Making Culture a Competitive Advantage

CultureasCompetitiveAdvantage

SteveCadigan,@scadigan

WinningintheNewReality

Theanswertothisquestionsaysitall

Whoisyourmaincompetitor

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WinningTodayAin’t Easy

• Hardtopredictthefuture

• Whoreallybelievesa5yearplan?

• Barriertoentrylowerthanever

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LinkedInStory

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• Createanamazingcompany

• Transformationjourney

• Unexpectedsuccess

ResultsDotheTalkin’

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• LinkedIngrewstafffrom400to5,000in5years• ConsideredoneoftopIPOsofpastdecade• Doubledrevenuewhiledoublingemployeebasey/y• "Disrupted"anindustry• $26Bexitinonly13yearsfrombirth• Builta"world class"company

TheBillionDollarQuestions

• Howdoyoubuildacompanywhen:allyourleadersarerecruitingmostofthetime?

• Howdoyoudoublerevenueseveryyearwhen:youremployeebasedoubleseveryyear?

• Howdoyouavoidsuffocatingfrom:theweightofyoursuccess?

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TheIronyofLinkedIn’sSuccess

Onpaperthiswasnotsupposedtohappen!

BigChallenges

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• Scalingwithoutcrumbling

• Culture,Communication,OrgLayers,Titles…• ConstantChanges,GrowthandComplexity

• Newpeople,offices,countries,policies…• Whatbusinessarewein?

• HowdoIfocusmyteaminchaos?

MoreChallenges

• Howdoyoubeatthebestcompaniesintheworldinwarfortalent:• Google,Apple,Facebook,Netflix,Amazon…

• Wehadnobrand!!• “Linked…What???”

• Andyet…..wesucceeded

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TheUntoldStoriesofSuccess

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• Execteam“rookies”/firsttimers

• FirsttimeCEO

• Complexbusinessmodel

• Realcompetitivethreats(Google,Facebook&…)

• The“pain”ofgrowth

InflectionPoint

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• Biggestimpedimenttoourgrowth?• Hiringtoptechtalent

• Ourmainbusinessproduct?• Recruitingproduct

• Ourbiggest pain point?

Career“Transformation”

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CulturewasourFocus

• “Whatkindofcompanydowewanttobe?”

• Everyonebuildsawinningculture

• “Wewantthistobethebestjobyoueverhad!”

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HowDidWeAchieveSuccess?

• Listening

• Culture++

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DrivingCareerVelocityDeliveringtransformation

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• Talentwasour#1priorityasacompany

• Careervelocitymattered

• Career“bursts”

• Wetoreup“oneyearbeforeyoucanapply”

WeFocusedonourBrand

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• Issue:weneededtostandoutinacrowd• Solution:• Amazingexperiences• Guestspeakers• Workisan"adventure"

• Virtuouscyclecreated• Messageamplification

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IfTalentisyourdifferentiatorthen…• Youmustlearnfromyourtalent• Listeningandcollectinginformationisessential• Informationinformsstrategy• Informationprovidesinsightstoadjustcourse

• YouMUSThaveaListeningStrategytoday

NewAssets

WewonwithCulture

• InDays creation

• Inspirationalspeakers

• Creating– awesome experiences

• Careertransformation

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…Welistenedtothestoriesandresponded

ThePathForward

• Theworldisincreasinglytransparent

• Youmusthaveagreatcultureorgreattalentwillnotwanttojoinorstay

• Employerbrandisreal• Sorealyoushouldnottryto“produce”• Yourbrandmustbeauthentic

• Culturemorecriticalthanever@scadigan

InSummary

Culturecanbeyour“competitiveadvantage"

• Storiesareyourbrand

• Areyoucreatingexperiencesworthtalkingabout?

• Ishavinganawesomecultureapriority?

• Firststepisbuildingalisteningstrategy

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SummaryThoughts

• Youcanwinagainstbetterbrands• Withbiggerarsenals

• Youcanbeworld classasafirst timer

• Everyoneengagedinbuildingyourcompanyispowerful!

@scadigan

Questions?

Thankyou!