New Search

If you are not happy with the results below please do another search

127 search results for:

1

Reimagining the Client Experience

When the leadership team at Venturity Financial Partners realized they were losing clients at an alarming rate, they knew a new approach was needed. With thoughtful and intentional planning, this CXO and accounting services firm created a dedicated Client Experience work group to revitalize how they worked with clients externally and managed them internally. Fast […]

3

Tony + Tony Sr. Maione: Making a Father-Son Business Shine

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman speaks with our very first father-son duo. Tony Maione Sr. (henceforth called Senior) is Co-founder and Executive Senior Consultant of Core America, a janitorial and environmental services consulting and software company. Tony Maione, his son, is currently President of Core America, as well […]

4

Speak-Up Culture

As the Andy Stanley quote goes, “Leaders who do not listen will eventually be surrounded by people who have nothing to say.” And, that silence is dangerous. Stephen Shedletzky – or “Shed” to his friends – has focused his career on helping leaders listen to and nurture the voices of others — to foster an […]

5

Jean Pitzo: Building a Culture of Conscious Intelligence

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman speaks with Jean Pitzo, CEO of Ace Metal Crafts, a stainless steel fabrication company. Jean is also a mentor in the Small Giants Sounding Board program.   In the 1980s, Jean’s entrepreneurial father bought a metal fabricating business. And even though her brothers […]

6

Heidi Baumgart: Empathy and Elbow Grease

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman speaks with Heidi Baumgart, COO of Skidmore Studio, a 65-year-old branding firm.    As an only child growing up in rural Ohio, Heidi observed generations of her family work hard to build their businesses, be it a dairy farm or a home renovation […]

7

Eric Jones: The heavy lifting of purposeful leadership

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman speaks with Eric Jones, co-owner of Adamantine Spine Moving, a local and long-distance moving company based in Iowa.    Eric didn’t always dream of owning his own moving business. In fact, for a long time he didn’t know where he wanted his career […]

9

Andrew Barry: Building a Culture of Learning

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman speaks with Andrew Barry, founder and CEO of Curious Lion.   Andrew got his start on the accounting side of business at KPMG. But as his passion for learning grew, he embraced his own courage by moving from his home country of South […]

12

Jason Fried: ”Out-teaching” the Competition

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman speaks with Jason Fried, co-founder and CEO of 37 Signals, as well as the co-author of several books such as Shape Up and It Doesn’t Have to be Crazy at Work.   As soon as Jason was old enough to work at the […]

13

Small Giants Leadership Academy

Where purpose-driven leaders go to grow The Small Giants Leadership Academy develops confident, empathetic leaders who know how to inspire others, drive performance, and influence company culture. Where purpose-driven leaders go to grow The Small Giants Leadership Academy develops confident, empathetic leaders who know how to inspire others, drive performance, and influence company culture. Looking […]

14

Beck Sydow: Removing the Mask

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman speaks with Beck Sydow, the Founder of HumanKind Business Leaders, and former CEO of StickerGiant.    Beck’s passion is bringing people-hearted and business-minded leadership beliefs to individuals, teams, and organizations. A self-proclaimed “business geek” as well as a longtime mindfulness practitioner, Beck’s aim […]

16

Corey Rosen: Mailbag Episode – Dispelling the Myths of Employee Ownership

On this mailbag episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman speaks with Corey Rosen to answer listener questions about the world of employee ownership. Corey is the founder of the National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO), a nonprofit membership and research organization that is an authoritative source on broad-based employee ownership plans.  […]

17

Express Your Expertise: Marketing Tactics for Purpose-Driven Companies

As a Small Giants company, your strong sense of purpose and culture set you apart from the competition in attractive ways. But are you communicating that to your clients, prospective employees, and other stakeholders? Mark O’Brien, CEO of Newfangled, will provide strategy and tools for marketing your expertise effectively through digital media. By leveraging tactics that […]

18

Carl Erickson: Give a Sh*t

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman speaks with Carl Erickson, the recently retired Executive Chairman of Atomic Object, a design and development software consultancy he co-founded in 2001. Previously a tenured professor at Grand Valley State University, he enjoyed teaching, but didn’t so much appreciate the affinity in academia […]

19

Better Than Fine: How to get more out of the questions you ask, starting with “How are you?”

How many questions do you ask your colleagues a day? How many of those create thoughtful conversations and stronger bonds? Good leadership requires collaboration and getting input so that your whole team feels connected to what they’re doing. But that connection needs to go beyond asking the easy questions like “what do you think?” and […]

21

Lauren Adams: Financials with Heart

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman speaks with Lauren Adams, the Director of Operations at the Center for Financial Planning, a privately held wealth management firm. Lauren has always had a strong work ethic that combines with a passion for working towards a greater good. Even as she pursued […]

24

Taylor Vanden Hoek: Problem-Solving Through Art

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman speaks with Taylor Vanden Hoek, a delivery lead at Atomic Object, a custom software consultancy. Along with one of her colleagues, Taylor is currently working towards opening and managing Atomic Object’s fourth office, which will be located in Raleigh, NC.  From a young […]

25

Devyn Bachman: On the Road Again

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman speaks with Devyn Bachman, Vice President of Research at John Burns Real Estate Consulting.  Devyn grew up surrounded by the entrepreneurial spirit. While her parents ran a 20-seat hair salon in Colorado, Devyn grew to love the idea of creating something on your […]

26

Are You Recession Ready? What to Know About Our Economic Outlook

Economic changes create concerns as well as opportunities for Small Giants who stay one step ahead of their competitors. Join us for a virtual conversation with John Burns, CEO and Founder of John Burns Real Estate Consulting, whose 110-person firm monitors cycles carefully for executives at some of the largest investment companies in the country. […]

27

Develop and Retain Your Best Leaders: A Small Giants Panel

Have you identified your bench of future leaders? Are they confident, emotionally-intelligent individuals who are prepared to lead? Is your organization struggling to have its values understood and practiced at every level of the organization? In this panel discussion facilitated by Small Giants Community co-founder Paul Spiegelman, three Small Giants Leadership Academy graduates will share […]

29

Inside Out: How to Market Your Cultural Story Consistently

When it comes to marketing and branding, many companies create internal documents touting their culture to employees (ie the classic ‘mission, vision, values’ poster), and then separately produce external messaging of what they think the outside world wants to see and hear. In reality, these are two content streams that should have little to no […]

30

Privacy Policy

This privacy policy sets out how SMALL GIANTS COMMUNITY uses and protects any information that you give SMALL GIANTS COMMUNITY when you use this website. SMALL GIANTS COMMUNITY is committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. Should we ask you to provide certain information by which you can be identified when using this website, […]

31

The Future of Work with Steve Cadigan

Paul Spiegelman, Steve Cadigan It’s no secret that companies and employees across the globe have experienced a lot of change in the last couple of years. The pandemic has turned many of our notions about work on their heads, but it doesn’t all have to be viewed as insurmountable challenges. Here to help us navigate […]

32

January 2022 Virtual Event: The Biology of Cost and ROI

Sonia Funk is a registered Nutritional Therapist, as well as a Corporate Wellness Strategist and the owner of The Whole Avocado. She’s traveled the world as a teacher and student, and has learned a lot about wellness through her many adventures (she describes her life as “Eat Pray Love” meets “Forrest Gump”). Her work with […]

35

How to Hire Culturally-Aligned A-Players

Small Giants leaders know that hiring the wrong person is costly, time-consuming, and can do serious cultural damage. But even with the best intentions, without a strong hiring process, wrong hires can still sneak in. In this Fishbowl (a.k.a. webinar!) we’ll learn from Vivian Lee, SVP of People Innovation at Arkadium about their process for […]

36

The Process of Culture

Having a great company culture doesn’t just happen — a great culture is built on processes and discipline in all areas of your organization. In this Fishbowl (a.k.a. webinar!) we learned from Shawn Burcham, CEO of PFSbrands, about how his team has systematized their culture by integrating their core values into how they recruit, hire, […]

37

Exit Options for Purpose-Driven Entrepreneurs

For purpose-driven entrepreneurs, the company’s mission is a top priority. When it comes to exploring exit options, it can be difficult to make the right choice that will protect the company’s culture, reward its employees, and allow the founder to leave a lasting legacy. In this month’s Fishbowl (a.k.a. webinar!) attendees learned from Michael Whelchel […]

38

Building Culture in Virtual Teams

Positive workplaces don’t happen by accident. Purpose-driven leaders know that behind the best company cultures, you’ll find leaders who put in consistent, intentional hard work to build this aspect of their organization. But, what happens to the culture if you and your employees don’t see each other every day? What happens to the camaraderie and […]

39

How to Create a Results-Focused Culture

Learn how this agency became a ROWE – a Results Only Work Environment – and how this approach creates a culture of autonomy, flexibility, and results. In a ROWE, meetings are optional and employees work when and where they’re most productive. Results and quality become the key drivers of success — resulting in higher employee […]

40

How to Build Your Leadership Bench

In this Fishbowl featuring Paul Dreyer, Chief Empowerment Officer of Avid4 Adventure, attendees learned how this outdoor adventure company maintains healthy, intentional growth by developing an active pipeline of future leaders. Avid4 Adventure has seen 25-40 percent annual growth over the past decade. As revenue increased, their need for more people also increased. But just creating […]

41

Start the Conversation about Mental Health in the Workplace

One in five US adults experiences a mental illness in a given year — and even more experience the struggles through a friend or family member. Despite its prevalence in our lives, the stigma associated with mental illness often prevents open discussion about it. Ultimately, this stigma delays diagnosis and treatment — and the conversation […]

42

Opening the Books is Only the Beginning: How to Teach Employees Financial Literacy

Small Giants believe in financial transparency — sharing financials with your team arms them with information that helps them make better decisions for your business. But opening the books is only the beginning. In order to get the most out of being a financially transparent company, you have to help your employees become financially literate […]

43

Win the War for Talent with One Word

Through the experience of being fired as CEO of his own company, Jay Wilkinson learned the importance of showing his employees that he cares. By making them feel loved, being vulnerable and including them in important decisions, his employees remained loyal despite being asked to work longer hours and take massive pay cuts. During his […]

44

Successfully Integrating Mindfulness Into Your Leadership Culture

Check out the recording of this interactive fishbowl (a.k.a webinar!) with Small Giants leader and mindfulness expert Rob Dube. Rob is the author and founder of donothing: the most rewarding leadership challenge you will ever take. In this Fishbowl, attendees learned how meditation will help you become a more mindful leader and person by: Having […]

45

Building a Thriving Millennial Workforce

What’s the secret to attracting and retaining millennial employees? It’s simpler than you might think — today’s workforce values an employer that cares for them in the totality of their lives. It sounds simple, but what does that approach look like in practice? In this Fishbowl, Chris Stakich, CEO of Rustic Pathways, will share the […]

46

How to Use Feedback to Bring Your Company Values to Life

Everyone is talking about feedback and one-on-ones, but how do you make sure you’re truly adding value and not just checking a box? More to the point, how do you use feedback to help the team embody your company values in their day-to-day interactions. It turns out that it’s one-part mindset shift and one part […]

48

Understanding Motivation: Using Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to Foster Better Business Relationships

In this Fishbowl, we heard from Chip Conley, the founder and former CEO of America’s Joie de Vivre Hospitality and the Strategic Advisor for Hospitality and Leadership at Airbnb. Conley explained how applying psychology to understand his stakeholders’ motivations helped him: Create a joyful workplace for himself and his employees Make his customers more delighted […]

49

How to Preserve Mission & Values Through Exit & Growth Strategies

There comes a point in time, when all Founders and CEOs must exit their business. One opportunity Small Giants may consider is searching for liquidity options that won’t jeopardize their company’s core purpose. The introduction of outside capital, whether a minority or majority liquidity, represents a vulnerable decision point that can have permanent effects on […]

50

How to Bring Transparency and Accountability to Career Trajectory and Raises

Deciding when an employee should receive a promotion or a raise can be difficult, especially when deciding how much. In this fishbowl, Karen Clark Cole, CEO & Founder of Blink UX, and Brigitt Rains, Director of Operations, shared how they developed an internal system to make career trajectory, promotions, and asking for raises transparent and […]

53

How to Drive Business Results by Letting Your Employees Bring Their Souls to Work

Building culture in your company is a crucial component to being a Small Giant. What differentiates a Small Giant from others is their focus to embed culture into their business strategy. Culture of Good, a company that built an emotional operating system, teaches for-profit companies how to operate their business with the soul of a […]

54

How to Bring Your Purpose to Life

In this fishbowl, attendees learned from The Purpose Institute’s co-founder and Chief Purposologist, Haley Rushing, on how to bring the power of your organization’s purpose to life in a systematic, meaningful and sustainable way. She covered a wide range of activation areas including how to use your purpose to drive recruitment and talent management, how to create […]

55

Behind The Scenes: Mastering the Pre-work to Hire an Exceptional Candidate

Amy Whipple and Carrie Schochet of Purple Squirrel Advisors specialize in customized recruiting in the accounting, finance, human resources and operations functions for companies across industries and ranging from 8 million to 700 million in revenue. In this interactive Fishbowl, attendees learned about the aspects of recruiting and hiring that Amy and Carrie have identified […]

67

How Family Taught This CEO How To Be A Leader – Twice

Tasty Catering CEO Tom Walter learned about leadership from his father – and his children. Tom Walter’s lessons on leadership started early. One of eleven children in a command-and-control run family, his father was an army sergeant in World War II. In the home, his father raised Tom and his siblings with the same intensity […]

68

Forbes Small Giants 2017: America’s Best Small Companies

This is our second annual list of Small Giants, 25 companies that value greatness over growth. They aren’t opposed to growth—just to growth at all costs. We picked 25 businesses that have sound models, strong balance sheets and steady profits—all privately owned and closely held. They contribute to their communities.

69

The Feedback Loop: How to Give and Receive

How do you tell a top-performing employee something that they don’t want to hear? How do you take in feedback from your employees, without coming across as defensive? Giving and receiving feedback well are two of the most-valued – yet difficult to master – skills for any leader. Claire Lew, , has spent her working […]

70

How to Deliver an Extraordinary Customer Experience

Cultivating meaningful relationships with customers is part of being a Small Giant. However, what separates a Small Giant from others, is their ability to embed customer service into their culture. imageOne, a document lifecycle management company, has created a culture of customer service that has generated millions in revenue. In this fishbowl, you will learn […]

71

Community: How to Save the Environment While Engaging Employees

In this fishbowl discussion, Liz Zavodsky, Director of Membership & Engagement at Northwest Earth Institute, shared examples of meaningful community engagement and how this impacts employee engagement. Key Takeaways: Learn how community programming can impact employee engagement and build stronger bonds Learn what EcoChallenge is and how you can implement the community programming in your […]

72

Small Giants Member, Be Found Online, Named #1 Best Place to Work

The 2016 Best Places to Work list is a joint effort of Advertising Age and Best Companies Group. The latter is dedicated to establishing programs to identify and recognize workplaces that nurture a superior level of employee satisfaction and engagement. Companies from across the United States participated in the two-part survey process to determine Ad […]

74

7 ‘Can’t Miss’ Conferences for Entrepreneurs in 2017

This is the third annual appearance of this column, which ranked as two of my most popular postings in 2016 and 2015. Today I am providing my list of the top “hidden gem” networking and educational events in 2017 for entrepreneurs. I have made these picks with an eye toward high networking and learning benefits for entrepreneurs who are […]

75

The Future of Business Belongs To The ‘Small Giants’

It seems as though you can’t turn on the television or pick up a magazine without coming across a politician or pundit extolling the virtues of small business and the role it plays in the U.S. economy. In fact, Forbes is currently on the lookout for some of these amazing “small giants.”  It’s easy to see why […]

77

We’re Looking For A Few Great Small Companies. Do You Know Any?

We all know that America is filled with good small companies, but how many deserve to be called “great”? By that, I mean the elite of the elite—the ones that everybody who knows the industry would agree set the standard for excellence in what they do. Their customers are raving fans. So are their employees, […]

78

When To Double Down On Culture

I’m a culture evangelist.  Some might say that I “got religion” not so much because I chose it, but because I came to experience over time the impact that it had on my life and my business.  I simply took the lessons from my parents (always be kind; treat people with respect; never burn a […]

79

Values Don’t Matter Unless You’re Living Them

When we talk about company values, we’re often having the same conversation over and over again. We toss around words like community, respect, and integrity, and then we slide right back into our traditional habits and practices, not always in alignment with those words.  As leaders, we must challenge ourselves to dig deeper than simply identifying our […]

80

Transitioning From Consultant To Business Owner

Ira Sharfin had been a successful, big time consultant for 16 years.  He was an expert at change management and even helped with the integration when mega-firms Coopers and Lybrand and Price Waterhouse merged in 1998. In 2005, he had the personal opportunity to buy a majority interest in Continental Office, a workplace solutions company […]

81

Redefining Leadership: How One Leader Changed His Ways

Behind every good company culture, there’s an even better leader. In my experience, a workplace takes on the personalities of their leaders, for better or for worse. In fact, an honest evaluation of your employees’ opinions will likely clarify the exact places where leadership and culture meet, or in some cases clash to create a […]

82

If Culture Pays, Why Don’t All Companies Emphasize It?

It seems everywhere we turn nowadays, we’re reading about company culture.  It’s the cool thing to talk about and a good way to recruit talent.  But does it really pay?  Is there a positive connection between culture and financial results?  And if so, why doesn’t everyone focus on it? That last question is the most […]

83

Building A Great Culture With Remote Teams

“I don’t look at the competition. Let them look at me.” -Jim Mullaney, CEO & Founder, Edoc Service, Inc. What exactly does the competition see when they look at Edoc Service Inc.? Jim sits at the helm of a team that’s been 100% virtual for nearly 20 years. Long before working remotely was a popular option for […]

86

Q&A: Scaling Up Culture Change

When Paul Spiegelman created the job of chief culture officer at Stericycle three years ago, he was beginning a multiyear experiment. Could the corporate culture he had created and nurtured at his own company scale to fit a publicly traded company with a $12.5 billion market cap? Mr. Spiegelman ran BerylHealth, a health care call-center […]

87

Small Giants Community Recap

Although there are literally thousands of business books published each year, only a selected few are destined to become “best sellers”. The list of best-selling books used to be updated on a weekly basis,usually in respected periodicals such as the New York Times.  Today, however, this list is updated hourly by mega book retailers such […]

88

Elgin bartender gets $1,500 tip

Nicole said she served two men, one a friend of hers and the other her friend’s boss. The boss, whom she’d never met before, paid their tab and that of a couple seated next to them, for a total $44, and added a $500 tip for Nicole. “I thought it was a mistake, that it […]

90

Don’t Always Listen To Your Mentor

I’ve always been a huge believer in the power of mentorship and I’ve been on both sides of the relationship. Many of my most important lessons about business and life have come from people who were willing to give me the time to get to know me, be a sounding board, and give me advice. […]

91

How I Went From BlackBerry Addict To Mindfulness Maniac

When the first Blackberry came out, they had me at hello. I could quickly respond to emails by typing on this Qwerty keyboard. But what I loved most about the device was the little red light that would start flashing when I had a message. I’ve always taken pride in being responsive to whoever is […]

92

Can We Transport Great Culture To Other Countries?

Daniel Rodrigues was in foreign territory – literally.   He was visiting the US as part of a contingent of Brazilian business people, interested in learning how to grow his linguistics and translation business back in Brazil.   What he saw at these companies was something he wasn’t used to seeing in his own country.  He visited […]

93

Company Culture Is Not The Office Foosball Table

Quite often, we hear about great company cultures, but many of those times, we’re highlighting the wrong things.  Yes, it is cool to talk about free employee lunches at Google or paying employees to quit like at Zappos.  Yet culture is really about the environment we create that allow our employees to achieve their personal visions, not […]

94

The Top 14 Conferences for Entrepreneurs to Attend in 2016

Whether it’s meeting the next big client, forming a strong partnership, learning new skills, or getting good advice from a peer who’s been there before, the return on investment of attending the right events can be substantial. When my co-founder and I started Influence & Co. four years ago, we didn’t know exactly where we were heading […]

95

From Me to We: Creating a Culture of Leaders

In 2014, Pegasus Logistics faced a crisis – employees were leaving, the culture was decimating, and sales were at a stall. So, when a group of dedicated longtime employees formed a “coup” and took to the leadership team about what needed to change: investing in employee development was one of the first on the agenda. […]

96

How Much to Spend on Company Culture to Truly Impact The Bottom Line

In this fishbowl, Mills Snell and Matt Morley from Pendleton Street Advisors, shared what to measure when tracking investment in company culture and what trends to look for over time. Key Takeaways: Review the basics of a financial statement and identify which line items to pay attention to when tracking company culture Learn what to […]

97

A Small Giants Final Bow: How a Responsible Exit Strategy Impacts Your Legacy

In this panel discussion, attendees heard two values-driven leaders share their succession stories: Kris Maynard of Essential Ingredients will share how he implemented an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) and Jill Nelson of Ruby Receptionists will share how she sold her majority share to a culturally-conscious and responsible venture capitalist firm. Key Takeaways Hear how […]

99

Are You Leading in A Bubble? Challenges of Leading A Values-Driven Company

Values-driven leadership is something we all strive for as Small Giants leaders. But as Chris Hutchinson has discovered through his work with leaders and teams, it is not easy to get the right level of engagement from our teams. There really can be “too much of a good thing” when it comes to values-driven leadership. […]

100

So Your Culture is Great, but Does the Talent Pool Know That?

We all know that hiring for culture is key. But in order to attract the right talent, your brand has to accurately communicate your company culture. In this day and age of transparency and access to information, everything is interrelated: for example, if you’ve got a great customer-centric website, but no talk of employees, you’re […]

Small Giants Community