In Good Companies – Details, episodes & analysis

In Good Companies is back! And for Season 6, we’re doing a deep dive into the future of work. Because business will look different in 2050, and if we had to take an educated guess, it seems that technology is going to be a driver of change. 

In 2024, 86% of organizations have maintained or raised their IT budgets. We all sense that digital tools can help us secure the future of business; we’re just not sure how to use them to our advantage. So today, we speak with a leading voice in the field of technology and entrepreneurship: Shuo Chen, Silicon Valley connoisseur, faculty professor at UC Berkeley and Stanford University, and partner at IOVC, an investment firm focused on early-stage startups that drive the future of work.

In this episode, Shuo shows us how tools like AI and Blockchain can revolutionize business. She demonstrates how technology will eliminate repetitive tasks, streamline our processes, redirect our attention to cultural human questions, and afford us more time to hone our leadership skills. Shuo shines a light on a new, diverse generation of self-starters who are taking their seat at the business table. And she breaks down how technology is changing the nature of entrepreneurship; opening up new career paths going forward. 

So join Shuo Chen and our new host Ari Marin, to get into the nuts and bolts and launch your company into the future!

Highlights:

• A brief history of AI & Blockchain (4:16)
• Why AI & Blockchain are a powerful combination (6:44)
• How technology can augment workflows and improve decision making (8:08)
• Breaking down the “Human VS Technology” myth (10:00)
• “80% of the jobs available in 2030 were not invented 5 years ago” (11:03)
• Ways in which technology will change existing roles (12:20)
• A happy middle: how to juggle automation and personalisation (14:12)
• Using tech to make different leadership styles possible (15:09)
• Transformations in the world of entrepreneurship (16:42)
• FinTech and changes at play in venture funding (18:17)
• Fractional founders: how Shuo seeded her career (19:41)
• Debunking the taboo of building fractionally (21:58)
• Linking together technology, diversity and inclusion (23:41)
• How widespread access to information can create more fruitful discussion (25:33)
• “Resistance is a healthy part of technological development” (26:38)
• A final word from Shuo on the Future of Work (28:26)

Links:

• Cadence Bank Website
• Cadence Bank X (Twitter)
• Cadence Bank LinkedIn
• Shuo Chen X (Twitter) 
• Shuo Chen LinkedIn
• IOVC Website
• Research - “State of the CIO Survey” by Foundry
• Research -  “Realizing 2030: A Divided Vision of the Future” by Dell Technologies

Feedback:

If you have questions about the show or topics you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producers, Eydie.Pengelly@cadencebank.com or Danielle.Kernell@cadencebank.com.

To conclude our Sea Suite series and help you get back to work on a high note, we’re bringing you an episode about joy. Recent research by Oxford University found that workers are 13% more productive when they’re happy. And yet, another study by BCG found that most company leaders aren’t building their strategies around how their employees feel at work. So joy? It’s a real business question.

In this episode, we are joined by designer and joy specialist Ingrid Fetell Lee, to find out how to make our workplaces, our jobs, and ourselves more joyful. A former design director for IDEO, Ingrid is a self-starter with a decade’s worth of research into the science of joy. Her findings made it into a book: Joyful: The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness. 

Today, she helps us answer the hard questions: how do we get to feel joyful? Our surroundings, the objects in our homes, the things and people we interact with every day… Why do they influence our emotions? And crucially: what does that mean for our companies? Together, we discuss how to make our workplaces more enjoyable and productive, and what joy means for leadership, teamwork and our business philosophy. 

Join Ingrid and Ari to spread joy today and make it an integral function of your organization.

Highlights:

• When Ingrid first stumbled upon Joy (2:45)
• Universal joyful patterns (4:54)
• The evolutionary explanation for joy (7:32)
• The difference between joy and happiness (9:33)
• The Aesthetics of Joy in the Workplace (10:29)
• How physical space can impact our mental health (13:32)
• The branded environment: “No one wants to work inside the corporate logo” (15:30)
• The case of joy contagion at Coca-Cola (16:34)
• Adopting a new joyful leadership (18:56)
• “The biggest mistake that I've seen employers make is inconsistency” (20:56)
• Undoing the corporate bias against joy (22:03)
• Signs that we have changed our team for the better (23:23)
• Finding joy while working remotely (25:57)
• Embracing joy in the present (27:46)
• Gen Z: a new philosophy of joy (29:27)

Links:

• Cadence Bank Website
• Cadence Bank X (Twitter)
• Cadence Bank LinkedIn
• The Aesthetics of Joy Website
• The Aesthetics of Joy Instagram
• Ingrid Fetell Lee X (Twitter)
• Ingrid Fetell Lee LinkedIn
• Ingrid Fetell Lee Instagram
• Ingrid Fetell Lee Pinterest
• Ted Talk: “Where Joy Hides and How to Find It”
• Research: Oxford University - “Happy workers are 13% more productive” 
• Research: BCG - “Joy at work matters more than you realize”

Feedback:

If you have questions about the show or topics you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producers, Natalie.Barron@cadencebank.com, Eydie.Pengelly@cadencebank.com, or Danielle.Kernell@cadencebank.com.

In our world, it's not a question of if but when a crisis will strike. In 2023, 96% of businesses experienced emergencies, but only one in five companies were prepared to take action. So in today’s episode, we’re learning to expect the unexpected with the help of our guest: Sydney Isaacs.

Sydney is a Managing Director for H/Advisors Abernathy, a communications advisor with one of the leading crisis management firms in the U.S. Far beyond PR strategy, Sydney has spent the last two decades handling and preventing crises like workplace misconduct, product recalls, cybersecurity attacks and physical disasters. 

So today, Sydney helps us come up with action plans to handle many business crises. Together, we learn how to build efficient teams of first responders, spot crises before they occur and prioritize the right course of action to fix imminent issues. We also unpack how trust, emotion and communication influence crisis prevention and recovery.

So keep calm and tune into this week’s episode. With Patrick and Sydney, you’ll learn to weather every storm.

Highlights:

• What is a crisis? (3:09)
• A flexible approach to crisis management (5:14)
• Why actions speak louder than words (8:11)
• Fight or flight: handling human emotions in a crisis (10:00)
• Differentiating transparency, honesty and forthrightness (11:49)
• “In a crisis, we want to be boring” (13:17)
• When trust interacts with crisis management (14:35)
• People believe in what they see (16:09)
• How to assemble a crisis management plan (18:53)
• The importance of proof-testing your plan  (21:37)
• Qualities of a first responder (23:13)
• Crisis management and social media (26:54)
• Building reputation as crisis prevention (29:12)

Links:

• Cadence Bank Website
• Cadence Bank X (Twitter)
• Cadence Bank LinkedIn
• H/Advisors Abernathy Website
• Sydney Isaacs LinkedIn 
• PwC’s Global Crisis and Resilience Survey 2023
• Why A Business Crisis is A Catalyst for Experimentation

Feedback:

If you have questions about the show or topics you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producers, Natalie.Barron@cadencebank.com, Eydie.Pengelly@cadencebank.com, or danielle.kernell@cadencebank.com.

Welcome back to In Good Companies! This season, we’re connecting you with the hottest trends in business. So we start with a big question: in a fast digital world, how can we keep our companies safe and secure? In 2023, 40% of all US organizations experienced security violations; so what can we do to catch fraud at the door? Our guest Cassi Chandler has her idea.

Cassi has been in criminal intelligence for nearly four decades. She spent 24 years in the FBI, working white collar crime, financial crime, and government fraud. She was also the first African American woman to hold an Assistant Director role in the agency. After she retired from the FBI, she joined Bank of America, to design innovative security strategies, and identify cyber and fraud risks. Now, she is the founder and CEO of Vigeo Alliances, a company that advises businesses on leadership and talent risk management. So who better to help us tackle fraud prevention?

Today, Cassi discusses the latest cyber criminality and fraud trends, to help us join the dots, and spot the risks at play inside our companies. From monitoring the information flowing in our systems, to communicating inside and outside our teams, and becoming technologically-minded… Cassi shares the “intelligence mindset” that can keep us all safe and sound. 

Join Patrick and Cassi today to get ahead of the digital security game. And remember: fraud is everyone’s business.

Highlights:

• Identifying different types of fraud (2:53)
• Why technology makes your business fragile (4:15)
• First steps to fraud prevention: team communication (5:40)
• Paying attention to what’s coming in (6:35)
• How other organizations handle your information (7:41)
• When data is no longer in our control (8:50)
• Practical ways to make our digital space more secure (10:05)
• Defining the intelligence mindset (11:35)
• Technology development through Star Trek (13:31)
• Thinking like a fraudster: “looking for the possibilities” (15:01)
• Building an intelligence into corporate culture (16:00)
• Tackling fraud prevention at the industry level (17:12)
• Why regulating and reporting fraud matters (18:45)
• Culture is the first risk (20:39)

Links:

• Cadence Bank Website
• Cadence Bank X (Twitter)
• Cadence Bank LinkedIn
• Cassi Chandler X (Twitter)
• Cassi Chandler LinkedIn 
• Vigeo Alliances Website
• Article - How pervasive is corporate fraud?
• Article - The Importance of Safeguarding Businesses from Data Privacy and Security Risks 

Feedback:

If you have questions about the show or topics you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producers, Natalie.Barron@cadencebank.com, Eydie.Pengelly@cadencebank.com, or danielle.kernell@cadencebank.com.

In Good Companies is springing back into action! Season 5 is out next week, and to warm up, we’re bringing back a favorite guest from seasons past: the fantastic Anna Catalano. Her episode is a lesson in ambition and professional development. 

Over the last 20 years, Anna has perfected the art of board governance and sat on a dozen public boards. Fortune magazine named her one of the most powerful women in international business, which is no understatement. In 2023, women held only 28% of board seats in the Russell 3000. And yet, Anna has become a prominent voice in corporate leadership, advocating for diversity and board refreshment.

So today, we ask her: how can companies make efforts to diversify their leadership? How can established directors lift up people who haven’t always had their seat at the table? What is the benefit of seeing more diversity in the boardroom?

Together, we weigh up the challenges awaiting women in business, and think about how boards can make space for new talents. Looking back on her career, Anna will revisit her most formative experiences; from unconscious bias, to bold career turns, her story is as inspiring as it is insightful.

Push the doors of the boardroom open with Patrick and Anna… And you will find that change is underway.

Highlights:

• What a board of directors does (2:38)
• Improving diversity around the table (4:13)
• How directors are recruited (5:49)
• Reconciling diversity and meritocracy (8:09)
• Handling unconscious bias (10:08)
• The importance of interrogating assumptions (12:29)
• How board directors lift up new talents (14:23)
• Thoughts on board refreshments (16:02)
• How to get board-ready (18:39)
• Seizing new learning opportunities (22:23)
• Getting out of your comfort zone (24:08)
• Diversity to revisit the way things are done (26:21)
• What good leadership means to Anna (27:27)

Links:

• Cadence Bank Website
• Cadence Bank Twitter
• Cadence Bank LinkedIn
• Anna’s Website
• Anna’s Blog 
• Anna’s LinkedIn
• Anna’s Twitter
• Anna Catalano - “The Importance of Board Refreshment”
• Wall Street Journal - “Anna Catalano Is in The Room Where It Happens” 
• Fortune - “Women hold a record number of corporate board seats. The bad news: It’s barely over 25%, and it’s slowing down.”

If you have questions about the show or topics you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producers, Natalie.Barron@cadencebank.com, Eydie.Pengelly@cadencebank.com, or danielle.kernell@cadencebank.com.

We've only been gone for a few weeks, but at Cadence Bank, we miss our weekly dose of In Good Companies. 

But! We’ve got some exciting news. We will soon return for our fifth season. So mark your calendars: fresh new episodes of In Good Companies are coming to your feed in March 2024. 

We have lined up some amazing guests to dive into top business topics like: digital security, crisis management, leadership trends, and remapping our workplaces… Together, we’ll unlock success, one episode at a time. 

So, ready to get back into the world of In Good Companies? Then subscribe to never miss an episode. 

Happy New Year! 2024 is here, and, as is our tradition, our team celebrates bringing good companies forward. So to close season four, we welcome back some well-loved guests to talk about one of our favorite topics: how to lead with integrity. Consider this your all-in-one guide to business leadership. 

This episode features a variety of short clips where our guests share their depth of experience to help you learn how to communicate better, take challenges in stride and land on winning strategies. We will see that effective leadership is bolstered by a human approach and that it always starts with vulnerability and collaboration. And of course, you will hear from leaders who did everything wrong, before finding their way. 

Get ready to get inspired, with our fantastic guests: Mohammad Anwar, the loving CEO of Softway; Anna Catalano, an impressive advisor and board director with 40 years of experience in corporate leadership; Dr. Marcus Collins, a powerful speaker and expert in culture and marketing; the wise and inspiring Craig Flowers, an Army veteran and the founder of Sideline Leadership; and born-to lead, former Super Bowl champion, Keith Jackson Sr. To hear more from them, find their individual episodes linked below.

Let’s wrap up season 4 together, and be ready to lead our companies into the new year!

Highlights:

• How Craig Flowers earned his stripes as a leader (1:54)
• Craig’s definition of leadership (3:39)
• Mohammad Anwar: from bad boss, to loving CEO (5:48)
• The leadership strategy that changed the game (8:57)
• Love as a plan of action (11:12)
• The Holmgren way: Keith Jackson Sr. on coaching and teamwork (13:43)
• Finding mentors at every stage of your career (15:40)
• The art of communication, with Dr Marcus Collins (19:22)
• When leading with empathy takes practice (21:24)
• Diversity and decision making, with Anna Catalano (23:36)
• The importance of board refreshment (26:09)

Links:

• Cadence Bank Website
• Cadence Bank Twitter
• Cadence Bank LinkedIn
• Craig Flowers LinkedIn
• Mohammad Anwar LinkedIn
• Keith Jackson Website
• Marcus Collins Website
• Marcus Collins LinkedIn
• Anna Catalano’s Website
• Anna Catalano’s LinkedIn

Past Episodes:

• Craig Flowers: “Know, Care, Challenge: The Keys to Talent Retention”
• Craig Flowers: “Several Habits of Effective Leaders”
• Keith Jackson Sr: “Leadership, with Super Bowl Champion Keith Jackson”
• Mohammad Anwar: “All You Need Is Love: the origins of “Love as a Business Strategy”
• Mohammad Anwar: “Everlasting Love: Sustaining a Culture of Love”
• Dr Marcus Collins: “Nurture your Culture: Dr Marcus Collins on the Power of Culture in Business”
• Dr Marcus Collins: “Under the Influence: Learning Marketing Strategy from Pop Culture”
• Anna Catalano: “All Aboard: Anna Catalano on Gender and Diversity on Boards” 
  
  

If you have questions about the show or topics you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producers, Natalie.Barron@cadencebank.com, Eydie.Pengelly@cadencebank.com, or danielle.kernell@cadencebank.com.

New year, new you, same great podcast. We are back this week with another fan-favorite episode, which is our way of wrapping up the holidays and starting the new year on a high note!

This week, meet (again) Jennifer McNorton, senior director of talent attraction at Indeed, one of the most popular job sites in the world. Jenn is in charge of sourcing and recruiting for leadership positions at Indeed. But she doesn’t just manage hiring at a top tech company. From her vantage point, she sees talent acquisition trends across the economy. 

So in this episode, we explore the macro view of talent acquisition: how the workforce has evolved and why companies are competing for talent like never before. Hear how you can differentiate your business and offer what jobseekers value most.

Highlights:

• What is “talent attraction”? (1:37)
• The three key hiring battles (2:18)
• The biggest misconception about talent attraction (4:08)
• The value of proactive differentiation (6:05)
• How small & medium businesses can compete with fewer resources (9:06)
• The benefits and perks that jobseekers value most (10:47)
• These trends are here to stay (13:43)
• Patrick summary (15:05)

Links:

• Cadence Bank Website
• Cadence Bank Twitter
• Cadence Bank LinkedIn
• Indeed.com
• Jennifer McNorton LinkedIn
• Indeed.com LinkedIn
• Indeed.com - Talent attraction resources
• Indeed.com - Build Awareness for Your Brand—and Jumpstart Your Recruitment and Hiring
• Indeed.com - Enhance Your Employer Brand: 4 Factors to Focus On
• Indeed.com - Navigating the US Labor Market in 2022
  
  

Feedback:

If you have questions about the show or topics you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producers, Natalie.Barron@cadencebank.com, Eydie.Pengelly@cadencebank.com, or danielle.kernell@cadencebank.com.

We wish you a very happy holiday season! 

Join us in revisiting a much loved episode from season three. It’s our gift to you to say thank you for being part of our In Good Companies community.

This fan favorite episode asks: Are you thinking about selling a business? Or buying into a venture in the new year? Then you know that when it comes to dealing with the deal, both stakes and emotions are high. So, to help you navigate the opportunities ahead, we dive into the human element of mergers and acquisitions (M&A). What’s it like to sell your business? How do you manage change? What can you do to build trust?

To answer these questions, we speak with two people who have experienced the whole spectrum of M&A transactions. The father and son team George & Joshua Robertson run GrowCo Capital, an investment firm based in Fort Worth, Texas. But before they were in venture capital, they ran their own businesses, including National HME. Hear the story of how George and Josh navigated the strategic partnership and eventual sale of their family business and the lessons they now bring to the buy-side. We’ll explore how to manage your emotions, communicate with employees and set a clear vision so that everyone can win. 

Grab some hot cocoa and join us for a season three greatest hit to learn how to “Deal with the Deal.” 

Highlights:

• The Robertsons’ family background (2:05)
• Planting the seeds for National HME (4:40)
• National HME: the early years (7:43)
• Why the Robertsons went looking for strategic partners (8:54)
• How they chose partners (10:02)
• Managing emotions (12:06)
• How George and Josh adapted to new partners (14:22)
• The golden nugget (16:41)
• Communicating with employees (18:03)
• Saying goodbye to the company you’ve built (19:23)
• Having values at your core (21:47)
• George and Josh on the buy-side (22:53)
• Using what they’ve learned (23:57)
• Channeling emotion towards a goal (26:13)
• MasVida Health and the future for the Robertsons (28:17)

Links:

• Cadence Bank Website
• Cadence Bank Twitter
• Cadence Bank LinkedIn
• GrowCo Capital
• George Robertson LinkedIn
• Joshua Robertson LinkedIn
• MasVida Health
• Forbes - Emotions Matter When Selling Your Company
• Harvard Business Review - Dealing with the Emotional Fallout of Selling Your Business
• LinkedIn - What CEOs must do to lead successful mergers and acquisitions

Feedback:

If you have questions about the show or topics you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producers, Natalie.Barron@cadencebank.com, Eydie.Pengelly@cadencebank.com, or danielle.kernell@cadencebank.com.

As a company, how long does it take to make it? The U.S. Bureau of Labor reports that 20% of companies go bust in their first two years. What’s more, only one-fifth make it past their 15th anniversary. But on In Good Companies, we’re hopeful. That’s why in this episode, we talk to Charlie Malouf, a leader who has seen it all, and came out the other end crowned with success. 

Charlie is the president and CEO of Broad River Retail, a home furnishings retailer and licensee of Ashley Stores. Over the past two decades, what was once a three-store licensee has become a fast-growing top 100 retailer, with 31 locations and more than 800 employees. As for Charlie, his innovative vision and his impact on the local community have made him one of Charlotte, North Carolina’s Most Admired CEOs. 

In this episode, Charlie shows us that in business, trials and tribulations can still lead to a perfect moment. Together, we talk about taking strategic leaps of faith, reframing failure as a data point and using creative reinvention to your advantage. We unpack how a focus on human capital can carry your company through the toughest times, and you will see that with a powerful vision, you can break new ground and create abundance for everyone. 

So tune in with Patrick and Charlie, to hear the tale of an overnight success, twenty years in the making.

Highlights:

●      Introducing Broad River Retail (2:21)
●      When Charlie joined Broad River: the story of a leap of faith (34:39)
●      Risk-taking as an opportunity to learn (5:54)
●      When a business breaks all of its bones (7:23)
●      Creative Destruction 101 (9:11)
●      Reframing failure as a data point (11:13)
●      From “Human Resources” to “Human Capital” (13:01)
●      Changing the rules of the retail industry (15:09)
●      Restructuring during Covid-19 (17:00)
●      Coming out of the pandemic with positive momentum (20:51)
●      How Broad River Retail is doing today (22:37)
●      A podcast in a podcast - introducing Stories from the River (25:14)
●      The importance of sharing abundance with your community (28:40)
●      Charlie’s proudest achievements (30:39)

Links:

●      Cadence Bank Website
●      Cadence Bank Twitter
●      Cadence Bank LinkedIn
●      Charlie Malouf LinkedIn
●      Charlie Malouf Twitter
●      Broad River Retail Website
●      Broad River Retail LinkedIn
●      Broad River Retail Podcast - "Stories from the River"
●      Statistics - “Why Young Businesses Fail”


If you have questions about the show or topics you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producers, Natalie.Barron@cadencebank.com, Eydie.Pengelly@cadencebank.com, or danielle.kernell@cadencebank.com.