Welcome back to the Chart to Heart podcast, where my husband, John Henry Scott III and I embark on a journey to explore the world of culture, engagement, and the human experience within the context of business. Did you know that the desire to be seen and heard is a universal human need? In this episode, we discuss how this ties into the root word for culture (cultus),' which means to care, and explore how caring for both people and businesses leads to better outcomes.
Join us as we:
Come along with us on the journey to humanize business by discovering the glue that connects the dots between results and people.
Thank you for listening.
Connect with Chart to Heart:
Website: https://www.charttoheart.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/73198543/admin/
Instagram: @chart2heart
Connect with John on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrjohnhenryscott/
Connect with Portia on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/portia-r-scott-7753923a/
Welcome back to the Chart to Heart podcast, where my husband, John Henry Scott III and I embark on a journey to explore the world of culture, engagement, and the human experience within the context of business. Did you know that the desire to be seen and heard is a universal human need? In this episode, we discuss how this ties into the root word for culture (cultus),' which means to care, and explore how caring for both people and businesses leads to better outcomes.
Join us as we:
Come along with us on the journey to humanize business by discovering the glue that connects the dots between results and people.
Thank you for listening.
Connect with Chart to Heart:
Website: https://www.charttoheart.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/73198543/admin/
Instagram: @chart2heart
Connect with John on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrjohnhenryscott/
Connect with Portia on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/portia-r-scott-7753923a/
Whether it is in Bogotá Columbia or whether I'm in Sydney, Australia or whether I'm in Shenzhen, China. Or whether I'm in Cairo each or whether I'm in Johannesburg, South Africa. The common thread that I discovered in my experience is that people have a desire to be seen and to be heard. And I think that that ties into the world. That group word of culture, kothos, which means to care. People want to know that you care, and people want to care.
Speaker 2:Hello, and welcome to the Chart to Heart podcast with your host John Henry and Porsche to Scott.
Speaker 1:Through the lenses of stories, interviews, principles, and best practices, we will discover the glue that connects the dots between business and people.
Speaker 2:Hello, darling, and welcome to the official official relaunch of the chart to heart podcast. I know you're not used to my voice because this podcast was once hosted by a single person John Henry Scott the third, and now with the relaunch, not single as in. Harry.
Speaker 1:Like, you
Speaker 2:know what I mean? I mean, like, I mean, like, by yourself.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:Okay. That's
Speaker 1:important for the folks, you know.
Speaker 2:But now, We have come together and we are co hosting this podcast, which I am super, super excited about one, I'm excited just to be back in the host seat. And then number two, I'm excited to just bring just this freshness and just to really talk and dive in and have these conversations around business, around humanizing business, more specifically, and how culture, how engagement helps us to really do that. So without further ado, I'm gonna introduce our other cohost John Henry Scott the third.
Speaker 1:Hey, folks. Good day to you.
Speaker 2:How does it feel to be, like, relaunching the podcast again?
Speaker 1:It feels a relief. Sure. And a relief not just because we are able to add to the conversation. The conversation that is exist thing around culture, around engagement, around the human experience within the context of work across different industries or verticals or spaces in which people humans exist in our plank. But it's it's just nice to not be doing it alone. It'll be honest.
Speaker 2:Doing the podcast alone or
Speaker 1:Not to be doing the podcast alone to be able to have you here, specifically. To really kind of lead the charge on this and me just providing content and adding value where I can. So I'm excited about that.
Speaker 2:So for those of you all that don't know, John Henry and I are married, and we also partnered together at Chart to Heart. We are John Henry, is the CEO and founder, and I am the principal operating officer. And as of this podcast. I literally just celebrated yesterday. One is here at Chart two Heart, May fifth two thousand twenty two. I came on to join May second. May second twenty twenty two. I joined the Chart to Heart family now because you had two people before it was -- Yeah.
Speaker 1:-- just me.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And so I really wanna jump in because I think for those that don't know about heart to heart for those that do know about heart, but don't really know what we do and and how we do it and just the genesis of the story. I think that's so very important. And so let's talk a little bit about the chart to heart story, but I'm gonna ask you something that I ask every everybody on any podcast that I do and I wanna know what are you grateful for in this moment?
Speaker 1:In this moment, I'm grateful for the opportunity to to serve. Right? And I think that that's a massive umbrella. But when I think about what we do, not only just through the work of chart to heart, but just the people that we are. We are really driven by by serving others in serving one another. And so I'm really grateful for the opportunity to serve humanity in this capacity.
Speaker 2:I love that. So let's dive in. What is heart to heart?
Speaker 1:Yeah. That's great. So in short, To understand chart to chart, I'll tell a story. It was it had to be maybe two thousand and fourteen or two thousand and fifteen. I was working for a private technology company, and I was up facilitating a session with We probably about forty or fifty leaders in the room. And I was talking about our company cultural beliefs. And we were also talking about the key results in our strategy and some strategic priorities that we to deliver on. And at some point, I'm not giving a pitch around our cultural beliefs and how we can really get them embedded into the fabric or the DNA of the organization. And I just made a statement and I said to the leaders in that room, I said our opportunity right now is to take all of this off of the chart and inject it into hearts of those we get an opportunity to influence and serve. And when I said that, I mean, something just leaped on the inside of me. Until that's how the phrase chart to heart was really born. And since then, I've kinda just coined it and have taken it around the globe and it has framed the essence of who I am as a person and then also what it is that I do. So chart to heart, chart represent the strategy, the business results, and all of the things that must accomplish for business to be a business, and a heart is symbolic of the people. And so Chart to Heart connects the dots between the business and the people. That's Chart to Heart.
Speaker 2:I love that. And so when we came on and we introduced her to her, we always say we're a global culture and engagement company. Right? And so there's so many variant definitions of culture and engagement and so many people do so many things within the culture space. Right? Because some people have culture and it's focused on DE and I. Some people have culture and it's focused on, you know, the strategy and things like that. And so if you had to break it down for those that are don't know or just to give our definition of what culture and engagement means to us. So how would you define culture?
Speaker 1:Yeah. Absolutely. Great question. And so, at heart, our definition of culture is human interaction. That produces results. That's what culture is. Human interaction that produces results. And what we mean by that is, the results again, the chart, and the human interactions, the heart, in how well we manage or how well we don't manage that human interaction is going to produce a result, and it is our belief that if we go back to the word of culture in the Latin comes from a word cultist, which really means to care. And so that points to engagement and engagement, the way we define that is how we interact with one another. And so they're not a dichotomy of separate entities, their connected culture and engagement. If we define culture as human interaction that produces results, and engagement as only interact with one another, then we invest in both of them and we partner with those we're fortunate to serve with really helping with engagement how we interact with one another because we know that that interaction is going to produce a result. Now it's our belief that it's aligned with the Latin root of the word culture care. So how do we help to make sure that at that human interaction level that there is this common thread of caring and caring about one another but then also caring about the business.
Speaker 2:I love that. Can we go back a little bit because you have this moment where you bring chart? To heart. Right? Two thousand fifteen, two thousand sixteen, around that time. But you didn't start heart to heart until twenty twenty one. And so, what made you start heart to heart? I guess, hold it. And I think at the time when you said it, obviously, it wasn't like bam, this is gonna be a thing. It just kinda became this thing throughout the organization that you were the chart to heart guy like Oh my goodness. It opened up eyes. I remember you talking about in that room and even hearing from Fernando was in that room. Right? And so Well,
Speaker 1:she wasn't in the room in the first game, but she's heard it many times in that the same impact as I tested around the world.
Speaker 2:That it's had. And so What made you start heart to heart?
Speaker 1:Yeah. So sometimes you have these moments where you get to choose destiny. And there are some moments where destiny chooses you. And I think that chart to heart and it shows me, through organically doing my job. If you look at my life, I'd like to say that I'm a science nerd, I'm a bit of a nerd, not like numbers and science and all that stuff, but I am also I would like to say pretty good at people. And so that common thread has been throughout my life, the technical but then also a human connection piece. And so after I said that, I led our company culture and engagement, but I also was leading in the operational excellence space and also did work in digital formation and a pretty diverse background. So being able to leverage the technical with the human connection piece. I went around the globe doing that and they're probably about four or five years, I knew that, you know, I could probably have a bigger impact, not saying I didn't have an impact. Because to have had the opportunity to serve thousands of people on every continent except Antarctica crossover. I think the last count was over fifty five countries. My worldview was expanded. And I begin to understand the human condition within different verticals and different spaces and different geographic cultures and find the common thread between the human connection and I'm just driven by that and so that I'd never forget I was in Singapore in twenty nineteen, and I just had this thought then. I could do this. Not that I was not happy doing it within an organization, but I knew that I would be able to serve companies and serve people who perhaps couldn't afford some of the big boxes and even those that could afford it. I would be able to bring a different perspective by leveraging my experience and the stories that I've discovered things as well.
Speaker 2:Excellent. So you gotta stop hitting it because it's gonna come up on like I can hear you. So in any way I could do some of that stuff, but just triple
Speaker 1:one.
Speaker 2:So one of the things that you said was that really caught my eye was really this you were looking for the common thread. Right? So you're in here, you're talking about strategy, and do we connect the dots with people that are doing the work and the strategic goals, but also the fact that you went around to all these different countries. And the way that we may navigate culture, right, within our culture here in the United States may be different in Asia, in Africa, and even in the countries within those continents. Right? So if there was one thing as you think about it, what has been the common thread as you've gone through all of these different cultures? In countries and continents as it relates to people. Like, what is the one common thread? Because I think we know all the differences, but What would one common thread be that you have kinda connected the dots throughout all your visits?
Speaker 1:Yeah. Yeah. People have an innate desire to be sane and to be heard. It's a common thread. Whether it is in Bogotá Columbia or whether I'm in Sydney, Australia or whether I'm in Shenzhen, China, or whether I'm in Cairo each or whether I'm in Johannesburg, South Africa. The common thread that I've discovered in my experience is that people have a desire to be seen and to be heard. And I think that that ties into the word, that Latin word, root word of culture, kothos, which means to care. People want to know that you care, and people want to care.
Speaker 2:That's so good. That's so good. You know, I I just believe, you know, with humanity and and how we impact humanity that that's a common thread that we hear too. And that I've seen in my own life and my own travel and and things like that. And so why do you think that culture is so important. Mhmm. And when I say that because you and I have this thing that you're gonna build a culture intentionally or unintentionally. So maybe what I'm asking is, Why is it so important that we build this intentional culture?
Speaker 1:Yeah. An intentional healthy culture. Right? Mhmm. The culture that's gonna produce. Desired result. In my experience, you can be deceived by results. Meaning that you can have a culture that isn't necessarily healthy you can have a culture that's not necessarily one that the people who are part of the organization are proud of, you can have a culture. Where processes are are trash and strategies are not clear, massive communication issues. However, you have a really good product or you have a really good service and that there is a demand, there is a need for that. And sometimes what happens is we lock in on the need for the product or the service and we invest in making that better And so as a result, then we keep revenue targets and we make a lot of money. But it's a toxic toxic environment or it's an environment that cannot sustain the result. And so in my experience and to me What culture does is culture gives us this stickiness and gives us this ability to sustain results over time in in different situations. I'll give you an example there are some firms that took a massive hit in twenty twenty, twenty twenty one and are still feeling the impact of the pandemic that occurred. Right? Still right now, still feeling the impact of that. However studies prove it that when you went in and you did a culture assessment or you did engagement surveys, that there's a direct correlation between those companies who are experiencing lower turnover who are listening and understanding their people as it relates as it relates to return the office or remote work or a lot of the different workforce trends, the layoffs that have just happened, companies with healthy cultures, I am not saying that they did not have to do layoffs. I'm not saying that they are not experiencing turnover, but the way the experiences are created. For the people within the business, it's totally different. It's a lot more healthy. And as things turn around, those people wanna come back because you wanna be a part of that team. And so what culture does is culture makes use sticky culture gives you the opportunity to experience sustainable results over time despite the seasons or the challenges that you're gonna encounter.
Speaker 2:So do you believe or has it been in your experience that companies that have historically or started out, you know, without a healthy, what we would call either an unhealthy or kind of toxic culture in one area or another. Right? Because I think when we're looking at culture, it is to create this experience across all business lines, across the organization. Not perfect. Right? But leading into this healthy norm. Right? Do you think that companies that have historically had a toxic culture can come back, can turn the tide?
Speaker 1:Absolutely. Absolutely. Without without question. Without question.
Speaker 2:So because I want you to keep going. But in your answer, I want you to say, let us know what does it take?
Speaker 1:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I think that that's exactly where I was going. Number one, you have to realize that people are more than just numbers. And when we can look at the people within the business as humans, who's having a human experience I like to tell a lot of our clients something that I read in the book several years ago is that every number has a name. Every name has a story and every single story matters. And so as I go through and try to start to turn the tide, or even to continue to invest in a healthy culture is I've gotta understand that people are not roles but they're humans. People are not titles, but they're humans. And so that human connection, that's why our definition of culture. Is human interaction that produces the results, whether it's intended or unintended results. And so I think we start there. We start with seeing people as humans in finding out where do we connect on a human level. That's a that's a clear starting point right there. And you I've been in the rooms, I mean, different industries with with rocket scientists. I've been in rooms with engineers. I've been in rooms with astronauts. I've been in rooms with basketball players and I've been in rooms with janitors, all in the exact same room, and it is fascinating. That you're able to find connection on the human level. And when you're able to connect there, now you can really start to build on all of the other complexities that kinda create a winning culture.
Speaker 2:Why do we find it so hard? I think in twenty twenty, when, you know, COVID in the pandemic, everything was happening. I think we got it to a place where we realized wow, humans are humans from the CEO to the janitor. We were all experiencing that. It did not matter. You're so your economic class. It did not matter your race. It did not matter. None of that mattered. We were all going through the same theme. And so I think one of the things I wanna ask is, why is it? Because I and I could be wrong, but I feel like we're still there humanizing as we like to call business and thinking, but I feel like we're also going back to pre COVID ways. Why is it so hard, particularly in the workplace, to look at people as humans. Does that take away our professionalism? Does that take away our skill set? Like, what is it that that's so hard for us to, you know, accept that the people working in our organizations are human. Yeah. Like,
Speaker 1:I'm sure we don't see them as humans in my experience. I just think that we sometimes put higher priority and focus on the chart instead of the heart. And so in in our business, as you know, what what we encourage companies to do is that you've gotta inject an culture as part of your strategy. Sometimes that's what happens. Right? When we don't do that, then it's very easy to focus more on the result or focus more on I've gotta get this out the door. I've gotta make that our strategy or this deliverable or this new technology or this project, and we are that becomes a big thing. But when we inject and we create, we normalize healthy cultural behaviors and creating experience is. And the desired feelings, I like to say that we want people to have. When we prioritize that and systematically embed that in how we were, then I think we have less of seeing people as numbers or not really seeing people as humans. And so I I think that's a long way to answer your question, but the short answer is we sometimes just don't build it intense into the strategy. We don't make it as important as we make other things. That's why we're feeling it.
Speaker 2:That's fair. That's fair. So give us three things that make for an intentional healthy culture. What are three things that right now? And you may not be able to implement three things but what are three things that I could take away as a business owner, as a chief people officer, as a director, as a team leader as a team member to start to create and to do my part to make for an intentional healthy culture.
Speaker 1:I'll give you two that are linked together and I call them the Wonder Twins, the Wonder Twins of feedback and a recognition. That's two things you can do right now. Is start seeking feedback. Start asking for feedback. Because with that does, it goes back to that common thread. That people wanna feel seen and heard. And what feedback does is feedback says I hear you. And I wanna hear what you have to say, both appreciative and constructive. Go and I'm gonna start seeking feedback. So that's one. Number two, so I'm gonna give a recognition. And a lot of times in my experience, folks think that recognition requires a massive line item on the budget, but it's just saying I see it. It's it may not necessarily be I'm gonna give this person a bonus or I'm gonna give this person a raise. But I'm going to acknowledge what it is that a person is doing, that is a positive reflection of who we are as a firm or something that's really helping to create a good client experience or springs for another import or something. I'm gonna water where it is. What it is that I wanna see grow. I'm gonna shine a light on that. So feedback is one. Seeking feedback. Recognition, shine a light on what it is that is positive and things that are happening in a productive and a good matter in the organization. And then number three requires some creativity and intentionality. And that is being intentional, creating meaningful experiences. Meaningful experiences that are positive, not necessarily you know, you could create a meaningful experience that's not favorable. Right. And you've been coming in and do something and that is an experience. And people are gonna remember that. But when I say meaningful experiences, that means that I am going to create an experience that says, I care because we're going right back to that Latin word for culture, culture, which means care. So how can I create an experience that demonstrates that I care I care about what? I care about the human And I also care about the business. They both go hand in hand. It's not a dick.
Speaker 2:So give me an example of creating that experience or creating an experience. Give me an example. Like an example that, you know, where you created or where they can create this this experience. Right?
Speaker 1:Absolutely. That you can go into a team meeting. And in a team meeting, maybe take five minutes to connect with your people. I like to tell people, sometimes I go in and I say, alright, what's the last song that you listened to. And then now what you're doing is you're going to railroad all your employees, less so now listen to your lives. Was was Bon Jobin. The last song I listened to was was this. And that's creating an experience. And somebody said, well, what's that have to do with business?
Speaker 2:I don't
Speaker 1:want me and met. Well, it's dealing with people. And so what I'm doing now is I'm learning about a person who I'm on the same team with or someone that I'm working with. And we may find out, oh, man, we both like j z. Oh, we both like RAS go flat. Mhmm. We don't know. And so then now what I've done was I've created an experience and people don't expect that. They don't see that coming. But it's extremely powerful. It's simple, but it's powerful, it's human, and and and folks laugh, and other stories come out of bed. So that's a that's a simple way.
Speaker 2:I think sometime we we forget about those simple things. I was working on a really huge project with over, like, ten teams, and we would get on these calls. And these calls would be huge calls. You know, you're working with over ten teams. From different industries and not in the same company coming together as consultants on this particular project. And one of the things that leads would say was they would when we were going into the meeting, they would have a a question like who would you wanna go to concert? You know, who would you wanna see in concert dead or alive? Right? And I remember Prince, obviously. I was like, prints. And somebody else said it that I had never really had the opportunity to interact with. But because they liked prints, And I liked Prince the next call we were on together. It was like, that's my Prince Twin. Right? And so it seems so small. But when I have this connection, now when I have a question, maybe for that team, somebody I don't really know, but I know my prince team, my prince twin. So I can go and say, hey, you know, what do you know about this? How can you help me with this? So you build that rapport based off of the, you know, the connection that you have with other people. So I think that's so powerful because it's so small but it builds connection. And sometime when we talk about culture, this big word, engagement is so big. But if we bring it down to almost like these bite sized pieces. Now, everybody can take a part in, you know, creating that healthy culture.
Speaker 1:Well, you just said that that's the it's everyone who has a responsibility in creating a a culture that we can really proud of absolutely.
Speaker 2:I love that. So how would you describe the chart to heart experience when someone comes in and and, you know, we you have some different offers. But overall, the chart to heart experience. Like, we're a culture and engagement company, but I feel like or also an experience company. So how would you describe the chart to heart experience?
Speaker 1:Yeah. I think whoa. I don't think. It's it's my belief. I hope our clients will agree with that that it is intentionally personal. Meaning that whether you are a large farm, which we have, large farms in our portfolio or you are a one on one executive leader, coach, that it is intentionally personal, which is to say that we're gonna go in and we are going to learn and understand and empathize and connect with you unique And everything else we build from that. Right? We believe in being clint and kind, we believe, in empathy and execution. And we're your partner. Right? I I hope that those who've had an opportunity to work with us or to partner with us or we've had an opportunity to serve, would say that Trump to heart went above and beyond, I forgot that they were consultants. I thought they were part of our team. They felt like my my my brother or my sister that that we became an extended part of that family. And that's the chart a hard experience is that We don't care about the numbers only. We care about the people. Do we have targets? And do we have key results in things that we wanna do and achieve and grow our businesses scale and have a larger footprint. Absolutely. But we are not going to compromise our integrity nor are we going to compromise the integrity of those we serve. And so I think that answers your question. I hope so.
Speaker 2:It does. That's why I love it here. Even hearing you, I think it's important, right, like hearing you. I I mean, I'm in the business, but hearing it again, it just, like, reignites you know that thing. It's just just a reminder of that. While it seems like it's it's it's a business, but it's so much more than that. Right? It is this human experience.
Speaker 1:It's our purpose work. Mhmm. Right? It's it's not that we don't do this work. Because we can't do anything else. Right? We we've had an opportunity to go sit in some really high paying job with some extremely reputable and notable firms. But the decision to be able to serve people and this capacity is what drives us. And I think that that's been a contributor of our success and I believe our clients and those we serve can feel that.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. I love that. So I'm gonna ask you this. Question. It's twenty years right from now and you're sitting in your backyard, coffee in one hand, holding my hand with the other. You know, watching the sunrise over the Santa Susanna Mountains. You've seen Chart to Heart grow into this massive force and we've been able to impact people across the world that we could never have even imagine. You've written books You've ran maybe for alderman, the kids are grown and they have their own children. You've accomplished all of these objectives. You've served so many people in and outside of heart. What are you most Yeah.
Speaker 1:I am most proud of if my family. If while we're sitting there, looking over the mountains, and we're holding hands that you feel safe and that you are looking forward to the next. Fifteen years of us get no. And I am most proud that my children can still look at me and and brag about their dad. I know what the the social media will be, but TikTok three point o will be out. And that my kids will be okay and my grandkids will be okay putting the post about their their their their pop up. That's what I'm most proud of.
Speaker 2:I love that. I love that. Well, that concludes this episode. I hope you guys absolutely enjoyed this. It was a little bit about the genesis of Chart to Heart. And I wanted to make sure that you all heard the heart of our CEO and founder, but that you are also able to take away some things that you could take back. To your teams, to your communities, to your organization as a whole. So until next time, We will talk to you later.
Speaker 1:Have a good one, everybody.
Speaker 2:Thank you again for listening to the Chart to Heart podcast. We hope you enjoyed this episode. Make sure to subscribe and share. Leave us a five star rating and review. You can also connect with us on all of our social media channels. At chart the number two heart until next time.
Speaker 1:We'll see you later.
Speaker 2:Addios.
Speaker 1:Xi san.
Speaker 2:Coheri.
Speaker 1:Cheers folks.