TLP081: If You’re Talking About Trust, It Probably Doesn’t Exist

Louis Efron is the author of Purpose Meets Execution: How Winning Organizations Accelerate Engagement and Drive Profits, and How to Find a Job, Career and Life You Love, and also a contributing writer for Forbes and Huffington Post.The discussion starts with Louis’s journey through theater, the corporate world, and how he came to see big disconnects between personal purpose and corporate purpose. Louis created a Purpose Alignment Score to help individuals discover their personal purpose alignment in life by asking questions about themselves () .   Key Takeaways   [3:42] In Purpose Meets Execution, Louis writes that businesses need to rethink the fundamental drivers for success. Most employees do not see the P&L statement and they have other drivers. Employees are motivated by the purpose of the business beyond the P&L.   [7:07] It takes a leap of faith to change. There is a fear in focusing on something other than P&L. But studies show that having purpose gives a greater ROI than profit alone, and new generations of workers will search for jobs that embody purpose and mission.   [9:39] Tesla Motors created a role for Louis of Head of Global Employee Engagement and Louis held it for a year or two. Six years ago, Tesla had 600 employees; now they have over 30,000 in an organization that prizes purpose. The job was a catalyst for Louis’s thinking.   [11:27] Culture and mission start at the top. If the top is broken, the whole organization is broken. In a large organization, with a clear purpose, you have to make sure that everyone at every level is executing their daily work and seeing how it connects to the same purpose. [14:33] Living for years in Europe and Japan, Louis learned that there are cultural differences in different nations. In a big, global organization the goal is always to be the same, where possible; different, where needed. You have to learn how to leverage cultural nuances to deliver what you want to deliver. There’s a lack of understanding how people see things differently in different parts of the world. [24:37] Louis has a video, “The Disengaged Clown,” on his site. Louis wrote it, directed it, and acted in it. It is about a party clown who finds clowning is not his calling in life. The moral is to find your strength. Our stories influence our behavior, culture, and environment. Louis compares directing a stage production to leading a corporate organization. [29:04] If you get people connected to your organization to believe in what you believe (not to think the same as you, but to accept your purpose), that’s going to play out to your customer. It helps you sell more authentically. It is a bridge between the personal and the corporate.   [32:14] A culture of trust eliminates fear. People challenge, and contribute new ideas. They know if they fail, and learn from it, they can bring about better ways. A culture of fear stifles innovation and it all falls apart.   LinkedIn: Twitter: Website: Website: Search for Louis on and   Quotable Quotes   “Employees don’t get out of bed in the morning to … add $10 million to a top line.”   “If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.“ — Wayne Dyer   “In a big, global organization the goal is always to be ‘same,’ where possible; different, where needed.”   You are responsible for your own curiosity.   “A great culture is built on trust.”   “As a leader, you need to both say the right things and do the right things but doing the right things matters much more.”   If you’re talking a lot about trust in your organization, it probably doesn’t exist there.   “The more you can be yourself in life, the more successful you’ll be.”   “Great leaders believe in who they are. They’re authentic, they communicate in an authentic way, and they live what they’re saying.”   When you have trust, it eliminates fear. People are willing to challenge, bring new ideas, fail and learn from it, to create new ideas.   Bio   Louis Efron is the author of How to Find a Job, Career and Life You Love and Purpose Meets Execution: How Winning Organizations Accelerate Engagement and Drive Profits, a contributing writer for Forbes and Huffington Post.   Books mentioned in this episode   (Also available at )