The Culture Gap Podcast

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

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.

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.

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 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 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 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 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 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 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

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.

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.