Todd Davis
speaker
423 appearances
6 recordings
3 series
first heard Dec 2024
last heard May 2025
Todd Davis’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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Appearances
Yeah, that is great. That's great context setting. You should do this for a living, Ryan. You're really good at this. No, it's your point. So a few years ago, when I was still in the chief people officer role, one of our... Our publisher, Simon & Schuster, who published Seven Habits, they thought it would be a really cool idea to have the chief people officer of the people company write a book.
So I wrote a book, became a bestseller, not because anybody knows who Todd Davis is, but because this topic was so profound, and it's the question you asked. The book is called Get Better, 15 Proven Practices to Build Effective Relationships at Work.
And my whole premise in the years that I had almost two decades experience as the chief people officer was that as Jim Collins, the leadership guru says, you got to have the right people on the bus. That's true. But it's actually, or and I should say not but, and it's actually the nature of the relationships between those people. that makes teams and organizations effective.
And so in my role as chief people officer and anybody who's head of their human resource function, I view this as you're more or less, sorry for the sports analogy, but you're more or less the quarterback of the culture. Everybody, it takes everyone to form the culture, but you're the person who really reminds people, helps to set the vision for where you want the culture to go.
including what we call things. Like you said, we can put a marketing spin on things, but I was adamant that we not call it human resources, that we call it people services, because I wanted the team that I led to be reminded every day as they came to work, they were in the business of serving people. the people at Franklin County. They're clients for all of our associates.
And then I wanted the role to be chief people because I wanted to be the grand poobah, but because I wanted to remind myself, is this about the people? Sometimes people equate the term human resources with kind of the policy wonks or the necessary evil we have to have to keep all the human resource laws and guidances and all that.
And those things are important, but it's really about partnering with people your team, your colleagues to move or grow the business and be, as you started out, be effective in what you're doing.
Yeah, no, I appreciate the question. I think you just nailed it. And so in my experience, what I have viewed is that first and foremost, deciding what, you know, you've led, you've had many companies. What is the mission of that organization? What is the mission of your organization? I think it starts there. Is it, is it,
Are we doing something that's adding value to the client, to the world, to our society? And most companies are. I haven't met a company that isn't. But it's then refining that mission statement. and that mission and vision for the company so that our associates, these employees that we want to serve as well, that they're as excited and as on board as you are as the CEO or as the leader.
So what I have found, Ryan, is once everyone understands the mission of your company, You still have to do a lot of other things, but it's easier to get them excited and highly engaged in doing whatever part they have to move that mission forward.
And so it really doesn't become, in my experience, a question for the leader of do I serve the client, do we focus on the client, or do we focus on our employees? We are all focusing on the client because our employees are so excited to know, hey, I'm a piece of this. Whatever I do, I see how it links to that bigger mission of the company. And so I make a difference.
And when leaders can focus on communicating to their clients.
associates their worth and potential so clearly that they come to see themselves then then we have one focus and that's serving the client but but my team and the associates know they are a critical component of that and they find value in that they find excitement and yes they have to be paid well and they have to have the right working conditions and have the right benefits but then their incentive and their motivation is to be a part of something that matters
No, I think that's a great question. And I know what I'm going to suggest takes time. but this is what we work with our clients with and I've seen it produce amazing results over and over again.
We have a client or a situation where in their minds the pendulum has swung too far and they've got a group of people, good people, that are more focused on what's in it for me than what do I need to do to serve. It's taking the time to understand those people. It's moving as a leader. It's moving your mindset from I bet
I bet they just want an increase because they've been given awards their whole life and they're this, you know, explore a little, get whatever. To I wonder, I wonder why they're, I wonder why they're not more engaged in the business that we do and the work that we do. I wonder why they're not more inspired.
And so it's taking the time and a lot of leaders, I don't say don't like this answer, but they realize, okay, I've got to slow down and I get, I've got to get to know my people.
what's important to you Jim what's important to you Sam what's important to you know what motivates you and if honestly if I talk to a Jen or a Sam and they say all I care about is money making money well then they're probably not the person for my team because I want to find out what part of what we do excites them and make sure that they understand how critical they are to that so I'm kind of going back to what I said a minute ago but when the pendulum is way over there to your point
I think you have to slow down. Dr. Covey used to say with people, fast is slow and slow is fast. Take time, understand what excites them, what motivates them, what energizes them about the business. And then make sure that they have enough of that going on so that they feel this ongoing connection with the work that you're all trying to do to move your organization forward.
That is what you just shared, Ryan. That is the foundation for the seven habits. Before we even get into the habits, we talk about our paradigms or our mindsets. And if I, for example, if I'm a micromanager, okay, everybody can relate to that. But if I'm a micromanager, how do I see my team? We call this the see-do-get model. Well, if I'm a micromanager, I see my team as incompetent.
Showing 361–380 of 423 · page 19 of 22
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