“Who you choose as your partner, what you choose as your vacation or your place of work, or the community you choose to live in, I think if these are not aligned to your values, you have a very low chance of success in the long run.”
S01E10 of the Rethink Culture podcast shines the spotlight on Robert Glazer, founder and chairman of Acceleration Partners, a global affiliate marketing agency that’s recognized by the Glassdoor Employee Choice Awards for two years in a row. He's also the author of six books including Elevate and How to Thrive in the Virtual Workplace. Robert is the host of the very successful the Elevate Podcast and the Friday Forward newsletter, which reaches 200,000 subscribers.
Robert has a lot to say about how culture intersects with core values. He describes how he was inspired to build a company with a strong culture due to past negative experiences in high-growth venture-backed businesses. For Glazer, culture is what you do, not what you say - and he’s proud of creating a culture where what the company thinks, says, and does are in alignment. He describes how Acceleration Partners has a unique culture that fits only 1-2% of people that subscribe to their three company values - own it, embrace relationships, excel and improve - and how he’s worked over the years to distill the company values down to the essential three. And how he prefers to have a candid conversation and fire fast when a person is not the right culture fit. He talks a lot about cultivating vulnerability within an organisation, but drawing a fine line between emotionally transparent and overly emotional, or the “drama” that might erode trust within a team. And why developing an authentic foundation grounded in core values is essential in becoming a level four or five leader.
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