Scaling Culture & Developing a Common Ideology: Emerge and Evolve, Episode 7

1024 768 David DeWolf

Earlier in my career as a CEO, our Chief Growth Officer Bobby Christian and I butted heads over whether culture is something that can be managed and cultivated. Bobby believes culture is something that more or less “just happens,” and to try to shape it is a fool’s errand.

I disagree. One of the reasons I’m so firmly in the “culture can be cultivated” camp is because I’ve not only seen it happen, 3Pillar has experienced the benefits of it. We’ve been intentional about making sure we develop our culture and continually re-enforce a sense of shared values at 3Pillar. From refreshing our core values several years ago to giving ongoing global trainings around the Product Mindset, we certainly couldn’t scale culture as effectively, if at all, without one of my most reliable partners when it comes to all things culture: Jamie Whitacre.

Jamie is the definition of an evolving leader. Today, she is 3Pillar Global’s Chief People Officer. Twelve and a half years ago, she joined 3Pillar in an Accounting role as her first job out of James Madison. It didn’t take her long to figure out that Accounting wasn’t for her. Fortunately for me and 3Pillar, she has proven that Talent is much more her cup of tea. Jamie has repeatedly risen through the ranks at 3Pillar in no small part because she understands the important role culture plays in attracting and retaining some of the best talent in the world.

That, in a nutshell, is why scaling ideology, culture, and values should be so important to any leader. I believe that 3Pillar’s well-established culture is one of the main reasons we’ve been able to continue growing at a rapid rate — 3Pillar just won a Stevie award for rapid growth — in what has been an extremely challenging global hiring environment for most companies the last 2 years.

Watch Episode 7: Scaling Culture & Developing a Common Ideology

Tune in to the full episode of Emerge and Evolve via YouTube below.

Listen to Episode 7: Scaling Culture & Developing a Common Ideology

You can hear the full conversation with Jamie using the Spotify embed or via links to any of the other platforms listed in the show notes.

Show Notes