A study of more than 1.4 million Glassdoor reviews across 38 industries found that company culture is 12.4 times more likely to predict whether an employee will quit than compensation.
This data validates what we’ve been saying all along – culture is key. And the best weapon against toxic cultures is modern leadership. It’s is all about putting people first.
Enter JeVon McCormick, Author and CEO of Scribe Media. He’s been named as Austin’s #1 CEO, and once you meet him, it’s easy to see why. JeVon believes that leaders shouldn’t be anyone’s boss. He lives by the mantra, “No one works for me. They work with me.”
JeVon says his brand of leadership is all about putting people first and making people the center of his process. His process includes just three steps: hire great people, build a great process, and make great profits. “Great profits,” according to JeVon, means using the profit for good in his community – giving back. JeVon also highlights two important aspects of modern leadership: intention and support.
“My role as a CEO is to serve and support by moving obstacles to support the people who own the vision.”
JeVon McCormick
CEO, Scribe Media
Modern leadership is about intention
Words are powerful. No one knows this more than CEOs and founders. Along with that power, words can also destroy. For JeVon, intention has to apply across the board, especially the words we use. When asked about his talent strategy, he’s upfront with his abhorrence against the traditional HR and recruiting lingo.
“I don’t want to retain anyone. If you look up the definition of retain, it’s to keep possession of,” JeVon said.
True to his principle of putting people first, his talent strategy is all about attraction. To attract, he flipped the model upside down by putting the leaders at the bottom and the employees on top.
“What I want to do is to attract and provide.”
Attract people and provide them with meaningful work. He also calls bullshit on leaders who make employees wait 90 days for insurance and benefits to apply.
“When you wait 90 days to make sure that everything works, then you have a problem in your hiring process…If you feel good enough about hiring that individual, then you should feel good enough that they get to partake in everything that your company has to offer.”
Being a leader means supporting your people
Scribe Media has won many awards and recognitions under JeVon’s leadership. It’s one of the best places to work according to Fortune and Austin Business Journal, touting a culture of ‘direct support’ rather than the typical ‘direct report’.
He emphasized that leaders must spend most of their time providing support instead of receiving reports.
“My role as a CEO is to serve and support by moving obstacles to support the people who own the vision.”
He recognizes that there’s a lot of contradicting values normalized in most workplaces that must be dismantled. Tasks are often classified in tiers where the seemingly menial tasks fall to the bottom. These are often branded as “low level,” or in other words – unimportant. And yet most leaders still expect their team to perform these low-level tasks at the highest level of performance.
Modern leaders support the team member until the desired results are realized – regardless of the “level.” This support continues until the team member is empowered to do it alone. As a result, every team member knows the importance and the meaning of their role in the company, whether they’re taking out the trash or managing day-to-day operations.
It’s no surprise that supportive leaders also fair better times of crisis because they have empowered their team to do what they do best and got out of their way. Their people are better equipped to adapt and navigate challenges more efficiently and effectively.
JeVon’s real life example of modern leadership at Scribe Media illustrates the need for modern leadership in today’s workplace, and their success speaks volumes. People are quitting to get away from toxic cultures and bad leaders. Today’s modern workforce calls for new kind of leader that puts people first. It requires us to redefine what it means to be a leader, and we hope you’ll rise to the challenge. Follow JeVon’s example and you might just find yourself atop the next list of the best places to work.
