Long before I was outspoken, assertive, and extroverted… I was academic and introverted. I’m pretty positive that’s still my comfort zone (and to my core, I’m a total nerd).
I would rather listen to a TED talk than watch a movie. I would rather read a business or leadership book, than read chick lit. I really like school… like *really* like school. Although I absolutely hated Greek & Roman Studies, I enjoyed most classes in university. ;) When people ask me what I do for fun, I usually say volunteer, read, speak and write… whaaaaa? The keener strikes again.
When I’m not working or running or cooking up something magical, I often devour myself in the internet. There is so much to read (!!!), so much to learn (!!!).
I could easily spend hours upon hours reading about change management on Harvard Business Review, leadership on Dan Pontefract’s blog, high growth companies in Inc Magazine and community do-gooding on Mashable’s Social Good. Lots and lots of what I read is the same old. People recycling content and stories that we’ve all learned about over the last 10, 20, 50, 100 years. With that said, every day I read something where I’m like whoa — that’s good.
I randomly came across a recent presentation by TELUS International and Google on customer service, culture and collaboration — and boy oh boy, I thought it was a winner.
If you are remotely interested in building your business, empowering your team or thinking outside of the box, you’ll enjoy these takeaways:
- Build a community, not just a company
- Empower employees to make decisions and tackle big problems
- Work socially to collaborate and connect
- Invest in personal and professional development
- Create time and space to innovate
I know it’s not rocket science… but seriously, not often do you see senior leaders getting on stage and talking proactively about THEIR PEOPLE. I love what TELUS has done to engage their call center crew — it’s totally rad. I love that the President of TELUS International has stood up on stage and said — yo, we’re going to be different. TELUS and Google are creating cultures where employees make an impact.
That is why employees are committing to them.
That is why employees wake up excited to go to work.
That is why employees are coming up with awesome new ideas and solving real world problems.
“… it’s important to go back and examine your own corporate culture – to make sure that your culture is well aligned to your strategy. And to define those key principles that your own people can embody in everything that they do. Your cultural values, and knowing how to reinforce those values, will be critical to your success.
And don’t think culture matters only within your corporate walls. Your cultural values should extend well beyond that to the partners you choose and the relationships you build with them. What we’ve shared today doesn’t mean that you have to aspire to have a culture like Google or TELUS International. These are just two examples. It’s about finding what works for your organization and the partners you choose to work with.” – Peter “Scotch” Scocimara, Director, Global Enterprise Support, Google
If your inner biz nerd would like to learn more, check out the slide deck, read the transcript (lots of GOLD!) or listen to a few excerpts from the presentation:
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