Summary

Nicole Noye is a seasoned executive with over 25 years of experience across diverse sectors, including retail, hospitality, leisure, entertainment, fitness, car sharing, and franchising. Her career has been marked by a relentless commitment to driving organizational success, leadership, team empowerment, and customer satisfaction. She has held board and executive positions, spearheading transformational initiatives that have redefined businesses and propelled them toward profitability and sustainability. Nicole Noye discusses the importance of leadership and surrounding oneself with good people. She shares examples of leaders who have supported her in her career, such as Graham Oakes and Bob Critchley. Noye emphasizes the significance of creating a positive organizational culture and caring for the well-being of team members. She also talks about the challenges of leading through change and the importance of belief and resilience. Noye highlights the value of customer obsession and how it can drive business success. She also shares personal habits for managing stress and staying focused. Finally, she encourages up-and-coming leaders to prioritize their teams and create a supportive and united environment.

Key Takeaways

Nicole's early experiences in tennis and Girl Guides taught her the importance of throwing her heart and mind into what she enjoys doing.
Her career in retail, starting as a receptionist at David Jones, taught her the importance of staying in stock of best sellers, understanding what customers want, and not patronizing them.
Nicole's leadership philosophy is centered around focusing on the customer and looking after them, ultimately leading to profitability.
She believes in employing people who are different from her, playing to their strengths, and regularly being on the shop floor to understand the business and engage with the team.
Nicole has focused on transformation and change management in her CEO roles, creating strategies and visions to improve business performance.
During her time at Dreamworld, Nicole prioritized listening to and supporting the team and customers, instilling confidence and belief in them.
She also demonstrated her confidence in the team by personally experiencing the rides and involving her children in the park's activities. Surround yourself with good people and leaders who support and believe in you.
Create a positive organizational culture that values teamwork and respects individual challenges.
Leadership requires belief, resilience, and overcoming resistance to change.
Customer obsession is key to driving business success and improving customer experience.
Manage stress through exercise, mindfulness, and setting boundaries.
Prioritize your team and create a supportive and united environment.

Sound Bites

"If you focus on the NPS or how we look after the customer, then everything else will flow and profitability will come out at the end of that."
"Don't patronize a customer. Actually look after them and don't agree to having a script in how you sell because I think everybody's different."
"You want somebody in the role that actually cares about the business, wants to drive the business, wants to be part of a team and comfortable to be able to challenge not only myself but the rest of the team on areas we need to improve."
"Surround yourself with good people."
"Culture is about how you look after and treat your team with respect."
"Engagement scores significantly improve when you understand and listen to your team."

Summary

Dr. David Cooke shares his experiences growing up and entering the business world. He discusses how he stumbled upon Transcendental Meditation and became a teacher of it before transitioning into a sales role at Xerox Corporation. He reflects on his journey in the imaging industry, including his time at Canon and Konica Minolta, and the challenges and successes he faced. Dr. Cooke emphasizes the importance of listening to customers, building a company that cares, and engaging employees through social causes. The conversation with Dr. David Cooke explores the power of creating a connected and caring culture within an organization. Dr. Cooke shares stories of how treating employees and customers with respect and compassion can lead to increased engagement and loyalty. He emphasizes the importance of values in driving business success and highlights the need for leaders to make decisions based on moral and ethical considerations. The conversation also touches on the challenges and opportunities presented by remote work and artificial intelligence.

Takeaways

Transcendental Meditation helped Dr. Cooke sort his life out and inspired him to become a teacher of it.
Dr. Cooke's sales career began at Xerox Corporation, where he learned the importance of listening and asking questions.
He spent many years in the imaging industry, including stints at Canon and Konica Minolta, and faced challenges and successes along the way.
Dr. Cooke's approach to leadership focused on building a company that cares, engaging employees through social causes, and listening to customers. Creating a connected and caring culture within an organization is powerful and can lead to increased engagement and loyalty.
Treating employees and customers with respect and compassion is essential for building strong relationships.
Values should guide decision-making and should not be compromised for short-term gains.
Remote work can be a valuable option, but a hybrid model that includes in-person interactions can help reinforce culture.
Artificial intelligence presents both challenges and opportunities, and it is important to build moral and ethical considerations into AI systems.

Learn more about David and his leadership philosophy in his new book: Kind Business

Summary

Ken Wilcox, former CEO of Silicon Valley Bank, shares his journey and leadership philosophy. He emphasizes the importance of self-actualization and creating a positive customer experience. Ken's leadership style is centered around diversity in counsel and unity in action. He encourages decision-making at all levels of the organization and fosters a culture of open discussion and commitment to executing decisions. Ken also discusses the spectrum of human behavior, from passive-aggressive to obnoxiously assertive, and the need to coach individuals towards a more collaborative and accountable mindset. In this conversation, Ken discusses the importance of listening to the voice of your conscience and building a culture where employees make the right decisions on their own. He shares the attributes of great leaders, including being aware of their influence on others and focusing on the future. Ken also reflects on his leadership journey, highlighting the importance of recognizing and addressing areas for improvement. He discusses the challenges of integrating different cultures in acquisitions and the need for tools to assess organizational culture. Finally, Ken talks about his upcoming book on doing business in China and the lessons he learned from his experience there.

Takeaways

Leaders should focus on self-actualization and creating a positive customer experience
Encourage decision-making at all levels of the organization
Foster a culture of open discussion and commitment to executing decisions
Coach individuals towards a collaborative and accountable mindset Building a culture where employees listen to their conscience and make the right decisions on their own is more effective than constant monitoring.
Great leaders are aware of the influence they have on others, involve others in decision-making, and focus on the future.
Cultural differences can be a major challenge in acquisitions, and it's important to assess and address these differences.
Tools to assess organizational culture can help in understanding and improving the culture of a company.
Doing business in China requires understanding the differences in goals and expectations between Western companies and the Chinese Communist Party.

Sound Bites

"I decided that we needed to get rid of all of the people at the ends of the spectrum, either by coaching them to the middle or by inviting them to work somewhere else."
"We should try to be in the one market that differentiates us. Plus, we develop some particular skills there."
"I encouraged everybody at the next level to do the same thing so that we were pushing decisions down to the ground floor as far as we could."
"If we can just get them to listen to it and follow it. We don't have to be monitoring them constantly because they'll want to do the right thing on their own." - Ken referring to the "Voice of Conscience" we all have inside us.
"Great leaders are cognizant of the fact that people are copying them."
"The vast majority of failures on the acquisition front are the result of cultures not meshing."

Learn more from Ken's great book, Leading Through Culture

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