The Culture Matters Podcast

"Every great philosophy is the personal confession of the author." - Friedrich NietzscheWelcome back to the program and welcome back to another edition of Thirty Days of Thought featuring our very own Jay Doran as he discusses excerpts from his book, Thirty Days of Thought.  Today's discussion focuses on the thought that knowledge is potential energy and how in the end, like many of the topics discussed on this show, a lot of how you use that knowledge and that energy comes down to your values.  Knowledge isn't just about memorizing facts and figures.  Knowledge is about having the wisdom to do the right things for your business and your employees, the wisdom to know what not to do, and the wisdom to discern to know when to act and when to learn more.  More knowledge creates more opportunity and having the wisdom to act on that opportunity can be the difference between success and less than success.  We hope you enjoy this episode of The Culture Matters Podcast.

"Solving the same problem over and over again is fine. The really great people find interest and excitement in solving different types of problems, applying different skill sets, constantly learning and figuring out how to solve a problem. The second thing is: they ask really great questions. The best consultants that I've worked with are really keen to define the problem they're to solve and understand it before they try to solve it. The lesser consultants give you an answer before they fully understand the question."Senior Partner with Kinavic Leadership Acceleration and a consultant to the consultants Juan Pablo Gonzalez has made his triumphant return to our show and if you listened to his first appearance in episode 826 then you already know you're in for something special.  In today's disucssion, Juan Pablo and Jay are taking a hard look at the consulting profession and putting some of the finer points of what it takes to be a consultant on display.  These two culture conquerors are getting into how sometimes a question is asked for the implications the answer will give instead of the answer itself, understanding that different organizations run in different ways and are better fits for some than others, and how strategy can be broken down into simply making choices.  It's always a treat to have Juan Pablo on the show and we're already looking forward to having him back on The Culture Matters Podcast.

"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." - Albert EinsteinOn today's episode of The Culture Matters Podcast, our very own Jay Doran is back again to discuss what makes curiosity such an important quality or value to possess.  It is curiosity that launches exploration; whether in the physical world around us or in the exploring new concepts or ideas or trends that could help your business or your family or both.  It is curiosity that causes people to ask "what if" instead of accepting the world around them as it is.  Curiosity causes empathy and makes us want to know the people around us and what their stories are.  In other words, it is curiosity that drives us to understand the things around us and make us want to know what we already don't.  We hope you enjoy this episode of The Culture Matters Podcast.

"The system is the solution." - Michael GerberManaging partner and co-founder of Reagan Beecher, executive search expert, consultant, and advisor Clark Beech has made his way onto The Culture Matters Podcast and we are unpacking an awful lot in a relatively short amount of time, so we are wasting no time getting right into it.  Clark and Jay are unpacking how Clark began his career not even knowing what executive recruiting was and how he has now become an expert on the subject with an outright unbelievable completion success rate, how the use of data analytic tools can help predict how good a fit someone will be within a particular company or system, and why the biggest opportunities in consulting are coming from mid-market businesses and why that trend is continuing to go up.  We're incredibly happy that Clark was able to spend some time with us today on this episode of The Culture Matters Podcast.

"Far better is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, then to rank with those timid souls who never enjoy much nor suffer much." - Theodore RooseveltFormer NFL player, best-selling author, business and executive coach, and the host of the massively successful "Get Authentic with Marques Ogden" podcast Marques Ogden is joining us on the show today and we are ready to do some hard hitting with this gridiron gladiator.  Marques and Jay are digging into some of the obstacles and challenges that Marques had to overcome in his journey to becoming the man he is today, what goes into making a successful podcast and the need for the audience to connect with the brand of the show as well as the host and subject matter, and what bringing real leadership to everything you do is the only way to actually being a leader.  Marques is a larger-than-life individual with a larger-than-life story and we're so excited he decided to share it with us on this episode of The Culture Matters Podcast.

"The discipline of suffering, of great suffering - do you not know that only this discipline has created all enhancements of man so far? That tension of the soul in unhappiness which cultivates its strength, its shudders face to face with great ruin, its inventiveness and courage in enduring, preserving, interpreting, and exploiting suffering, and whatever has been granted to it of profundity, secret, mask, spirit, cunning, greatness - was it not granted to it through suffering, through the discipline of great suffering?" - Friedrich NietzscheOn this episode of The Culture Matters Podcast, our very own Jay Doran is taking another look at some of the things that drive Culture Matters as an organization behind the scenes.  The core value that Jay is discussing today is urgency.  Urgency is a driving force that requires us to be on our toes and to keep pushing even when we think we've given the task all we've got.  Urgency is what is going to get you across the finish line of your goals when you're feeling like you've gone past the point of exhaustion.  Working with a sense of urgency is what is going to set you apart from your competitors in your field.  We work with a sense of urgency because that is what keeps the blood flowing and the work at the highest level.  We hope that you feel a sense of urgency to listen to this episode and then go out there and get the work done.

"When culture is treated as a core business function, you start to see real traction." - Brian SmithOn today's episode of The Culture Matters Podcast, our very own Jay Doran is taking some time to discuss a very intriguing article that was sent to him by someone he considers a mentor.  The article in questions was put out there by a publication called Executive Search Review and is entitled "The Critical Role of Executive Search in Driving Culture Change".  This article runs the gambit of cultural information from statistics breaking down employee retention by companies with strong cultural experiences versus those with weaker ones, what you need to do in order to see significant culture transformation within your business, and ways in which you can create a strong company culture that will attract top performers.  Jay is taking a deep dive into this culture playbook and giving his insight into some of the very in-depth and well researched points this article has to make.  We hope you enjoy this episode of The Culture Matters Podcast.

"The higher we soar, the smaller we appear to those who cannot fly."On today's episode of The Culture Matters Podcast, our very own Jay Doran is here with a very different take on our normal "Thirty Days of Thought" episode.  For this edition of the series, Jay is reading the excerpt from "Attention Deficit" chapter and letting it stand on its own.  The words from this section are going to stand on their own without any explanation or analysis.  Instead, we're letting the words breathe and leaving them open for you, the listener, to interpret as you will.  We hope that when you walk away from this, you're thinking, reflecting, and using these words as a catalyst to come to your own conclusions and definitions.

"Confidence comes from preparation." - John WoodenOn today's episode of The Culture Matters Podcast, our very own Jay Doran is sitting down to discuss preparation as a concept, as a mindset, and as a tool for success.  Behind the scenes, a lot of work goes into making sure Jay is as prepared as possible for every guest that comes on the show to make sure that we are doing right by the people that take the time to come on to speak with Jay.  Preparation shows respect, a willingness to learn, and that whatever it is you are preparing for has inherent value.  Whether you are prepping for an interview, a speech, a presentation, or anything else, the amount of work you put in beforehand is going to be reflected by what you produce.  We hope you enjoy this episode of The Culture Matters Podcast.

"He who has a strong enough why, can bear almost any how." - Friedrich NietzscheDaniel Wright is the founder of Proline Paving, the host of the "Paving the Way" podcast, and a member in good standing of the Top Contractor School and we're extremely excited to have him back for his second appearance on the show.  In today's discussion, Daniel and Jay are taking a deeper look into the core values that drive Proline Paving everyday.  Daniel preaches doing the right thing always and while it sounds like such a simple thing to do, it may prove more difficult to put into practice.  With that said, it's the difficult things that normally prove to be the most valuable.  We're also getting into rewarding good work, recognizing good work and making sure others do too, and what it actually means to continually try and do things the right way.  There's a lot of uplifting talk in today's discussion and we hope you enjoy this episode of The Culture Matters Podcast.