Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Marilyn Jenkins. And today, we unlock the marketing that actually works. You're watching now Media Television.
Welcome to the Marketing Zone. I'm Marilyn Jenkins. On this show, we talk about the strategies that help businesses grow. Marketing leadership teams, client experience, and the systems that make growth sustainable. But there's a point where more leads and more revenue stop being the whole answer. Growth begins to expose the organization underneath. For underneath the marketing, it reveals whether leaders communicate clearly, whether teams trust one another, whether responsibilities are defined, and whether the culture can support a larger, more complex company.
Today, my guest, Dr. Dante Vaughn, CEO of Lightpoint Advisors. Dante is a business strategist, leadership expert, and transformational advisor with more than 20 years of international experience helping organizations align people, processes and performance.
He has advised Fortune 500 companies, private equity firms, and emerging enterprises through complex organizational transformations. And he's also a Forbes contributor, adjunct professor, speaker, and trusted media voice. Dr. Vaughn, welcome to the Marketing Zone.
[00:01:09] Speaker B: Marilyn, thank you for having me.
[00:01:11] Speaker A: Absolutely. Tell us a little bit about your journey.
[00:01:15] Speaker B: Well, it's a long one. Where should I start?
My career began more in the operations realm of things. I started in retail operations and nurtured growth in my career through merchandising and logistics and supply chain.
But I recognized that my interest, both academically and professionally started to emerge more in the realm of organizational leadership. So while I started in operations, I understand stood the power of, in the science behind people management. And that's really where I took my master's and doctoral journey, examining principles of, of organizational leadership and, and not just the management of systems and processes, but the strategies that help organizations lead people effectively.
How do people come together? What makes them click? What are those strategies that help an individual engage and interact and make decisions in a manner that truly can optimize performance, but also the human experience.
Employees and leaders and customers. So I've spent the last, almost 20 years now in my career is crazy to, to. To reflect on that, really understanding this interconnection between systems, processes and, and people. And it's, it served me well. And it's, it's the work that I
[00:02:58] Speaker A: enjoy doing every day that's fascinating, just seeing the interconnectedness of everything.
So when a business starts to grow quickly, what leadership weaknesses tend to surface? First,
[00:03:12] Speaker B: no speed of growth without foundational systems and processes, not just around the operation of the business, but how the business approaches the business and the marketplace. In other words, what is the foundation by which all leaders should engage and interact and drive decision making in an organization?
Many companies fail to scale that aspect of their business have we lost sight of how our purpose connects to our vision, connects to our mission?
Have we lost sight of our core values and beliefs that maybe served as foundation, but haven't been operationalized in our business as a means of accountability around how we're leading, how we're interacting, how we're engaging, what are our behavioral standards and how are those integrated into how we operate every day? What I found is as organizations grow, especially organizations growing fast, we stop looking at those nuances as pillars to our success because there's hyper concentration on scaling assets first, scaling delivery first, but losing sight of the heartbeat of an organization and what's necessary to ensure that that is sustained.
[00:04:47] Speaker A: So getting busy with busy work as opposed to staying structured in what got you to where you are?
[00:04:53] Speaker B: You bet. And being conscious and aware of it first, and then operationalizing it and integrating that into your delivery model, oftentimes organization just kind of grow to a point and start scaling and not pausing to say, wait a minute, what has led to our success? Have we learned from our failures? Have we built systems and controls around those things, including people and culture, not just systems and processes?
[00:05:29] Speaker A: I see now. Why do organizations sometimes assume they have a marketing or a staffing problem when the deeper issue is leadership, clarity, or culture?
[00:05:38] Speaker B: Agreed.
1000%.
An organization's marketing is a commitment to the marketplace around their products and services.
And inclusive oftentimes in their marketing is their purpose, their vision, their mission, their core values.
But yet understanding the interconnection between shoring those commitments up and a means of delivering what you've promised to the marketplace, there's often a disconnect, Right. And so there's a misrepresentation of what the organization stands for or what is behind its success, because they haven't truly embedded or operationalized it in their business. They just told the market that that is what they're going to deliver on. They've made the promise, but the infrastructure behind that promise is often what's lacking or what breaks down.
[00:06:38] Speaker A: Okay, okay. So not growing all the systems at the same time,
[00:06:45] Speaker B: that I think that's a part of it for sure.
[00:06:48] Speaker A: Okay. And what does a high performing culture actually look like in a professional service business where, you know, the work is complex and clients, you know, have trust matters?
[00:07:01] Speaker B: I think when we talk about high performing, a lot of it has to do with connecting what enables the state of high performance.
Okay. Because if you can define what enables you to operate at that level and sustain at that level.
Well, I should say differently. If you can define what enables you to operate at that level and you can formalize that, then you have a higher probability of sustainability that includes you can't manage what you can't measure.
So how do I ensure the things that have enabled me to operate at a high performing level is understood, is measured, and how do I integrate some controls around making sure we sustain that?
It's whatever high performing means to that organization? Because the definition will vary. Some put the premise on customer experience, some put the premise on financial performance, some put the premise on employee experience. Whatever is important to you or to the organization or we have to be clear about what it is, how to manage it, and what are the controls in place to mitigate fallout of those things that have led to our success. And oftentimes I find in organizations there are gaps in their capacity to even understand it, to measure it, or to drive any controls or accountability around it.
[00:08:40] Speaker A: So then let's talk about accountability. How can leaders, business leaders, create accountability without building a culture that feels very rigid and fearful? Fearful and overly controlled?
[00:08:54] Speaker B: You know, I think understanding how an organization defines culture is important.
When I think about culture, Culture, the values we share, the language we use, the behaviors we display, that's what makes up an organization's culture.
The rigidity comes from this impression that then I need to change who I am and how I, how I, how I embody those things. That's separate.
The I can be who I am organically or naturally in terms of what makes me effective or strong as the individual that I am.
But I have a framework by which I apply my own personalized strengths. So I think it's defining and distinguishing the values we share, the language we use, the behaviors we display. Now how we deliver on that, well, that's. Dante's going to deliver differently than Marilyn. Marilyn may deliver differently than the next person.
That's okay. This perception that we have rigidity, thus they're trying to mold me into something I'm not.
No.
Hence values we share, which is also important. Why it's level. Setting those expectations up front is important.
Embedding it in aspects of even how I source talent for my organization. Hey, here are the values that drive how we perform every day. It's led to our success thus far. It's going to carry us forward. That is, no, rather I'm a product or I deliver a product or service. I could be a complex, professional, service driven organization.
I could be produc widgets. We all share a construct around the values we share, the language we use and the behaviors we display every day. It Looks like this. The outcomes have led to our success. If that is in alignment with with your interest, then this is the right place for you. If it's not it, then it doesn't. I'm sorry. If it doesn't align with you, then it's not the right place for you. And those are the real conversations that we need to have. But most organizations don't have that depth of true understanding, values, behaviors, language. So we just kind of window dress culture in some broad context and we don't really vet our talent, our performance, our outcomes against those. Found those frames fascinating.
[00:11:27] Speaker A: I absolutely agree.
Growth is not only a marketing outcome, it's an organizational stress test. The stronger the leadership system, the more likely a firm can turn new business into consistent service, stronger teams, and long term client trust. After the break, we'll look at culture more closely, how trust is built, how it's lost, and why the employee experience is eventually becomes part of the client experience.
We'll be right back with more tools, tactics and truths to elevate your marketing. This is the Marketing Zone on NOW Media Television.
And we're back. I'm Marilyn Jenkins and you're watching the Marketing Zone on NOW Media Television. Let's dive into our next breakthrough.
Welcome back to the Marketing Zone. Stay connected to this show and every NOW Media TV favorite live or on demand anytime you like. Download the free Now Media TV app on Roku or iOS and unlock non stop bilingual programming in English and Spanish on the move. Catch the podcast version at www.nowmedia.tv. from business and news to lifestyle, culture and beyond, Now Media TV is streaming around the clock. Ready whenever you are.
Welcome back to the Marketing Zone. I'm Marilyn Jenkins and I'm here with Dr. Dante Vaughn, CEO of Lightpoint Advisors. Before the break, we talked about how growth can expose the leadership systems inside a firm. Now I want to focus on culture and trust because a business can invest heavily in brand advertising intake and client acquisition. But the experience people have with the team will ultimately confirm or contradict the promise the marketing made. Culture affects how quickly people communicate, whether problems are surfaced early, how employees treat one another, how leaders respond under pressure, and how consistently clients are served. In that sense, culture is not an internal side issue. It becomes part of the brand experience.
Dr. Braun, can you tell us where our audience can reach out to you and connect with you? If they'd like to do that, you bet.
[00:13:28] Speaker B: They can always visit us at our website, Lightpoint Advisors.com you can navigate the site and learn more about the various solutions and programs we offer in the realm of organizational transformation and development, leadership development in several other categories. You can also find us on LinkedIn.
Just search Dr. Dante or Lightpoint Advisors and you'll be able to connect with us there. Message with us.
You can also visit drdontevon.com to see more about me as a thought leader, as a speaker, as a facilitator, and have an opportunity to explore booking opportunities there as well.
[00:14:10] Speaker A: Fantastic. Thank you so much for that.
So what are the clearest signs that an organization has a trust problem, even if the leaders are still hitting their revenue goals?
[00:14:21] Speaker B: Yeah, oftentimes indicators of trust internally have a lot to do with how problems or issues are escalated.
Are they proactively identified or are they escalated only in a reaction to negative feedback or negative outcomes? So more as a lagging indicator. So you start to question one the systems around communication, but also the comfortability and key decision makers or the individuals at the front line executing how comfortable or how safe they feel to escalate problems and issues early so that they don't become greater issues down the line. So definitely issue identification and resolution breakdowns are a sign that there's a potential trust breakdown internally. You know, psychological safety is an important one, coupled with the systems and processes around communication.
You know, I cringe when I hear leaders who say, well, we have an open door policy, right? And we understand the context of that. But have you fostered the culture to empower people to share or to walk in that door and say, here's the, here are the challenges we're encountering. And then the other indicator that trust is often a a breakdown or barrier in an organization, as much to do with how silos are formed in an organization and how those silos often create subcultures and decisions are being made outside of the broader lens of visibility and transparency that ultimately is impacting client delivery. So while you may believe you have structured systems and processes, if you see individuals circumventing those systems and processes or making siloed decisions, there's often an indication not only that there's a lack of controls and accountability around the process itself, but also why are individuals feeling the need to circumvent process without escalating their concerns around that process to begin with, why are we taking actions that are outside of our protocol to deliver to a customer and believing that is okay or normalizing that? Those are also indicators. Wait a minute. We may have not only a system or process challenge, but also a trust issue in our organization.
[00:17:00] Speaker A: I think we've all had that boss that said, it's an open door policy, but you knew that basically what you know you were not going to be, oh, it greeted with an open door, shall I say?
[00:17:11] Speaker B: That's right.
[00:17:12] Speaker A: You know you can, you could say that all you want, but there's got to be that communication that's part of the culture. I, I agree. Makes people be more. And also it makes them be more of a team player.
[00:17:23] Speaker B: You bet.
[00:17:25] Speaker A: So how does internal culture eventually show up in a way clients experience a business.
[00:17:33] Speaker B: You know, you alluded to it in your intro, right.
Customer ultimately is evaluating how well, not only they, how that they receive whatever was promised or committed to them, but that challenges, issues, frustrations are met with empathy with solution oriented thought processes and desired outcomes. And to be able to meet a customer where they are, address those challenges openly and honestly and deliver on whatever promises are committed requires streamlined and efficient channels of communication and issue resolution internally. And if you have a breakdown in an organization's capacity to do those things internally, the likelihood of being able to then respond objectively to use discernment to meet a customer where they are is minimized. Either they don't have, they feel like they don't have latitude. So you'll meet individuals who say well I can't help you with that, or our policies require us to do this, that and the third. Or you'll meet individuals who fail to respond when issues are escalated for fear that oh, this issue will require me to interact with individuals internally with whom I don't feel comfortable interacting with or don't want to interact with, or I'm afraid of the condemnation that comes with escalating this issue.
So therefore I will either push it off, delay it, maybe the customer won't keep pressing on it, maybe they'll forget about it. So next, next thing you know, you have a backlog of customer concerns, issues, complaints that frankly if we're, if they were addressed earlier and upfront, they would not have ballooned into sometimes what becomes costly matters for an organization. It all comes down to how comfortable do individuals feel like they can reveal when mistakes have occurred, when they can reveal challenges that the customer presented and know that they're going to foster the right dialogue that is solution oriented, it's not accusatory that we don't get into the blame game, that we can be customer centric and address those needs. So to your point earlier, an organization's internal culture very much impacts the customer experience. No matter what where that customer sits in the delivery of their product or service.
A broken culture will Ultimately have a negative outcome because you'll never optimize the customer experience if you're broken internally.
[00:20:28] Speaker A: I absolutely agree. And customers pick up on that very quickly. One complaint that's not handled right and they pick up on it.
[00:20:34] Speaker B: You bet.
[00:20:35] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. So then what behaviors from senior leaders build trust the fastest and what behaviors destroy it the fastest?
[00:20:46] Speaker B: You know, I would say building trust is foundational to connecting what we actually mean.
We say what we mean, we mean what we say. If we make commitments, we deliver on those commitments. The smallest to the largest. Oftentimes, senior leaders forget about the importance of the subtleties and how we fall. Foster trust.
From the time that I said, I if I'm going to have a recurring monthly town hall where I'm going to solicit input from employees, I'm going to present the status of our performance as an organization.
The minute I don't sustain that cadence, I chip away at the trust. If I establish that I'm going to have a bi weekly one on one with key leaders in an organization to discuss performance or to just simply understand how things are going in your world and I keep canceling the one on one. I'm chipping away at the trust to the larger initiatives I committed to. Profit growth equals some incentive for the employees. If I don't, if I present profit growth growth and I don't present an incentive, I'm chipping away at the trust even down to I've deployed a survey on a monthly or, or biannually basis basis and I don't have a full feedback loop. I'm asking for feedback, but I do nothing with the information that is employee facing. I don't foster visibility around those things. I'm chipping away at the trust. So I think that those are just some really basic examples of how senior leaders must not take for granted how trust is fostered and how it can be minimized.
Say what you mean, mean what you say.
Be reliable. Be committed to the, to the objectives that you've outlined. Establish accountability at all levels. Where I see a breakdown, even in the context of, of accountability, I can't hold a standard for one that I don't hold it for another. The minute I do that, I'm chipping away at the trust.
Now that's just part of it. The other aspect of it is communication and is creating safe space for candidates. Sharing of perspectives, ideas, opinions, even if all things aren't warrant, don't warrant implementation doesn't mean I don't create an environment where those things can be shared if you could just establish those channels of communication, feedback and accountability around the commitments we make and you foster those things. Trust can be nurtured over time in an organization
[00:23:30] Speaker A: that is absolutely well said. I love that. A strong culture is not about making everybody comfortable. It's about creating the trust, clarity and shared standards that allow people to perform well together and serve clients consistently.
Next, we'll move into workforce strategy, hiring, developing and retaining the people of business needs without simply adding headcount faster than the organization can support it.
We'll be right back with more tools, tactics and truths to elevate your marketing. This is the marketing zone of NOW Media Television.
And we're back.
And we're back. I'm Marilyn Jenkins and you're watching the Marketing Zone on NOW Media Television. Let's dive into our next breakthrough.
Welcome back to the Marketing Zone. We've been talking with Dr. Dante Vaughn about leadership, culture and trust. Now we're moving into one of the most practical challenges facing growing businesses. Building the team that actually carry the growth.
Adding people does not automatically create capacity. If roles are unclear, managers underdeveloped, communication is inconsistent, or the business is not defined, what good performance looks like. More hiring can create more complexity instead of better results.
This segment, we're going to talk about workforce strategy, how leaders think about roles, development, accountability, and the systems that help good people succeed as the organization becomes larger.
So, Dr. Vaughn, how should a growing business decide whether it truly needs another hire or whether the current team first needs better systems, role, clarity or leadership?
[00:25:05] Speaker B: It's a great question. You know, from an organizational development standpoint, it starts with understanding, okay, if I have clear mission and I understand that what the execution requirements will be, it includes an examination of the resources that leverage the systems and processes that I've built in my business.
And oftentimes evaluating those resources against capacity is important.
How much have we been able to produce thus far with the resource model that we have?
And as we continue to scale, how much more volume are we going to take on? And how do I equate that to the capacity of my current resources?
If I think my current resource, if I don't understand the maximum capacity of my current resources, is difficult to then justify adding more resources and getting out of the emotion of it, the pressure, or the sense that I don't have enough people, therefore I am falling behind, isn't enough because sometimes it's not a people need, it's a process issue.
So really taking the time to say, okay, here's what I've evaluated against my Current resource capacity.
And I've considered constraints. So that requires observation, that requires dialogue, discussion around how current systems are being leveraged from a technical standpoint, from a manual standpoint, take the time to do the due diligence and require a business case before making the investment that yes, I need more people. From a lean management standpoint, sometimes throwing more people at something actually creates more bottleneck and it's an emotional decision rather than a practical and strategic one. So really understanding limitations of individuals and functions is important that. And it should then become an informed decision. Yes, I have a ratio of employees to, you know, hr, you know, support, and one individual can only handle so many. So that ratio is exceeded as we take on this new market or this new division or this department. That is a strategically articulated understanding of I have capacity constraints because of these factors, therefore I need X.
I think that's where organizations lose because we react to the impression that we need to roboties figuratively at something instead of truly understanding constraints and capacity limits and then making an informed decision. If that makes sense.
[00:27:57] Speaker A: Absolutely. And one of the kind of rules of thumb that I've always learned years and years ago is knowing the capacity and knowing when you've got to bring somebody in. So if you can communicate with your team and someone's at 70% or 80% capacity, that's the time to bring someone in. So you have that extra 20 to 30% to train. That's something you'd agree with?
[00:28:19] Speaker B: Oh, absolutely. I mean, having a catalyst for that, that the transition is also important. And most organizations react when they have individuals already exceeding their current capacity. And when we say capacity for your listeners, it isn't just task at capacity, it's also or task execution capacity. It's competency capacity, skills, capacity and their ability to execute tasks. Because oftentimes individuals are stretched beyond capacity in their competency or ability to perform at that other level, which also creates constraints for the business. Just because they were your best operator in one position doesn't mean that they're going to be the optimal performer in another simply because of their performance in a different position or their tenure or whatever that may be. But something else to consider when we talk about capacity, capacity in, in competency and skills as much of an important consideration as time to perform or execute good points.
[00:29:29] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. Thinking about all the different pieces because people need to be 100% mentally into their job while they're in their job and the culture to be able to and not be stretching because then performance lacks.
[00:29:44] Speaker B: You bet.
[00:29:46] Speaker A: So what is the biggest mistake that organizations make when they promote an excellent individual contributors into management roles.
[00:29:55] Speaker B: Oh, the, the fundamentally common mistake I find is and it kind of relates to what I just shared, your top performer. From a task execution standpoint, there's a. Doesn't mean they are equipped to be a manager and or leader understanding. Most important, management and leader are not necessarily interchangeable functions in an organization. I'm not talking about titles and what you call people, but the function of a manager and a function of a leader are you can have a really effective manager who is an ineffective leader. You can have a really effective leader who's an ineffective manager. A manager makes decisions and controls systems, processes, resources and the allocation of those things. That's a manager. A leader is a leader of people, how they develop, motivate, train, inspire.
That is a leader. And they're not synonymous. And part of the challenge that I find is organizations will take a task executor, someone who knows the systems, knows the processes, knows the resource requirements and say yeah, you're ready for management. And that individual may be ready for management.
But one or have we truly vetted what we define the individual success as a manager to be? Not in their current role, but the new measure of success should expand beyond execution in and of itself. So first have we defined that and clarified that expectation? And then if we expect as a manager for you to be a people leader, are we clear about their skill, competency and ability to lead people? Because sometimes you have a really good manager who is an ineffective leader. Have we equipped them with the tools and resources training development around leadership principles? How do you motivate, how do you mobilize, how do you delegate, how do you inspire, how do you train, how do you develop others? And oftentimes I see significant gaps. We have individuals who are leading teams, departments, but haven't been vetted against their actual leadership competency. They may be great managers and not great leaders. So I see that breakdown all the time that we need to have a clarity around what we actually expect in these roles as managers and leaders. They're not one in the same. If you expect a manager to be an effective leader or a leader to also be a manager of resources, systems, processes, let's be clear about that and let's make sure we set them up for success, even if that includes further nurturing of the skills or development of gaps that they may have.
[00:32:49] Speaker A: And I think one of the, one of the places I've seen that most often happen is if you've got a sales team and you, someone decides the number one salesperson should be the sales manager and that's many times just a mistake.
[00:33:04] Speaker B: Yep, yep. I mean, what has led to their success as a, as a top sales performer isn't necessarily, you know, what, what is a necessity. I will tell you. Early in my career I was vice president of sales and operations for a holdings company.
And while I was a good closer, I was never a good salesperson, but I was a good leader of sales and operations. Right.
To your point. The competency and skills gaps need to be explored, understood. So you can make informed decisions around on what that looks like.
[00:33:46] Speaker A: Right, right. And I love the, the idea of checking the aptitude of their management skills or their leadership skills and being able to take that and, and, and test them, I guess, and see if that's something and if something that they would enjoy. Just because they're good at their job doesn't mean they're going to be a good manager.
[00:34:03] Speaker B: That's right. That's right.
[00:34:06] Speaker A: So how do you create a culture where people can raise concerns, challenge assumptions and contribute ideas without undermining accountability or decision making?
[00:34:17] Speaker B: You know, I think establishing the foundation by which that can happen.
Right.
You know, it's nice to say it. Right. But to really create platforms and protocols by which these things can be shared without reservation and that can be in various formats from one on ones to town halls to suggestion boxes, to sessions, brainstorming sessions where you establish at the start of every session, ideas shared, concepts shared. It doesn't matter about hierarchy in the room, whatever that looks like. Establishing a foundation where that can happen is an important concept because many don't always possess the confidence or comfortabilities or they don't know who to bring it to, or they're not comfortable with bringing certain ideas to certain people. But creating a pathway by which that can happen is an important consideration beyond just sharing it, reinforcing your interest and desire for your teams to do that, to share ideas, concepts. But creating the pathways give people the road map so that they don't feel like they're overstepping, so that they don't have to fear breaching, you know, hierarchy or feeling like there is retaliation for suggesting an idea that might be contrary to a senior's idea or whatever that may look like. Right. So I think those pathways are important.
[00:35:53] Speaker A: I love that it makes so total sense. The right team is more than a collection of talented individuals. Scale comes from clarity. The right people in the right roles, with leaders who know how to develop them in systems that allow them to perform.
After the break, we'll bring the conversation together with innovation change in the leadership mindset required to build a firm that can keep evolving without losing its identity or the trust of the people it serves. We'll be right back with more tools, tactics and truths to elevate your marketing this is the Marketing Zone on NOW Media Television.
And we're back. I'm Marilyn Jenkins and you're watching the Marketing Zone on NOW Media Television. Let's dive into our next breakthrough.
Welcome back to the Marketing Zone. Stay connected to this show and every NOW Media TV favorite live or on demand, anytime you like. Download the free Now Media TV app on Roku or iOS and unlock non stop bilingual programming in English and Spanish. If you're on the move, catch the podcast version at www.nowmedia.tv. from business and news to lifestyle, culture and beyond, Now Media TV is streaming around the clock. Ready whenever you are.
Welcome back to the Marketing Zone. I'm Marilyn Jenkins and we're closing Today's conversation with Dr. Dante Vaughn of Lightpoint Advisors.
We've talked about leadership, culture, trust and workforce strategy. In this final segment, I want to focus on what happens when the organization has to change new technology, new expectations from clients, new generations in the workforce, new growth goals and new ways of delivering business services.
Transformation succeeds when leaders can create enough clarity for people to move forward without pretending that change is easy.
The businesses that adapt well are often the ones that connect innovation with trust, communication, and a clear reason for why the change matters.
And Dr. Dante, what separates organizations that successfully adapt to a major change from those that resist it until they're forced to react?
[00:37:59] Speaker B: Adoption to change Cross organizations as much to do with acknowledging the challenges that come with change. In other words, embracing the reality that this change or the prospect of this change creates uncertainty, discomfort, and a concern that we have to address so that when we take that next step, we do so with our eyes wide open.
I think the other nuance to equipping an organization to embrace change proactively is establishing as much clarity and insight around the prospect of that change as proactively as one can. Because where the fear comes from in taking any making any change is, and the discomfort comes in either being thrust into this changed position without awareness, knowledge or understanding, or doing so blindly.
If I ask someone to get in line behind me as the leader, I am not clear about the steps we're taking, what I anticipate ahead of me, the potential puddles, the hills, the roadblocks, and they're trusting because they don't have the same vantage point as me. They're trusting my articulation of what's ahead, which requires me to have foresight, thoughtfulness, articulation around when I'm moving, why I'm moving. Okay, we're going to move to the left now. We're going to move to the right now. All right, get ready to jump. And oftentimes leaders step into the state of change, especially entrepreneurial thinkers with the premise that they have no responsibility to translate what that means to the individuals impacted who I've asked to get in line behind me.
So understanding the responsibility that comes with helping your organization navigate that change. Change management is an important piece. Most organizations jump at the need for change, but don't consider the psychological, physiological and operational challenges that come with that. So we have a responsibility in helping to manage change instead of just reacting to it. And I think that is where those investments are often lacking. Thus it becomes this very tumultuous thing. It only takes a couple times where significant change initiatives fail and or are very difficult when future change initiatives become something, something that everyone shies away from organizationally. So acknowledging, hey, we broke, we screwed that one up, guys.
We're going to do it different. We're going to be a bit more proactive, we're going to do the research and we're going to have a change management strategy that's going to help us navigate this differently than how we've done before.
[00:41:27] Speaker A: That makes perfect sense because entrepreneurs are just like, okay, let's just do it. Just move forward. Let's do it. But I love the concept that you need to be able to communicate backwards down the org chart to make sure you're bringing them with you.
So let's talk about AI. Okay, so what should business leaders introduce? I mean, how should they introduce new technology or AI without creating fear? I mean, confusion and the perception that people are simply being replaced.
[00:41:59] Speaker B: Yeah, another great question. I, you know, I've done a lot of research and studying around AI innovation and adoption.
Part of the disconnect is everyone's jumping on this AI bandwagon. Bandwagon without a unilateral understanding of actually what we're talking about here.
[00:42:20] Speaker A: Yes, right.
[00:42:22] Speaker B: First of all, how do we as an organization define AI? What is AI? Right, right. Because.
And then understand, let's just have a unilateral definition as an organization around when we say artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence that is a, is a mechanism to drive something or to influence something or as an outcome or the potential of an outcome. Let's Be really clear about that first.
And then the second part is look at it through the lens of where our limitations and constraints are, not how much we can gain theoretically or hypothetically, because that's what creates fear. Well, does that mean elimination of. No, but imagine if I look at it through the lens of. Hey, tell me about in all of our cross functional worlds. What is the biggest limitation in your department? Finance. What's the biggest limitation in your department? Or constraint in your department? Hr, what's the biggest constraint in your area? Operations.
Let's talk about it through the. Let's not even talk about AI. Let's talk about constraints. How would we approach solving those constraints?
And can an AI powered resolution serve us well? That is a very different concept and construct by which you approach exploring innovation from an AI perspective.
Have we even fostered a culture of innovation in our organization? But yet we want to throw AI at it or throw AI at our, our business.
We're putting carts before horses because we organization, want to talk or feel like we're being innovative from a technology standpoint. Wait a minute, how does IT service? Because not every organization would be served well by adopting AI powered anything.
If we're not clear about what we're solving for, how it enables us to fulfill our mission or strategy in an organization, I think that's where they're breaking down significantly.
Don't react to what the market Sundays.
Everyone's adopting AI. AI what? And for what and how? Right, so let's work. Let's take AI as a catalyst.
[00:44:43] Speaker A: Cool.
[00:44:45] Speaker B: But we got to understand what we're fixing first.
[00:44:49] Speaker A: I agree, I agree. When it so many times, you know, it comes out and it's thrown away, that AI is going to turn around, that it's. The AI is going to replace jobs and this kind of thing. And so people start with fear where it can be, you know, a research assistant. There's so many good different things. So I love your idea of seeing what are your limitations? What are your constraints in your department right now? How can we fix that using AI before bringing in more people, which can make it your department, depending on what it is, even more efficient as we grow and build the company.
[00:45:24] Speaker B: Oh my goodness. I mean, then guess what? It creates capacity for individuals.
Thus, to your point now what does all of that capacity do for us? And it's not through the lens of, well, more capacity means I could just transfer, you know, spread work across lesser people and save. No. Is that your objective as an organization now? Strategically, if that is what it is, then let's talk about that. But generally speaking what we'll find is AI is not as much of a replacement of people as is the misconceptions and the rhetoric that exists because a lot of it is fallacy.
Most organizations who are integrating AI powered solutions are realizing quickly that it's less about people replacement, it's more about efficiency gains that thus create capacity to then leverage these resources and the things they do, the human resources and the things they do well, that I could never do.
[00:46:34] Speaker A: I agree. I don't think you're ever going to remove the human touch to the whole thing, but you can make the humans more efficient.
I think that's where you know having to really looking at your processes and maybe AI is a way of before implementing AI ways is looking at your systems and processes and seeing where can it be improved.
[00:46:53] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:46:55] Speaker A: I love that.
So sustainable growth requires more than visibility in the market. It requires an organization that can absorb change, develop leaders, protect trust and execute consistently as expectations continue to evolve. Dr. Vaughn, for reviewers who want to learn more about your work, connect with you and explore the leadership and organizational advisory work of lightpoint Advisors. Where would they go again?
[00:47:19] Speaker B: They can go to our website, lightpoint advisors.com they can visit us, they can just Google like point advisors. They can find us on LinkedIn and just connect with us different channels to message us or reach out to us. And we're happy to get in contact and further the dialogue and explore how we can support.
[00:47:45] Speaker A: Thank you so much for joining us on the Marketing Zone and for reminding us that scalable growth is not only about generating demand.
It's also about building the leadership, culture, trust and workforce systems that allow an organization to deliver on the promise that it makes to the market.
For business leaders, watching the takeaway is simple. Before growth creates pressure, build the organization that can carry it. Strong marketing can bring an opportunity to the door. But strong leadership and culture determine what happens after that client walks through it. I'm Marilyn Jenkins and thank you so much for watching the Marketing Zone on NOW Media tv TV.
