Robert Richman, author of The Culture Blueprint: A Guide to Building the High-Performance Workplace
Bill Ringle and Robert Richman discuss the importance of having an aligned and productive business culture for small business leaders, based on the lessons from Zappos.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
- External factors can be used as an advantage to not only better employee performance but also to deliver a better customer experience.
- Managers should also factor in core values when it comes to what gets rewarded and what gets punished, not just performance.
- Mastering your culture is mastering how you run your business.
#culture #insights #culturestrategist #Zappos
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
- Understanding how a company leader defines culture. [01:38]
- When talking about a company that has a great culture, one that comes to Robert’s mind is Zappos. He tells us how Zappos defined and practice their culture. [03:92]
- Robert explains how Zappos used shame not only as means to implement better performance but also better values. [06:23]
- A story on how Zappos utilized external factors to better serve customers. [07:59]
- What gets rewarded and what gets you kicked out? Robert puts weight on why managers should be clear on what needs to be discouraged or practiced. [10:39]
- Find out his Robert’s secret program. [13:14]
- How culture plays a vital role in the rise and fall of businesses. [17:57]
- A discussion on why self-hiring is a mistake. [20:34]
- Roberts shares how Culture MBA was designed. [21:54]
- Special My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [28:23]
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Expert Bio
Robert Richman is a culture strategist and was the co-creator of Zappos Insights, an innovative program focused on educating companies on the secrets behind Zappos’ amazing employee culture. Robert built Zappos Insights from a small website to a thriving multi-million dollar business teaching over 25,000 students per year. Through his work, Robert has been helpful in improving the employee culture at hundreds of companies.
As an authority on employee culture, Robert is a sought-after keynote speaker at conferences around the world and has been hired to teach culture in person at companies like Google, Toyota, and Eli Lilly. He has pioneered a number of innovative techniques to build culture, such as bringing improv comedy to the workplace.
Robert graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in film, as well as from Georgetown University’s Leadership Coaching Program. He is a member of the Transformational Leadership Council and is based out of San Diego.
Contact Info and Social Media for Robert Richman
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites, and other resources that we discussed so you can explore further.
- My Quest for the Best interview: 318: Your Company Culture is Your Highest Leverage Point with guest expert Robert Richman
- Zappos – an American online shoe and clothing retailer based in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States.
- Salesforce – an American cloud-based software company that provides customer relationship management service.
- Verizon – an American wireless network operator. The mobile network previously operated as a separate division of Verizon Communications under the name of Verizon Wireless.
- A World Without Email: Reimagining Work in an Age of Communication Overload, a book by Cal Newport.