I recently did a corporate keynote and the firm I spoke to had a new leadership team and was trying to reform their culture. Fortunately, I was able to interview both the C-Suite (employers) and the front-line employees separately. This gave me an opportunity to brief the CEO and COO prior to the speaking engagement on what I thought would work best. Because I have a number of great topics, we can always customize them to the audience needs. The C-Suite thought I should do a topic on the merits of a great culture. The front-line leaders felt I should give one on effective leadership. Talk about a rock and a hard place!

I settled on a keynote that focused on embracing adversity because frankly both sides needed to realize their dependance on one another. But the giant disconnects between their perception caused me to have long and sometimes difficult discussions with the Senior Leadership of the business. You see they had all the words of a great culture, but their actions never made it to the ground floor. Like the welcome mat shown in the picture, the words were present, but the coffee wasn’t ready.

In business today there has to be someone looking out for the needs of the employees. As I tell leadership groups, it is really OK to let your people know you Love them! You love them because they earn the Money that buys the leaders Family groceries. You love them because they are the keys to survival in tough times, quality at all times and Growth in great times. Leadership sometimes dwells on the positional authority they have been given without honoring the servant’s role that is required alongside that positional authority.

The youth in today’s workforce are smarter, more technologically advanced and emotionally savvy than us tough old coots (me). They see through cheap talk and leave rather than complain. Take care of, love and mentor them and they will embrace difficulties alongside leadership like any decent person. Then they will learn to love your culture. But it is up to leadership to make them loyal, and that only happens with a culture that is earned.

Sep 17, 2024

Jim Tracy Podcaster and Grampion

Jim Tracy is one of the highest demand influencers, podcasters and speakers on workplace culture in North America. His extraordinary life combines real life CEO experience with candid stories about adversity, resilience and team building. Having spent decades at the helm of multi-generational organizations, he understands the challenges of rolling out teams in a dynamic and changing marketplace. A client named him “The Curator of Culture”!
Jim is not just a successful bootstrapping CEO, he is a Keynote Speaker, Best Selling Author, acclaimed podcaster, jet pilot, Grampion to 16 grandkids and award-winning business person. Jim was inducted into the Wireless History Foundation's Wireless Hall of Fame, awarded the prestigious Bill Carlson Lifetime Service Award from NATE, and recently named a Business ICON of Idaho.
Jim has founded, built, scaled, bought and sold multiple businesses. He has testified before the United States House of Representatives. Tracy has been trained by F-15 fighter pilots and continues to fly an Eclipse 500 jet. He has completed over four hundred podcasts and authored three books. Jim has been married to his dream girl Sarah for 45 years.