Brain of Command Episode 11

Develop a Cultural Myth Radar

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• How did an introverted programmer go from writing code to taking the reins as CEO at one of America’s most iconic brands? Well, that’s exactly what Omaha Steaks CEO Nate Rempe did. And he’s partnering with co-host Robert Reiss, founder of CEO Forum Group, along with other industry-leading CEOs to talk about the strategies and insights that will help YOU command a room, command your career, and maybe even command a company. Brain of Command is all about dynamic, transformative leadership – no matter where you are on the org chart – and brings you practical hacks that you can put into practice every day to maximize your potential.

Brain of Command Companion Guide: https://view.publitas.com/omaha-steak-others/brain-of-command/

• Look for Brain of Command on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube.

• How did an introverted programmer go from writing code to taking the reins as CEO at one of America’s most iconic brands? Well, that’s exactly what Omaha Steaks CEO Nate Rempe did. And he’s partnering with co-host Robert Reiss, founder of CEO Forum Group, along with other industry-leading CEOs to talk about the strategies and insights that will help YOU command a room, command your career, and maybe even command a company. Brain of Command is all about dynamic, transformative leadership – no matter where you are on the org chart – and brings you practical hacks that you can put into practice every day to maximize your potential.

Brain of Command Companion Guide: https://view.publitas.com/omaha-steak-others/brain-of-command/

• Look for Brain of Command on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:02

How did a once introverted programmer go from coding in a cubicle to leading an iconic American brand? Well, that's exactly what Omaha Stakes CEO Nate Rempey did. And along with CEO Forum Group founder Robert Reese, they're your inside source for magical hacks that will transform the way you command a room, command your career, and maybe even command a company. Get ready. This is Brain of Command.

SPEAKER_03 0:29

Hello, America. This is Robert Reese, and we got Nate Rempey, my co-host with me. We're talking about Brain of Command. And today's topic, and wait to hear who our guest is, but today's topic is develop a cultural myth radar. Now, CEOs I interview all the time. They say the number one thing in our business is culture. But this is a total new twist on it that Nate had developed. Explain what it is, and you're going to love who your guest is.

SPEAKER_01 1:01

Thanks, Robert. Welcome everybody. Thanks for joining us. So we're talking about the cultural myth radar today. Now, Robert, it would be safe to say that every organization has stories, right? Absolutely. Omaha Stakes, certainly after 108 years, has a number of them. Today we're talking about stories that organizations tell itself. Okay? Now, some stories are useful. They preserve wisdom, they keep people aligned, you know, they help teams move faster. But then some of them start as assumptions. They, you know, they harden beliefs, they eventually get repeated so often that they become treated like facts. And that's kind of where this hack comes in. So the cultural myth radar, you know, everybody has seen the movies with the, you know, the guy sitting behind the radar and it's the green circle and the blips come on the circle as it's scanning around. This is radar that detects when an organization is operating on a story that feels true, it sounds true, and is repeated like truth, but is no longer actually supported by the facts. Now, one of the hacks that we talked about in earlier episodes was to be shallow and wide at the top. You know, good leaders have a broad understanding of the way the business operates and they measure KPIs that give them directional assurances that things are going right. That's a great tool in this hack of cultural myth radar. It's actually one of the things that can help myths appear on the radar is to understand what are facts. And so we want to talk today about some of those myths. Things like our customer would never buy that, or we already tried that 10 years ago. This team won't go for it. That's just how this industry works. These are myths that may not, in fact, be true in your business, and great leaders can sniff those out and challenge them.

SPEAKER_03 2:56

And good sum-up. And here we have one of the most beloved companies in the world, which is AFLAC. And we got Virgil Miller, my friend, who is the president of AFLAC. How are you, Virgil?

SPEAKER_00 3:10

Oh, it's a great day at AfLAC. Robert, I'm so happy to be here with you and Nate. Uh, looking forward to this great conversation. And so it's such an important conversation, also. Uh, as so many things are happening now out in the environment, uh, regardless of probably what industry you're in, especially in our industry, financial services and insurance, uh, culture, people, so important to our success going forward.

SPEAKER_03 3:37

Yeah, so here's what I got to ask you. You really know AFLAC. Of course, you started in the call center, Virgil. You've had almost every job in the company until you become global president. And now you've been there 22 years, and this is a company that really sticks. It has the AFLAC way, it has everything. Talk about culture there and then how it shapes into what are the stories that are told, and maybe some stories that people get wrong, because you may get people coming from the outside. How does that all work?

SPEAKER_00 4:13

Yeah, well, first, uh, thank you so much. I I want to say though, you have to start though, with having some principles that binds everyone in the organization together. Uh, we call those principles the Affleck way. Now, I mentioned before, our business is the business of insurance, it's supplemental insurance. We want to be there when people need us most. Remember, we sell a promise. We sell a promise to pay, and we promise to be there when things are not going well, and you need Affleck to be there with you. Uh, we want to provide comfort and financial stability. So I start there, and therefore, we have these guiding principles. We call them seven commitments. These commitments basically describe how we should treat each other as employees and representatives of Affleck, and also more importantly, how we should treat our customers. So, Nate, you said that well in your opening. You have to have that. Uh, but beyond that, none of that matters if it's not actually happening and people aren't living it. So, first thing I always say, though, is that leaders have to ensure what they are rewarding and what's been repeated, and also keep this in mind what's tolerated aligns with what you have documented as your principal guidelines. So it doesn't matter what you say, it's what's actually happening. Um, and and that's how you dispel any myth may be out there. When people, culture is something that you know it because you can feel it. And remember, with how people feel is what leaves an impression on them, not what you say. People will forget what you say, but they'll remember how you feel. So, what I try to always make sure of is that our culture is being demonstrated through behaviors, the behaviors that we want to, that we've outlined. And and my last point on that is and if they're not being followed, it cannot be tolerated. Our principles are not negotiable. The principles are the principles, and that's how you help the dispeling the myth uh that are out there about your your organization or about the culture itself.

SPEAKER_01 6:32

So let's talk about detecting the cultural myth. So, Virgil, how does the radar, you know, the proverbial radar, if you will, how does that pick it up? And you know, think about it sort of as language as a clue. So you're sitting amongst leaders. Um, some of those leaders have significantly more tenure in the business, they've got a long history, they've seen a lot of things. Other people in the room, maybe maybe less so. Are there certain phrases or patterns and meetings that immediately make your cultural myth radar go off?

SPEAKER_00 7:04

Absolutely. Absolutely, Nate. And I would first say though, we're in the people business, right? It's our people that make the organization, it's our people that make the culture. So you have to be listening and you have to be looking for those signs. Um, so uh what I always look for though, uh first let me take a step back and say listen to your customers also. I look for the complaints that we get in. So go down to the root of why somebody's complaining. Generally, if you get down to the root of it, it's because someone or the process itself or the experience itself is not living up to the standard of what you've set forth for your organization. So I look, I detect that way, always keeping the 360-degree feedback, making sure we got mechanisms that we can hear, whether it's the call center, whether it's surveys, whether it's focus groups, you gotta listen. And once you listen, that begins my cues. The second thing though is within an organization, employees have to know they have a voice. Well, it kind of gets back to what I said as a principle of our culture. You always have a voice. Employees that are invested in the culture, and employees that are invested in an organization will speak up when you've created the right environment. They'll speak up because they know when someone is not following what we said should be happening. Uh, the other thing I would say though is that who is accountable to ensure that it's happening? This is how you build your culture, also. Well, everyone is. This is not an HR function, uh, this is not a simple uh supervisor, manager, officer function. It's everyone. Everyone needs to hold everyone accountable to living, breeding, repeating, and doing the behaviors that you've outlined and your cultural expectations. So uh, Nate, I look for all the signs through uh the mechanisms of listening to the voice of the employee and listening to the voice of the customer. I love it.

SPEAKER_03 9:04

I want to review and have either of you have either we're about to go on a commercial break, but have either of you ever found a big problem where you're like, these people think they're with the culture, but they're not.

SPEAKER_01 9:16

You know what makes this extremely difficult and actually really risky? In particular, the longer your business uh has existed, they get repeated so often over time in a company, these myths, that people stop testing them. It literally becomes a part of the culture, part of the operating language, part of the invisible script that people read from. They become effectively undetectable. And they can cripple a business because they aren't tested, thus they aren't challenged, and sometimes opportunity can be missed. So the best litmus test, Robert, is to look at a startup. So a startup is like, you know, it's a it's a baby company. Uh it really doesn't have very many myths because its culture has not existed for a long period of time. So then the need for a radar there is less so because and that that's why there's so much opportunity for change. Everything is new, everything can be challenged. In companies that have more tenure, more lifespan, these myths they occur over time like almost like calcium in an artery. Like, you know, like the the higher the higher the cholesterol, the more the more buildup in the artery, and and it stops that success. The blood flow sort of gets it gets jammed, right? And so in these older companies, the ones that the ones that have legacy, to to find opportunity is to detect myths that come as a function of being embedded in the culture. And I think it's really an important temperament to develop in your culture is to always challenge. And that's why I tell people that are coming into my business uh newly, I say, you know, the first six months that you're here will be the most value that you deliver to the business because your cultural myth radar is on high alert. You're gonna, you're not affected by that institutional language per se.

SPEAKER_03 11:07

So we're about to take a commercial break. When we come out back, we're gonna find out how do you actually detect that cultural myth is wrong? And we're dealing with two companies who have huge beloved brands, beloved cultures, have been around for a long time. Back in a few, and you're gonna hear more. We'll get back to the show in just a minute. First, I have a quick question for you. What's in your plan for dinner tonight? If your schedule looks anything like mine, you don't have time to plan for dinner, make another grocery run. That's why I love having Omaha steaks on hand. There's steaks, burgers, chicken, seafood, you name it, arrive expertly pre-portioned, individually vacuum-sealed, flash frozen at peak freshness, so I can cook exactly what I need without wasting anything. With customizable subscription options, my go-to favorites show up seriously fast right at my door on my schedule. And every order backed by a 100% guarantee. It's the smartest way to shop and an easy way to get ready for summer grilling. Visit OmahaStakes.com and use code CEO to get $35 off. That's OmahaStakes.com. Code CEO for $35 off. Terms apply, see site for details. Hi, this is Robert Reese and Nate Rempe, the CEO of Omaha Stakes, and we're with Virgil Miller, the president of AFLAC. We are talking about cultural myths. And we have two companies that have exceptional cultures. We're here to help all of you understand how to detect those cultural myths. I'll tell you a quick story. I was talking with um Doug Conant, the um the CEO of Campbell Soup, and he was trying to turn around the company and build quality, and somehow this myth crept in that he wanted to save money. And they were losing money. Here's what is happening. They're doing so badly, they're taking the chicken out of the chicken noodle soup, putting less and less chicken in. And he said, That's not a good thing. And all of a sudden he comes back, he builds this great cafe, and people said, Look how much money we saved you by doing this. And he's like, that is not the culture, they got it wrong. So, you guys tell me, how do you know when someone gets the cultural myth wrong? You both have these beautiful cultures.

SPEAKER_00 13:39

Yeah, and I would like to say that, you know, sometimes they don't realize it. But uh when Nate was speaking a few moments ago, I want to give an example to what he just said, especially in our business, you know, we we are innovative in creating new products to meet the needs of consumers. Oh, I used to hear it all the time. Uh, we tried that before, right? That product line doesn't work. The consumers don't want that, we don't make money off of that, uh, the shareholders won't be happy. I've heard all those things. And the best way to put an end to that, though, is to say to create a culture or a process or an experience where people are rewarded to bring innovative idea and innovative thoughts. Well, I'll give you a great example. Uh, there's a product I was recently looking into, and I was told by some of the more tenured people, although I've been here now 22 years, I was told by some of the more tenured people we've gone down that road before. It doesn't work, right? And I said, okay, how do you know that you didn't miss something when you went down that road before? And it really starts with data though, uh, kind of going back and saying, you know, in this particular case, uh let's let's go out and listen to the consumer. Let's do some consumer research, let's take a step back, and then let's look at what you did before and compare it. The point though is inside of a culture, this word innovation gets thrown around all the time, and automatically people start thinking of technology and AI. But innovation is just being different, not for the sake of being different or leading change for disruptive reasons. It is to evolve as the market may have evolved, as consumer requirements and demands have evolved. So I try to make sure, though, that in the culture, you've got to reward and encourage people to bring that stuff forward, regardless of the previous paradigms or the myths. You must have a mechanism to bring it forward.

SPEAKER_01 15:39

That's great. I think one of the things that's really important about this hack to note is this is really only about detection, not proving something right or wrong. So if you're in a discussion about innovation, the radar, as it does in a military situation, doesn't tell you what's on the screen, right? What type of ship or what type of boat or whatever, right?

SPEAKER_03 16:02

What type of weapon and that is good because Virgil has a military background. There you go, right?

SPEAKER_01 16:09

So the radar is only saying, hey, something is there uh and it's detecting something. And similarly, the cultural myth radar is intended to just put up your spidey sense as a leader, as an innovator, as a CEO, for example, to say, you know, that doesn't sound right. I'm gonna step away after the discussion and really investigate, go deeper. Like you said, Virgil, look at data, look at the trends, really understand whether or not that is in fact true. And then the thing that is required after that step is courage, is courage to go in and challenge the status quo, challenge the myth, and use that data that you went away and and discovered to prove your point and to back you up when you actually challenge the myth in a public setting. So I think really the detection is of what we're talking about here. That's the only thing we're really talking about that it's important to have that spidey sense to detect the myth so you can take the next next step to prove it right or wrong. And I would say with one last note, and I'll hand it back to you, Virgil. I'd love your thoughts on this, is a lot of times it isn't really a no, it's a yes and. Have you heard that before? So, you know, it's you know, we we try that or we can't do that, or the customer doesn't want that. It really, the customer didn't want that in the past, but you know, what if we took this different approach or or what if we did this and gave them this other benefit? Um, that can be the unlock by which you change something that is a myth, which might have a sprinkle of historical truth to it. Um, and not to forget the fact that maybe at one point in time this was not an idea that was effective. But in today's world, or at this point in time in the in the company's life cycle, it's worth another shot and we'll we'll learn from the past but adapt to the future.

SPEAKER_03 17:58

Yeah, so I'm gonna leave the sum up to Virgil, but I'll just say one thing. When you said that and I remember Daniel Vetsky, who's the founder of the famous Kind bars, and he said his whole philosophy was it's not about or because you want to do one or the other. It's about the and bringing things in where you open up more opportunities. But on that note, when we're talking about our spidey detection for cultural myths, let's have the sum up from um with this great AFLAC company, Virgil. Tell us what your sum-up of this, your advice to people is.

SPEAKER_00 18:33

Yeah, well, a quick note on that, yes, and you know, we we've ran we've run uh reward programs called Yes and that's how you just generate new ideas. We've also run just stop it. You'll get to the root of when when you ask employees to tell you what there's some things to stop, or you'll get to some of these paradigms because they will they will boldly tell you where some of them exist. Uh where I was going with this though, going back to uh uh my military background and my marine voice, Robert, I think I may share with this this with you in a prior conversation, but attention to detail matters. And if you're talking about detection, one way to detect is require your leaders to walk their own process, right? Walk the process yourself. And so, in other words, when you go out and start looking at everything that you've got documented about how something should work, you start asking the whys, though, why does it work this way? Should it work this way? Is this best for the organization? Is this best for the consumer? And then I have them walk the process, test themselves. When you mention the call center, well, call the call center yourself. Ask some of those questions to the person on the other line, and you'll see if some of those myths exist. Uh, and that that is something I require our team to do. The last thing I'll say though about culture, though, kind of summing this up and putting a stamp on it, though, is when I was thinking about walk the process, one of the things I'll say about culture is walk the talk. Just walk the talk, right? Instead of talking it, walk it. And when you start walking it and leading it, you'll set a tone for the entire behavior of the organization.

SPEAKER_03 20:10

That's great. And there, there you have it, everyone. And remember, on behalf of Nate and myself, great having Virgil as a guest. And remember that you have one job to do: detect the myth. See you next time.

SPEAKER_02 20:26

When you ground your decision making in fact rather than myth, you make stronger, smarter decisions. It keeps your company moving in the right direction and helps you avoid the pitfalls that occur when reality and myth collide. For more on today's hack, download the free Brain of Command Companion Guide at OmahaStakes.comslash podcast. Join us next time as we recap our hacks and discuss our favorite moments. And don't forget to like, subscribe, and tell your colleagues that you're hacking your career with Brain of Command.