Episode Transcript
[00:00:04] Speaker A: Opinions expressed in this episode are personal. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this streaming platform.
Good day, everyone, and welcome to another edition of let's be diverse. I am your host, Andrew Stout. This episode is dedicated to all my loved ones who are no longer with us today. I wanted to talk about something that I found was pretty important, and that's culture. And I know a couple of other episodes we talked about culture, but the studies and my thinking as far as workplace environment, I so feel that this is super important, and I think we're so far away from getting our workplaces being healthy and safe for our employees. So today we're going to be talking about culture and climate. And my guest, I'm so happy to have her on today, is Colleen Serenger. Colleen Seringer is a PhD and she serves as a fractional culture leader to small businesses. She is a 25 year tenured professional, a published, peer reviewed author on workplace culture and health behavior policy, and has partnered with hundreds of organizations nationwide, supporting them in their transformation of workplace culture and climate. Example, engagement, inclusion, relationship development, recruitment, retention, and productivity through the lens of health equity, being interdepartmental, collaborations, and all others. Colleen is one of those people that you just have to meet. I got on the phone with her months back, asking her she'd be interested in being a future guest. She was super excited, jumped on a call with me and we, I think, hit it off within, I was gonna say five minutes, but I'm gonna say three minutes into the call, we hit it off and it's almost like we were friends for life. And I just said to myself, I gotta do what I can to get her on. So I'm so happy to have her on today. I would love to welcome you. Colleen, thank you so much for coming on today. It's so awesome to have you.
[00:02:18] Speaker B: Thank you. That was a lovely introduction, and it's always just such an honor, regardless if we hit it off in 1 minute or three minutes. It's a huge honor to be here. So I really appreciate the invitation. I'm excited about the conversation. And I know as we were going back and forth, we talked about culture, well, being all that, you feel like you've talked about it a lot, but I'm with you. There's a lot of additional conversations to be had, so I appreciate you being willing to explore the topic a little bit more.
[00:02:44] Speaker A: Oh, I was looking forward to it, for sure. And it's so nice you're looking for a guest, and there's always people to talk about this stuff, but it's just a conversation, and I just felt that you and I would have a great discussion on this. So I was super excited. But I want to know first, how are things with you? What's new in your world? What's going on? Tell us all the details.
[00:03:06] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, I have to say, I feel like I'm crushing January so far. We're only 16 days in, but I'm feeling pretty good. I'm talking to you from the east coast, so it is getting a little bit past my bedtime here in Atlanta, Georgia. But that's okay. This is for a very special person and special occasion. But, yeah, I have to say I'm feeling really good. I'm excited about this year and hopefully I'll have a little bit of reason to share why. I'm excited about this year. As we get a little bit further.
[00:03:35] Speaker A: I am anxious to hear why. So we'll continue on. So thanks for letting us know what's going on with you, and thank you very much for taking the time to come on. I know it's a little bit late for you, so I appreciate you accommodating me to come on today. Before we begin, I always have a fun question to ask my guests to get things going. Are you ready for yours, Colleen?
[00:03:59] Speaker B: I'm ready. I'm excited. I'm ready. I'm nervous. Go for it.
[00:04:07] Speaker A: So your question is, what food would you say best represents you and your personality?
[00:04:15] Speaker B: Okay. So this. I think I'm gonna have to go with my favorite food.
[00:04:23] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:04:24] Speaker B: Which maybe some would not think that this is my favorite food just because of my background in the health wellbeing world, but I love pizza. And I think, I don't know how to, like, related back to describing me, but to me, there's just something. Maybe it's this. There's something so inviting, loving, comfortable about it. And I feel like that's how I would describe myself, especially once you are in my orbit and you really start to get to know me. I feel like that's the vibe I give off.
[00:04:57] Speaker A: I would totally agree with. Yeah, it is. And I would totally agree with you. I think pizza is probably one of my favorites as well. And I think it is. Just get that craving. I feel like having pizza tonight and it just comes. It's hot and it's comforting. And especially when the weather is not the greatest outside. We've done pizza outside and our pizza oven and outside in backyard. But yes, it is one of those comfort foods that just when you're craving for just makes you feel good, gives.
[00:05:27] Speaker B: You a warm hug.
[00:05:28] Speaker A: It sure does. It sure does. And for people that know me, I am one of those ones who is a hugger. So some people are like the half hug. I am not the half hug person at all. I will go in and I will give you the full hug. That's just, if you're going to do it, just go for the gusto. Don't give me the half one. I want a full hug.
[00:05:53] Speaker B: Same. And I'm. And I'm not letting go first. I'm going to.
[00:05:56] Speaker A: No, I am going to wait as well. And it's just so warm and soothing and it just makes somebody feel good when you get a good hug. For sure. You know what? I am impressed the way you answered that. I know we talked a little bit about this before we started, and you answered it way better than I thought. Most people have. So being unprepared, I was totally impressed. So thanks for having fun with me. I really appreciate it. So why don't we start off with you telling us a little bit about you, your story and your why?
[00:06:31] Speaker B: Okay. So I'm not going to bore with any additional details from my bio, but I'll add what's not in the bio. And so from a personal standpoint, I always like to share, like, just who I am as a person. So in other words, I'm a daughter, I'm a sister, I'm an aunt, I'm a wife, I'm a fur mom, I'm a friend to many. I think I had mentioned I'm a fitness enthusiast, but really conformed to what my PhD is focused in. But to go to the next step from that. And I always struggle with the separation of quote unquote personal and professional, because in the workplace, we're really trying to make sure that those lines are. That they're joined right. Because you're really not two people, you're just one person. But in the traditional sense, I'll kind of transition over to that because I think it will tell some of the story, some of what I teased up in my answer about how I feel like 2024 is going really well. So the work that I have done, and this was a little bit in my bio. So for over 25 years, I've been working in this field of population health in the context of the workplace. So really centered around health well being, not just of people, but of the workplace. So really that culture and climate piece. And at the beginning of 2023. So I'll be coming up to my one year anniversary in March of this coming year or of this year. So March 2024, it'll be one year that I decided I am going to take a huge risk and I'm going to walk away from the safety of my career, the profession, the place that I was working, that I figured I would. The place that I would be for the remainder of my time before I quote unquote, retired. And I did that because the work just was no longer serving me, which is such an oxymoron, given that I'm sitting in this context of healthy workplaces trying to help companies inform their cultures. But what I was seeing and what I felt like I was doing were two things. I was seeing so many organizations saying they wanted to do this work, they wanted to make culture better for their people, which would, again, inform positive health. But at the end of the day, they really just wanted to check the box. And I got so tired. So I felt like this hamster wheel, I don't know if you had a hamster growing up. I had a hamster growing up. And my goodness, they are squeaky on that wheel that night. And I just couldn't take another year. I was there for ten and a half years. I couldn't take one more year of trying to fight and advocate for the people by way of helping workplaces transform. And so in the beginning of 2023, I decided I'm going to walk away from safety and dive into the unknown. Because I really believe in my heart that there are workplaces out there that do want to inform change, that do want to make changes. I believe that it sits in that small business that Ma and Pas shop, because to me, they hold like, the key to the castle in regard to really making change. There's no red tape. They're small.
And I thought to myself, you know what? I've got to give it a go. I'm going to give it a go on my own. I can't just ride this wave out. Yeah, money is important. Finances, all those things are important. But I just thought, if this doesn't work, I can always go back and get another job, but let me at least try. And so my why really is I want to help inform these small workplaces to adopt really important practices, make really important, like, shifts within their culture and climate. And I keep saying both of those words, and I know we're going to dive deeper into what they mean, but I really want to. That's my why. I want to create better places for people so that both the employees and the organizations can thrive lots of things.
[00:10:26] Speaker A: For me to pack into here. I love your story. First off, I want to take the time to congratulate you because I'm super impressed with you deciding to take the leap and adopt in your profession to say, you know what? I'm going to pivot. This is no longer serving me anymore. It's not good for my health, not good for my home and my work. It's just not serving me as well. And I need to make a decision. So good for you for doing that. The other thing that I agree with you 100%, a lot of businesses are checking the box. And when you said that, checking the box, what makes me think of that is when people are so years ago, people were saying to companies, listen, you got to have a mission, vision, values on your website. So people are putting these out. Companies are writing these, but do they actually really mean what they're putting? Like, are they putting any thought? And if you're putting those things on your website, you better damn believe that people are gonna look at that and they're going to look out to see what you're doing, and they're gonna call you out if you're not doing those things that you say that you are. So you can write all you want, but make sure that what you're putting out there is actually, you mentioned the word serving. Make sure that what you're writing is, this is how you are serving yourself and how you are representing yourself, especially on the Internet.
[00:11:58] Speaker B: Can I just add one thing that caught my ear when you said calling businesses out?
I really appreciate you saying that, because where my mind goes is there are some employees that won't have the freedom or won't have the ability or won't feel like they can say business. This is on your website. But let me tell you, it's not what's happening inside. I want to help be that voice for them. I want to advocate for those individuals that are like, gosh, I just don't have a choice. I need my job right now. I just wanted to add that caught my ear as you were responding.
[00:12:39] Speaker A: Oh, for sure. I appreciate that. And, you know, it makes me think of, too. I'll even go as far as to say, like, when companies are writing, and especially a lot of small businesses, when they're writing a job posting, and you say, you are a family orientated business, you care about your employees. Now, it doesn't have to say family orientated in job posting, but when I read it, I should be able to tell, wow, this company, I think I can apply this company, as I'm reading this, I get the feeling in my gut that they are family orientated and they care about their employees. And that's a company that I want to work for. It's okay to put what you're looking for, the skills and the schooling and all that stuff, but you need to make the job exciting so someone doesn't just look at it and say, okay, oh yeah, I think I can do that job. I can do that. I've done that before. But you want them to read it and go, oh my God, this company looks amazing. I gotta apply here and I gotta do whatever I can to get this job because this is for me, this is the place that I wanna be.
[00:13:51] Speaker B: Agreed.
[00:13:52] Speaker A: In your opinion, what is the relationship between workplace climate and culture?
[00:13:57] Speaker B: So I'm going to answer it this way. So I think it's important to remind that these two concepts, they're not new. I think we hear about culture a lot. I don't think we hear about climate enough. I think the unfortunate things is that they're used interchangeably, but they're not equal. So I'm going to give like the nerdy definitions and then I'll just give a couple of examples just to make sure that there's clarity so that we're tracking the same. So if we were going to define culture like the nerdy definition is, culture is overarching shared assumptions, values and beliefs that are meant to guide employee behavior. So it goes back to what you were saying, the statement on the wall, the statement on the website. But then climate, those are the shared perceptions. They're the understandings that are maybe spoken or not spoken.
They're the behaviors that are all swarming around these social norms in the workplace. So that's where it starts to get super muddy. And that's where the disagreements between the two often come. So I promised an example to try to make sure that, again, there's like clarity of what the heck did those two sentences even actually really mean? So I love to give a couple of examples. So this one is one of my favorites. I've been the lucky recipient of this one in the past. Culture says, we want you to take time off and enjoy it, but the climate says, but based on your title, the position you hold, you're going to want to make sure that you're available by text if something urgent comes up while you're out. Those are two totally different things, right? From a culture and climate standpoint. I'll just give. One of my other kind of favorites is from a culture standpoint. Yes, you can schedule a doctor's appointment during the workday and you do not have to use a vacation. But the climate says, but that might not be the case with all the managers. So you're going to have to check with yours first. Or the climate says, but if you're an hourly employee, this doesn't apply to you. So those are like, when we think about, okay, what are some, like, real world examples that's happening? And again, I've been the lucky recipient of a few of those, and I definitely have others. I'm sure you could bip all a few back to me. That's how I would answer that question.
[00:16:25] Speaker A: Yeah, I love that answer. The first thing that comes to my mind is when you said in their first example, it depends on the managers. That just spits out culture right there to me, because it should be a cohesive unit, and there shouldn't be one manager that has their beliefs and what have you, and another manager has other beliefs. It shouldn't be like that. It should be a cohesive unit. And I'm going to say that comes down to the training. So when a company is hiring a manager, because a lot of people are put into these positions, and they are not managers. They've never been a manager before. They're put into that position because they know their job, so they haven't gotten the training. So that comes down to the trainings. I've talked about this all the time. I have a friend of mine who is an HR manager, and what she does is she goes around all the locations, and they have what's called succession planning. So she goes to all the locations. She talks to each manager at each location. Say, listen, we have somebody that's retiring coming up in this department. Is there anybody in your department that you could see as a manager down the road? And they would say, oh, yes, I have Shawn here, who has been working with us for a couple years. He's a hard worker, understands the values and the mission. The vision of the company, is good with his coworkers, and I think he would be a good communicator in a manager position. So then he goes to see Sean, say, I've spoken to your manager. We think that you'd be great in a management position. So what we're going to do is we're going to take you for the next six months. You're going to continue in your job, but we're going to train you for the next six months to be ready for a management position. And when one is open, you will be prepared for it. So they're trained right away. And again, they're a cohesive unit. So it doesn't matter the location, it doesn't matter the department, the managers always meet. They have meetings all the time and they are cohesive unit. They run the company and they run their departments all the same. If they have a question or what would you do in this situation? I'm not sure. They collaborate together, they have conversations together and they meet together. So I think what you're saying before that fits that bill right away. And if you have that set, then you don't have any of those issues.
[00:18:56] Speaker B: Yeah. And kudos to that organization. They are taking the word ill equipped right out of managers because that's exactly, you summarized it perfectly. That's exactly what we see. Right. Oh, just because you know, x, you've become our next manager, but we've set you up basically for failure. And so kudos to that organization. I think we all want to know the name so we can apply, get a job there.
[00:19:19] Speaker A: Just kidding. Yeah, exactly. No, I know her. So we've, I can definitely give you a recommendation. I could give you a good shout out for sure. Do you think changing organizational climate or culture is easier? Is there one that's easier than the other?
[00:19:33] Speaker B: I think they're both really hard work. I think that we have to say what we don't want to say, that this work is really hard. A lot of times, again, there's such a disconnect.
But if you think back to those examples and even just our conversation earlier, from a black and white standpoint, culture really does feel like something you could just rewrite. Right. So if I had to like say, oh, which one's easier? I'd say culture, because you'll just rewrite the verbiage. I'm joking, of course, but that's ultimately an overarching. This is what we want it to be. But climate, you really were hitting the nail on the head there. That comes down to the business practices. It comes down to the teams, the people that are leading the teams. And depending on how many teams there are, depending on how many leaders there are in place, the company is going to have to take a step back. They're going to have to analyze the practices of each one of the teams in order to determine where are the cracks. Then they're going to have to devise a plan to course correct. It could be a pretty big undertaking. Right. Because ultimately that funnel is funneling down to a team and leadership standpoint. When you think about culture. So if I had to pick one of the two, I would say climate, because that really informs up. But ultimately we still have to be working down from what is the sign.
[00:20:51] Speaker A: On the wall say for sure. And I agree with you what you were saying as well. They got to see what needs to be fixed. But I think also want to have the care and compassion to want to fix it. Right. You can look at stuff and there's companies where people have a blind eye to stuff and they just, oh, I didn't see that. So you have to have that passion to say, hey, I don't like what's going on here. Let's figure out something, let's get together, let's have a discussion and let's communicate and let's put some ideas together to try to fix it. Because if you don't want to fix it, then there's another issue altogether.
[00:21:31] Speaker B: Exactly. And there's only so much grassroots efforts can do in a situation like this. This is leadership, business owner, whoever saying, no, we're doing this. Yes, it has to come from both sides, but without leaders behind it, it's really just weird wasting everyone's time.
[00:21:47] Speaker A: Oh, for sure. So one of the things I believe is important, I think I just talked about a little bit, but we'll delve into a little bit more when it comes to culture and climate, is having meaningful and vulnerable conversations. What are those important elements to meaningful and vulnerable conversations?
[00:22:07] Speaker B: Yeah, there's a lot of buzz around leadership and emotional intelligence, and I think we have to call a spade a spade. This is not a new phenomenon like, we've always known that leadership are really the ones that have the most, and I can use the nerdy word significant. Like, science has shown us that leaders are the ones that have the most significant impact on the workplace and the employees. And so that takes me back to that comment about this buzz around emotional intelligence. I'm happy to see that we are finally putting a spotlight on this, because ultimately, when we take a step back and we think about what are these important elements to having these meaningful and vulnerable conversations, it really does come down to those four components built out in the emotional intelligence model years and years ago. And so those are things like me ensuring that I am aware of myself. So really knowing how do I communicate what comes up when I'm communicating? No matter what, feelings and emotions are always going to be there, but it's how do I manage them? So that's one of the other components of emotional intelligence, is self management. So how do I control myself. How do I control my mood when I'm having these? I call them crucial conversations, or again, conversations that are coming from a point of vulnerability.
And then there's also things like social awareness. So that's one of the other, the third component of emotional intelligence. So things like, am I being empathetic? Am I connecting? Am I really listening? And then, of course, relationship management, that's the fourth piece of emotional intelligence. And that's critical because that's if we're going to be having this conversation, that's crucial, that's vulnerable.
It has to be collaborative. I don't want to talk at you. I want to talk with you. I want to learn from you. I don't want to make it a conversation of coaching. So to me, I just, again, I know it feels very buzzy out there, but I am so thankful that this term is finally finding its way into the workplace because I just think so many can benefit from it. But the thing that I'll add that I think we're not talking about that is important is the other part of that spectrum. Yes, as we've been saying, leadership is imperative, but that doesn't dismiss the importance of the employees have some emotional intelligence type training as well to only enhance and better the conversation. So I just wanted to throw that little piece in there. Maybe that's like a new learning nugget that someone would hear is that 100% leadership is critical. But these conversations are two way, and the others need to be able to have that same kind of awareness or training, if you will, in order to inform just as equally.
[00:25:08] Speaker A: I totally agree with you. I think a communicating factor between the employees and leadership. What I love about what you talked about, when you talked about social awareness, when I think of that, I think about a leader. So I'm standing there and I'm talking to somebody, and you walk by and you're my leader, and you say, hey, andrew, but you're going to a meeting. You say, hey, andrew, how's it going? How you doing today? But you're continuously walking and you're asking me how I'm doing and I'm telling you, but you're like already gone. My thinking is, I know you got a meeting to go to. If you are stopping to ask me how I'm doing, I know you got a meeting to go to, but make sure you stop a couple of seconds to hear what I have to say. And if you're running late, you say to me, you know what, Andrew? I have a meeting to go to. I would love to finish this conversation with you later on today. Why don't you come and see me? I will send you a team's message and you can come and see me at that time and we'll finish this discussion because I really want to hear how you are doing. Instead of just walking and saying. It's kind of like a customer calling and you're answering the phone and you see the company name and they're like, hey, how's it going? Not bad. How you doing? And the customer asks how you're doing and you tell them, oh, my God, I'm so busy. I've had all those guys and they're like, oh, okay, I need this. So they're asking, but in reality, they're not really concerned about how you're doing. They just want to get their stuff. That's what that makes me think of. That is take that silent pause, time out and listen to what that person has to say. And like I said, if you don't have time, finish it later.
[00:26:59] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:27:00] Speaker A: So what do you think the future of culture and climate look like in your mind?
[00:27:05] Speaker B: So I'm hopeful.
I gotta say it, more convincing, right? I gotta put it out there in a convincing way. No, but, like, in reality, I really do believe the tide is shifting. I think it's a slow tide, but I think the tide is shifting. And I don't just think it's about the younger generation coming into the workforce. Although, let me tell you, I do believe that they are helping us make this positive shift, maybe faster. But I don't want to dismiss that. There's people like myself who identify in Gen X. There's millennials who identify as well that are saying, you know what? I'm out. I'm done. No more hustle, no more cutthroat culture. Like, no more sacrificing my integrity. And so because there is, I do feel it's not massive, right? Because people still have to make money, they still have to pay their bills. Not everyone has this ability, however. Gig work is changing a lot of things for us. But I do believe that this shifting tide at some point is going to make organizations pause and hopefully bring a little bit of concern around the talent pool and turnover, especially in small companies. You lose an employee and have to bring one in. You literally just gave money away from your bottom line profit. It is that expensive. And when you're small, you're going to feel it. So that talent pool, man, it is shrinking, and we should be concerned about that. And so that is what takes me back to feeling hopeful, because I think that there is this movement that's happening, that there's just organizations out there gonna say, we did, we surrender. We've got to make it better.
[00:28:51] Speaker A: I love when you said turnover, I think did something that's it's gonna be there. Especially. There's a lot of companies that hire. Let go. Higher. Let go. The seat's not even warm. Someone else comes into that seat. So I still think that's it's there. It's something that, again, it's improving on, for sure. But when we talk about culture, I think that people, like you said, a lot of people are a lot smarter. You want to find out something on the Internet, you just Google, and there's tons of information on whatever you're looking for. I think people are a little bit more intelligent, and when they're coming in and when they're applying for jobs and when they're becoming employees of companies are a lot more intelligent or a lot smarter, they can see things happening. So I think it's the jobs of the leaders to notice that. And the other thing I want to add, too, is that when you're talking about culture as a leader, I think we have to look at situations. And I think this was part of the pandemic where I think people learnt what is important to them. And there's a lot of people who are in situations. We talked a little bit earlier about people being put into managerial positions. There's a lot of times someone will go to an employee and say, listen, we really think you'd fit as a good manager. And there's a lot of times someone will just say, no, I don't want it. I work eight to five, I come in at eight, I want to go home at five. I want to have supper with my kids, I want to do homework with them, bath time, put them to bed, read my book. I want to have my time. I don't want to have an extra laptop to take home, that I have to check emails or have a phone from work that's dinging at 08:00 at night. And I'm so tempted that I got to look and see what it is. I don't want that. And then there's companies because of that, that are looking at putting down these employees because they don't want that. So I think you got to understand who wants to be the data entry person, the pencil pusher, and who wants to be leaders and make them happy. And then we won't have that much turnover because those people won't be forced into something that they don't want to do.
[00:31:09] Speaker B: Exactly. Because regardless, all of those jobs are okay. I don't have to want to advance. I don't have to. It's okay. No, I'm okay with that. Company should be okay with that and be able to have a spot for that.
[00:31:20] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. I was talking to somebody a while back, and they said to me that it's a job of a leader to make everybody a leader. And I don't believe that. I think there's people that want to be leaders, and there's people that want to just go eight to four, do their stuff, have lunch, have their breaks, and at 05:00 punch out, go home, and that's all they want to do. And they're okay. They make enough money to pay their stuff. They have a roof over their head, they have food on their table, and they're taking care of their kids, and they can do stuff on the weekend. They're happy with that. So I think we just have to understand that and respect it.
[00:31:59] Speaker B: Agreed.
[00:31:59] Speaker A: So how do you feel your hometown or city shaped you into the person that you are today?
[00:32:08] Speaker B: So I said when we got started, and I don't expect anyone to remember, if they're listening, that I live in Atlanta, Georgia, but I am from Cleveland, Ohio. And so if you're familiar with where that sits, it sits on Lake Erie.
[00:32:22] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:32:23] Speaker B: It is a cold, snowy city, which is why I moved to Atlanta, because it is not a cold, snowy city.
But I say that to say that if you know anything about Cleveland, Ohio, that is a lunch pail city. That is a blue collar, working city. And I am so proud of my upbringing, I'd be lying if I said I was proud of it at the time because college was really important. Like, our parents wanted us to go to college. But I was born and raised by two small business owners in the construction industry, and I bleed blue. And so when I think about the industries that I want to inform it going forward, the industries I want to work for going forward, it's those blue collar workplaces. What makes it even more exciting is my husband. He's also from Cleveland, Ohio. He owns a small commercial roofing company. So it's like, this is who we are. This is who I am. It reminds you that you have this. This grittiness to you that that is good gritty. It's not bad gritty. It's, let's roll up our sleeves and figure it out gritty. And that's what it's going to take to do this work? It's going to take a lot of rolling up your sleeves and getting gritty. The culture and climate work can't be done sitting behind a desk. This is work that has to be done. Boots on the ground with the people. And, yeah, that's how I would answer that question. I really do believe where I was born and raised, in the environment that I grew up in, I think that it made me really just a perfect person to be focused to this work.
[00:33:54] Speaker A: Hmm. I love all of that. I love what you put in there, and I love how you explain that. I believe that where you come from makes you who you are. And, yeah, I think, Cleveland, I've never been there, but people that I know from there have told me exactly what you said, that it's a hard working place to be, and everyone's hard working. They just put on their hat or put on their boots tight, lace them up and let's go. And, yeah, you learn a lot if you grew up that way. And you learn how to figure stuff out, how to adapt, like how you did and how to make a change when you need to make a change and not just sit back and say, I can't really do anything, I'm stuck. I can't make any movement. I can't change anything. I just got to stay here and wait and see what happens. You decided, I'm gonna do what I need to do. This is not working for me. It's not part of my goals for this year, and I need to make a change for myself, for my career, for my mental health, for my lifestyle. I need to do that. So I totally agree with you there, for sure.
[00:35:05] Speaker B: Thank you. I appreciate you asking that question and giving me that, like, moment of sharing the pride. I think it's more and more fun the older I get. Right. That's part of that reflection and all that good stuff. So I appreciated that question.
[00:35:17] Speaker A: You're very welcome. Any final thoughts today?
[00:35:21] Speaker B: I think, again, I just. It's such an honor to be invited to the table. So I just want to say thank you. I love what you're doing. I love that you're trying to help organizations level themselves up. There's so much opportunity out there. Again, this work is hard, but that shouldn't make us afraid. There are so many baby steps that we can take. So let's just at least take one and see what we can do, see the change that we can make.
[00:35:46] Speaker A: Absolutely. I want to take the time to thank you for coming on today. Like I mentioned at the beginning of the podcast. It was an honor and a pleasure to have a conversation with you a while back. It was a great conversation. I believe we talked for about an hour. It was so good, the conversation that I wholeheartedly believe that if you and I were not needing to work that day, that conversation probably would have continued for another couple of hours. So it was just that feeling that I felt. And I got off the phone and I believe I messaged you right away and said, thank you so much for a great conversation. I honestly felt like I knew you for many years and we just met. So that was the feeling that I had.
And I thought what a great individual to have on. And I listened to a lot of stuff that you put out there and I read a lot of stuff that you put out there and you speak so highly and you're so humble the way that you speak, and I admire that. And we say that we take a little bit from everybody that we speak to or any conversations that we have, and I take a little bit of every time I listen to you speak or read something that you wrote. And I just wanted to let you know that I truly admire you and I'm thankful and honored that you were willing to come on here and have this conversation with me. So thank you very much.
[00:37:15] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:37:15] Speaker A: So on behalf of myself and my guest, Colleen, I would like to thank you all for listening today. And until next time, everyone remember that if we all work together, we can accomplish anything you have been listening to. Let's be diverse with Andrew Stout. To stay up to date with future content, hit subscribe.
