Daniel Lubetzky, KIND: Creating a Healthy Culture

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deliverable? What are their goals and how do I give them the tools to achieve them? We set some clear-cut business goals having to do with things like the number of new products, new artisans and sales. From an operations standpoint, we may set goals having to do with logistics or product quality. And we are transparent: there’s a quarterly company contest that measures all the metrics everybody is evaluated on. We call it our World Cup of Arts and Crafts. We also ask regional directors to come up with three goals each year that are specific to their region. For example, Mexico may want to open a satellite office in Oaxaca. Coming up with these goals helps directors take ownership.

We make sure our global offices have all the technology tools they need. For example, regional directors can show local artisans real-time rankings and ratings of their products. In the past, an artisan might have had 75 products at his market stand, and his or her feedback loop was limited to whatever tourists came by. Now they are empowered to make judgment calls about product based on what people are clicking on and purchasing.

Many people in our company are multilingual, which is a benefit. That said, we primarily use English, so it’s important that regional directors be able to communicate in English. We have a constant flow of management visiting the various regions, so that’s one of the fun parts. We do group calls via Skype all the time because you can count on it a little more than you can count on the phone lines in many of our countries.

Educate Yourself on Cultural Differences. Understanding the local culture and

20 Fall 2014 norms is crucial to managing a global workforce. For example, in Latin America and Africa, there’s a high value placed on having a cheerful demeanor, to giving of yourself in terms of personal details, and to asking people personal questions that you wouldn’t ask in a typical American workplace. On the flip side, in Asia you have to be very careful about asking too many questions. And whereas a hug would be an appropriate greeting in Brazil, it’s definitely not appropriate when meeting a new colleague in Thailand.

You can do an Internet search 30 minutes before you leave for a trip, then practice a little bit on the plane. It really can be that easy. Also, when you’re in the country, use every interaction as an opportunity to learn more about it. Ask your taxi driver about his favorite restaurants, or sports, or what’s going on in the country right now. It’s great preparation for small talk during meetings and business meals.

Make Life Balance a Priority. When you have offices around the world in different time zones, there’s a nonstop flow of action items. I’m the father of four young children, and trying to stay healthy and fit, and trying to grow NOVICA in a major way, so balance has become one of the central issues in my life.

In our family, we have what we call our “sacred time.” That’s from seven to nine each evening, and I don’t let anything interrupt it. I try my hardest to be very present, and not on my phone but doing things with the kids—playing, going outside—and then reading and telling stories at bedtime. If someone is truly in balance with family, hobbies and work life, or at least attempting to be, I think he or she can be a better leader.

DANIEL LUBETZKY, KIND CREATING A HEALTHY CULTURE

Spurred by his own inability to find healthy, tasty food during his global business travels, Daniel Lubetzky created KIND Healthy Snacks in 2003. Its goal: to provide products with “ingredients you can see and pronounce.” Today KIND makes 5 of the top 10 products in the nutritional-bar category, new product lines are being introduced, and sales have increased sixfold over the last six years.

Lubetzky is also the founder of PeaceWorks, Inc., an organization that brings together neighbors on opposing sides of political conflicts to create healthy, profitable foods. KIND, too, has a strong social mission, with robust programs that encourage customers to do kind acts, and fundraising help for worthy causes. “What turns me on is finding creative ways to impact the world in a sustainable and profitable way,” says Lubetzky, the Mexico Cityraised son of a Holocaust survivor. “I feel a very deep sense of trying to prevent what happened to my dad from happening to others. That’s why I do what I do.”

our version of kudos. They are given to people who go above and beyond in supporting other team members.

Still, Lubetzky emphasizes the need for the business to be sustainable on its own merits: “What drives our sales is not kindness—it’s meeting people’s lifestyle needs better than any other product.”

The KIND staff, which has expanded 10 times since 2013, now numbers 350. But don’t call them “employees,” or call Lubetzky “the boss.” “Nobody works for anybody here,” he says. “We all work with each other.” And while many companies talk the “family feeling” game, Lubetzky and his team live it. Here, he tells how.

Cultivate Team Spirit. The most important thing about creating a family feeling in a business is to feel it in your heart. The effort has to be sincere; it’s not just a formula.

It doesn’t hurt that everybody in our company is a shareholder, and everyone has aligned incentives for the company to succeed. Part of their compensation is tied to the value of the stock.

That said, the culture itself is very much connected to a team spirit and team effort and accomplishments. Once a month, every team member is invited to celebrate another team member with “KINDos,”

Allow Yourselves to Argue. It’s essential to be open and transparent, but also constructive. Like a family, we have disagreements, but like a family we air them and work things out. Last week, two team members did something I felt was not consistent with our spirit. I invited them to my office and pointed out, “Hey guys, this and this are not in our culture.” They accepted it and grew from it. At the same time, if I make a mistake, people can come into my office and teach me what I’m doing wrong.

All of us are human beings. I make mistakes, everyone makes mistakes. If your intention is to not be a jerk, the mistakes tend to sort themselves out.

Change the Dynamics of Competition. You can learn business tactics from all kinds of places.

Here’s an example: I have four very young children, and my wife and I are trying to get them to stay in bed through the night. They tend to invade our bed at one, two, or three in the morning.

So we told them we would give them a sticker for each time they spent a full night in their own beds. My oldest son said, “Daddy, am I winning? I have eight stickers and they only have six or seven.” I tried to explain that they weren’t competing with each other, but competing with themselves. We then changed the dynamics so that they all need to win, to help each other. If they work together, if everybody wins, they’re going to get one of those minicars they can ride on.

Make the Culture Explicit. We are growing very fast. More new people have joined us in the last two years than in all the prior years put together. I was scared about whether the culture would die.

So now, every quarter, I sit down in person with all the new hires and talk about our culture and values at KIND. That meeting is not about products or how to sell; it’s purely about culture. We also distribute an electronic booklet to all new hires that talks about our values. And throughout our office you will see quotes about our culture painted on the walls. Being surrounded by that probably does have an impact on how people relate to one another.

Nobody works for anybody here. We all work with each other.

—DANIEL LUBETZKY

Try a Little KINDness. For any company who’s interested, we have a program to inspire kindness within the workplace. We provide two complimentary KIND bars for every team member in the company, whether it’s the janitor or the CEO. One is to eat; one is to give away—whether to another team member or to a total stranger—to exemplify a simple act of kindness. I would love to offer this program to any readers of SOLVE magazine. They can register at www.kindsnacks.com/offices.

The “eat one, KIND one” program is available while supplies last and is solely owned by KIND, LLC. Time Warner Cable Business Class is not responsible for the promotion, distribution of KIND product, or the outcome of the program.

Do You Have CEO A.D.D.?

Is your packed schedule and constant stream of messages literally driving you to distraction? Use these strategies to find your focus.

BY WILLIAM G. BLISS

As a business leader, you may feel that everyone wants a piece of you—and in fact, that’s probably the case. Your office is likely deluged with memos, voice mail, e-mail, and all other forms of modern communication from employees, direct reports, suppliers, customers, sales representatives, and shareholders.

22 Fall 2014 After all, business leaders are increasingly conscious of the need to be accessible and transparent with all stakeholders. And who can blame all those people for vying for your attention? They know you’re the one who can make a decision or make something happen. Let’s be honest: there’s probably a part of you that welcomes all this contact. You are likely naturally curious and enjoy hearing about new ideas from advisors, employees, or industry experts. You probably relish the chance to get people excited about solving problems, or about exploring new ideas or strategies to move your business forward.

Those qualities are what help CEOs and C-suite executives rise to the positions they hold. The downside is that technology has made opportunities to be interrupted and taken off task more plentiful than ever. In fact, some leaders feel so distracted that they wonder if their problem could be called CEO Attention Deficit Disorder. Do these sound familiar? • You end the day saying something like, “Man, today was really busy but I am not sure I got very much accomplished.” • You sometimes feel overwhelmed by your priorities list. • You have difficulty paying attention when others are speaking, and frequently interrupt them. • You are quick to start on projects or tasks but slow to complete them because you have so many distractions. Assuming you have nodded your head to at least one of these statements, what can be done? If you really want a different outcome, change must begin with you. You need to make some moves to ensure that you are implementing great and impactful initiatives, instead of being overtaken by

interruptions on a daily basis. Try to adopt the following new habits.

Focus your daily efforts on moving forward the top three to five priorities in your annual operating plan. Compare these priorities with what you spend your time on each day. The most successful executives spend at least 50 percent of their time on moving key priorities along.

Start your day the night before. Before you leave each night, plan out on paper exactly how you will spend the next day, taking into account meetings, research, phone calls, and “thinking time” to move the key priorities along. If you know you will inevitably need to allow an hour or so to be available for addressing some unique or crisis situation, plan for that. Evaluate how you did at the end of each day and week.

Learn to say no more than you say yes. According to Warren Buffett, “The difference between successful people and very successful people is that very successful people say no to almost everything.” It may feel easier and nicer to say yes to requests for your participation, energy, and counsel, but your time is limited. You need to guard it.

Enlist the support of your executive assistant (EA). I have prescribed this approach to a number of executives, and they report significant success in focusing on priorities in this way. The EA is told what the most important priorities are and is empowered to allocate calendar time only to them. The EA can also determine, based on the agenda of a meeting, whether his or her boss’s presence is really necessary.

Will these changes be hard or uncomfortable at first? Absolutely! But the reward is that you will once more have control over your time—and your business will thrive as a result.

William Bliss is the CEO of Seneca, South Carolina–based Bliss & Associates Inc., which provides advisory services to business leaders. He is the author of the ebook Success in the C-Suite: Top Seven Strategies for Achieving Extraordinary Results.

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR BRAIN

“Attention is a muscle of the mind, and you can strengthen it,” says psychologist Daniel Goleman, author of the international bestseller Emotional Intelligence and, most recently Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence . “There’s a new movement in business to help train people in what’s called mindfulness, or paying full attention.” This state of being fully conscious in the present moment, which has roots in Eastern spiritual traditions, is being enthusiastically embraced by U.S. businesses.

Steve Jobs was a devotee of meditation, and his influence rippled throughout the Silicon Valley and beyond. Today Google, Goldman Sachs, General Mills, and other major companies offer training in mindfulness to their employees. Numerous top CEOs say they practice meditation daily, including Salesforce.com’s Marc Benioff, Bridgewater Associate’s Ray Dalio, Def Jam’s Russell Simmons, and Tupperware CEO Rick Goings. Bill George, former Medtronic CEO, incorporates discussions of mindfulness in the management classes he teaches at Harvard Business School.

“For 10 to 20 minutes a day, you basically practice concentrating,” says Goleman. “You watch your mind, notice when it wanders off, bring it back to its target. It’s like going to the gym and working out your triceps. Every time you lift a weight, it strengthens your muscles. The mind works the same way.” The benefits, research shows, include reduced stress, improved memory, greater equanimity, and better focus.

How can you get yourself some of that? As you might imagine, there is a wealth of apps and other tools for guided meditations. Goleman offers a series of guided audio exercises on a CD called Cultivating Focus (morethansound.net). Check out Calm.com, the Omvana app for iOS, or Mindfulness Meditation from Mental Workout for iPhone, Android, Mac, and PC. –Lee Lusardi Connor