making culture a competitive advantage
TRANSCRIPT
CultureasCompetitiveAdvantage
SteveCadigan,@scadigan
WinningintheNewReality
Theanswertothisquestionsaysitall
Whoisyourmaincompetitor
@scadigan
?
WinningTodayAin’t Easy
• Hardtopredictthefuture
• Whoreallybelievesa5yearplan?
• Barriertoentrylowerthanever
@scadigan
LinkedInStory
@scadigan
• Createanamazingcompany
• Transformationjourney
• Unexpectedsuccess
ResultsDotheTalkin’
@scadigan
• LinkedIngrewstafffrom400to5,000in5years• ConsideredoneoftopIPOsofpastdecade• Doubledrevenuewhiledoublingemployeebasey/y• "Disrupted"anindustry• $26Bexitinonly13yearsfrombirth• Builta"world class"company
TheBillionDollarQuestions
• Howdoyoubuildacompanywhen:allyourleadersarerecruitingmostofthetime?
• Howdoyoudoublerevenueseveryyearwhen:youremployeebasedoubleseveryyear?
• Howdoyouavoidsuffocatingfrom:theweightofyoursuccess?
@scadigan
@scadigan
TheIronyofLinkedIn’sSuccess
Onpaperthiswasnotsupposedtohappen!
BigChallenges
@scadigan
• 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
@scadigan
TheUntoldStoriesofSuccess
@scadigan
• Execteam“rookies”/firsttimers
• FirsttimeCEO
• Complexbusinessmodel
• Realcompetitivethreats(Google,Facebook&…)
• The“pain”ofgrowth
InflectionPoint
@scadigan
• Biggestimpedimenttoourgrowth?• Hiringtoptechtalent
• Ourmainbusinessproduct?• Recruitingproduct
• Ourbiggest pain point?
Career“Transformation”
@scadigan
CulturewasourFocus
• “Whatkindofcompanydowewanttobe?”
• Everyonebuildsawinningculture
• “Wewantthistobethebestjobyoueverhad!”
@scadigan
HowDidWeAchieveSuccess?
• Listening
• Culture++
@scadigan
DrivingCareerVelocityDeliveringtransformation
@scadigan
• Talentwasour#1priorityasacompany
• Careervelocitymattered
• Career“bursts”
• Wetoreup“oneyearbeforeyoucanapply”
WeFocusedonourBrand
@scadigan
• Issue:weneededtostandoutinacrowd• Solution:• Amazingexperiences• Guestspeakers• Workisan"adventure"
• Virtuouscyclecreated• Messageamplification
@scadigan
IfTalentisyourdifferentiatorthen…• Youmustlearnfromyourtalent• Listeningandcollectinginformationisessential• Informationinformsstrategy• Informationprovidesinsightstoadjustcourse
• YouMUSThaveaListeningStrategytoday
NewAssets
WewonwithCulture
• InDays creation
• Inspirationalspeakers
• Creating– awesome experiences
• Careertransformation
@scadigan
…Welistenedtothestoriesandresponded
ThePathForward
• Theworldisincreasinglytransparent
• Youmusthaveagreatcultureorgreattalentwillnotwanttojoinorstay
• Employerbrandisreal• Sorealyoushouldnottryto“produce”• Yourbrandmustbeauthentic
• Culturemorecriticalthanever@scadigan
InSummary
Culturecanbeyour“competitiveadvantage"
• Storiesareyourbrand
• Areyoucreatingexperiencesworthtalkingabout?
• Ishavinganawesomecultureapriority?
• Firststepisbuildingalisteningstrategy
@scadigan
SummaryThoughts
• Youcanwinagainstbetterbrands• Withbiggerarsenals
• Youcanbeworld classasafirst timer
• Everyoneengagedinbuildingyourcompanyispowerful!
@scadigan
Questions?
Thankyou!