Culture and Leadership Connections Podcast
Culture and Leadership Connections Podcast: where culture, communication, and context meet at work. Discover what cultural influences have formed the careers of noteworthy leaders in a variety of professions, by exploring the groups that shaped who they are today. Learn about the collective context and experiences that affect their worldview, leadership style, workplace communication and behaviour.
Culture and Leadership Connections Podcast
Steven K. Young – We're All In This Together
Bio for Steven K. Young
Steven K. Young, B.Ed., MBA PMP, is an educator, consultant, executive, and coach who is passionate about leadership and building high-performance teams. He is currently the CEO of Garnet Instruments, a lecturer at the Alberta School of Business and instructor at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology.
Episode highlight
Steven K. Young has always worked from a team mind-set, be it in hockey, the police service, politics or the corporate world. Listen in on his advice on how to best be a part of and manage effective teams.
Links
Email: stevekyoung@gmail.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevekyoung/
Quotes
"In every committee, there's always one jerk and if you don't know who that is, it's probably you."
"Your door can be open all day but if nobody walks through it, you're missing the point."
Takeaways
Childhood incidents:
Steven’s parents taught him, "Whether people are watching or not, you do the right thing". He credits his University of Alberta Golden Bears coach, Billy Moores, for teaching him the value of systems and processes and the principles of leadership and success.
Groups you were born into and belonged to:
Teams have been an important theme in Steven’s life – from his family to hockey to policing. He has also been a part of many different groups – hockey teams, policemen’s hockey tournaments and political groups, and has friends in the Turkish community.
Temperament and personality influences
Steven has transformed from an angry young man who was quick to judge into an inquisitive, tolerant person with a suite of tools and appropriate responses.
A time I became aware that my way of doing things was cultural and specific to my cultural experience
Steven finds that the polarization of strong opinions in the political realm makes him unwilling to discuss his take on issues. However, he is working towards finding a healthy way to express himself.
Advice to an employer to work with me
For Steven to be successful, he needs to have clear processes, mandates and KPIs. He also works best with flexible schedules, long-term reviews and many projects on the go.
More great insights from our guest!
Steven believes that the ‘Are we there yet?’ approach is limiting and instead, the question which should be asked is, ‘We're doing great, what can we do next?’
