[00:00:00] Speaker A: A pandemic comes along and everyone has to go work remote. And guess what happens? Everyone has major issues with remote work and communication. And then when we get, you know, back into the swing of things, the world has kind of changed. Our mindset has shifted. Now we're all sudden okay with remote work, or are we not okay? Or like, I want them in the office, but I also want to give them flexibility. But you know what I mean? Like, everyone's kind of confused, and all of a sudden this word culture become.
[00:00:31] Speaker B: Welcome to today's edition of Innovate and Overcome. Joining us is Adam Colizetti. He's a former aerospace engineer. That sounds pretty cool now. Turned culture consultant who discovered that he liked people more than drawings. Now that's interesting. We're going to unpack that a little bit now. In 2024, he co authored the Culture Revolution, and he is the host of the Culture Hack podcast. Adam, welcome to the program today.
[00:00:55] Speaker A: Thanks so much, Richard. Happy to be here.
[00:00:58] Speaker B: Ah, exciting. Now we're going to talk a lot about culture. We'll talk a little bit about maybe your background in aerospace engineering and that transition that you made going from an engineering background and then forging ahead in business.
Sometimes that's easy, sometimes it's not. I'm sure there's a few stories in there. Tell us a little bit about, you know, some of the major challenges you've had to overcome by making that adjustment, by going from, you know, a career in engineering to. To forging ahead into something almost different. You know, a culture consultant isn't something that people have heard of before. So just on its own, you're forging not only ahead in business, but in a direction that people maybe aren't familiar with. So I'm sure there's a few things that came up for you when you started that process.
[00:01:41] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, if I go back far enough, you know, when I graduated and I did aerospace engineering and I worked in the defense world, I was so excited to work on what I considered to be cool stuff.
And I did. I worked on some really, some really neat projects. And, you know, I think I got a really great firsthand dose of real world problem solving. You know, you graduate, you think you're hot stuff, but, you know, nothing.
Right.
And I think understanding that it's not necessarily what you're doing, it's who you're working with, that ultimately brings you the most satisfaction. And, you know, then when I kind of ended up in the energy industry and construction, you know, my observation was it was the same Thing didn't matter if we were building a high rise or, you know, diagnosing some kind of giant Gatling gun or whatever it was. How do you get a bunch of people who are all really bright to work together and apply their expertise towards a common goal? And sometimes it happens very naturally and it's very, you know, easy and other times it's the worst.
So I, I really became kind of obsessed with this idea of, you know, design is so predictable. Right. If I do this, I can evaluate this and iterate this and, and whatever. But people, people are, people are crazy. It's chaotic. You have to adapt. You have to almost go by intuition. And you, you know, you know, you talked about innovation kind of shifting into the business world.
You know, I'll give you an example.
I worked for a company, actually. It was in construction as part of an acquisition, and the new acquisition was struggling to integrate with, with, with a new, bigger company.
[00:03:36] Speaker B: And I, I think that's a tale as old as time from the first acquisition that ever took place. I would imagine that.
[00:03:42] Speaker A: I know, right?
It's always the worst. And so what I noticed is you have all the old guard on this side of the office and all the new guard on that side of the office. And you know, the old guard go through a different door and the new guard go through this door and there's like, no.
So I was like, we need to put name tags on the offices because people don't even know each other's names and no one's trying here. I was like, let's put names on the offices. And I was like, just first names, lose the last names and then lose the titles. Like, let's color code them so that like, blue is for the accountants and red is for whatever. But like, and then at the last minute I was like, let's put, let's Google what everyone's name means and put it underneath it.
And then, so that's what we did. I put their name, they came in one day, had their name and like, what their name means underneath. And all of a sudden it was this like explosion of conversation. And then we had people like reprinting theirs and changing what their name means and like doing crazy things like this. And, and it was fascinating because in, in Western culture, you know, the meaning of your name is not something maybe even remember or aware of. So this idea of like, how can I apply this creativity, innovation based kind of on intuition to something and see what happens. And sure enough, it worked. And I really loved that about this idea about culture. And high performance. And so when I started my business, you know, I think when you start a business, you're a little bit naive, and I think you have to be, otherwise you'd be way too scared. And, you know, you're like, oh, I'm going to change the world. I'm going to do this, I'm going to create this, and whatever. So those first few years was all about creating, like, new offerings and new, you know, ideas and getting on social media and all that kind of stuff. So it's like new, new, new, new, new. So much, so much creativity.
Yeah. So I don't know, I could take that a few other places, but I'm curious your thoughts.
[00:05:52] Speaker B: Well, I, I think it's great. Just the experiment of, of like you say, changing the names, doing something different and seeing an impact right away. So there's something about the visual immediate connection where you can see that a difference or a change has been made. Yeah. In culture, in a group environment. And there's certain things that you can do in that. Sometimes if you're speaking on a stage or you're doing a group activity, it's easy to see those things by creating a group activity, by doing something different than people are accustomed to, rather than just sitting there taking notes if you're in the seminar. And I know I personally try to incorporate those into the things that I do if I'm ever speaking on a stage. So I can see, you know, in my mind I'm picturing this office that's a, that's full of activity now in conversation that wasn't happening before. And your description of people going through different doors prior to that, I can, I can visualize that experience. So I think that's really, really interesting. And what, what comes up for me as you talk about now trying to create new offerings in business is number one, you're, you're trying to figure out what is the marketplace going to accept to, to understand that this is a powerful mechanism that we can incorporate in their business where they can help them achieve more through making these types of changes. And it's a, it's a message that I would imagine was probably more difficult to convey when you first got started.
[00:07:10] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, right. Like, to us, this idea that culture could drive high performance made sense. It encapsulated, you know, collaboration, encapsulated leadership and process improvement and all the things that we all know that you need to do in an organization to, to perform better.
But yeah, you try and mention culture like, I don't know, like, think of A group of engineers or something, right? They're like, yeah, whatever, man. But then the most amazing thing happened. Pandemic comes along, and everyone has to go work remote. And guess what happens? Everyone has major issues with remote work and communication. And then when we get, you know, back into the swing of things, the world has kind of changed. Our mindset has shifted. Now we're all suddenly okay with remote work, or are we not okay? Or like, I want them in the office, but I also want to give them flexibility. But you know what I mean? Like, everyone's kind of confused, and all of a sudden this word culture becomes important and becomes interesting. You know, I use engineers as an example because I'm an engineer. So all these engineering firms all of a sudden having problems with people, you know, okay, you can work from home Monday and Friday, but Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, why don't you come to the office? And then still no one comes in. Well, what do I do? Do I force them to come in? Do I not force them to come in? What's the matter? Like, what, what's the problem here?
So I think it really sort of brought this idea of culture and human behavior and the emotions and why that's important kind of to the forefront. It made it a little bit more talk about able, so to speak, and we started to get a little more. More traction. And then, you know, you talk about innovating, you know, the basics of business, like who. Who are our clients? Who are the people out there that would see this and like, love this idea?
You know, is it engineers? Is it construction people? Is it maybe people in energy? Is it tech?
Is it new business? Is it established business? Like, really trying to iterate and like, push on those buttons as you try and figure out who your clients are that would love what you're offering and then playing with your messaging.
So, you know, the. The iterating and the innovating kind of never stops. And you kind of have to do it quickly because you're a business and you're constantly in threat of dying for those first years, right? So I think that's a great way.
[00:09:39] Speaker B: Of putting the business experience into a nice little sentence. Constantly in the threat of dying. I think there's a number of people who experience that when they first forge into. Into business. Now you, you know, obviously your background as an engineer, you've mentioned that a number of times.
Sometimes there's a comfort and a familiarity and also maybe just a heightened level of awareness around the certain needs and the work culture or the work environment of a type of an organization because you have a past experience. So I think when you forge ahead of business, it's common for people to want to lean on or, or maybe go the direction of using that as your first client or your, or your target.
And did you find that that was simpler and easier for you as you got started because you had that past based experience?
[00:10:21] Speaker A: Yes and no. I would say yes from the point of view of our network was strongest in that area.
So we knew more people and kind of combined with, in Calgary 2015 or you know, the price of oil tanked or a lot of layoffs. So like a lot of people did this kind of musical chairs and shifting of jobs and that sort of thing.
So that's really kind of what allowed us to get our company off the ground. Because we had all these people that ended up in middle management or senior management positions that were like, oh by the way, fix the business, right? And they were like, oh man. Like I remember Adam and Caitlyn were really good at this. Like I'll call them and see if I can't, you know, utilize them, you know, or whatever. So, you know, it was kind of a mix. On the other hand, this is actually said we're like, let's try and work with engineers because we know they're so analytical, they're so process heavy. Sometimes human connection is a problem.
But what we didn't count on was that maybe what I should have known is that engineers already know everything.
So trying to sell to an engineer is really hard because they're not, they're not buying that they're not perfect and that they don't have all the answers and that, you know, the perfect spreadsheet can't solve the problem. So we really, to be honest, struggled in those early years to sell to engineers. Although ironically work with a lot of engineers now.
[00:11:48] Speaker B: So the, the human condition does not fit very well on a spreadsheet. That is correct.
[00:11:54] Speaker A: Yeah. Right.
[00:11:57] Speaker B: You know, in, in our work that I do for, you know, my, the bulk of my life and teaching people about the infinite banking concept.
It is common that many individuals in the financial space struggle with working with engineers as well. I myself have actually found it quite well, I wouldn't say simple, but I seem to have a lot of engineer clients. Once you get a couple, they tend to refer their friends pretty effectively. So I've always had great experiences with engineers myself and I'm not sure why that is. Being a person who doesn't. While I do like a good spreadsheet, I'm Happy to not build it if I can start that way.
So what I'm really curious about, Adam, as you talk about developing your target, what would you say you've. You've started to find through all that practice, all those iterations that you've been working on, what are you finding is, you know, people that are businesses that are really receptive and, and, you know, gravitating or, or, or seeming to almost demand a need because they're having a problem and you have the unique solution help solve it for them.
[00:12:59] Speaker A: We definitely find our sweet spot are those industries that are very results focused.
So, you know, I brought up engineers like consultants, construction, energy.
The very, very smart, very driven people that are very results driven.
Their problem is not that they can't do it. Their problem is they don't have time.
So quite often they will insist on doing it themselves until such time passes that they're either frustrated or there's pressure from leadership or whatever. Whereas, like, get this done and get it done now, and then they start to be a little bit more creative in terms of outsourcing and whatever. And then, you know, we. We're kind of like an easy button, right? We, we become like, like a tool for them to accomplish, you know, what, what they're trying to achieve. And, you know, as I said, I'm an engineer. You can't take that way of thinking out of me. It was essentially beaten into me through years and years of schooling. So, even though we are talking about people and some intangibles, there's a methodology behind it that's very, you know, specific and orderly. And I think, you know, people that appreciate that are. That's where we find the most traction and really have the most, I would say, alignment in terms of how we communicate and how we conduct our business and things like that.
[00:14:26] Speaker B: I love that. The idea of the methodology. When we come back after this break, we're going to talk a little bit more about what that methodology is.
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[email protected] we are back here with Adam talking about the method that they have to help build and reinforce important, powerful culture in business structures. Now, Adam, before we cut to the break, you had indicated that through Covid, you guys started to see a little bit more traction because there was this weird disparaging aspect taking place in businesses that were half in office, half out. People wanted to work from home. They get a taste of what it is to do that, to not have to fight traffic.
Then there's some people that they don't, aren't able to work from home because there's too many pressures. The dog's barking, the kids are at them, there's too many other things going on and distractions, and they kind of need that separation from home life. So there's, there's people that kind of fit in both dynamics. I know for myself, I'm happy to be a work from home guy. That works really, really well for me. In fact, I, it appeals to me in a way I almost can't even describe. But I work also with people currently, and I've heard from many that for them, there's a need for them to be in the office because they function better in that and there's, there's this little bit of separation. They want home life to be home life and work life to be work life. So as you started to see this take place, what did you notice as you started to work with different businesses about trying to pull those gaps closer together?
[00:16:40] Speaker A: So the, you know, the really interesting thing about all this is so during the pandemic, we started making videos and we started reaching out to other consultants and experts in whatever you name it, hr, safety, whatever. And we'd interview and be and talk about this.
And I was really surprised. The resounding kind of idea or feedback that we got was that just because you're working from home, like the tools change, you need a little bit different tech, but the processes actually are kind of the same.
So then the question is, if your process isn't working, it's because you had a no good process. Like the hallway conversations were filling in the gaps in your process and you didn't notice. And now we're not having those anymore. And now we realize that we just have a weak process. So I found that really interesting that working from home and eliminating that water cooler hallway, you know, that that's, there's power to that. And I think maybe we underestimated how powerful that communication and that connection was.
So, okay, so we can maybe work a little bit on process and define it a little bit better, but we still need that human connection. And I think this is where we underestimate. We jump straight to the technical solution and we kind of disregard the emotional state of the people that are. That are working. And then this is kind of what I saw with work from home, not work from home, whatever, right? People are like, okay, you work from home. And then like, actually, we want you in the office at least once a week. And like, actually, it has to be Wednesday. Like, oh, no, it's gotta be Tuesday.
Actually, you know what? Screw the whole thing. Everyone in the office, we're done talking about this, right?
And I think regardless of whether you're saying stay home, not don't stay home, I think a lot of people miss the point, right? The point is that people want the ability to make a choice.
They want that option.
And will everyone make the choice and kind of fit into the, you know, the culture you're trying to create and show up and whatever?
Probably not. And maybe they're going to move on or be asked to move on or whatever.
But the idea is, if you care about your job and you care about your team, you will know when you have to come to the office, and you should want to come to the office. That's the ideal state.
So having that flexibility to be like, okay, well, Friday I'm going to work from home, and then Thursday I'm going to come in, or whatever.
I think that is the ideal state that you're trying to achieve.
Where I think companies ran into trouble was that, okay, great, everyone has a choice, and then no one comes in and they're frustrated. But if you look back at their history, last five years, like, what did you do to reinforce the emotional connection of your team?
We all worked together. We all were. Had challenges, and we, you know, we were like. But we kind of viewed each other as like, work units. And we spent no time talking about, like, how was your kid's volleyball game? And, like, what happened here? And this stuff sounds like it's not business, but here we go. You throw a wrench into it, and all of a sudden this lack of human connection is causing real problems.
So I think it was really evident, you know, when we saw this, that people are underestimating the role that emotional human connection plays in how we work together to achieve common goals.
[00:20:18] Speaker B: Interesting. And so when you're working with an organization that maybe has a bit of a hybrid model. I mean, there's, there's probably a bit of a difference between, okay, the example of everyone's in the office all the time, where they're still getting those drive by hallway conversations, the water cooler chats.
And there's, there is more, you know, it's more that traditional office environment.
So they still have culture challenges and struggles not unlike the one you, you were inspired by initially in your, in your engineering firm. But you know, then you've got the hybrid model where there's this kind of limbo situation about who's in and who's not in. And there's some, there's some geographical disconnect which can lead to further emotional disconnect. I, I think this kind of, you know, the fundamentals. So what, what would be different about helping establish and, and reaffirm and reconnect a culture in a way that's powerful in the traditional model versus the type of work you find you need to do in more of this hybrid environment?
[00:21:23] Speaker A: I mean, the hybrid environment, you know, it's very similar to traditional situation where you have multiple offices, right?
Maybe they're different cities or different parts of the city or whatever. So, you know, a couple of things we find with the, the virtual work or the hybrid is, you know, connection is connection.
So because we're not just bumping into each other, we sort of have to manufacture that time and guard that time. So the companies that we see that do this really well.
Like for example, my company is mostly remote.
Every morning, half an hour, it's Mind, Body, Soul Monday. And we talk about how we fed our Mind, Body, Soul on the weekend. And it's like we guard that time. No logistics is allowed in. It tries to sneak in. Really. Okay, give it a sec, we'll get there.
And it's just pure connection point. And then we do the same thing on Friday. What was the best thing that happened to you this week? What are you proud of? That, that type of stuff. So we sort of manufacture these times for connection with, with those people and we sort of guard that space.
It's a little bit awkward. It's a little bit kind of weird at first, but you'd be amazed at how quickly people jump on board. In fact, we find that when we have workshop to bring people in, it's actually the field guys who everyone's worried about like not liking this arm wavy stuff. They're the ones that jump all over it. They are far more comfortable sharing and interacting than the administrative staff or the. What, you know, the, the People used to climbing the corporate ladder and all that kind of stuff because they're used to, like, passive aggressiveness and competition in the corporate environment.
So it's really interesting. We have, I find we have these false beliefs as to how and when our people will connect.
The other thing I would say is video is really powerful.
So we also, we brought in video production in house because storytelling was such a compelling way to propagate good mojo. So, like, what awesomeness is happening in this building or this part of the country?
Can we make some videos or some clips and share it with that office? Right. Can we have some fun with, like, hockey pools or challenges? Like, remember the ice bucket challenge from the pandemic where people were dumping ice on their head? Like, can we do stuff like that to share interests? Can we connect people that don't see each other?
I use the hockey pool example. But, like, World cup works the same. March Madness, whatever. Like, you'd be amazed at the connections you'll make over. Over sports, like randomly. The administrative assistant down in Texas is obsessed with March Madness and so is the VP in Ontario. And boom, now you've got a connection. Right? So. Right.
Video is a powerful way, guarding that space, creating it. Like there's ways to do it.
I think not. It's not for everybody. Like you said, you're a work from home guy. You love it. It's. It's good. Some people would just make them crazy and they're going to hate it. Regardless of what you do, not everyone's going to love it.
[00:24:26] Speaker B: It's almost like a form of marketing, but it's internal marketing versus external marketing. You're not looking for additional clients. You're looking to raise the level of awareness and camaraderie amongst a group of people that already work together.
[00:24:39] Speaker A: Yeah, 100%. And it's amazing. Like, all the same marketing principles you're applying to your social media or your website or whatever, he's just applying it internally and it's the same thing, Right.
You know, take a page out of Simon Sinek's book, right. Don't try and convince everybody. You've got a staff of 200 people across a bunch of different offices and some of them are in the field and some of them are in here. Like, don't try and convince them all that they should all watch the video that you made every week and then they should all join the, you know, the wine draw or whatever.
But you're gonna have some early adopters, people that absolutely love that and they'll jump in Both feet. And they're like so excited about it. You're like, cool, push on those buttons and they'll go convince everybody else.
And then you'll have kind of the, the leftover 10% or whatever. Damn. That you'll never convince them no matter what. So don't worry about it.
[00:25:28] Speaker B: And I love how you, you talked about bookending the week with starting on a Monday and kind of closing on a Friday, where you're summarizing the positivity, the, the wins, the, the, the, the takeaways from the week. You're starting with the wins of the weekend. So you're, you're covering a, a summary and a recap of both bases. I think really effectively we do something similar in our organization with the positive power up that we learn from the strategic coach organization. So a lot of our meetings will begin with everyone going around and doing a positive power. What are you positively powered up about today? And that's always fun. And of course, if you're in a really large meeting with 50 or 60 people, I mean, just doing that could take 30 minutes, give or take. So, so, you know, you, you, you change it to the chat box. Okay, everyone type in the chat. What's going on. So you can see this huge string of positivity and, and connection taking place. And the impact is actually quite drastic. For by doing that, the, the things you can learn about people is really, really powerful, I think, in a way that you've already discovered in your organization.
[00:26:30] Speaker A: Well, and, you know, we'll even do this with our clients, right? And sometimes, you know, it's an expensive meeting when you have 10, 12 people around the table that are all kind of executives and you've got them for an hour or two hours or whatever. And we'll take 20 minutes at the beginning to do exactly this and be like, what are you most excited for this weekend? Or like, since we last talked, what was the best thing that happened to you?
And sometimes we get like a little bit of like, well, can we get to the point, right? We're like, no, just trust me. And we go in and we take all this time at the beginning, but now what happens is the next 40 minutes or 80 minutes or whatever are so much more productive.
So would you rather have like 10 times the creativity and three times the productivity for 80 minutes, but take 20 minutes to like, set that up so, you know, it cannot be discounted? And it's amazing what happens if you just take a moment.
And I think people are starving for connection, so they'll Leap at it well.
[00:27:28] Speaker B: And I'm excited because right after these messages, we're going to talk all about the culture revolution book that you're leading to get people excited of all about that.
So we'll be back right after this.
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We are talking about the culture revolution. Now, this is a book that you co authored here recently.
There's. It's more than a book. It's. It's an idea. It's something that maybe has its time has come and you're on the forefront of making sure that organizations are implementing it in a way that they can build sustainability, happier people. And I think we all know one of the reasons why people leave organizations. It isn't necessarily because of the dollars that they're earning. That often is one of the cases, but more so it has to do with the environment.
Are they happy in the environment and what's leading to that happiness or what's eroding it? And so here's where that culture component really comes into play. So, Adam, tell us a little bit about the book and what prompted you to write it.
[00:29:15] Speaker A: So this is actually one of my favorite. You know, you talked about entrepreneurial innovation stories.
So, you know, we found ourselves in kind of a downswing. And, you know, we were thinking, well, how can we.
How can we make up for this? Like, how can we bring in some. Some revenue? And a friend of ours that's. That's her business, that's what she does, is she helps these collab books come together. And we said, so my business partner, Caitlin is like, we should do a book.
I was like, what? She was like, yeah, let's do a compilation book. But let's throw in a bunch of stuff, like, we can manage it. We can, like, project. Manage it. But then let's also throw in some, like, podcast interviews and stuff, like some of our services into the package so that you not only get your book, but you get a Whole bunch of promotional material for it and all this kind of stuff. And let's reach out to everyone we know and be like, we're writing this book. It's all about culture. It's called the Culture Revolution. If you have a story about how connecting with your people, your culture, like, drove your business, like, let's tell it.
And the results were. Were really great. We had people, lots of interest.
In the end, we had 13 authors sign up and contribute, and we ended up with this pretty awesome book that's now on Amazon. And, you know, it was a really, I would say, powerful experience. And every single individual had very different reasons for participating.
Some they'd always wanted to write a book, so a chapter was like a good way to dip your toe in.
Others were just proud of their business and wanted to tell their story.
Others were experts and kind of wanted to share their opinion or whatever. So we ended up with this really cool group of people. We brought in a ton of revenue into our business that kind of filled that gap. And we had this book. We had this big launch event. And, yeah, it's something I'm very proud of.
[00:31:11] Speaker B: Amazing. Amazing. Now that the book's been out in circulation for a bit, and each of these collaborators have had the opportunity to. To not only share the story and get some exposure on that, what have you found in connecting with them, the collaborators, on the results that they're seeing, being able to have that in print, sharing, because I have no doubt they're sharing it with their own organizations and people they interact with. What have been some of the conversations that you've had with them since the book's been launched, around the impact that it's starting to have?
[00:31:44] Speaker A: I think it's exactly that. Right. It's a really cool conversation piece. So you meet somebody new, maybe you give them a copy the book, maybe maybe it's on your website or your socials, and they see it and they ask you about it. Like, oh, cool, yeah, I wrote my chapter on this. And then maybe they read it, maybe they don't. But the. The point is you've kind of become more interesting.
So people are like, oh, interesting? You wrote a book. Like, that's a cool cover. Like, you know, and if they do read the chapter, they get to learn a little bit more about your. Your point of view. So I think even years later, you know, whether or not you sold a bunch of copies is not really the point. The point is that you have this, this book and you can point to it, and then people immediately assign you More credibility because you've done this, this thing that is extraordinary.
[00:32:37] Speaker B: Well, I think that's incredible. And of course, prior to the book, you had launched your podcast, so the Culture Hack. Talk to me a little bit about that. And you know, before we hit the record button, you were indicating that, you know, you do a variety of different types of episodes. Some of them are a little bit more short form, some of them are long form. It kind of depends on the situation.
So was there, what was the inspiration for you to say, you know what, I really think we need to move towards a podcast model. Was there, was it about creating some more leverage on your personal time or was it just, you know, I think this would just add a lot more value to the people we already serve.
[00:33:12] Speaker A: So the quick and dirty version is during the pandemic, we started creating our own videos, like I said. We started interviewing like our competitors and people and just creating videos ourselves and putting them online.
And we actually essentially got our business through the pandemic largely using LinkedIn and creating videos and all that type of stuff. So that ended up growing into offering it as a service. And then we had this kind of situation where we're like, hey, you know, we really want to meet more business owners as we're, you know, we talked about before trying to figure out who your audience is. So I was like, let's start this podcast and call it the Culture Hack. I want to talk to business owners about their culture and their people, and business owners are very, very proud of that. So it becomes very easy for me to reach out to someone and say, hey, I saw you on LinkedIn. Looks like you're doing cool stuff. Would you like to come on my, My Vodcast and talk about that? And most people are like, hey, that's pretty cool.
And the reason I keep it short form is because these are very busy people. So I can get them for 10 minutes, but I can't get them for two hours to like come down to a studio and da, da, da, da, right?
So now I'm like, hey, Richard, I love your company. Come on my show, we talk. And then I have afterwards, depending on our conversation, I've got kind of like a bunch of pre baked offers that I'm like, hey, it sounds like this could be really interesting for you if we created some onboarding videos to help with that training problem you talked about, right?
So then the conversation will be like, okay, cool, why don't you come over there at my office and we'll chat in person. So it is a Funnel, for sure.
But it's, it's genuine and authentic in that I genuinely am curious and I'm learning a lot from this stuff, and I generally want to meet people and learn more about what they're doing. So it's been a very effective way to get brand awareness, to meet people, to build relationship capital in order to potentially do business.
[00:35:19] Speaker B: Yeah, I love that. And I certainly can resonate with myself. Having a podcast for five years, it's, it's really interesting.
The types of people that you get a chance to meet and the relationships that get created.
You just never know who you're going to bump into and what kind of amazing conversation you're going to have, which is very, very interesting. Now, when we think about, again, having this opportunity to interview people for short periods, creating those unique relationships in all the individuals and the businesses that you've served, what would you say is common amongst them?
Around what they're, what they're realizing? There's, there's a point of recognition where there's a, there's an issue or a stumbling block where they know they need some kind of change. You know, there's an expression that change will only happen when the pain of staying the same eclipses the pain of change.
And so there's some pivot point where the business owner is saying, you know what? I recognize we have an issue here. We're not quite sure how to solve it, but they're actively putting it out there that they're looking for a solution. Somehow or other, your podcast, a book, or a LinkedIn post comes across their radar.
What are you noticing that's common in these conversations initially that you're having with business owners?
[00:36:34] Speaker A: You know, that is, that is a really interesting question. And we've had so many conversations about this. And because, for example, I meet business owners that like, normal answer might be, well, you know, they want to grow and they're having growing pains or they're, they're trying to do this or whatever. But then I think, like, well, I meet clients that are growing and have all these problems and they never buy. They have no interest in using somebody else. And then I meet other clients who are doing pretty well but love us and hire us. So I'm like, ah, it's not necessarily growing pains, it's not necessarily scaling, although those are, of course, great opportunities.
And I think what we eventually settled on is it's clients that want to be seen and want to be heard.
They are leaders that are very proud of what they have done.
They are, they want to be not recognized, but they want to be seen as someone who cares by their, their staff, by their people, by their colleagues.
And then more importantly, they want their leadership team to also be seen and heard and feel like they're growing and they're being, you know, contributing and that they're excited and all that kind of stuff.
So when I go out there and say, hey, I'd like you to be on my podcast, it's actually a really good litmus test for those business owners that want to be heard and they want to be seen.
And this was kind of a revelation for, for me and for my business partner because, like, who would have thought that is the button then leads to, you know, consulting or video or whatever. But it seems to be a common theme, which is why the podcast has been so effective.
So I guess the lesson I take from that is, like, it's not always what you think.
[00:38:32] Speaker B: So you're, you're looking for people where they've got a mind mentality that the rising tide lifts all boats.
[00:38:38] Speaker A: Yeah, right. Exactly.
[00:38:40] Speaker B: Yeah. Very, very interesting. I love that. And it's interesting because, you know, I think, and perhaps we'll, we'll dig into this a little bit more after our break. But in the last number of years, certainly through Covid and then in the years preceding, there's been a, an issue that I, I hear from a lot of organizations, both large and small, and the issue has been around retention, both attracting new people so that they can grow and retaining people has been a common theme, I know, in the insurance industry.
I had the pleasure to emcee a large event that we do every year. It's our annual think tank conference, and there's always an insurance company panel. So we have a number of insurance representatives.
And one of the questions that's always on there is how are they dealing with staffing challenges? Because advisors want to be served, they want to reach out to people they're having a difficult time getting through. And there's clearly been a, been an issue of turnover taking place through Covid.
So when we come back from the break, I'd love to expand a little bit on how you see the power of this culture, what you're, what you're teaching business owners to do, and the difference that it's making on their ability to retain individuals and keep their business flourishing and also attract new individual. So I think that's going to be a really fun thing to dig into. When we come back after this special break, check out this great book, Cash Follows the Leader. It's all about uninterrupted daily growth with high cash value life insurance.
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While we are back here with Adam and we're talking about the incredible impact of both the culture revolution and the podcast culture hack. Now we talked a little bit before the break about this period of time that we've had in a post Covid world where the transition of people going to hybrid work from home models, some people coming back, some people loving it, some not, but just the retention issue that people have discovered. You know, a lot of people were in, you know, certainly in Canada and I think to a degree in the United States, they were almost paid to be home and stay home with their kids and their family for a while. Maybe they weren't making the same level of money, but they, they got a different experience.
So what have you heard around, you know, people struggling, business owners struggling to get people to come back to work or, or to even attract people since then, have you, has it been an issue with some of the businesses that you've worked with?
[00:41:23] Speaker A: Yeah, I would say recruitment and retention is the hugest thing. Top of mind right now. Like that's all anybody is worried about.
You know, there's a bit of a talent war going on at the moment. And you know, I think we talk about what people's, our experiences, what is their experience when they interact with your company?
Right.
So for example, your social content, in the past it's been very much viewed as a marketing tool or a sales tool. But now we're starting to see it's more about behind the scenes employee features. Like what is the experience when people go to your social pages? How are they interacting before they even ever even apply to a job?
What is their perception of your company and what it's like to work there? Right. And there's various sites where you have employees that put ratings and stuff. But so how are you showing up in, in this digital way? Right. And now video starts to play a bit of a bit of a role.
So now you have somebody apply for a role. What is their experience with the job posting? Right. Is it the usual corporate stuff or do you put a little bit of your values in there, a little bit of flavor? Does it have a little bit of your personality in there. And then when they, you know, when they come for the interview, what's the interview like? What is the experience when they interact with you? Like, when they talk to the receptionist, do they get a glass of water? Do they feel welcome? Are you having the interview in, like, the cold room? Are you going to take them somewhere a little bit warm and get them to relax? Like, what is the experience you want to take them on as you go through this recruitment process? And then when they are hired or when they're not hired, what's the experience when you're like, sorry, we decided to go somewhere else? Like, do you actually send the letter? Right?
What do you do? Do you phone in person? Like, and then when you do hire them? Onboarding, right? I mean, we've heard this story like a million times. Like, well, I started, at least my computer was there, and then, I don't know, I was sent on site, right?
And of course, because everyone's busy, you're. You're busy doing the things.
So how can we leverage some technology? How can we leverage some video? Can we have a setup where it's like, on your first five days, you get an email every day and it's like, hey, welcome to Monday.
Watch these three videos. And then you're gonna have to go here and sign this thing. And then make sure you check in with your. With your supervisor end of the day or your buddy or whatever, right? Like, how can we use tech to make this really, actually engaging and seamless?
So that first five days is like, really, wow, I'm excited to be here. I want to show off, right? There's no one more energized than a new employee trying to show off how good they are, right?
And the first month, same thing, right? After you've got those first five days out of the way, what's the first 30 days look like? What's the first 90 days look?
You know, what's the ongoing experience that they have at the company so that they're not going to go across the street for $5 more an hour where they're like, yeah, whatever. Like, I work here, but, you know, as soon as someone offers me more money, I'm gone. So, you know, how can you make sure that their experience there is really engaging so that they're. They would never think of leaving?
And, you know, as we said, tech is really helpful to solve some of those time, practical time constraints.
But it does take energy, it does take creativity, it does take iteration. It's never just like, check. Onboarding's Done. It's like checking in with people. How was your experience? Oh, it was good. But day three was a little confusing. Like, okay, we can fix that. Right. So it's more of a circle, like a cycle. It was really a quality cycle. Right. Iteration than one and done.
[00:45:07] Speaker B: So I mean, the onboarding process makes sense. I mean, it's the hiring, onboarding, the whole works.
And you know, using technology, combination of video and automation, it sounds like, is a great way to, to create some of that. But I think what I really hear is it's not about recording videos, it's about, it's about creating, creating content that matters. So you want to be able to convey what is truly important and what not so much, hey, here's the things I want you to do, but here's what's important about how we do things as a company and here's why you might want to learn about this. I know, you know, there's a, there's the book. Start with why. So if someone's coming on board, it's probably helping identify some of those more why oriented components. So you're setting a solid foundation of what you want them to understand about the business, the structure and the people within it. Is that a fair assessment?
[00:46:00] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. You know, a lot of people ask like, what. What's the ROI of defining our values and going through that? Right. And I think this is less of a argument now. I think most people are bought into that idea. But here's a great example, because when people start, this is what is important to us and this is what it means to us, right? So it's great when things are great, awesome. But when things are tough, this is how we're going to make some decisions around here. Right? This is how we want you to treat your clients.
You know, clients can be messy. You've got great clients, you've got tricky clients, and sometimes you have to, you know, make some decisions on how to deal with that. Right. So, you know, along past the, the onboarding in terms of, you know, a lot of people talk about client focused, all this type of stuff, right? How does that, how do we want you to think around here? How do we want you to feel?
It sounds, you know, still very like, yeah, okay, but like, how does this affect my roi? How does this make me more money? Right.
But again, go back to, well, would you want someone that's like 50% productive but shows up every day, or do you want someone that you know is giving you 150% and they're doing that?
You know, six hours a day, and then the other two hours they're spending connecting or taking time from themselves and energizing themselves or whatever. And you've allowed for that, right? I think it's an easy answer, but harder in practice.
[00:47:36] Speaker B: It's interesting. I know one of our core values is build the people, and the people will build the business.
And it's very team focused. It's not, you know, we don't have a headquarters or a head office. We have a team support center.
And ultimately anyone that works or operates out of that building, their focus is to support their teammates. And through doing that actively, the result is they support their clients. So it's, it's very focused on the people inside of the team in the organization and that there, there's always someone they can reach out to where, whatever that situation is. And I, I really see, having been, you know, my, my background is a recovering electrician, so I also felt that I liked people more than drawings back in the day, which, which led me into doing some of what I'm doing here now.
And while I did enjoy that career and it was, it was fun and engaging, you know, it wasn't a way I felt I could really help people. So moving to a different environment where I thought I could make more, rather than doing transactional things, I could do transformational things. And having these types of conversation, Adam, with folks like yourself, I feel, is the way that we can, we can start to see that dial turn on where transformation begins. And if we transform the way people think about their business and operate within it, we have an ability to transform a lot more people because there's the clients they serve and the people that they hire and serve internally. And I really see that that's a way to create a larger impact.
So through the culture impacts that you're doing, you know, again, it's hard to measure, like you say, the roi, it's maybe not a return on investment, it's a return on people.
And you know, you know, when you think about the mathematical equation or the spreadsheet as it were around putting these types of things in place that you've identified, you know, sometimes it's not about an increased level of income, but every time that you bring on a new hire, I think what a lot of people who are employed, whether you're W2 or a T4 person in Canada, they don't really understand necessarily the cost of bringing someone on board, the cost of training, the cost of retraining, and there's a huge investment in human capital. That goes on in that first year to bring someone into the business. And if they aren't able to maintain or continue, then they have to go and reinvest that cost again in another person. So they have a, they have a skin in the game by bringing every person on the team. And that's quite common. I don't think a lot of folks in the who are employed by businesses necessarily realize the degree to which they invest in people that they hire.
[00:50:04] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, absolutely. You know, when we talk about the ROI of some. Some of this stuff, you know, if you look at some of the organizations like Gallup or those type of places, they'll say things like up to 60% more profitability out of having a workforce that's excited to be there.
So, you know, we say, okay, nevermind, 60. If you could do 10% more work with the same amount of resources, what would that mean for your monthly scorecard?
And people like, do a little click. Cool. And to replace a technical person that's well trained, let's say it costs you $150,000. So if you could reduce your turnover rate by 10%, let's pick a low number again. What would that mean? And then calculation like, cool. So now does it make sense to invest in a little bit of attention to your people? Whether that's. Maybe it is using a consultant, maybe it's doing like a team building. Maybe it's just getting better coffee in the lunchroom. Right. Like, it starts to make a little bit of sense if you think about it like that.
[00:51:16] Speaker B: Wow, that's. I love it. You know, even the, like you say, the idea of better coffee, that alone could have an impact that you don't even realize. And often you won't even know unless you canvas the people and find out.
Well, Adam, this has been a ton of fun. I'd love to let you kind of get the last word in here. And what you think would provide the most impact for a business owner listening today that you could share with them about how to turn the dial in a positive direction on having the right mindset to create the right culture out of the gate.
[00:51:50] Speaker A: Well, I mean, the good news, it doesn't cost you anything. But the bad news is it starts here with you as the leader.
It's all about how you show up in the room.
And if you show up with that energy of, you know, collaboration and compassion, even love, where people are feeling connected, like they can ask you a question that they can engage with you if you're curious, if you have questions, then that will propagate.
You can add process and systems and team building to that later, but ultimately, you as the leader, all eyes are on you.
So if you can show up in a way that is showing up with those values and the best version of yourself, then your people will. And I would say that's the easiest first place to start.
[00:52:43] Speaker B: Amazing. Adam, thanks for being with us today. For those of you tuning in, make sure you stay tuned for next week's episode as we continue to unpack the major challenges and innovations of tomorrow.
