Showing posts with label culture. Show all posts

Saturday, September 19, 2026

Finding Our Common Ground

Before last year, I had never traveled outside the Americas. That changed entirely when I packed my bags for seven new countries across Europe and Asia. Beyond the breathtaking monuments and the essential fridge magnets, I set out to uncover the heartbeat of our global teams. What I learned completely reshaped my perspective on how we build our future together.

While we all have beautifully different ways of experiencing the same world, every region brought a distinct, powerful cultural strength to our shared team:

Munich, Germany: A deep culture of meticulous quality, brilliant design, and methodical problem-solving.
Milton Keynes, UK: A brilliant, sharp, and witty energy fueled by natural go-getters.
Lille, France: An effortless, stylish grace and genuine care that elevates every interaction.
Barcelona, Spain: A passionate, artistic spirit and fierce determination that brings vibrant creativity to the table.
Milan, Italy: An enduring wisdom rooted in rich historical depth, defined by true beauty and class.
Sydney, Australia: A fun, cool, and fiercely resilient spirit, complete with an incredible accent.
Singapore: An electrifying pace defined by fast, agile execution that steps right over challenges others get stuck on.

During our Surge transformation workshops, we partnered with our best and brightest leaders to scale our strategies across EMEA and Asia Pacific. By unifying our global capabilities and standardizing how we work, we didn't just free up time for our associates to focus on value creation—we laid the groundwork for a more agile, deeply connected global future.

Despite the thousands of miles between us, I found we have so much in common—it's what unifies us at Ingram. Across every border, we share a fierce passion for growth, approaching challenges with the grit to fight to win while always stopping to help each other succeed; we continuously set the bar high, driven by an incredible talent pool dedicated to creating authentic value for our partners.

At our global headquarters, whether I’m working with my local team or running into executives in the elevator, I carry our expanded team with me. This unforgettable journey wasn’t just about driving business growth—it was about building lifelong relationships and proving what happens when diverse perspectives align behind one vision. I am immensely grateful for the experience and, without a doubt, a stronger leader for it.

Tuesday, May 8, 2018

Conscious Capitalism Conference 2018

Last week I attended the Conscious Capitalism Conference in Dallas, Texas. It was bigger than ever with more than 800 attendees. It's nice to see the movement growing. This was my second time attending. Its an enlivening event. There are activities that engage you in learning and growing, a great group of people attending there alongside you, and a lot of inspiring content to take in.

I loved all of the presentations I saw. There were some common themes with an overall essence that inspired/reminded me:

Be present and show up in your daily actions. Emotions are contagious. Be aware of the climate you create in the room. When your nervous system takes over, pause and reset. Listen for possibility. Resonance expands energy; dissonance reduces it. Ride the wave of life force energy. Spread beauty and grace.
What you pay attention to expands. Quantum physics proves this at a molecular level. Consciously focus your attention on strengths and solutions with questions and curiosity. Let go of the minor things you find stealing your joy. Pay attention to what you want more of. Think of your attention like a ball of light.
Brilliant ideas come when you're relaxed. Play is the highest form of research. Capture your genius ideas down when they are incomplete. If you can't think of a win/win/win, you haven't been creative enough. Geniuses are just people who get better reception.
Never give up. Failure is commonly found on the path to greatness. Learn, grow, and try again. When you want something bad enough, the world conspires to give it to you.

A few presentations were truly unforgettable. These speakers were charismatic and had a powerful story to share.

Shawn Achor opened with a bang. He is a happiness researcher who is full of energy and zest. He shared a ton of interesting content on happiness. I highly recommend checking out a podcast. Three key points were unforgettable:

Happiness is the joy you feel when moving toward your potentional.
We all have mirror neurons that connect our brains wirelessly to each other. We co-process the world and are interconnected. When we are in sync with each other, our success rate rises dramatically. We literally shine brigher as a connected community. Positive patterns of gratitude deepen optimism and social connection.
When we run into challenges, we all feel that they are much easier to face when we don't feel that we have to face them alone.

Chad Houser told his story of opening up Cafe Momentum. His restaurant is run by young men and women that are released from juvenile hall. He runs a 12-month paid internship that teaches them all jobs in the kitchen and guides them through a process that sets them up to be hired after it's over. He helps these kids empower themselves through hard work and determination to be able to lift themselves out of a vicious cycle. I could literally hardly hold it together after he was done. He's remarkable. Check out this video: The Cafe Momentum Story

Shawn Nelson is the creator of Lovesac. He shared his idea of "Designed for Life" which is a framework meant to inspire innovation by challenging companies to create better so that consumers can buy less. His sactionals are amazing. Check out this video: Designed for Life: The Lovesac Vision.

The content that I connected with most was during the chapter leaders pre-event on Sunday. Danny Friedland, MD went over the triune brain and how it impacts us every day. He explained that there are three main parts to the brain and it's natural to oscillate between them throughout the day. Everything that comes in is filtered through an automatic process that constantly seeks to confirm safety. The opportunity/challenge we have is to notice when we're in the lower levels (fragmented and reactive) and lift ourselves up to a cycle of creativity by recognizing it and choosing to shift from safety or identity to solutions/action. He encouraged us to be mindful and pay attention with a sense of openness, kindness, and curiosity for whatever is arising in the present moment.

I love being able to bring this back into my day to day and looking at everything from a renewed perspective. Although I came back to a very full inbox and several things piled up to deal with, I felt 100% present in each of them and had expansive ways of looking at "processing" them.

This content is blended and inspired by the following people: Michelle Kinder, Shawn Achor, Danny Friedland, Michael Gelb, Deval Patrick, Chad Houser, Jeff Sinelli, David Emerald Womeldorff, Selim Bassoul, Suzy Batiz, Ed Freeman.

Saturday, September 30, 2017

The 5 Components of Showing Up

1. Intention – Own what you want and be clear about it.

2. Energy – Take care of yourself and how you show up to the table. Be a powerful instrument of change and possibility.

3. Presence – Be present with people and be thoughtful about how they experience being with you (your body language, what you say and do, your tone of voice, etc.).

4. Action and Skills – Stay on top of things. Move forward, increase your skills, and accomplish your goals.

5. Impact – Make it happen.

How leaders “show up” and how they grow others are strong predictors of the quality of leadership as well as the quality of the culture that the leadership is creating.

Excerpt from Contagious Culture by Anese Cavanaugh

Saturday, April 8, 2017

Defining A Company's Culture

From Conscious Capitalism

Step 1 – Define Higher Purpose

A purpose is a simple definitive statement that refers to the difference we’re trying to make in the world. It is the amniotic fluid that nourishes the life force of the organization. It gives great energy and relevance to a company and its brand. Great purposes are transcendent, energizing, and inspiring for all the interdependent stakeholders.

Everyone craves meaning and purpose in life, but few people find such fulfillment at work. To tap this deep wellspring of human motivation, companies need to shift their emphasis from profit maximization to purpose maximization. People are most fulfilled and happiest when their work is aligned with their own inner passions.

When an organization communicates its purpose clearly and consistently, the organization naturally attracts people who align with its purpose.

Examples:

· Disney: To use our imaginations to bring happiness to millions.

· Johnson & Johnson: To alleviate pain and suffering.

· BMW: To enable people to experience the joy of driving.

· Container Store: Help people get organized so they can be happier.

· REI: To reconnect people with nature.

· Southwest Airlines: To give people the freedom to fly.

· Charles Schwab: A relentless ally for the individual investor.

· American Red Cross: Enabling Americans to perform extraordinary acts in the face of emergencies.

· Ford: Opening the highways to all mankind.

Action Steps:

· Define our purpose statement and obtain buy in

Step 2 – Define Mission

A mission statement is the core strategy that must be undertaken to fulfill that purpose.

Step 3 – Define Vision

A vision statement is a vivid, imaginative conception or view of how the world will look once your purpose is largely realized.

· Example:

o Whole Foods - Whole Foods Market's vision of a sustainable future means our children and grandchildren will be living in a world that values human creativity, diversity, and individual choice. Businesses will harness human and material resources without devaluing the integrity of the individual or the planet's ecosystems. Companies, governments, and institutions will be held accountable for their actions. People will better understand that all actions have repercussions and that planning and foresight coupled with hard work and flexibility can overcome almost any problem encountered. It will be a world that values education and a free exchange of ideas by an informed citizenry; where people are encouraged to discover, nurture, and share their life's passions.