"Nice Business!" Podcast
“Ruthlessly” use human kindness and decency when becoming the best business owner/manager you can be. After all, would you rather be loved or feared by your team?
Richard Train from Richard L Train Consulting, LLC talks with Jim Bob Howard about how to help business leaders uncover those pesky "drama problems" that quietly drain performance: poor communication, disengaged teams, toxic staff dynamics, or leadership gaps no one wants to touch, and how to overcome them.
"Nice Business!" Podcast
Leading Through a Near RIF: How Compudopt Scaled Nationally, Stayed Human, and Kept Trust Intact
When a long anticipated federal funding stream stalled, Compudopt CEO Megan Steckly had to steer a hyper scaling nonprofit through a near reduction in force without breaking culture or momentum.
In this candid conversation with host Richard Train, Megan walks through the communications playbook her C suite used to realign strategy, reduce 41 roles in one day to avoid lingering fear, and rebuild trust with radical transparency.
Along the way, you will hear how Compudopt grew from a $2M Houston nonprofit to a $62M national organization serving 300,000 people in 66 cities across 28 states, why they budgeted conservatively for only $28M of potential federal funds, how a prior $35M catalytic gift changed their operating model, and the rituals from written talking points to an in person Chicago leadership summit that helped their team process change. The payoff: Compudopt is now stabilizing, rolling out new paid service lines, and celebrating its first 1,000,000 people impacted.
You will learn
- How to announce and execute a workforce reduction with compassion and clarity
- A step by step comms sequence VP brief, all hands, written follow ups, anonymous feedback
- Why consolidating layoffs into one day can reduce organizational anxiety
- How to budget during uncertain grant cycles and avoid growth cliffs
- The role of a CEO personal board of directors in tough seasons
- Expectations reset why your team is 2 to 3 months behind you emotionally and how to lead them