Sustainability & Pivoting Required to Last 100 Years as an Organization

11/12/22 • 42 min

What does it take to last 100 years? Nancy Meadows, CEO of BridgeWays, shares her insights on how and why her organization has lasted almost a century. She discusses necessary organizational pivots of mission, programs, branding, and more that BridgeWays has made over the decades. So, how do you know what or which pivots to make (or not make)? What's the appropriate timeline for successful pivots? Should the process be fast or slow? What types of data and analysis is useful when it comes to decisions about large and small changes? How do you select the right people to surround yourself with in order to accomplish successful pivots?
Nancy also discusses their organizational role in bridging "where youth are" and "where they can be" as it relates to life and career preparation. She explains BridgeWays focus on Social and Emotional Learning, including interpersonal skills building, goal setting skills, exposure to healthy teamwork, conflict resolution skills, and other skillsets sometimes illogically termed 'soft skills' that, in reality, are often deemed as "critical skills" by employers.
This episode also includes discussions about “Hindsight Bias,” alternately called “Knew-It-All-Along Phenomenon,” as it relates to the perception that successful pivots in the past were much more obvious than they actually were in real time.
RESOURCES:
>BridgeWays website
>Nancy Meadows' Bio
>BridgeWays Facebook Page
>Pauline Fletcher's Story
>Camp Fletcher

Brain Chatter, a podcast where we listen past the daily noise and explore topics at the intersection of leadership, workplace culture, profit, and sustainability.

Brain Chatter, a podcast where we listen past the daily noise and explore topics at the intersection of leadership, workplace culture, profit, and sustainability.

Previous Episode

Do Company Wellness Programs Work and Do We Need One?

How does absenteeism and presentism impact a company's effectiveness and sustainability? Does my company need a wellness program? What are the goals of company wellness programs? How do corporate wellness programs work? How do you create a workplace wellness program? What are the organizational leaders' responsibility to workforce wellness programs when it comes to program success? What are the bottom line costs of a workforce with unhealthy habits? What are the wellness and nutrition impacts on US worker's massive chronic disease rates? What has elevated the workplace wellness movement in recent years?
Wellness expert, Registered Dietitian, retired state public health leader, and Samford University School of Public Health adjunct faculty member Mim Gaines is this episode's guest. She answers all of these questions and more.
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RESOURCES:
Connect with Mim Gaines on LinkedIn

Article: "The Business Benefits of a Healthy Workforce" (Harvard University)
Good Choices Programs

Healthy Vending, Alabama

Scale Back Alabama

Wellness Council of America

WELCOA Getting Started Checklist

CDC: Workplace Wellness Programs

Community Foodbank of Central Alabama

Brain Chatter, a podcast where we listen past the daily noise and explore topics at the intersection of leadership, workplace culture, profit, and sustainability.

Next Episode

Practical Strategies for a Disability-Friendly Workplace

At the same time as historic unemployment, there has never been a greater number of well-qualified disabled people who want to work. These prospective employees are sitting on the sidelines. John D. Kemp, CEO of the Lakeshore Foundation and author of a new book entitled “Disability Friendly, How to Move from Clueless to Inclusive” talks practical strategy in this episode.
How can an employer find, hire, and retain qualified workers who happen to be disabled? What do disabled employee prospects want? Who is considered disabled? Why do some employers avoid disabled prospects altogether? What accommodations are required? John even tackles the often undiscussed question, 'what if you have to fire a disabled person for lack of meeting performance requirements'? What are the strengths that disabled people bring with them to a new workplace? Where does an employer, particularly a small to mid-sized company, even start with becoming a workplace that welcomes disabled applicants?
>John's Bio
>Connect with John on LinkedIn
>Lakeshore Foundation
>Links to purchase John's book:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble

Brain Chatter, a podcast where we listen past the daily noise and explore topics at the intersection of leadership, workplace culture, profit, and sustainability.