Chris Dyer
Appearances
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
I'm a serial entrepreneur who had a big company that I sold at the end of 2021. Along the way, during my journey in managing thousands of people, I realized I was a crap boss and doing culture totally wrong. I had to figure out what we were actually supposed to do. I thought I was doing it great. Then one day you look in the mirror and you're like... It's like saying, oh, I'm really healthy.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
Usually people have some mechanism for listening, and usually they're okay at listening, but they could do better. We could do a question a week versus doing the annual survey. We could be surveying our clients more often than what we're doing now. There's usually some way they could get better, but they tend to be doing something. It's pretty rare for people to be doing nothing.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
I think the one they struggle with the most... that when we start talking about what transparency really means, people get uncomfortable and they're like, oh, I don't know if we can do that. And yet, I would say when we got radically transparent with my organization and everyone I've ever consulted with or ever had, getting radically transparent has made all the difference in the world.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
Because when I know a part of a story, And then that part of that story worries me or puts me in a fear mode. I immediately will make up the rest of the story. I will fill in the gaps. And what do I fill in the gaps with? What I know from history, what I know it's happening in the news, what I know from my own previous negative experiences, right? All the negative stuff I know my brain will go up.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
So today, my boss, Bob, came in and he didn't look at me and he didn't talk to me. And he's been a little weird the last week. And I know our numbers are down. I must be getting fired. I must be getting late. Like immediately, like you go to me to fear. Yeah. Right. Instead, if we're radically transparent and my boss shows up and says, here's our P&L. Here's what's happening.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
Here's what we're doing about it. Right. Here's our plan. oh, okay, now my anxiety level goes down and I can begin to help immediately. Ah, okay, you want to do this thing? You think that's going to help us save the business? I can help you do that. Like I can go and do, right? So showing up with our P&Ls every month is something I highly encourage companies to do.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
delivering the detailed part of the P&L that makes sense to different business units so they can really get dialed in into costs, understanding where synergies can happen, where we can merge vendors or figure out ways to save money. When we did this, within a year, we had saved 35% on our total operating expenses without me ever telling anyone you had to cut anything. We're doing a cost thing.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
We didn't lay anybody off. I just said, here's our stuff. If anyone has any thoughts, has ideas, I'm here. Talk to your boss. Talk to me. And people started saying, hey, I didn't know we spent money on it. Did you know we could do this instead? Right? They understood and therefore they could come up with better ideas because they were closer to it.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
And then you look in the mirror and you're fat. And it's like, huh, what I'm saying and what I'm doing are two different things. And so I realized I needed to change culture. And we did it. We did it really successfully. I worked with a lot of other big organizations to take it to them. And now I spend my time speaking and writing and helping companies make work not suck for people.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
leader, creating positivity in the organization. Now, I know there's someone out there right now who thinks I'm talking about toxic positivity, and I am not. I'm not talking about showing up and saying, everything is great. No, it is a mind shift to do two things. One, if we create positive environments, we create environments where people feel
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
supported they feel like their ideas are being validated they're being heard you know whatever they can be innovative like we know it is impossible for a group of people to innovate if they are literally in in this thing and they feel threatened and they feel like their things are negative right i mean you can survive but it's really hard to get innovative so we want innovation to occur we have to create these environments where people feel like they can succeed
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
But more importantly, we want to remove this sort of like badge of honor of I'm a problem solver, right? Because that means you're ultimately walking around the office looking for problems to solve. Instead, you should be really curious and walking around the office or talking to people, whatever your environment looks like, and trying to find what's working.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
And getting curious about why does Susie get her work done in half the time as Bob? Why is Susie twice as efficient as Bob? They're both about the same thing. And why does Jason outsell everybody else? Why is he the only person who made his quota this quarter? Right. You should be getting curious about that and go and talk to Jason and try to help figure out what is it that Jason's doing?
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
And can Jason take any of that and share it with the rest of the team? And not me saying, oh, well, clearly Jason makes 200 phone calls. And then I go to everyone and say, you have to make 200 phone calls a day. No, do not do that. That is dumb. What you need to do is like, okay, well, Jason, clearly making a lot of calls is working for you.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
And can you go back and teach the team about what your strategy is, why you do that many calls? And then people can take from that what they think will work for them. Right. Right. Because one size fits one. Right. Well, that works for one person may not work for somebody else.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
And and when somebody else teaches you how to do something better, like your your your peer, your coworker, you're like, oh, that's cool. I want to try that. That's interesting. When your boss says, hey, Jason does 200 phone calls and now you need to make 200 call. You're like, screw you, dude. I'm looking for a new job. This is not it's a competitive between you and Jason.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
You're now in a resistance mode, right? As opposed to I'm cooperative. I'm walking alongside Jason. He's telling me what he's doing and I'm going, that's cool, buddy. High five. I'm going to go try that versus your boss coming in. Now we're both pushing up against each other. We're resisting each other, right? And I'm saying, you need to start making 200 phone calls.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
You're like, I'm not ever making 200 phone calls. That's ridiculous. That's not how I sell.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
And so out of that study, it always reminds me of this really simple saying that I remind leaders of all the time. What you focus on Yes. They were focused on productivity in that particular plant and looking at that. And guess what? Even though they didn't really do anything monumental, they made some changes.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
The lights is an interesting correlation, but everyone knew they were being, being studied. They were being looked at and the focus was on them and on productivity in that group.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
You know, uniqueness is hard for people to get. And so uniqueness, again, goes in a couple different ways. On the business side, uniqueness is what is our value proposition? What are our features and benefits? How is it we do our product or service differently than our competitors? I mean, really good companies get that right so that they can market well.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
correctly it's amazing how many you know fairly successful companies don't figure that out to the point where they could be market leaders by just articulating right i mean this may piss some people off but is the iphone that much better than like the samsung galaxy or what i mean you look at the top phones are they that much no but but apple's marketing is amazingly better yes at articulating culture
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
Yeah, I mean, one of their really big mistakes that they make is that, first of all, believing they have good culture just because they say so. That's not how it works. You can't manifest a great culture. You can manifest many things in our lives, but I think you have to be far more intentional about culture. That's the first one.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
But it's built in that uniqueness that you're talking about. Yeah, that culture and the uniqueness. And so, you know, that's one part of it. But the uniqueness pillar also goes into what makes our people unique. Because often what we do is we say, well, what makes us all the same? They all show up in a meeting and it's like, oh, well, we all like the bears or we all like the angels or whatever.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
It's like whatever stupid thing we're trying to find commonalities all the time to create connection. And instead, we need to get really interested about what makes us all different and what are the different qualities, what are the different skills, what are the different abilities that we can bring to the organization.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
And so I don't really care that you and I maybe both are really good, let's say, writers, right? I want to know what is it that you can do that I can't do so that you can help me when I need it and I can tell you what I'm really good at so I can help you when you need it, right? There's an area that you just aren't that strong in.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
So for teammates, us really understanding what makes us unique is important. And that creates diversity of thought, right? And that will, and this has become very politicized more lately, and certainly there's been some changes happening.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
If you really want to have a diverse workforce, whatever that means to you, whether that's diversity of thought, diversity in how people look or who they are, the way to do that is to celebrate what makes people unique. Because if you are ultimately reinforcing this idea that we care about... Tom is the most amazing salesperson. Let's go find five more Toms.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
Well, Toms, let's just say Toms, whatever his demographics are, but he's from this particular school and he's from this particular part of the country. You end up hiring five versions of Tom. That doesn't mean you're going to be successful. I mean, my top five salespeople could not have looked, acted, spoke differently, worked completely different, approached sales completely differently.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
And that was a huge value to us because one did all their sales in the golf course. And the other one was like way into partnerships. And the other one like made 500 phone calls a day. And we just burnt, you know, knew everybody like, Having that skill set in many different people was very, very valuable. So I kind of find that people get this like a little mixed up sometimes.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
In the book, I could tell you a quick story if you want an example of how to do this. We had everyone in the company take the StrengthsFinders, the Gallup StrengthsFinders test. You get your top five strengths. I think that's all you need. You don't need the other. Sorry, Gallup. I don't think you need to pay the extra money for the other 34 or 37 or whatever it is. You need the top five. Yeah.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
And we asked everyone to take it. We took their top five and I put them out on just because I was curious. And we put them all the strengths up top and we put all their names down this side on an Excel sheet. And then we just filled in the box wherever they had strengths. And what was fascinating was we had so many people with overlapping strengths.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
The second one is that they believe that if they just tell people... That is enough. We need people to be a part of this process. It's great for the CEO or the senior leaders to create the vision and to ultimately say, people like us do things like this and don't do things like that. What was it? Google's theme used to be, don't be evil. That was sort of like a baseline thing. Yeah.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
I mean, my entire operation and research team all had responsibility in their top five, which makes a lot of sense because they have to be responsible. They were doing work that was really, really important. And if they were irresponsible people, like sex offenders get jobs at daycares and stuff. I mean, it was like they had to be that kind of type of person.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
But what was also interesting to me was we had all of these gaps. We had... I think something like 12 or 14 strengths that we had nobody talking thousands of people. I have nobody that's terrifying with these strengths. And I was like, that's a problem for us. right? And we had been trying to reach some particular goals with diversity to, you know, to create more diversity in the organization.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
And we had hit a ceiling, we kind of hit, hadn't really gotten any better, we didn't really know what to do, we were certainly committed to it. But like, You know, we didn't know what to do. So I just said this at the top, you know, pull this out of my butt.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
I was like, hey, guys, the next time you're going to hire somebody, I'm not going to take a final interview and I will not hire them unless one of their top five strengths includes one that we don't have right now. Yes. That's it.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
yeah give me people who don't who are different than the people we have now like just by one strength they can have the other four that are the same so they're going to connect still with the organization and the people i started getting at the interviews and i gave no other instructions the people were acted different they spoke different they had different backgrounds they looked different right they talked different everything was different about them in a wonderfully positive way
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
And the organization just – and it was like a snowball. As soon as we suddenly had this new injection of fresh ideas and different perspectives, we never had to, like, think about diversity again because we were now already – it was just going. It was like the momentum was there, right? And we weren't trying to, like, solve all of society's ills by – inside of our organization.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
We were just trying to get people there that could think differently and have different perspectives so that we could argue more in a very collaborative and constructive way about how to solve real life issues.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
The book, my most recent book is called The Power of Company Culture. That's the second edition. And it's filled with... It's really a three-part book. Part one is like, what do you got to do not to suck? What's the bare minimum you got to do to have a... company culture. And then the middle is, how do you be great? And that gives you a breakdown of those seven pillars.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
And I've got case studies with NASA, Neiman Marcus, Gary Vaynerchuk's company, lots of different organizations in there to be able to help give good examples. Not just my companies, not just my experiences, but what are they doing with those particular pillars? It's really interesting. And then the third part is, and this is, I think, really interesting for anybody on any topic, culture aside.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
Third part is like, how do you actually do change? So it's my little mini guidebook of, you know, change management. So if you have a big change management issue and right now your culture is fine, you could literally buy the book and just open up the last third. And that's going to give you the framework on how to get people to change change.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
But beyond that, we need like our people to be a part of that process. And so usually companies leave them out. Right. They completely ignore it. They just say, this is what our culture is and you are lucky to be here. And that doesn't work.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
and not drag their feet and make it harder on you to really create that momentum you need to create.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
I was going to do a case study on Uber because they really screwed up diversity.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
They had a lot of problems for a while. Now, they ended up riding that ship, and they brought in some really key people to help them deal with this. But, I mean, they had a young boys club, essentially, right? They had sort of this tech bro thing going on for a period of time, and they had some real problems, and they had some lawsuits, and they had some real...
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
legitimate concerns for people that didn't fit that. This was years ago. And I remember people wouldn't drive with Uber. They would only drive with Lyft because they had heard about some of these real problems. I had kind of wanted to do a case study on them on what was going on with that. Shockingly, I couldn't get them to want to really talk about it.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
I wanted to kind of show what their growth had been and show what they had done to try to right that ship. Um, they weren't interested in, um, I guess, bring some of that because they had kind of gotten over that PR hump, I think. So I think that would have been really, really interesting to have learned and see what they learned and what they had actually ended up doing.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
I understand they didn't want to, you know, open up the scab, you know, peel the scab away and re-injure the wound.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
Well, is it good change? That's number one, right? So is it a good idea? This is always my terrible example. But if I came to you and said, hey, we should start selling meth, right? No matter how much I try to get you to change your mind and you're like, listen, Chris, I'm not getting into the meth business. No, thank you. I'm like, but listen, we can make a lot of money.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
No matter how much I convince you, you're going to be like, no. Because if it's a bad idea, you're going to get resistance no matter what you do. So that's kind of like the first litmus test of like, Is it a good idea? And are you certain that the change and the thing that you want to do is the right decision and is a good idea and is good for everyone that's involved in all of that, right?
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
So that's like given baseline. And then we talked about this a little bit earlier. Helping people understand, deeply understand. So if I open a door and it's totally pitch dark in there and I'm a stranger, you don't know me, and you're happy to be walking past, I say, oh, excuse me, can you walk in that room? You're going to be like,
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
hell to the no right because i don't know who you are i don't know what's in there i don't i mean it could be a million dollars it could also be you know a monster that's going to eat you like i don't know anything my answer should be no and that is the answer at work i don't understand what you want me to do i don't understand why this is i don't what is this no that's my that's my baseline is no so i help you understand a little bit now you're aware
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
hey, can you help me find the light switch in this room? I can't find it. I forgot my glasses. I can't. And now all of a sudden you have a little information. Oh, you're asking me for help. Well, I can reach my hand in there and probably find the switch without being in real danger, right? So now I've given you a little information. Now you're willing to do a little bit more, right?
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
Now it's, hey, I need to find the light switch. I don't have my glasses. My grandson is lost in this room. Right. I need it. Now, all of a sudden it's a different conversation right now. So you're getting more and more and more information.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
I'm asking you to do this thing that might be weird or scary, but like, and so the more you move up that ladder up that X, you know, Y axis, anyway, whatever it is, the X axis, Y up the axis, um, suddenly blanked on my X and Ys and forgotten all my geometry. Um, the, as you go up the X axis, the, which is more and more understanding, um,
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
And more and more training, more and more of them deeply getting it. And some people are going to stop at, they get it. Some people are going to go all the way up to like expert level. They want to know everything, right? Some people understand what ChatGPT is and how to prompt it. Some people are using it to like deeply program and go. Like there's a spectrum of what people understand about that.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
Well, first step is to ask them. Ask them what they care about. Ask them what they value. Ask them, you know, when you do that, you start to pick up on themes and things that obviously overlap and connect. You're not going to get 100% agreement on anything. But if you're saying, hey, we really need to do X, and you ask your employees, well, what do you think?
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
But as they go up, then... Again, it has to be a good idea. They begin to move along that y-axis to, I'm going to do something. I will change. I will help you get other people to change. I will be a champion of change. I will reinforce and literally help you find the people that do that. That's one tactic that leaders can take.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
The second tactic is, I realized when we were going through this change that I had a group of people that were my champions of change that wanted to change. They were good to go. And everyone was like trying to convince the people in the middle to change, to go along with this, to why it was good for them. And I kind of was like, you know what?
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
I don't think we need to worry about the middle group. And I've actually seen this work over and over and over again. The middle group essentially gets pushed by the bottom group. And the middle group actually ends up pulling the bottom group. And the champions of change kind of pull everyone along too.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
So I got the champions, the people who really got it, to go and have lunch and go have coffee and go have side conversations with the people who were like, no, I don't like change. I don't want to do this. I used to call them the flip phone crowd, like the people who had those old flip phones. They wouldn't.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
Remember, the buttons were falling off, and there was no way they were going to go to an iPhone. They were never going to give that thing up until it finally broke, and there was no more warranty, and they finally had to go to the Steve Jobs mafia. But when I got those people that really got it, I had these peer conversations about, what are you worried about? What's going on?
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
What are you fearful about? You know, let me tell you what I think is going to happen. Like, I know Chris has got all these crazy ideas, but like, I actually think these are good ideas. And let me tell you why, as your coworker, as your peer, right? I'm not telling you how to do it, but I think this is going to work. I think this is great. I think we're going to end up being happier.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
And when those people were like, oh, okay. Then they just started pushing the middle people forward. Because if you're in the middle and you're like, well, I'll go along with what everybody else is doing, if that's your deal. As far as the middle. That's intuitively who you are. And Steve, who doesn't ever do any change, is suddenly going, yeah, I'll do that.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
And you're like, oh, well, I guess it must be an amazing idea if Steve's on board. Don't move yet.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
And they're generally saying X or mostly X. I mean, you'll find ways to connect the dots to make them see and understand that what you care about and what you want this company to be is ultimately aligned with what they're saying they want Or, you know, sometimes you don't just ask, what do you want? Like, what do you think a great company culture looks like? What is it in your mind?
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
Well, I mean, listen. Sometimes having people who are resistant to change is a good thing. They help protect us. They help us from running, you know, off a cliff because we see some shiny object and we want to run after it. I mean, we need these people in our lives too, for different reasons. They usually hold institutional knowledge. They help ground us in tradition.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
And so those people aren't all bad. It's just that when we find a good idea and we need them to come along, we want them to be a part of that journey. We've just got to figure out how to put it in their terms and help them so that they're not fearful and so that they understand why it's important and they ultimately decide it's good for them too to come along.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
First, if you are in the US and you want to text 33777 and just put my name, Chris, as the message, I'll send you off some ideas about how to change your meetings. I'll send you 25 starter questions for that one question survey a week. And that'll get you on my newsletter so you can get additional content. As of the 16th here today in January, TikTok is still up and running. I'm on TikTok.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
I do lots of content there. But I also do it on Instagram Reels, YouTube. Happy to connect on LinkedIn. You can also go to my website, chrisdyer.com. But wherever you hang out on social media, I'm probably there if you want to connect. And then there's lots of stuff that you can digest. Certainly, my book is really set up to be
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
um not woo woo and not foofy and it's meant to be really this is how you actually do it and it comes from me having to go through that myself and all of the other people that i've been able to learn from along the way that i know have had to go through that same journey so the good news is You can make small incremental changes. You don't have to make a radical change tomorrow.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
Working on your culture doesn't mean, you know, we go back to this health example. It doesn't mean you have to start starving yourself. It doesn't mean you have to go through this painful thing. You can start doing small incremental things a little bit at a time.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
that will over time have a huge, huge impact on your company, on your bottom line, on your happiness as a leader and the happiness of your people.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
You know, if we had the best culture in the world, what does that look like? What would we be doing? And they ultimately will start telling you things that maybe they're not doing yet. Again, we can go back to the exercise. What's healthy? Well, healthy is I would be working out every day. I'd be eating good food. And you're like, we know you're not doing that right now. Right.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
But you're getting that alignment on we all agree what good looks like. And so we can start to work towards that. That's kind of a really good step one. Step two is There's this really interesting correlation between understanding and actually getting people to change. Yes.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
And so usually what leaders do is they just try to convince, convince, convince, and they try to push and beg, borrow, steal, yell, scream, whatever it is to get them to comply and to change. And all of that is a complete waste of time.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
All you need to do is to help people understand more and more and more about why it's important, why we're doing this, why it's good for them, why it's good for the company. Assuming it's a good idea.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
More understanding will result in more change and people being willing to do more of that and eventually finding some people I call champions of change, people who are really love the idea and are really enthusiastic and will go carry, you know, will go out into the world with their virtual sword and shield and help you, right, do more of that. Um, that's super important.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
And so we have to ask, and then we have to really help inform people, not just once, but constantly, right. Getting them to understanding.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
Culture is how we get things done. It's the norms, it's the behaviors. And so if we think about what's the most efficient, what's the best way to get things done, I think most people would say, I want a collaborative company. I want people who speak up. I want people to give ideas. I mean, we talk about all these things we would want from people.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
And yet, if your culture is one where it's shut up and don't talk... Uh, don't speak out of turn. The senior leaders get to talk and you have to sit here and be quiet. Um, you know, we don't, we don't really care about ideas or, you know, if you give a good idea, the senior leader is going to steal it for their own. I mean, like there is what the reality of culture is.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
And then there's like what we think we want. And so culture is so important because we have, this has been studied. I could give people, I could send them a hundred studies right now if they wanted them that would, you know, We know that when you have a great culture, you have higher profits. We know when you have a great culture, you have higher performance.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
And we know when you have a great culture, you have higher productivity. Give me the senior leader, give me the business owner who doesn't care about those three things. Right.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
Well, their needs are everything. Everyone is always out to figure out what's in it for them. I mean, people are only working for you essentially because they want fulfillment. They want to feel like they're part of something great, but they also need the money. They need to feed their families and all of that.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
So there's this basic contract in the beginning that I'm here because I need something from you, business owner. as the employee. Now, I'm here, and I would much rather enjoy my time here. I'd much rather feel fulfilled and to do something meaningful with this work, or else I could just go work at the local burger place and flip burgers and just not care, right? And so there is that shift there.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
We need to think about, they're not just showing up altruistically. That may happen in a volunteer organization, but we're talking about work. right? That is huge. So what have we done? I used to send out a one question survey to all of my employees every single week. We ditched the annual survey, which I think is dumb and stupid.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
And if you're doing it, you probably belong back in the 19, I don't know, 40s. It doesn't work. It never really worked, but it definitely doesn't work today. Instead, ask people one question every week. What's going great? Where are you struggling? Who's killing it for you? What client's driving you crazy? What resource don't you have? If you had a magic wand, what would you fix?
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
What would you change in our software? You start asking people these things and they start sharing with you and you get great ideas. You get great insight on what they're dealing with, what's happening in their lives. And then before you ask the next question the next week, you come back to them as their boss and say, this is what I heard and this is what I'm going to do about it.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
And at the end of the month, I would say these were the four questions or five questions we asked this month. Again, this is what I heard. Again, this is the update in progress and what we've done about it. And sometimes it was something good. You all said that Steve was the best employee ever this month. He's been helping everybody out.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
Like we, we sent, you know, Steve to go get a massage and gave him a day off. Like, We did something cool for him. Or you're all telling me this one client is killing you. They are half of our tickets. They call constantly. They're driving you nuts.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
We've already interacted, you know, call conversations with them to figure out how we can better service them without them filling up our, you know, resources away. So like, and then they feel hurt. We're actually solving their problems and we're making work better for them. That's how you do it. You mentioned Bob the janitor or Susie in the mail room.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
What's the mechanism to actually hear from them? Because you may not ever actually, as the senior leader, you may never cross paths with that person. How do you extrapolate that knowledge and data and things from them Sometimes directly, sometimes through their bosses or the leadership in between you to actually enact change.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
Yeah. I mean, they usually come to me for one of two reasons. One, they've got a giant headache, so they're looking for an aspirin, right? So that's one kind of client. And we have one approach for them. And then the other kind of client is like, listen, I know we're doing well, but I want to be next level. And so they're looking for a vitamin.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
They're looking for what are the activities and things I can do to continue to be healthy.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
and and and sustain this growth or this company whatever it is for the long term so the the answer for for both is i'm i have a seven pillar framework and there are we've proven that there are these seven things that if you do them well you can have a great culture in fact you probably will have a great culture and you you can move towards being a market leader
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
Um, a lot of good cultures and good companies do some of these pillars as well, but you have to do all seven in order to be great. So usually what I do is we look at the seven. I talk to them about the seven. And they begin to self-identify where they feel like they're doing well. That's really important. Where are we doing well? Because we don't want to stop doing that.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
And then where are we doing okay? And ultimately, where is this like, you heard me say that and you were like, uncomfortable in your seat. You're like, I know that is not what we're doing well. And then the struggle is they've got to go and fix the one that's the worst. That has to be the first thing we do.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
Sure. So in no particular order, but I always say this one first, but transparency is pillar one.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
positive leadership positive uh if you're having positivity in the organization is number two uh then we have uniqueness which is celebrating what makes us unique understanding our unique value proposition so it's people and d and i and it's marketing and it's like you know but uniqueness is a really important one um then we have how you deal with mistakes Are you yellers and screamers?
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
Or are you, hey, let's learn from this. Let's figure out how we get better. Let's innovate. Measurement, measuring what matters. Listening. And then finally, recognition. So you have to have a great recognition program in your company in order to be great. So those are the seven. I can tell you which ones people typically are terrible at, but it's not universal.
I am Charles Schwartz Show
Culture That Fuels Revenue
I've gone into companies and you guys do all these great things, but you don't have a recognition program? What do you...