About the Guest(s):

Kristy Farewell is the founder of Kairos Insights, a consultancy specializing in strategy, culture, and coaching. With a rich career offering executive leadership and advisory roles across Fortune 500 companies, Kristy's expertise spans over two decades. She previously served as an executive coach at the Center for Creative Leadership, one of the most elite leadership programs globally. Her work is deeply informed by her early life experiences and a unique perspective on ecosystem thinking and organizational health.

Episode Summary:

In this engaging episode of "Growing Your Business with People," host Jeff Lackey sits down with Kristy Farewell, the founder of Kairos Insights. The duo delves into the importance of strategy, culture, and leadership in steering organizations toward success. Kristy shares her invaluable insights drawn from her extensive experience in coaching and advisory roles, and she highlights the pivotal moments that have shaped her understanding of organizational dynamics.

Kristy kicks off by explaining the crucial role of culture in shaping how an organization functions and interacts. Using vivid personal anecdotes, she discusses her journey from working with Fortune 500 companies to founding Kairos Insights. She outlines how organizations often underutilize leadership potential by overemphasizing functional expertise over actual leadership capabilities. Kristy also shares a success story of transforming a faith-based nonprofit's culture through thoughtful, systematic change and care for the leadership team.

Key Takeaways:

Understand the 'Why': Leaders must invest time in understanding the core motivations and personal 'why' of their team members to foster engagement and discretionary effort.

Systematic Culture Assessment: Culture should be evaluated through a systematic approach, looking at behaviors, systems, processes, and structures.

Leadership Capability is Key: The success or failure of an organization is largely dependent on the intersection of organizational health and leadership capability.

Strategic Leadership Team: Transitioning from a group merely running segments of a business to a unified strategic leadership team can be transformative.

Care in Change Management: Successful cultural transformation involves care and systematic processes, especially during leadership transitions.

Notable Quotes:

"If the system is jacked up, so is the way that we're working together, it's usually inefficient." - Kristy Farewell

"Your people strategy should be a part of your organizational strategy." - Kristy Farewell

"Understanding their 'why' can lead to a highly engaged employee, resulting in discretionary effort." - Kristy Farewell

"The success or failure of an organization is at the intersection of organizational health and leadership capability." - Kristy Farewell

"Invest in understanding your people and invest in developing your people with more specific and customized training programs." - Kristy Farewell

Resources:

Paradox AI: Mentioned as a sponsor of the podcast, providing advanced AI recruiting solutions.

Kairos Insights: Kristy Farewell’s consultancy focusing on strategy, culture, and coaching.

Center for Creative Leadership: A recognized elite program for leadership development.

Listen to the full episode for more in-depth insights and practical advice on cultivating a thriving organizational culture and driving business success with people. Stay tuned for more enlightening content from "Growing Your Business with People."