Most people mistakenly think that if you have an innovative product that solves a problem, it’s enough to build a thriving business. However, at the heart of every successful business are lasting relationships– with your teams and with your clients.
I brought in Brad Whitchurch, founder of Seal Shield, whose mission is to develop technology that can help prevent the spread of infections in healthcare. He also hosts Clean Talk, a podcast focused on infection prevention. Guiding Brad’s business philosophy is a commitment to transparency and fun, two values that are important to cultivating meaningful relationships.
As an overview, here are the top 3 lessons from Brad’s episode:
- Transparency contributes to engagement more than any incentive program alone.
- Everyone benefits from fun.
- Being trusted by your people requires trusting them to get the work done.
Lesson #1: Transparency drives employee buy-in!
Seal Shield’s culture of “ownership thinking”–a concept developed by Brad Hams to counteract employee’s sense of entitlement– provides a path to shared investment in company profitability for employees. But the profit sharing program on its own is not enough to build buy-in; what sets it apart is Brad’s transparency with the company about their financials. Each week on the company-wide “all call,” they “open the books” and show employees how the company performed that week.
As Brad explains, if you have great people who are aligned with and understand the financial goals of the organization, then they will be more authentically invested in how the business is performing. That level of transparency, moreover, is a sign of trust that yields not only returns on financials but also on the employer-employee relationship.
Lesson #2: Make time for fun!
You can’t always put a price on fun, but you can see the value in its returns. Brad makes it a point to offer opportunities for social outings with both employees and customers. Why both? Because for Brad, when all things are equal, someone is more likely to buy a strong solution from the person who you know is fun and with whom you can have a laugh. In other words, it’s during social interactions where you build strong relationships of trust and rapport. This is a powerful tool not just for driving employee engagement but also for maintaining relationships with your clients.
Lesson #3: You have to trust your people!
By now, we are all well familiar with the debate over whether remote work is better or worse for a company’s bottom line. Having started Seal Shield as a remote company that then saw a need amongst its interns for a dedicated space to collaborate, Brad has a unique perspective on remote work. For starters, some workers do need a dedicated space outside their homes to work; not all home environments best serve the needs of your employees. Second, having a dedicated office space provides a home base for building a healthy company culture. But third and most important, successful remote work policies require you to trust your people to get the job done. As Brad puts it:
“If we can focus on not losing the collaboration, creativity, and culture, but we can be happier, healthier, and more productive, I don’t care where you work from.”
To learn more from Brad about how to build world-class relationships to drive your company’s culture and profits, make sure to check out the full episode!
About Best Places to Lead
Your company has the potential to be great. The leader’s responsibility is to unlock that potential – or doom it to mediocrity.
On the LIVE Best Places to Lead show, you’ll learn the hard-fought lessons from the front lines earned by business leaders who have already had their teeth bashed in and lived to tell about it. We’ll share the tips, tricks, mindsets, and frameworks that allow great leaders to lead differently.
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