From “Me” to “We”: What Leadership Is Really About | Josh Block

Mar 24, 2026

Josh Block, executive advisor and former president of Block Imaging, led cultural change with humility and people-first values. He discusses shifting from a “Me” to a “We” approach. Short takes cover collaborative decision-making, radical transparency, building trust after layoffs, seeing people as whole humans, and how leadership behaviors shape safety and ownership at work.

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ADVICE

Invite The Right People Early

Invite a small, relevant set of people early to sharpen decisions instead of running a full democracy.
Josh calls this Together: pick experienced 'hot phone' people who give objective feedback and prevent costly cleanups later.

ADVICE

Use The Ten Years Empathy Check

Practice Thoughtful by asking how the decision will feel to the person impacted and how you'd have felt 10 years ago in their shoes.
Use that empathy check to slow down and avoid decisions that harm people for convenience.

ANECDOTE

Forced Humility After Layoffs

Josh inherited broken trust after a ~10% layoff four months before he became president.
That experience taught him the deep cost of insecurity and informed his focus on creating work security and trust.

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Josh Block became president of his family’s medical imaging company at 29, just months after layoffs had shaken trust across the business. People were asking whether he was ready. His answer was simple: not fully. But he knew what he didn’t know. That humility became the starting point for how he chose to lead. Instead of protecting his position or pushing for performance at any cost, Josh shifted from what he calls the “Me Cycle” to the “We Cycle.”

In this episode, Dart and Josh discuss whether leadership alone can shape culture, whether performance is the goal or the byproduct, and what it really means to believe that people matter at work.

Josh Block is Executive Advisor and former President at Block Imaging, where he led the company through significant growth and cultural change. He is the founder of Cube Mobile Imaging and author of People Matter at Work.

In this episode, Dart and Josh discuss:
- Work as a reflection of leadership beliefs
- The shift from “Me” to “We” leadership
- Why humility builds trust
- Performance as a byproduct, not a goal
- What it means to feel safe at work
- How transparency changes behavior
- Why culture shows up in daily decisions
- The role of leaders in shaping experience
- When growth follows people, not pressure
- What it means to believe people matter
- And other topics…

Josh Block is Executive Advisor at Block Imaging, where he previously served as President from 2011 to 2025, helping grow the company into a global provider of refurbished medical imaging equipment. He is also the founder of Cube Mobile Imaging and the author of People Matter at Work, which explores how leadership shapes culture and performance.

Resources Mentioned:
Josh’s Book, People Matter at Work: https://www.amazon.com/People-Matter-Work-Fostering-Everyone/dp/1637635044

Connect with Josh:
https://www.blockimaging.com/blog/author/josh-block
https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshblock1/

Work with Dart:
Dart is the CEO and co-founder of the work design firm 11fold. Build work that makes employees feel alive, connected to their work, and focused on what’s most important to the business. Book a call at 11fold.com.