A Culture of Caring Defines This Fast Growing High Tech Business
Imagine working in a 65-employee, profit sharing, high tech company where 60% of the employees are women; and the final question before hiring a woman is: “Can you kick-ass?” Last night, I attended an event titled: Inspiring Business Cultures at the fun-oriented offices of Boulder-based SurveyGizmo. The online survey company serves 300,000 customers in 144 counties in marketing and market research. When the company launched in 2006, by Co-founders Christian Vanek and Scott McDaniel, Christian was only 21. One of their first hires was a 15 year old computer savvy kid, who is now the second most senior employee in the company. By 2011, their startup was ranked the 13th fastest growing software company in the U.S., and offered as a user friendly alternative to their competitor, SurveyMonkey, whose CEO is married to Facebook’s COO and Lean In author, Sheryl Sandberg. I learned this, and a whole lot more at their World Cafe style meet-up facilitated by a woman who described her job as Culture Coach. I met people who held titles like Director of Happiness – the Director of Human Resources who formerly ran HR for a multi-campus hospital, Customer Service Heros – those involved in customer support, and the company’s Onboarding Expert, a friendly tech savvy guy named Griffin, who described the company’s marketing strategy as more focused on word of mouth and blogging survey success tips for customers, not advertising. Employees describe their workplace as a “culture of caring,” where it’s OK to cry when times get stressful, and OK to talk through your frustrations with a manager – a sort of “talk therapy” – that...
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THE ALEXIA PARKS 10TRAITS™ TOOL IS THE ONLY HIGH TECH TOOL IN THE WORLD
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“We were trained to believe that there always are winners and losers. We all can be winners.”
Christiana Figueres, UNFCCC
“I’ve observed that often, in times of crisis, women eventually are called upon to sort out the mess, face the difficult issues and be completely focused on restoring the situation.” ~ Christine Lagarde, IMF
From zero to 30% “A 30% female share is associated with a 15% increase in profitability for a typical firm.” ~ Marcus Noland, Peterson Institute
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* Virtual Mentor With The United Nations; mentor to the Goldman Sachs/Fortune 2014 Global Woman Leaders Award Winner * Wrote for The Washington Post the national desk * Called “One of 50 People Who Matter Most on the Internet” by Newsweek Magazine * Author * Founder, Alexia Parks 10 TRAITS Leadership and KEYNOTE SPEAKER.
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Founder and CEO of the 10TRAITS Leadership Institute, Alexia Parks has developed a new science-based model of leadership for creating a Trait Balanced Organization™. She is the inventor of the 10TRAITS tool. It is a digital on-demand tool that can be used to strengthen relationships, resolve conflicts and improve decision-making in 1-Minute. 10TRAITS GET Smarter Together training Learning Series includes experiential 1-Minute exercises. Our research shows that trait balanced teams contributes to the enhanced quality of decision making and improved overall company performance both in terms of financial gain and better risk management. Ultimately, managers are tested and evaluated in terms of their success in making decisions. 10TRAITS leadership development programs are available online, in person, and accredited.