Company culture isn’t just a buzzword—it’s the foundation of an organization’s success or failure. Brad Federman shares how businesses can create a culture that balances people and results. He explains where many organizations go wrong when developing their values and why culture must be designed to outlast leadership changes. Brad also reveals how companies can avoid common pitfalls, such as tolerating bad behavior and adopting trendy policies without considering business needs.

We dive into practical strategies for aligning culture with business goals, reinforcing positive behaviors, and holding leaders accountable. Brad describes the importance of continuous culture audits and experiential activities that make culture tangible. Whether you’re a business leader, HR professional, or culture champion, this episode provides actionable insights to create an environment where employees thrive and customers stay engaged.

Brad is the founder of PerformancePoint, a firm dedicated to helping organizations engage employees, strengthen customer relationships, and cultivate resilient, collaborative cultures through effective leadership. With over 25 years of corporate experience, he’s worked with global companies like Hilton Hotels and Resorts, Nordstrom, and Mayo Clinic. Brad is an international speaker and the author of Cultivating Culture: 101 Ways to Foster Engagement in 15 Minutes or Less.

You’ll discover:

• The biggest mistakes companies make when defining their values
• Why culture must be stable, not built around a single leader
• How to hold employees and leaders accountable for culture
• The role of feedback and culture workouts in shaping workplace norms
• Strategies for overcoming resistance to cultural change

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Connect with Brad

Brad’s Resources

Website

PerformancePoint

Brad Federman

Books

Cultivating Culture: 101 Ways to Foster Engagement in 15 Minutes or Less

Related Podcast Episodes

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294: Creating an Award-Winning Workplace Culture

It’s not easy to make the transition from high-performing individual contributor to manager in an advertising agency (or in any industry, for that matter). TJ Bennett knows that first-hand because he was promoted to leadership roles with no advance preparation…and no training once he was in the position. In this episode, TJ shares lessons he learned along the way and the three primary areas he helps his coaching clients with.

TJ is the creative who helps creatives get creative with their career. Often beclad in cat-themed and/or Snoopy gear, TJ is pretty easy to spot in a crowd. Once you find him, you’ll discover that his love for felines and cartoon beagles is matched by a mildly unhealthy obsession with making work not suck. He spends his days listening intently to clients, helping them uncover insights that spark life-altering possibilities.

And he spends his nights dreaming of the same thing, except everyone is dressed like clowns and he forgot to wear pants for some reason. Rest assured he will never show up to a session sans trousers and will always show up with a fresh perspective that makes you think about work a little differently.

TJ is the Founder of The Pudding Factory, where he serves as coach, creative problem solver, and writer. He’s the host of an excellent podcast, Desuckify Work.

You’ll discover:

• How leaders can create themselves in order to help others be creative
• What agency is and ways to develop it
• Actions leaders can take to help their team members become autonomous
• Ways to create accountability up, across, and down
• The importance of values and purpose in helping people find meaning in their work

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Connect with TJ

TJ’s Resources

Websites

The Pudding Factory

DesuckifyWork

DesuckifyWork Podcast

It’s not easy to create a strong, positive culture, and it’s even more challenging to sustain it for 10 years. That’s exactly what Dan Turner and his team have done at Xperigo. And instead of resting on this accomplishment, Dan continues to raise the bar for himself and for his company.

Dan has been President and CEO at Xperigo since 2019. He’s also served as COO and Vice President of Business Development. Since joining the company in 2014, Dan has been instrumental in establishing Xperigo as a leading provider of customer experience management solutions to the automotive sector in North America.

With his people-first philosophy, Dan has placed significant emphasis on cultivating a high-performance culture at Xperigo, which has resulted in the company being the 3-time consecutive winner of the prestigious award, Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Cultures™.

Before joining Xperigo, Dan held senior leadership positions in both sales and client services at other large companies, where he managed strategic relationships with Fortune 500 companies like Apple, General Motors, and Netflix. He successfully secured over 500 million dollars in new business over his 12-year sales career.

You’ll discover:

• Dan’s journey from tow truck driver to CEO
• The qualities Dan learned from high school that have served him well as a leader
• How Xperigo’s values are used throughout the year by every leader and employee
• Why “Life Is Better Here” is the tagline used to attract job candidates
• Ways that Dan and his team used the results of the engagement survey to enhance the company culture

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Connect with Dan

Dan’s Website

Xperigo

What does it take to make the transition from being a star athlete in college to a successful  business owner? Meet Chase Dalton, CEO of Silicon Signs, who did just that. Chase is an extraordinary leader who lives daily the focus of this podcast, to Grow Strong Leaders, by developing himself and his people.  You are sure to be moved by the stories he shares from his business and from his life.

In college Chase was an outstanding athlete. He’s a three-time All-American in track and field and once held the title of Junior National Champion in the decathlon. You’ll find out which strengths transferred nicely to the challenges of starting and running a company. Chase leads a team 20 to create signs for brick-and-mortar businesses in all 50 states.

You’ll discover:

• The process Chase and his team followed to create their values, vision, and mission
• Ways that Chase and his team live their values on a daily basis
• How his degree in Sociology has serve Chase well in his business
• Why Chase views his employees as his customers – and how that impacts the way he spends his time
• The near-death experience in 2020 that forever changed the way Chase shows up in the world

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Connect with Chase

Chase’s Resources

Website

Silicon Signs

A big complaint in most companies is the amount of time wasted in meetings. If that’s been your experience, too, this episode is a must-listen. Amy Casciotti, Vice President of Human Resources at TechSmith Corporation, explains how they’ve created an innovative approach that’s eliminated the need for people to meet at the same time. You’ll learn how their Async-First environment has saved time and increased productivity.

TechSmith is a software company with a mission to empower people to create remarkable videos and images that help share knowledge and information. Amy is focused on being an advocate for both the company and its employees to ensure TechSmith and its staff have the skills needed to continue to move the company and employee engagement forward.

Meredith and her team have used their products, Camtasia and SnagIt, for more than 15 years and are huge fans!

You’ll discover:

• TechSmith’s top 4 values and how they are practiced by everyone, starting with the CEO
• The difference between synchronous and asynchronous meetings
• What Amy and her team did to move people to a “No Meetings” mindset
• How people now use videos to convey information that use to be presented in meetings
• How the company practices “Put People First” with employees and customers alike

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Connect with Amy

TechSmith’s Website

TechSmith

How does a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry translate into the corporate world of Learning and Development? Dr. Eli Bendet-Taicher brings that experience—and many others—into his role as Head of Global Learning and Development at Wix.com. It turns out that his passion for people and his love for research and experiments are the perfect combination!

Eli has more than 21 years of international experience in both technical and educational leadership positions. His career path includes global talent management, human resources, learning & development, coaching, mentorship & leadership, people & performance analytics, product development, data analysis, and storytelling.  

As a scientist who believes in data as the driver of the best business decisions, Eli presents a unique approach to Learning and Development that drives organizations to be on top of industry standards in today’s new workplace era. 

You’ll discover:

• Why Eli advocates running L&D like a business
• How Eli gained the trust of the CEO by demonstrating the value L&D contributes to the bottom line
• The power of A/B Testing to determine which learning programs produce the best results.
• Why Eli’s team created their own set of values and the benefits of doing so
• What Eli looks for when hiring a new person for his team

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Connect with Eli

Eli’s Resources

Website

Wix Website

Forbes Article

“Six Key Ingredients to Culture – Infused Learning at Wix”