Change The Game Podcast: Recent Episodes
The Great Game of Business
Hosted by Rich Armstrong and Steve Baker the Change the Game podcast highlights true life stories of organizations influencing positive change by doing business differently. They’re teaching people how business works and closing the gap between the haves and have-nots. It’s capitalism at its best. Inside each episode, you’ll discover stories of entrepreneurs who are Changing the Game.
On this podcast episode, Taylor St. Germain from ITR Economics joins Jack Stack and Kylie Jackson to discuss the power of using accurate economic data to inform your business decisions, forecast obstacles, and take advantage of opportunities in the future. The Great Game of Business has partnered with ITR Economics to bring you the "Guess the GDP of Q4 2023 Challenge." Here's your chance to showcase your forecasting skills and walk away with a $1000 prize! Learn more about our forecasting challenge here: https://www.greatgame.com/forecasting-challenge
Dave Scholten, International Business Coach with The Great Game of Business, dives into a difficult subject, layoffs. He discusses with Steve Baker the best way to approach layoffs and how honest communication is the only way to talk with your team.
Corey Rosen, Founder and Senior Staff Member of NCEO, talks about his new book, Ownership, Reinventing Companies, Capitalism, and Who Owns What, and discusses what the future of employee ownership looks like.
Sergio Paiz, CEO of PDC Comercial, discusses how he improved his company and transformed the lives of his workers at the 2022 Conference in Kansas City.
Jason Hynson, Executive Director of Victory Mission, discusses how important HR is when it comes to taking care of the people they serve and the staff who serves those people, mental health and job stability are also big focal points for Victory Mission.
Justin Jordan, President and CEO of Essential Ingredients, and Kris Maynard, Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of Essential Ingredients, discuss how they use the succession planning process to influence who will participate in the Conference, how they use the Conference to bring up emerging leaders, and what they will be talking about in their breakout session at the Conference this year.
Ari Weinzweig, Co-Founder of Zingerman's Community of Businesses, talks about the natural laws of business, the four elements of visioning, and the recipe for visioning.
Suranga Herath, Founder and CEO of English Tea Shop, discusses Sri Lanka's most unprecedented economic and social upheaval in its history, and the future of the world's supply chain with social and economic inequalities worldwide.
Loren Feldman, Editor in Chief and Founder of 21 Hats, warns against falling prey to the doom and gloom predictions, and discusses how smart companies are prepared for the worst but expect the best, and how young people are looking at business differently.
Charlotte Eckley, COO of SRC Logistics, discusses what she looks for when hiring a new candidate, the importance of holding yourself accountable when committing to a new employee, and how to maximize the people you have when you can't afford to bring on new talent.
Hillary Hughes and Tom DeSimone from Prairie Capital Advisors discuss the cultural aspect of an employee-owned company, using an ESOP to build wealth for your people, and how to position an ESOP as a benefit that attracts employees.
Thanks for tuning into this episode featuring Ryan Markewich. In this episode, Ryan talks on the importance of understanding and bringing value to your niche, and how The Game is not an event, but a journey.
Thanks for tuning in to our first episode of our segment, the Coaches' Table where we bring our Great Game of Business Certified Coaches together for discussions on industry-related hot topics. This episode features coaches, John Williams, Dave Scholten, and Kevin Walter, as they discuss specific challenges their clients in the construction and remodeling industry are facing today. And their recommendations for tackling those issues and preparing for the future with the principles of Great Game.
Thanks for tuning in to this episode of the Change the Game podcast with special guest and Great Game of Business Certified Coach, Anne-Claire Broughton. In this episode, Steve Baker highlights Anne-Claire's work with her international client Chillireeze. She shares about their initiatives to provide financial literacy training, their own signature "Inspire" course on their company values, culture and work ethic, and how they maintain up to 15 impactful MiniGames at once.
In this episode, Steve and Rich are entertained by two ladies of theatre, Beth Domann and Lorianne Dunn, as they discuss tapping the creative energy you already have in the business for solutions to problems, how hiring the right people means you've already done 90% of the work, and by all means Have Fun!
Jackie Greene from ITR economics discusses how to be better prepared, so you are not caught off guard. Why you should ditch the losers and love the difference between disinflation and deflation.
This episode was recorded at a live roundtable event discussing the benefits and pitfalls of being an ESOP company. It is not required to be an ESOP company to enjoy the benefits of the Great Game of Businesses practice and principles, but they definitely pair well together.
David Gilliland (Elite Entrepreneurs) discusses how leadership is an exercise in relinquishing control. How three times growth is about having the right team, and the importance of looking ahead to what your company can do when it's doing $1,000/hour work.
John Williams (Great GameTM Coach) and Jim Sliker (CEO of Central States Manufacturing) talk about how strategic planning is a process, not an event, that developing people is as important as strategy, and outline the three-step plan to leadership success.
Jack Stack (SRC Holdings) and Brandon Lockhart (The Great Game of Business) highlight the baby boomer vs millennial perspective on what is competition, teaching people how to win, and how do we handle the loss.
In this episode, Tom DeSimone and Hillary Hughes from Prairie Capital Advisors interview our very own Rich Armstrong on what is an ownership mentality? Is it created or taught? And what is the difference between an ESOP, private, and public company?
In this episode, Art Goldammer and Aaron Tackett from Verity Homes talk about their brand promise and core values, and how breaking methodology creates a more fiscally responsible employee who has a deeper understanding of how every dollar spent impacts the bottom line.
Chuck Monico talks to Rich and Steve about the importance of learning, keeping it simple, and how teaching financial literacy to your team can help them ask better questions and be better team members.
In this episode, Steve Baker looks back on 2021 and highlights some of his favorite podcasts over the last year.
Ellen Rohr, co-founder of the ZOOM DRAIN Franchise, joins the podcast to talk about how to set the stage for learning common mistakes businesses make and how profit and cash will fix everything.
This episode was recorded at a live roundtable event discussing the benefits and pitfalls of being an ESOP company. It is not required to be an ESOP company to enjoy the benefits of the Great Game of Businesses practice and principles, but they definitely pair well together.
In this episode, we step into the mind's eye of Steve Baker as he talks about his 2021 goal to read one book a week, how we turned his car into a classroom, and which of the 88 books he has consumed this year, we'll make it to his 2022 to read it again list.
Michael Kiolbassa, President at Kiolbassa Smoked Meats, describes how unconscious commitments were holding him back, how values-based leadership training put the organization on the right path, and how opening the books magnified the trust in his organization and unleashed creativity.
In this episode, Rich and Steve discuss with Tom DeSimone and Hillary Hughes (Prairie Capital Advisors) ways to transition ownership of a business to the employees, the signs that it might be time to start thinking about transitioning, and when is the best time to start planning.
Liz Wilder, President at Anthony Wilder Design/Build gives a heartfelt talk on inspiring others to build their dreams and weathering the storm during a recession by using every single measure to save every single job.
This week we pull from the vault a moving presentation from Clark Gey. Clarke discusses how fairness and equality are not the same thing, why you should not read entitlements in your company, and the power of purpose.
Casey Hildebrandt, Owner of Hildebrandt Tree Tech, tells Steve how being a Great Game company helped to calm the storm, built his confidence as a leader and allowed him to not carry the entire burden of the business alone.
In this episode, Jack Stack reads chapter 7 from Change The Game. This chapter shares a story of a struggling theatre's turnaround just by opening the books.
Rich Armstrong, President at The Great Game of Business, discusses our Great Game Conference highlighting stories from our All Star companies who used The Game to thrive during the pandemic. How using High-Involvement Planning can help you better position your business for the future, and how Great Game practices can improve the productivity of the workforce to combat the current labor shortage.
Highlighting people in different levels of their ESOP journey. A company owner transitioning into ESOP for the betterment of his people, a retired Employee-Owner, and a current and 2nd generation Employee-Owner.
In recognition of ESOPtober, we pulled from the vault, a recording of Rob Zicaro, former frontline employee at Web industries. Rob is now an ESOP Crusader spreading the word on employee ownership. In this speech at a past Great Game of Business Conference, Rob talked about open-book management through the eyes of an employee owner, and he shared a clip from the 1990s when he addressed President Clinton about ESOP companies.
In this episode Rich and Steve discuss with Mike Keesee, President/CEO at Total Solutions Group, how playing The Great Game of Business has helped his team make it through the last year, what is his win often theory and what he sees for the future of Total Solutions Group.
Jack Stack discusses how the Great Game of Business' living lab SRC Holdings, is using the Game to help get through the current cycle, what Jack sees as the future for SRC Holdings and trends or concerns we should all be watching out for in 2022.
Alan Beaulieu joins Steve and Rich to talk about how surviving the war on talent means having a sticky culture, why we are seeing an inflation that is heading to a recession, followed by a depression, and how you can move your allocations to inflation adjusted assets to weather the storm.
Steve Jones, CEO at Jenner Ag, shares how having a model of Working Together as One and having employees that know the numbers of the business have helped propel their business through every roadmap in their way.
Darein Gandall joins to talk about how Cisco-Eagle is careful not to be money drunk, why huddles are so important to their team, and how Minigames have helped to get them through the pandemic.
Jack Stack joins Rich and Steve to talk about what you can expect at The 29th Annual Great Game of Business Conference, including Jack’s secrets on how he has been able to predict and overcome the last three recessions.
Podcast guest, Tim Rettig, talks about why he is so passionate about making work fun for everyone and why he's signed a pledge along with 50 other Cincinnati businesses, vowing to not lay off any employees due to the coronavirus pandemic.
This episode was recorded at a live roundtable event with 3 Great Game of Business practitioners sharing their different stories of being an ESOP.
Howard Partridge reveals how his relationship with Zig Ziglar changed his mind set and business. Howard will also tell you the number one thing a small business owner can take away from his years of experience as a Zig Ziglar legacy trainer.
In this episode, Stephan discusses his "Work to Play the Teton Way" employment brand, how we implemented raising wages for all employees across the board, and how he developed a strategy that named The Liquor Store of Jackson Hole an employer of choice.
Peter Reeburgh, Owner/CEO of Summit Cove Lodging, gives insight on how investing in the hiring process, taking care of each other in the workplace, and hiring people who are a good cultural fit will allow him to eventually work himself out of a job.
Steve Storkan, Executive Director at EOX, outlines what it means to be an employee owned company, and what an EOX State Center can do for owners considering employee ownership.
Jeff Evenson joins the podcast to discuss how the book, The Opposite of Spoiled, influenced him in his business journey, and his belief that with the right leadership and vulnerability, you can make the great game of business work anywhere.
Royce George, an accomplished global business leader, joins the podcast to talk about capitalism and the core values of leadership.
Podcast guest Tonia Morris talks about diversity, inclusion and belonging, reimagining the workforce, and attracting new talent.
Jack Stack's 2018 Keynote at the 2018 Great Game of Business Conference. Jack addresses the principles of educating, empowering and engaging your employees, the importance of following these tenets, and his prediction of a recession.
This episode was recorded at a live roundtable event discussing the benefits and pitfalls of being an ESOP company. It is not required to be an ESOP company to enjoy the benefits of the Great Game of Businesses practices and principles, but they definitely pair well together.
Jack Stack, CEO of SRC Holdings, talks about breaking down the wall between CEOs and employees, the importance of having a plan in place that allows for balance in life, and understanding reality that could help eliminate as much future pain as possible.
Podcast guest Greg Crabtree shares why you need to run your business like an investment, the importance of behavioral economics and why your number one critical number shouldn't be net income.
Podcast guest Victor Aspengren talks with Steve and Rich about the pros and cons of employee ownership, and how employee-owned companies can more than double the wealth share of the bottom 50%.
In this episode Ari challenges you to stick with your vision through the zone of doubt and blame. And no matter what you are going through, no matter the struggle, look for ways to add meaning to your life.
Darin Bridges, VP of Business Development & Coaching at The Great Game of Business, joins Steve and Rich to discuss the three things that businesses are currently struggling with. Talent, supply chain, and the ability to make money in this environment.
Rich and Steve discuss with Doug the challenges of implementing the Great Game of Business in a professional service industry, Doug's advice to leaders trying to Change the Game in their industry, and Doug's new book Permission to Win.
In this episode, Steve and Kim talk about wellness committees, the role it plays in business and the impact SRC has had in her own personal health journey
In this episode, Tim talks with Rich and Steve about the 40-year legacy of NCEO, the impact the current political climate can have on employee ownership, and why employee-owned companies either thrive or fail.
Krisi Schell, Danielle Rapp, and Rob Shear, discuss with Steve and Rich about culture committees, the benefit of healthy competition, and how SRC Lexington has become an award winning SRC company.
Rob Shear, GM of SRC Lexington, shares his West Point background and how he made the shift from top-down management to being the leader of a Great Game of Business championship company.
Tom DeSimone, Director at Prairie Capital Advisors, Inc, joins to share the shifts his team witnessed during the pandemic, and how focusing on 2021 and not 2020 to ensure stability in your company.
Krisi Schell, Executive VP of HR at SRC, joins to talk about different reward initiatives that can show appreciation to employees and shares why some don't achieve the desired outcome.
Jack Stack, President and CEO of SRC Holdings Corp, shares his vision for SRC and what he believes the economy will look like in the coming years.
Hamsa Daher, Executive Director of Small Giants Community, talks with Steve and Rich about how she got involved with the Small Giants Community, the core values of the community and how people are connected within the community.
Paul Spiegelman, co-founder of Small Giants Community, talks with Rich and Steve about the evolution of the Small Giants Community and bringing together entrepreneurs who lead with purpose and value.
Martin Babinec, author, continues his discussion with Jack Stack as they talk about scaling your business through creative collisions and referral by trusted sources.
In this episode, guest co-host Jack Stack talks with author Martin Babinec about how common values, predictability, and transparency can add value to your business.
Dr. Kelley Still Nichols, trainer and coach support at The Great Game of Business, discuss using the Great Game of Business in education to build young entrepreneurs and teach the philosophy and impact of money.
Jack Stack, President and CEO of SRC Holdings Corp explains what CEOs should be doing to plan for the future of their company.
Merrill Crawford, President/CEO of Charlie's Plumbing, Inc., talks about her journey to where she is now. Crawford also shares how to spot the snakes, bullies and weasels so they do not stop you from being successful.
Aimee Woodall, the CEO of The Black Sheep Agency, shares with us the impact adapting the game has had in a service company.
In this episode, Bo talks about how he got involved with the Great Game, the role capitalism plays in society, and how a Marxist becomes a capitalist.
Ari Weinzweig, co-founder of Zingerman's, talks about his new pamphlet, "Humility: A Humble, Anarchistic Inquiry". He shares his two-year-long inquiry into how the gentle art of humility can bring out our humanness, elevate organizational effectiveness, enhance leadership, and enrich quality of life.
In this episode, John Williams a Great Game of Business Certified Coach will discuss why so many people say I Hate My Job! and what we can do about It"
Nathan provides tax planning, consulting, accounting, and preparation services for individuals and closely-held businesses. Nathan works with family and private equity-owned businesses to develop strategies that reduce tax burdens and improve profitability.
In this episode, Nathan discusses the impact Covid has had on businesses and what to expect in the coming year.
Jack Stack President and CEO of SRC Holdings shares a story about a lesson he learned while watching a Saturday morning game of Little League baseball.
Read the blog here: Greatness Comes from Looking Ahead
Research shows that companies who share ownership widely with employees survive recessions better than ones that do not. They lay fewer people off, they recover faster, and they often end up able to buy other companies who have not done as well.
Corey Rosen from the National Center for Employee Ownership shares his thoughts on how companies can do things differently and really make a positive impact on their employees.
Robert Isherwood CEO of AMBAC International shares the company's strategy of choosing to keep going even when the going gets tough. The team's tenacity and involvement with The Great Game of Business® have helped them remain innovative and connected as a team during high-stress times.
They've approached the current crisis as "their moment" and consider their ability to continue even when times are more difficult than ever a true testament to what they've learned by playing The Game. They believe remaining transparent even during a Black Swan will motivate their team to keep moving forward.
Today's guest is Cindy Stein. Cindy was the driving force in inspiring a county to embrace transparency and develop a leadership system they call “The Great Game of Government.”
Unlike other communities today, who might only now be realizing that a devastating second wave of the pandemic is headed their way—the economic impact stemming from our extended lockdown—Cindy and her associates immediately sprang into action when the pandemic first hit. Today she shares their story.
Read the blog associated with this episode here.
Dr. David Stern, the CEO of Experity talks with us about how he relies on his team's strong ownership culture as they move into supporting a national scale-up in COVID testing.
He discusses how open-book management encourages a strong winning culture and how providing transparency on the company's financials and operating metrics helps the entire team understand how they impact the bottom line.
They treat every employee as a leader and hold each accountable for his or her results. Then everyone shares in the rewards.
Caleb Clark and Tonny Lam, the millennial-aged founders of Hook + Ladder, a digital marketing,and lead generation agency in Calgary, Alberta, used a different calculus when they decided to start playing Great Game™ in February 2020.
Their business was booming. They had just about tripled their revenues and their number of employees from 2018 to 2019. But they realized what had got them there wasn’t enough to get them to where they wanted to go.
They saw Great Game as a path to help them reach their long-term goals and impact on their community. So, they made the bold move of hiring a coach, Catherine Fitzgerald, and began implementing The Game with their team on February 23, 2020.
In 2017, a dream came true when Kevin Mauger, CEO of NCC Automated Systems made a surprise announcement to the NCC team giving almost half of his company to the employees. His vision for NCC is to support the entrepreneurial spirit of his team and he realizes his purpose is to create as much of a positive impact as possible. He shares his story on how he determined it was time to become an employee-owned company in today's episode of the Change the Game Podcast.
Read the blog: Who says business isn't personal?
http://changethegame.com/
This week Steve and Rich are joined by three Great Game Coaches to discuss the details of our High-Involvement Planning process and why it's so crucial to understand how it works, especially right now.
Dave Scholten | Kevin Walter | Jack O'Riley
High-Involvement Planning
SRC Holdings CEO & President Jack Stack talks about what it means to make bold moves in business. He shares advice on how being more creative in business and deciding which paths to take all while making sure your employees not only understand the decisions being made but that they're part of the process.
Enjoy today's episode of the Change the Game Podcast.
Find out more about The Great Game of Business® on our website at www.greatgame.com.
greatgame.com/live
Understanding how to navigate sales during a pandemic can make even the most seasoned business owner's head spin. John Williams shares his thoughts around why it's a good idea to continue to provide services and offering products EVEN during a drop in the economy and especially during a pandemic.
Change The Game - www.changethegamepodcast.com
Read this article by John Williams: How a Book Report Changed My Life: A Practitioners Story
A MiniGame™ is an engaging, short-term activity designed to pursue an opportunity or correct a weakness within a company. MiniGames have a theme and are meant to be fun and engaging. Like other games, they should have a goal, a defined time frame, a scoreboard, and a prize. Our guest today Michele Bridges, Executive Trainer for The Great Game of Business, shares all about how businesses can utilize the power of MiniGames to engage employees and change their business.
CEO of Cherry's Industrial Equipment John Costello has a heartfelt story about what being transparent with his business has done for him and his team. Today he shares how he leans on the principles of open-book management to help keep the conversation going and how it's helped his team be creative during this time of economic crisis.
John Costello presented his Great Game story live at the 2019 Gathering of Games Conference during his OBMx Talk on the mainstage. Watch the video here.
greatgame.com/live
A long-time friend of the Great Game of Business Community, Ari Weinzweig talks about why opening the books is so important...especially right now.
Ari is the co-founder of Zingerman's Community of Businesses and has some strong beliefs around why it's so important to teach people about business and how they can use it to make an impact in their every day lives.
www.greatgame.com/live
Guest: Patty McCord, Co-creator of the Netflix Culture Deck and Netflix’s original Chief Culture Officer
At our 28th Annual Great Game of Business Conference, Patty McCord gave her fun and exciting spin on building a culture of businesspeople.
Live September 2020
Tasty Catering owner, Kevin Walter, talks about how the COVID-19 crisis has affected the hospitality industry. He dives deep into how his team has been empowered to think and act like owners and how that mindset helped them stay creative and develop ideas to keep going in the wake of the pandemic.
Watch the video
Read the blog
Special guest and open-book management practitioner, Elizabeth Wilder president of Anthony Wilder Design/Build, Inc. (located in Cabin John, Maryland) talks about her experiences with managing her business and guiding her team through the ongoing current pandemic crisis. She discusses what it means to be a leader during these uncertain times and what her team has done to keep their focus on their "North Star".
Watch the video: A Completely Different Kind of Crisis
Resort owner Peter Reeburgh of Summit Cove Lodging in Keystone, Colorado shares his story on how his team used their knowledge of the business and the foundation of open-book principles to develop creative ideas around surviving the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Read a related blog post here:
The Four P's to Remember During a Crisis
Read Summit Cove's Great Game of Business Case Study
Today's guest, Jack Stack, talks about how using transparency and openness helped build the strategies SRC Holdings used to help take the fear out of the workplace in the wake of a global pandemic.
Read the blog: Taking the Fear Out of The Workplace
Hosted by Rich Armstrong and Steve Baker this is the FIRST episode of the Change the Game podcast. This podcast will showcase organizations influencing positive change by doing business differently. Guests include important thought leaders from the open-book community who are leading the charge to rethink capitalism and share the wealth with those who help create it.