The Culture of the Key Card

 

I am humbled by my upbringing, with a family who raised and nurtured me to believe in myself, and take risks where appropriate.

 

I am humbled that I’ve met people who have added to my life’s journey, and discarded those that I believed were negatively impacting who I am.

 

I am humbled by those who have chosen to serve and protect, and are completely dedicated to defending our safety.

 

As I look back on my journey  - I am blessed in so many ways.

 

But, like many (if not all) of us, the blessing comes with battle scars that define us, in some cases strengthen us, and in others weaken us.

 

I define the 10 years of owning my own company as a “Series of Stages.”   The Stages range from start-up, to growth, to winning, to losing, and then to scale, and profitability.

 

But, along the way the one constant is the -- Culture Created by a leader, and leaders of the company.    In our case, I am super proud to work at a company that respects and values the individual, and that is a culture that I can say – is something I helped to create.

 

A positive culture, and spirit – is often times more valuable than money.    Money and value creation from a new company come from a few primary things:

 

1)   Solving a problem

2)   Building something to solve the problem

3)   Convincing clients to pay (in order to solve the problem)

4)   Scaling

5)   Evolving and changing rapidly where appropriate to address market demands

6)   Assembling a team

7)   Keeping team enthused, engaged, and involved

8)   Repeating 1-7 above, every year, and never being afraid to “dig in” on any of the points above.

 

 

I’ve learned how to embrace change.  I believe I thrive in environments where speedy decisions need to be made (in the absence of a wealth of data) and, more to the point – where a person needs to, “put their neck on the line” as it relates to important decisions.

 

A mentor wrote this about me, and it is something that I carry as a badge of honor in my career.

 

 

His strategic insight is uncanny.  He bats 1.000 on all market, customer, and people ideas he has ever brought to my attention.  No one I have ever worked with has been this accurate in their understanding of such complex and difficult issues.  In addition, he is often the lone contrarian in a group when the issue gets to my attention, and he turns out to be right all of the time.  I find this truly remarkable given my statistical education, training, practice, and the size of my data set [>1000 people].   

 

 

Much of this comes from the things that make me humble.

 

Family.  Connections and Acquaintances.   Safety and Security.    All aspects of my life, that I’ve been extremely lucky, and frankly – blessed to have been granted.

 

 

I’ve chosen to embrace conflict, rather than run from it.

 

I’ve chosen to embrace risk, rather than to put off making the decision for another day.

 

I’ve chosen to fail proudly, loudly, and share it with my team.

 

I’ve chosen to surround myself with people who I want to – rather than people I don’t.

 

I’ve chosen to value, reward, and give love to those surrounding me, that do the same for me – both personally and professionally.  

 

I’ve chosen to reward people who are loyal.

 

I’ve chosen to be humble where appropriate, bold where needed – and to display raw emotions to my team, as required. 

 

 

All of this leads to, creating culture.  It is the responsibility of any leader of any company – to drive the culture and group mentality that they desire.

 

One of the (many) definitions of company culture:

 

Corporate culture refers to the beliefs and behaviors that determine how a company's employees and management interact and handle outside business transactions. Often, corporate culture is implied, not expressly defined, and develops organically over time from the cumulative traits of the people the company hires.

 

Why is this important, and what metrics do I watch that many don’t?

 

 

In our company this one piece of data is the critical “cultural drivers for me, now leading a growing company for 10 years.”

 

We have gone through major changes, and pivoted our business, changed who we sold to over the years, refined our technology, and upgraded many of our positions through growth.

 

Employee percentage by tenure:  (headcount between 120-150 employees)

 

12% of our current employees have been with us more than 6 years.

 

10% of our current employees have been with us between 4-6 years.

 

55% of our current employees have been with us between 1-3 years.

 

23% of our current employees have been with us 0-1 year. 

 

 Culturally, these numbers tell a story.  Leadership wise – they also drive what is important to me.   

 

78% of our employees have been with us more than a year.   My benchmark is 80%, which includes attrition, performance issues, and changes to departments. 

 

23% is growth of new heads.    My goal is to always have 25% growth of headcount, in order to sustain growth – and replace employees who leave.

 

The moral to the story here is that, those who choose to work alongside with me continually humble me.   Every single day that I swipe my key card to enter one of our offices, I am grateful – and, I NEVER EVER take the “card swipe” for granted.

 

I don’t take the client trust for granted.

 

And, I certainly don’t take the company culture that the team @Lotame has helped create, define, embrace, and share.

 

Make sure when you swipe your own personal key card, or enter your place of business – you feel rewarded, appreciated, and the culture reflects who you are.

 

Otherwise, swipe your card key somewhere else.

 

A place where you will be appreciated, and someone, will be humbled and honored to work alongside of you.