In this podcast, Kevin Hancock speaks to Guy’s Guy Radio host Robert Manni about his newest book The Seventh Power: One CEO’s Journey Into the Business of Shared Leadership. They discuss Kevin’s journey and how he came to find the philosophy that everybody should lead. At Hancock Lumber, Kevin works to create a safe and respectful environment for everyone to discuss their thoughts and lead the team to solutions. This not only increases the confidence in the decision-making process, but it also allows the leadership responsibilities to be spread across many minds and many people. Listening to others allows them to find their authentic voice, which leads to higher employee engagement and job satisfaction levels.
Click here to listen to the full podcast.
Here are a few highlights from the podcast (click here for the full transcription):
- And that’s what I really got excited about. The idea within our own company of creating a culture that gave everybody a voice and made it safe for everyone to say what they actually thought, and to share the responsibility for speaking for the company – because I couldn’t do it myself – and for leading the company. (39:10-39:39)
- It’s a notion that essentially everyone is capable of leading, and everyone has a voice that’s worth being heard. And that the culture is really what separates organizations. Cultures either collect power to the center and put it in the hands of the few, or those cultures disperse power and strengthen the voices of others. (40:57-41:38)
- Well, I think the one big thought is to make the employee experience a top priority. That sounds simple, but it’s powerful. Corporations are good at whatever they choose to focus on. So really, the simple act of making the employee experience a top corporate priority, will had a huge impact on improving the employee experience. (43:57-44:29)
