VaynerMedia - Chief ?? Officer

In episode 306 of the #WhoYaKnow Job Networking Show, we invite Claude Silver. Claude's life’s purpose is to be of joyful service and unlock emotional optimism in all. The key lies in the heart. ?? Claude is the first-ever Chief Heart Officer working with and for close to 1,000 employees at VaynerMedia to integrate heart into their professional lives and become the best version of themselves and best leaders they can be. As a motivational speaker, thought leader, and industry trendsetter, Claude focuses on teaching people and organizations how to disrupt the traditional HR model with the use of emotional optimism and heart-centered leadership.

On the show, Claude talks about VaynerMedia and how it is different from other companies. She says, "We are a company that believes that brand is built in social, which should be no surprise because we are on social right now. We believe in marketing to the day that we are in. People aren't watching TV. Where are people consuming their content? Tik-Tok, pretty much Instagram, right? So we really want to make sure that we are empathizing with our end consumer, our audience, and making sure that we are getting a real niche into those audiences so that we can deliver to them the work and content that is somewhat emotional. Our mission is to build the single greatest human empire in the history of time. "

Talking about her journey to getting to her role at VaynerMedia, Claude says, "I started in the world of digital in 1998. Dark ages, no Google, no Facebook. I had no business in getting into this world of digital other than it paid me more than the job I was working at, which was managing a small little grocery store. One thing led to another and I got involved in advertising and communication. I moved to London and I became a strategist. I had been following Gary since 09 when he put out Crush It. So I knew who he was. My best friend in the entire world was running media for Unilever and Gary had gone over to Unilever to speak. She set it up and we had this three-minute conversation on the phone. I came to New York the month later and we just hit it off."

Claude talks about some of the things that they have done to protect the culture while scaling. According to her, "I'm not a buzzword type of girl but I'm going to mention some things that have now become buzzwords in the zeitgeist, like psychological safety. Creating safety is our obsession. Removing fear, removing cynicism, people talking smack about one another. The thing with creating safety is it actually creates speed."

Claude also tells us about the 'Honey Empire.' She says, "Honey is how we treat people. Being the bigger person in every situation. Treating people with warmth. Giving people the benefit of doubt. Trusting first. Huge! One of the things that we believe in the honey part of the empire is putting people in positions of strength. So the honey is like being emotionally brave and that then feeds the empire which is putting our ambition into play."

Talking about the day-to-day of a Chief Heart Officer, Claude says, "It is listening. I listen to a lot of people. People come proactively. They set up a time with me or I reach out.? I'm in a lot of meetings talking about people operations, recruiting, retention. Anything that has to do with a human being, a person, and the experience they have, within our four walls, that's my business."

Claude tells us about how they help someone who is not succeeding. According to her, "The first one is they have to be able to have kind candor, honest and kind conversations with their manager. That manager needs to give the person feedback and then get them on a plan, maybe a 30-day plan to see how they go. The other thing that we do is, maybe they're in the wrong position, maybe they are on the wrong team."

About emotional optimism and injecting that into people, Claude says, "I came up with them because quite frankly, I'm emotional. I have emotions, I have been through things that everyone else has been through in life. I go through hard times, I go through dark times, I go through all those times. However, for me, there is always hope and some kind of light. Being able to use those emotions, not deny them, use them as fuel and data to work through and get to that other side."

Claude also talks about their Alumni Program. She says, "When I said my team takes care of all the people in their experience. Their experience might end the day they leave, but their experience continues because we have an alumni program. We have an enormous database of all of the people who have left us either voluntary or involuntary. We have an enormous database of all these companies that are knocking on Gary's door all day long, or knocking on our door. What we promise is an introduction.? "

On how candidates and current employees can elevate themselves, Claude says, "Energy is everything. And I don't mean cosmic energy, I mean a vibe. And someone could pick up a vibe from watching a show, from a phone, or a cover letter or cold email. Don't be transactional, Get personalized."

To the job seekers who want to get an appropriate gauge of a company's culture, Claude recommends, " I think it’s really important to certainly see who you know or who your friends know on LinkedIn. See if you can have some information. Reach out to someone like me and say hey, I'm really interested. Is there any way I can have a 15-minute coffee chat with you? If I can do it, I will absolutely send that to a recruiter on our team and say,? ``I don't know but let's do this person a solid 15 minutes, that's it."

To all those who are interested in applying at VaynerMedia, suggests, "What I would do is always check the website and see what's up there. I know we are doing a bunch of hiring for all different kinds of roles, especially in the creative department. I would definitely say please hit me up. I'm happy to route you to the right people. "

??Claude at 22:00 - Us, humans, we are exquisitely messy people.?

??Claude at 24:10 - I came to New York the month later and we just hit it off. It was a Who Ya Know moment.

??Claude at 25:28 - Creating safety is our obsession. Removing fear, removing cynicism, people talking smack about one another.?

??Claude at 26:40 - Honey is how we treat people.

??Claude at 30:35 - It is listening. I listen to a lot of people.

??Claude at 36:45 - ?I go through hard times, I go through dark times, I go through all those times. However, for me, there is always hope and some kind of light.?

??Claude at 38:06 - It’s more like, yeah Covid is happening and work is really heavy right now because a lot of people have a lot of raw emotions, and that's really tough for me. So, I better acknowledge that, take care of myself, get to the gym so that I can be the best me I can be for my family and work.?

??Claude at 39:30 - We have an enormous database of all these companies that are knocking on Gary's door all day long, or knocking on our door. What we promise is an introduction.?

??Claude at 47:25 - We have really been focusing on our D E & I initiatives which is incredibly important. When I say we are creating a culture that’s rooted in belonging, the only way to do that again is to make people feel safe. And how do you do that, by not having people change their stripes. We, the culture, adapt to them.?

??Claude at 50:30 - Who are you? I’m Claude. My business is the business of people. I love the exquisite mess that we all are. I have two young kids. And I want to make this world a better place for them.?

??Claude at 55:22 - I think it’s really important to certainly see who you know or who your friends know on LinkedIn.?

??Claude at 55:50 - If I can do it, I will absolutely send that to a recruiter on our team and say,? I don't know but let's do this person a solid 15 minutes, that's it.

??Claude at 56:55 - If you’re gonna write to me, remember what we already talked about. I don’t want to be wined and dined. I want to know about you.

??Claude at 57:30 - Six years ago when I stepped in this role, the first thing I did was I removed the need for college education.

Coming up Next - 03/23/2022

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Rachel Druckenmiller ?? ?is on a mission to humanize the workplace by igniting resilience, connection, engagement and compassion in organizations, leaders and teams.

She has facilitated nearly 300 virtual learning experiences since March 2020 as a keynote speaker, workshop facilitator and leadership trainer.

Follow her on LinkedIn, subscribe to her UnmuteYourself LinkedIn newsletter and learn more about her work on her website at?www.UnmutedLife.com

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