The Culture Gap Podcast
Conversations with leaders driving culture change in organizations.
THRUUE’s founder, Daniel Forrester, is sitting down with leaders across industries to learn how they are closing the gaps between their business strategy and the culture of their organizations. The Culture Gap Podcast uncovers stories of culture change in organizations through purpose, values, and vision.
Season 4
Daniel Coyle, New York Times Bestselling Author
Daniel Coyle is the New York Times bestselling author of The Culture Code, which was named Best Business Book of the Year by Bloomberg, BookPal, and Business Insider. Coyle has served as an advisor to many high-performing organizations, including the Navy SEALs, Microsoft, Google, and the Cleveland Guardians. His other books include just released The Culture Playbook, The Talent Code, The Secret Race, The Little Book of Talent, and Hardball: A Season in the Projects, which was made into a movie starring Keanu Reeves.
Tune in to listen to Daniel Coyle discuss the theory of why strong cultures are crucial to teams’ success and provides listeners with advice on how to forge a strong and enduring culture.
Season 3
Adrienne Penta, Executive Director at Brown Brothers Harriman
Adrienne Penta is the Executive Director for the 200-year-old company and oldest private bank on Wall Street, Brown Brothers Harriman and their Center for Women and Wealth. A lawyer by training, Adrienne joined Brown Brothers in 2008, and in 2014, spearheaded the launch of the Center for Women & Wealth, dedicated to serving women and the wealth that they control.
Susan Bratton, Founder and CEO of Savor Health
Susan Bratton is the Founder and CEO of Savor Health, a start-up that harnesses the power of data and algorithms to provide an unprecedented service of personalization of nutrition for those dealing with multiple types of cancer. By leveraging data science, expert knowledge, and scientific literature, Savor Health delivers prescriptive nutrition interventions to cancer patients, helping them on their road to recovery.
Heather McGowan, Leader, Thinker & Future-of-Work Strategist (Part 1 and 2)
Heather McGowan is an extraordinary leader, thinker, and future-of-work strategist. She is an author and speaker who has a lot of insight about the future of work, the future of our relationships with one another, and the skills it will take to thrive in the fourth industrial revolution. Heather is not one to tout a dystopian future but believes that humans need to think differently about how we prepare for work and how we work in order to thrive in the future of it.
Tracey Brown, CEO of the American Diabetes Association (Part 1 and 2)
Tracey Brown is the CEO of the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and a dynamic and transformative leader. Prior to her current role at the ADA, Tracey was working with Sam’s Club and Walmart and made some significant strides during her tenure there. Today, she is changing lives and impacting others with her work at the ADA as the sixth CEO in five years. Tracey had to deal with an organization in decline and one that had endured a lot of disruption caused by the frequent changes in leadership.
Dee Ann Turner, Veteran of Chick-fil-A, Inc. (Part 1 and 2)
Dee Ann Turner is a retired veteran of Chick-fil-A who spent 33 years rising to be one of the first female officers of this iconic company. Dee Ann started in HR before eventually leading the talent and franchisee selection and the sustainability division, in the last part of her career at Chick-fil-A. She also helped to design the talent systems and processes of the culture of Chick-fil-A, and in July 2018, Dee Ann ventured out on her own to start her own company. Today, she is an author, speaker, consultant and coach at helping organizations globally strengthen their organizational culture and talent systems.
In the second part of this two-part episode of The Culture Gap, Dee Ann sheds light on how she helped Chick-fil-A to design an intentional culture in which every single customer experience went above and beyond expectations, and how principles rather than rules helped make this possible. She also shares her wisdom about accountability, scaling for growth, and the intersection of customer and employee experience. Find out more about some of the many lessons she has reflected on in writing her three books.
Season 2
Carly Fiorina, American Businesswoman and Political Figure
Carly Fiorina is an American businesswoman and political figure known most commonly for her time as the CEO of Hewlett-Packard and her presidential run in 2016. She started out as a secretary and during the course of her long and illustrious career, worked her way up to become a Chief Executive of the largest technology company in the world. She has run for President, has run charities, and is a mother, author, and leader on many different fronts.
In this episode of The Culture Gap, the second of two episodes featuring Carly, she talks about the lessons she learned in closing the culture gaps during her time at HP, and the other leadership takeaways it comes to enforcing company culture across the organization. She also shares her views on the Me Too movement and the importance of considering a company’s social impact.
Nikki Barua, CEO of Beyond Curious
Nikki Barua is a serial entrepreneur who runs Beyond Curious, a digital transformation consulting firm focused on helping big companies be more agile and adaptive. She is a speaker, an author, and a change agent with a really big mission to touch a billion lives — someone who is inspired by human potential and wants to be a catalyst to unlock it.
Shalom “Shal” Jacobvitz, CEO of CiVi Biopharma and Former CEO of the American College of Cardiology
Shalom “Shal” Jacobovitz is currently the CEO of CiVi Biopharma, a brand new start-up, in his 4th CEO position. Shal was born in Israel, raised in Montreal, has lived around the world, serving in various organizations. He started his career in sales and marketing and has largely been in the field of cardiology and the pharmaceutical industry, eventually becoming the CEO of the American College of Cardiology from 2013 to 2018.
Tim Kuppler, Director of Culture and Organization Development for Human Synergistics International (Part 1 of 2)
Tim Kuppler is a world-renowned expert in culture management, with over 20 years of experience in the industry. After an illustrious business career, Tim now serves as the Director of Culture and Organization Development for Human Synergistics International (HSI), a pioneer in the culture space.
Tim Kuppler, Director of Culture and Organization Development for Human Synergistics International (Part 2 of 2)
Tim Kuppler is a world-renowned expert in culture management, with over 20 years of experience in the industry. After an illustrious business career, Tim now serves as the Director of Culture and Organization Development for Human Synergistics International (HSI), a pioneer in the culture space.
Karen Wawrzaszek, Certified Financial Planner and Community Activist (Part 1 of 2)
Karen Wawrzaszek is a Certified Financial Planner, a social entrepreneur, and a community activist. She has over 20 years of experience operating at the intersection of business, wealth management, commerce, and social impact and has dedicated her career to connecting the professional space with the community.
Karen Wawrzaszek, Certified Financial Planner and Community Activist (Part 2 of 2)
Karen Wawrzaszek is a Certified Financial Planner, a social entrepreneur, and a community activist. She has over 20 years of experience operating at the intersection of business, wealth management, commerce, and social impact and has dedicated her career to connecting the professional space with the community.
Jillian Grennan, Assistant Professor of Finance, Fuqua School of Business, Duke University (Part 1 of 2)
Jillian Grennan is an academic with a specialty in corporate finance and she teaches at the Fuqua School of Business at the Duke University. She has produced some incredible work about looking at and measuring corporate culture without even being inside the firm. She has done a lot of research on culture to try and understand the value added by culture for firms and also has a strong corporate background that lends itself to her areas of expertise.
Jillian Grennan, Assistant Professor of Finance, Fuqua School of Business, Duke University (Part 2 of 2)
Jillian Grennan is an academic with a specialty in corporate finance and she teaches at the Fuqua School of Business at the Duke University. She has produced some incredible work about looking at and measuring corporate culture without even being inside the firm. She has done a lot of research on culture to try and understand the value added by culture for firms and also has a strong corporate background that lends itself to her areas of expertise.
Gen. Stanley McChrystal, Retired Commander of Joint Special Operations Command (Part 1 of 2)
Gen. Stanley McChrystal is best known for his command of Joint Special Operations in the mid-2000s, in the context of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is a nationally and internationally known speaker and thinker on the subject of leadership, with multiple best-selling books, including a new book, Leaders: Myth and Reality. In 2011, he founded McChrystal Group, a leadership advisory services firm that helps organizations navigate leadership challenges.
Gen. Stanley McChrystal, Retired Commander of Joint Special Operations Command (Part 2 of 2)
Gen. Stanley McChrystal is best known for his command of Joint Special Operations in the mid-2000s, in the context of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is a nationally and internationally known speaker and thinker on the subject of leadership, with multiple best-selling books, including a new book, Leaders: Myth and Reality. In 2011, he founded McChrystal Group, a leadership advisory services firm that helps organizations navigate leadership challenges.
Ginger Hardage, Former Senior Vice President of Culture and Communications at Southwest Airlines (Part 1 of 2)
Ginger Hardage is the just-retired Senior Vice President of Culture and Communications from an iconic American company with one of the most celebrated cultures of all time, Southwest Airlines. With her background in marketing, Ginger started her career in the oil industry, then moved to the insurance industry before serving for 25 years at Southwest.
Ginger Hardage, Former Senior Vice President of Culture and Communications at Southwest Airlines (Part 2 of 2)
Ginger Hardage is the just-retired Senior Vice President of Culture and Communications from an iconic American company with one of the most celebrated cultures of all time, Southwest Airlines. With her background in marketing, Ginger started her career in the oil industry, then moved to the insurance industry before serving for 25 years at Southwest. Her latest venture is Unstoppable Cultures, an organization dedicated to helping build and sustain brands that are truly unstoppable.
David Mead, Igniter at Start With Why (Part 1 of 2)
David Mead is an Igniter with and is tied to one of the great minds of our time in the world of culture, purpose, mission — Simon Sinek and his company. David is globally recognized as the How guy to Simon’s Why, and co-authored Find Your Why. He also has years of practical experience working with organizations in different roles and uses this expertise in his current position to help other companies discover and articulate their ‘why.’
David Mead, Igniter at Start With Why (Part 2 of 2)
David Mead is an Igniter with and is tied to one of the great minds of our time in the world of culture, purpose, mission — Simon Sinek and his company. David is globally recognized as the How guy to Simon’s Why, and co-authored Find Your Why. He also has years of practical experience working with organizations in different roles and uses this expertise in his current position to help other companies discover and articulate their ‘why.’
Season 1
Tom Lynch, Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors, TE Connectivity
Tom Lynch is the current Executive Chairman of the Board of TE Connectivity, a publicly-traded technology company that designs and manufactures electronic and connectivity products used in a variety of industries. Tom has spent many years in business, serving as CEO of TE Connectivity from 2006 to 2017, and subsequently took on the role as Chairman of the Board at TE as well.
Colonel David Sutherland, Retired Military Leaders and Founder of Sutherland Partnership
Colonel David Sutherland served 30 years in the U.S. Army and retired in 2012. He is passionate about the veterans, military families, and families of the fallen. He is also the President and Founder of the Sutherland Partnership, an organization dedicated to developing leaders, values, and culture within other corporations and organizations.
Kami Bond, Senior Vice President of People at Uptake
Kami Bond is the Senior Vice President of People at Uptake, a Chicago-based predictive analytics company that was recently valued at over $2 billion and was considered one of Forbes’ hottest startups in America. Prior to her role at Uptake, Kami has had a wonderful career in various companies such as Cielo Talent, Aon Hewitt, GE Healthcare and Sapient. She has been in the human capital space for about 20 years in technology or technology-enabled professional services organizations and is now a dedicated career-mom.
Mitchell Reiss, President and CEO of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Mitchell Reiss is the President and CEO of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. He has a long and illustrious career in various areas – in the private sector practicing law, in the diplomatic space as the ambassador for the U.S.A. in Northern Ireland, in academia, in running Washington College, and for the past three years, in running one of the most iconic institutions in the U.S.
Dr. Cliff Hudis, CEO of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)
Dr. Cliff Hudis is the CEO of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). A medical oncologist by profession, he spent three decades at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, one of the most iconic institutions in the world, and served as Chief of the Breast Medicine Service from 1998 to 2016. In June 2016, he took on the role of CEO at ASCO, where he gets to lead the conversation globally about where the profession is going.
