Review, been a featured speaker at HubSpot's INBOUND conference in Boston, and participated in panels hosted by Ad Age and TechPoint.

Her agency is a three-time Inc. 5000 company, has been named an IBJ Fast 25 organization, and was awarded the HubSpot Agency of the Year award in 2012. She lives in Indianapolis with her husband, J.R., and their three daughters.