Recently, our CEO Omer Glass had a great conversation with Marcel Schwantes, the founder and chief human officer of Leadership from the Core, a global leadership training and executive coaching boutique aimed at developing great leaders and great cultures through Servant Leadership. Marcel’s podcast, Love in Action, connects with top business thought-leaders, executives, and others on creating “caring, humane, and human-centered workplaces that result in high-performing cultures and bottom-line impact.”
The two discussed the power of being ego-less, why The Great Resignation happened and how companies can help end it, and how employees are empowered through the growth that personalized 1:1 professional development platforms like GrowthSpace.
Enjoy the podcast below!
Show Notes
- GrowthSpace is a platform that connects thousands of people with over 1000 experts from over 40 different countries. Its goal is to help clients achieve the ultimate development opportunity by matching them with the right expert who specializes in their intended area of growth. Omer shares how GrowthSpace helps scale employee development. [4:39]
- Marcel asks Omer to talk about the inspiration behind GrowthSpace. “[The company I was working for] got acquired by another company and people were leaving… [the CEO] did surveys to understand why and [discovered] that people didn’t feel like they had enough employment development opportunities… so [my cofounder and I] basically said ‘let’s create [a tool] for employee development,’” Omer responds. [9:14]
- “In business, especially startups, if you think you know everything, you will fail eventually,” Omer advises. “In order to really succeed, we need to grow. If you’re not open to feedback, your product will be bad. As an executive, you will not feed the next stage if you are not open to feedback,” he adds. [14:08]
- Data is the source of truth, Omer says. As a company driven by values of growth and care, GrowthSpace is dedicated to making an impact. They determine whether they succeed in that goal by using data to get to the truth. Additionally, Omer embodies the phrase ‘strong opinions, loosely held.’ Growth is the priority, so if his employees have opinions or ideas that are better suited for getting to the truth, he’ll favor those ideas over his. [18:42]
- Marcel asks Omer what he thinks is causing the Great Resignation. “It’s a combination of three things,” Omer claims. “Number one is the COVID-19 crisis: people were afraid to be laid off, so if they had a job, they’d just keep it; when the crisis was over, a lot of people that should have left their job [hadn’t done it]. Number two is the demand for talent; where there is a high demand, the conditions are better, so people are looking for better opportunities. [Number three is the] generation shift; people are less patient in environments where they cannot express themselves fully.” [23:27]
- “Resignation is a symptom of something wrong,” Omer adds. “Sometimes people just want to leave, which is okay. Sometimes you don’t get enough opportunities where you are, which is also okay. But if the culture is good, you’re investing in your people, and you create a culture of openness and transparency rather than fear, people will stay, and you will retain your talent.” [26:45]
- “The question you need to ask yourself [as a leader] facing any situation with your employees is: ‘What can I do in order for them to succeed?’” Omer shares. “You need to focus on what [each employee] needs for them to understand you.” [28:43]
Read the full post on Marcel’s blog.
