The Frontline Industry Podcast: Empowering Teams Through Equity and Authenticity

In this episode of The Frontline Industry Podcast, Managing Director of CareerCircle, Kim Sneeder, dives deep into the essence of authentic leadership and the transformative power of human connection. Titled “Authentic Leadership: Setting the Example,” this episode highlights Kim’s insights on how leadership goes beyond managing tasks; it's about setting an example and building genuine trust within teams. 

Kim shares practical ways leaders can unlock potential in their people, emphasizing the impact of authenticity, vulnerability, and empathy—especially in remote work settings. Kim's journey, which includes leading CareerCircle’s mission to bridge the skills gap and uplift underrepresented communities, serves as a reminder of the importance of equity, empowerment, and being truly present for one’s team. This episode is a must-listen for anyone ready to elevate their leadership approach and foster meaningful, human-centric work environments. 

Listen to the whole episode on Apple


Joel  00:00

Welcome to The Frontline Industry Podcast where the best of the best executives from around the world share their leadership advice and insights, giving you practical tips and strategies that you can take and immediately implement in your teams and organizations to help you become the leader you want to be. On today's episode, “Authentic Leadership: Setting the Example”, Managing Director at CareerCircle, Kim Sneeder, explains the power of authenticity and being true to yourself as a leader and the impact of human connection through small gestures for your team, especially in a remote work environment. If you're looking to make that critical pivot from being a manager to becoming a leader, this episode is for you, so don't go anywhere. The Frontline Industry Podcast starts right now. 

Welcome to The Frontline Industry Podcast. My name is Joel, and joining me today is Kim Sneeder. She's the Managing Director at CareerCircle, a workforce solutions company on a mission to change lives by connecting underrepresented communities with career opportunities and helping organizations build skilled, diverse talent pipelines. She's helped transform CareerCircle into a beacon for equity by empowering 150,000 members, with 78% of them coming from underrepresented groups. Kim's leadership and vision bridges the skills gap in underserved communities through her focus on fostering a diverse and inclusive environment. Kim exemplifies her profound belief in the power of support and opportunity to create meaningful change, embodying the essence of equity by not just advocating for change, but actively affecting change. She resides in Virginia with her husband and two children – I just learned a few dogs, as well. Welcome to the podcast, Kim.

Kim  01:46

Thank you so much, Joel. I'm excited to be here today.

Joel  01:49

I'm excited as well, and I know coming out of our first conversation, getting to know each other, the energy in the room around a mutual love of people was palpable. The excitement I had for this podcast has only grown as we've gotten closer. So the thing that I think resonated the most was your passion for unlocking the power of people. And I'd love to have you share a bit about that, because I think we talk about that a lot, at least in the circles I run in, unlocking the power of people, unleashing potential.

But I think, and I am guilty of this too, there's somewhat of a flowery nature to the language we can use at times. And it's, it's empowering and exciting and motivating, but when it comes down to it, what does that mean? How does that look? Let's get really practical, because I think that's one of the things that, especially the listeners of this podcast are looking for. It's like, “Man, I believe what you're saying. I like what you're saying, but now I gotta go back and do that, and I just don't know where to start.” So Kim, could you share a bit about your passion for unlocking the power of people where that comes from, and then help us get a little practical into how to do that?

Kim  03:07

Yeah, it's a great question, Joel, and I think it's multifaceted. I'll say it starts with the fact that every human comes to you, I know in my experience, with their own life stories, their own experiences, and that starts to shape how they feel about themselves. So it could be someone was told they weren't qualified their whole life, and along the way, they started to believe it, and they need some reframing, and maybe they can't see their own superpowers, or maybe someone didn't have that person believing in them their whole life, right? 

And so they lost that belief in themselves, and therefore we have to be that person for them at first. But, I think what inspires me the most is when you really start to understand the individual, start to figure out how to bring out those superpowers, the impact that you can have on that life. Also, the bottom line of the organization. You know, when you start to unleash a human being, and 100% of who they are with all of those superpowers, it's pretty remarkable what individuals can do.

Joel  04:18

So when it comes to unleashing people, unlocking the power of people, I think there's probably some practical steps people can take to do that. So maybe we can start at the executive level of that one takeaway, because that's going to be applicable to everyone else. But what's the one thing as a senior leader I could do now to actually unleash or unlock the power of my people? 

Kim  04:44

I think number one, it starts with the leader being authentic and true to themselves. And here's why I think that's so important because you set the example. And all of the other steps: Getting to know people, understanding who they are and what motivates them – All of that has to start with them bringing their full selves to work. And I think when the leader does that, it gives permission for everyone else to. I think if we tell people, “I want you to bring your authentic self and I want to know who you are” but they don't feel safe, because that's not what's demonstrated. You're never gonna turn them. So I think as leaders, if we know who we are, if we show up authentically, and we're setting that example, it just gives that permission for everyone else to. 

Joel  05:34

I want to point out something that I read yesterday, and I read the book, it's from quite a while before, the book is called The Unreasonable Hospitality. Have you heard of that book? So I'm gonna butcher his name and Will, if you're listening, I'm so sorry. But Will Guidara is a New York Times bestselling author. Now, because of his book, The Unreasonable Hospitality, he also used to own and run the number one restaurant in the world. They were known for their hospitality, for doing things at an unreasonably hospitable way. 

And one of the quotes in his book resonates with what you're talking about right now. I pulled it up on LinkedIn. He posted it 23 hours ago. “A leader's role isn't only to motivate and uplift, sometimes it's to earn the trust of your team by being human with them.” It's like exactly what you're talking about right now. It's like, “How can I move people?” Well, you can move people first by being human, by showing them that you're not lofty above them in the sky, untouchable, perfect, that you're an authentic, vulnerable person who happens to have a different title, a different role because of experience or because of the needs of the business. But we're all rowing the same direction. We're all in the same boat.

Kim  06:57

It's so true. Joel, I love that, and I wrote that down because I will be reading that. There's two things that come to mind. Number one, if your entire team sees someone that they deem to be perfect, then they're carrying so much weight around. What if I make a mistake? And is it okay? And how will I live up to that individual? So it doesn't free them just to work and do their best work. And I think the second piece is all too often people will wear a mask, if you will. I need to show up this way at work, because that's deemed acceptable. And what happens is they're using all of that energy to serve this persona that they've created, that they lose all of that natural enthusiasm and passion and everything that makes them great. 

So to your point, when the leader demonstrates it's okay to make mistakes and shares that they have along the way and do every day – I know I do. And then they're their authentic self. You're not wasting energy on the things that simply don't matter. The same reason was, sometimes you'll see me in an excessive amount of polka dots and a lot of pink. You know, probably more than the world needs! It’s good and it's great and it's fun. And in a world where we're missing that sometimes I need my mindset right, and a polka dot and a hot pink put suit me there.

Joel  08:30

As a leader, you don't need to have all the answers all the time. You don't need to be perfect at your job, and when you allow yourself to make mistakes, allow yourself the freedom to live in the ambiguity and to live in a season of not understanding what has to come next, and then express that to your team, even in appropriate ways at appropriate times that can create in them the ability to live in their own ambiguity, to be okay with not knowing all the answers. 

And I think that is something that a lot of employees are desperate for, because they go to work having sat in their phones, in bed that morning, or maybe in the car, on their breaks, and seeing the perfection, the perfect lives of people all around them and never seeing the bad and assuming that at work they're the only ones struggling.

Kim  09:23

Yeah, it's true, and I think it also unleashes creativity because if I'm so worried about always being perfect and I'm then I'm not giving myself permission to take some risk, right? Or be creative or try it differently. I think we're also missing a piece that people can add a lot of value to the organization, and it just gives you so much freedom to think beyond, you know, just sort of a box that sometimes people are put in.

Joel  09:58

So it starts with vulnerability. It starts with authenticity. It starts with being that approachable leader. But let's go a little deeper than, “Okay, that's the overarching philosophy.” What else do we need to do? Kim, is it just that, or are there more practical steps that now others can take and maybe implement in their daily life at work? 

Kim  10:19

I think the next piece is really understanding the human. Someone said to me once that “For every level of difference, there is a propensity to have less time together.” And the example they use was, if you and another counterpart like to work out, well, you might naturally have conversations about wellness or fitness or the gym. There could be conversations that naturally flow, versus someone that doesn't have this same shared interest. For every level of difference, there could be this variant. And that really struck me to say, “Okay, I need to make sure that I'm seeking out understanding with every individual. What are their goals, skills, and interests, what is their story?” The more I know about them, the more I can serve them. 

I'll give you an example. I had a team member that if you looked at the surface, you might have thought the individual wasn't showing up, or they weren't prepared, or they weren't completing assignments. But because I knew that the person got very anxious in certain situations, I realized that the person was simply nervous to do the work, and they didn't believe in themselves, yet, as much as I believed in them. And so it was going to start with me believing in them and making sure that was enough to kick off the project. And along the way, I was going to be making those deposits so that by the end, they believed in themselves. But again, if I didn't know the individual well, there could have been a propensity to misread the situation and leave someone behind. That leader made one of the greatest impacts on our organization to date, and I think about that often. How many times as leaders, when we get busy, do we not stop to think about the root cause versus just looking at the results or what's right in front of us. 

Joel  12:27

The one-on-ones become just checking in on KPIs. The stand-up meetings become just dictating information that everyone needs to know for company updates. And away you go, and you know, maybe you have some thoughts on this. I know it's a bit of deviation, but especially in the now post-COVID world of much more prevalent work-from-home, relationships with coworkers, you don't get that water cooler talk anymore. You don't get that “happen to run into each other on the way in from the parking lot” conversation anymore. You don't get those intimate one-on-one moments where you can just be human, just be yourself. 

And I think that although there are incredible benefits from working from home, which I've taken advantage of for the last decade – so I'm not complaining – I think I do miss that with others as well. And I think it caused me to invest in taking weeks with my whole team and get off-site and things like that, to create those opportunities. But it's a great point that you brought about the need to be human. And I just encourage everyone listening to take those opportunities and don't see them as one more thing to do amidst your busy, busy calendar, but it is the thing to do on your busy, busy calendar.

Kim  13:45

When do we do it the least? In times of stress. It's the most interesting thing because when we need it the most is when we do it the least. It's probably the same thing, like, when I need to eat well and really focus on my wellness is typically when I'm diving into Cheetos under stress. So it's kind of the same thing. And I think your point about remote work is so valid. We use Teams as a platform. And I've often said periodically in the day, just like you would check in someone's office, or you would walk by and maybe share a funny story – use Teams for that, and I've seen this! 

We had a national meeting recently where a lot of the team had never met each other. You'd see these people run in, and they were embracing themselves as if they had known each other forever and the only thing you would hear is, “My gosh, I thought you were taller or shorter” or whatever, because they don't know, from their waists up, but they knew each other because they created those opportunities to connect randomly, you know, using Teams, just like you were popping in someone's office. Have to be so intentional. 

Joel  15:02

And we need to stop looking at it as a waste of time. And I think that especially, and I hate to stereotype too much, but, “Type-A on top of their calendar, on top of their tasks”, we can look at that as another task, and just like, get it done. Like, all right, make sure you talk to Beverly today and let her know that she did a good job yesterday. Okay, good, done. Now, back to work, right? And, I think to a certain point it's okay to write down those little notes to yourself of like before you start say something nice or invite them in. 

But you know, I think it's important for a lot of leaders to recognize that the human experience at work of how we feel cared for and loved will transcend that moment in ways we never truly understand. We are looking desperately for affection and admiration and respect and value and self-worth, and frankly, we live in a culture where it's kind of hard to find sometimes. We're always trying to accumulate it and create it in ourselves. We're not used to someone on the outside validating us, coming toward us, and selflessly identifying an opportunity to become better, like “I see the potential in who you are.” 

When we do experience that, it can be such a life-giving moment. I've told this story at least three times in the last 80-plus episodes of the podcast, but I remember when I was early in my career, I was working at Sprint, and my boss's boss's boss's boss came into the store. He brought in a sheet of paper that was like a recognition thing. And I'd never met this guy in my life. He probably printed it off on his way in and didn't know who I was either, but it was just an Excellence Award for great customer service and, you know, customer satisfaction scores and stuff. He gave it to me and said, in front of my peers, “Great job. You are doing incredible work and I want you to know that we see it at the executive level, at Sprint.” 

Whoa, like that. That's a huge deal. And it's funny. On one hand, I'm embarrassed, and on the other hand, I'm like, “Look at the power.” It took me at least six years to throw that away. I mean, I was in a career, at that point, where I was making triple what I was making at Sprint, and I held on to that sheet of paper. My bookshelves were full, and in front of the books, hiding the books was this piece of paper that I got from someone I never knew. And so I think those are those little moments that we're no longer able to have around the water cooler, but now we need to have on Teams can transform the way someone sees themselves and set them up for even years to be a different person at work.

Kim  17:59

Oh my gosh. I mean, number one, I love what you just shared, and I think there's a lot to unpack with it, but it's powerful. You know, hey, I was that Type-A person, and I'm not proud of the fact that I would get results, but it wasn't always in service of other people. You know, I look back on that, and then it's strange to say it when I when I verbalize it this way. 

But eight years ago, we adopted my son, and my son is on the spectrum. Ethan taught me such a powerful lesson. I mean, at my core, not to judge what you see in front of you, but try to understand where the person's coming from. It's never the behavior that you're seeing that's important – you have to seek to understand. And the impact that Ethan had on me as a human is tremendous. And I think also that human experience has made me a far better leader because I see something now and I ask myself 12 questions behind it to really get to know the person at that human level. 

And even when we built CareerCircle, I said, “I want to build a digital platform that never forgets the beauty of a handwritten thank you note.” That handwritten thank you note, when I see somebody do something special, they're always going to get a card from me, because I think, just like your note and what you received, reading someone's words and pausing to say, “I saw this. I see you. I applaud you”, is one of the greatest gifts you can give someone, because a lot of us didn't have that. And I just think when we're really aware, we slow down to see and then, most importantly, slow down to acknowledge. It's notenough to do just a quick email – like take a moment and write a card, something that's gotten lost in today's environment. 

Joel  20:10

You mentioned that you were a Type-A person, and I think for those of us who are, we still carry that with us, and we learned to manage around it. But I'm curious, was there a story or a moment in time that you can remember where you consciously acknowledged like, I've got to live, lead and love differently and exemplify the behaviors and the attitudes that you're talking about today on this podcast?

Kim  20:39

Yeah, for sure. When I was in national sales roles, it was about selling and sort of being the best and and for me, at least, that came naturally, because I would just work really hard and I liked solving problems. But I think in retrospect, it probably amplified that debate in me so much. When I switched to operations, which was a challenge, I didn't want to be one dimensional. And my supervisor had recognized for future development that that that would be important. And I'll tell you, it was the best thing I ever did. It was the hardest thing I did. Because I had to look myself in the mirror and realize, number one, I've had to slow down. And that was not in my vocabulary.

I grew up very, very humble, and this concept of just outwork was so deeply embedded in who I was, and so the concept of slowing down, seeking to understand others and their experiences, and then bringing them with you. I still, I mean, there are times under stress I have to really pause and catch that I'm doing that old behavior that doesn't serve me. I mean, to your point, it is deeply rooted, and it was hard. 

I mean, those first couple years in operations, I sent out a text not too long ago to some of those people. I said, “I want to apologize and thank you in the same message. I want to apologize for the things that I had to learn and the impact that it had on you during that time. And then I want to thank you for staying with me because I'm a better person. I'm a better leader, and now I can do things at scale because I had that experience.” Yeah, you have to look yourself in the mirror and acknowledge your shortcomings. And then I think the hardest part is then doing the work to say, “I'm going to get better, because I want to be better for others.” 

Joel  22:52

That's so good. You mentioned something earlier about identifying the potential in someone and pulling that out of them, cultivating that from them. It sounds like perhaps this individual who encouraged that you go into operations did something similar for you. I'd like to ask you a question. I'd love to answer it in two ways, if we could do that, and we'll see how it goes. 

The question is the same, but it's from two different perspectives. If I am a current leader, how do I identify those people? How do I know the signs – maybe I'm a new leader? I've been elevated to a manager role for the first time. I'm a store manager at Sprint now T-Mobile. I am a front of house manager at Hilton Garden Inn. I've never been given formal leadership training. How do I begin to look for opportunities to identify those future performers, future leaders, who I can pour into and cultivate that potential?

And then the second question would be, if I want to be noticed and cultivated, how do I position myself to be experiencing those things?

Kim  24:05

What a great question. The answer is similar, but in a different lens. So let's start with, “How do I identify it in other people?” Number one, going back to what we said earlier, you have to really know your people. You know, are they bringing their full self? Do they feel safe and inspired to do that? So once you've done that, what do you know about that individual? And the reason why that's important is you have to start to look at transferable skills. See the problem that most leaders make and honestly it's a lot of how TA systems are set up, is we look at title-to-title, skill-to-skill. This is your trajectory, and the latter you shall find. 

And the reality is, if you really unlock transferable skills, you might put someone in a different position, a different career path, like myself, that unlocked a whole new career for them, but also greater impact to your organization, because they're going to have a slightly different lens. And so a lot of times when I'm looking at my team, and I'll start with this. Don't overthink it. You really don't need a leadership book for this. You need good questions, a good heart and an inquisitive mind. That's what you need. And if you understand your people and you understand their superpowers and their transferable skills, you have all the pieces to the puzzle that we need. 

If I flip it to say, “Okay, well, what do I do for myself?” The one difference I would tell you, I do think we need to be introspective. I do think we need to go through that same exercise. What are those skills? Am I being honest with myself? I think the one piece that's different when you're doing it internally is you don't always know what the career progression is right outside of the career that you're in. So then when you're looking at it for yourself, it's a similar process, but I do think the difference is you need a mentor that can help you understand within those transferable skills how you can apply them to another career path? 

You know, when I when I think about myself I would have never when I was at the height of my national sales career, thought, “Let me pivot and go into operations where I don't have those skills, and I don't think I understand how to apply them,” but I'm so grateful that I was encouraged to do so because I challenged myself. I learned a whole new set of skills, and I could have never done CareerCircle without that experience. I could have never built the organization. So again, similar where you're honest with yourself, you're looking at your superpowers, you're looking at those transferable skills. Get those mentors to help you figure out where alignment is and how to apply it in other areas.

Joel  27:15

The topic of mentorship has come up a lot in the last couple dozen episodes as one of the hotter topics. I've had my own thoughts about the future of education and potential to see formal education decreasing its importance, and apprenticeship and mentorship becoming a more prevalent education option, or ask for people to begin their careers. When I was younger – Yeah, I think we've all been there – You have this idea that these older folks just are out of touch. They don't understand. And, you know, my kids were 11 and seven. You know, my son, who's 11, is like, “Oh, you don't get it.” You know, I'm like, “I was 11. I was a boy. I do get it. The human experience is not that different generation to generation.” 

The environment may be, but I think that it's one of those things that when it comes to mentorship, you often see people doing too late. Not too late, as in,”they're hopeless. It doesn't help them,” but as in, “you could have done this a decade ago. You could have done this on day one of your career.” And the mentors are going to change over time, the needs that you have when you're 21 and beginning your career may not be the same needs you have when you're 50 and looking to take on that C-suite role in a large company or wherever it may be. But I think it's one of those things that kind of, like exercise, you want to do it before you need to do it. Or maybe like therapy, you may want to go to therapy before you realize you need to go to therapy. And mentorship is one of those things too, where it's like, what are you waiting for? There is no benefit to waiting until now you recognize you have the need, right? 

Kim  29:03

Yeah. It's so interesting that you asked that because I told someone recently. I said, “Do you think you earn an award if you're successful and you get to say ‘I did it all by myself’? No! So why would you put yourself through that?” And I said, “Mentorship allows you to learn different dimensions, different experiences, different skills, faster exposure.” 

Even when I think about my own life, it was a series of hard work, but people giving me a chance and seeking to understand. There was a gentleman, he later became the president of Allegis. But when I first started with the company, he was a Business Analyst, essentially, and I remember leaving meetings and he would hear things differently than me. And when we would leave meetings, I'd say, “What did you hear?” And in a lot of ways, I always say that he taught me how to think and was an incredible mentor to me. 

I tell people from the very first job I had when I was waiting tables when I was 17 years old, there were people that taught me things and taught me efficiency and my memory and all of those things. Every job you have get someone that can be a mentor, that's better than you, that has more experience and these series of, “I'll take a chance on you, or I'll make these tiny deposits into you.” You're later gonna look at these amazing people that you're still grateful for, and they touched your life at different marker moments.

Joel  30:49

It's funny, you probably won’t appreciate this the same level as I'm thinking about now, because I'm doing this every week in these podcasts. But there are these weird themes that can begin to be cyclical or begin to crop up. And I was just talking recently about the topic of how you become the average of those whom you surround yourself with, right? And if you surround yourself with people just like you, you're gonna – surprise surprise – continue to be just like that. 

We intrinsically want to get better. We want to take that next role. We want to elevate ourselves in our career. We want this future for ourselves, but very often we don't make any meaningful life changes to go and create that outcome for ourselves. We hope that it happens to us. We hope that our resume squeaks through the the HRIS systems and reaches the right hiring manager at the right time, and we hope and hope and hope. But hope is not a strategy. Hope is not a solution. We have to go and really make that for ourselves. 

So again, another oddly appropriate topic. I was reading a LinkedIn post again yesterday. It sounds like I'm on LinkedIn all the time, but Mark Smith, if you call him an influencer, he's been a highly read and interacted with individual on LinkedIn. He had a post, and I'll read the first portion of it, he said, “If you believe you're the smartest one in the room, there are only two ways things end up. One, you must dominate and achieve astronomical success. And he likens that to Elon Musk. Or, number two, you will have a mediocre at-best career. There is rarely, rarely anything in between.” 

We can debate the merits of that and how true it is or not, but I think that the message is there that if you want to elevate yourself, you have to go find people who are one or two steps ahead of you, who have been there, done that, who have walked that same path or a similar path and can go “Here are the pitfalls. Here's the things to avoid. Here's what I would have done differently if I had a chance to do it over again. Let me pass it on to you.” 

And for those listening who are like, “Who are those people?” They are out there! Look for those who are already doing that. For others, you may have heard of them through the grapevines at work. You may have seen them or interacted with them in ways you're like, “Man, that person's inspirational.” Or, “I always feel encouraged when I'm talking to that person.” I can tell you on one hand the number of times someone has come to me and said, “Would you please mentor me?” It's something no one ever asks because we're always afraid, and yet I've said yes every single time.

Kim  33:40

I sort of think about it in two aspects. Number one, it's the person that you're inspired by, that you want to learn from, the person that you saw emulate behaviors that you want to one day. Right? I will also challenge people listening to find the person that thinks so differently than you, that you feel like is very different. I picked a mentor once that arguably, well, I'll just say probably didn't like me. I mean, we were just so different. And I can be a lot like, there's a lot of passion. There's just a lot of a lot. And so for some people, that could also be pretty annoying, and I probably fit that definition for the individual, but I knew, because they thought differently than me, they saw the world differently than me, I needed to understand them as well, and it's hard, but I think it's important. 

So don't just look for the the individual that you know is going to give you a pat on the back and tell you that you're great and pull you through those hard times. Look for that person that's going to give you some real honest feedback and might see the world differently than you, and you’re just going to grow exponentially faster. 

Joel  34:58

The mentors I've had who have been the most impactful for me are the ones who have said some real tough stuff, and the ones who have been like, “You really aren't seeing this the way it is,” and those were opportunities and experiences where I've had to eat humble pie and recognize my inability and none of us are really interested in embracing that. 

Sometimes we'd like to think that we're better than we are, and it gives us confidence, and it's hard to wrestle through those feelings of inadequacy or that we have something to learn. But those are also the times where we grow the most, and the times where, when we hear the hard thing, and we've selected this person to be our mentor because they are older, wiser, more experienced, whatever it may be. Take those opportunities for anyone listening. Take those opportunities as gold, because they will serve you well so many years in the future, in your career. 

Kim, I want to be cognizant of time. I want to ask you two final questions. One, is there anything that I didn't talk to you about today that is just burning inside of you. You’re like, “I have to get this off my chest. I have to talk about this, and it's a public forum, and I just want everyone to know this thing.”

Kim  36:09

Yeah, I think, right now the industry, hiring, everything has some levels of complexity, and it can feel hard for a lot of people. What I want to encourage people to do is take a moment to really look at your skills. What is your truth? Because along the way, people have told us stories. We tell ourselves stories, and I fear that for people, that can become their truth. And I just believe if we can all take that time understand our truth, look at our skills, we can go out in the world and do some great things. I think there is an opportunity for individuals to lock arms and really change one life at a time. 

And then think about when people that are unleashed and unharnessed get out there. Imagine what we can do to organizations’ bottom line. And then these things around equity and all these other discussions that are happening, you’ll start to really fuel some positive momentum there. So I often say when I can change a life and a company's bottom line at the same time, that's when I'm really inspired

Joel  37:30

We can do many of the right things for the wrong reasons and have it be very ineffective. We roll our eyes that we have to do this thing for our people, and there's just something magical about when it's done for the right reasons. There's just something effective when it's done from the right heart.

Kim  37:50

Yeah. And Joel, I would be remiss not to share this, because when I look at our organization and the work we do, you mentioned at the beginning, but really serving underrepresented communities, we've increased our starts, meaning people getting jobs by 60% and that's unheard of anywhere. 

But here's the most important thing: They are performing at 7% above industry standard. So to your point, when we're talking about the “why” – Yes, understand the person. Yes, serve the person. Yes, make it a place where they want to come to work and they can grow. But the data says it's also going to have a positive impact on your business. And so if you don't do it because you know, you feel like it's an extra thing. If the question was, “Would you want to increase your bottom line by 7%?” I don't think anybody would argue.

Joel  38:48

Last question for you, Kim, and that is what's something that you believe that if everyone else kind of lined up and believed that thing too you think would make this world a better place?

Kim  39:01

Oh my gosh. What a great, great question. It is around a common definition of equity – Meaning, give people the resources they need to compete, and then when we compete, we pick the best candidate. But again, I mentioned my son before being a huge inspiration for me, even in my own life story, where I grew up humble and I didn't have access to a lot of things, but people gave me those resources, and then I did the work to learn them. 

Watching my son take the resources that he's given – and yes – he has to work harder – and yes – he will compete against other people one day, but imagine if he wins the race because he did the work, he got the resources, and then he has a better impact on the organization. Let's focus on that definition of equity. Change some lives. Serve some people. Have a wider pool of individuals to choose from. Go out there and do some great things in the world. 

Joel  40:12

Well, thank you for sharing a piece of yourself today, the snapshot in time of 30-40, minutes of helping us all know who Kim is, and your passion and your love of people. I think the energy and the drive you have to love people well and transform organizations is palpable, and hopefully everyone else feels the same excitement and enthusiasm I feel coming out of this conversation to go and really to make a difference. 

And you don't have to be the head of an organization. You don't have to be a manager. You don't have to have that title to have authority in this manner. You can lead just in your peer group and exercise a lot of things that you've heard today. You can go get a mentor. You can go invest yourself in these things. And I would encourage everyone listening, take initiative, take ownership of your career and and I think you'll see looking backwards an incredible journey of learning and development and growth as a result of just a few changes along the way. So thank you, Kim for sharing today. Thank you for taking the time to give us a sneak peek into what motivates you every single day.

Kim  41:22

Thank you so much for having me. It was great spending time with you. 

Joel  41:26

Awesome. Well, for those listening, this has been another episode of The Frontline Industry Podcast, and we will see you next time.