S. Chris Edmonds - Good Comes First: How Todays Leaders Create an Uncompromising Company Culture That Doesnt Suck

Contents

Praise for Good Comes First

Good Comes First is an essential tool for building organizations where trust and transparency are constant, and teamwork and respect are contagious. Firsthand, I saw the Good Comes First approach create a powerful cultural transformation when I was President at World Kitchen. In my CEO, Home Solutions role at Newell Brands, I continue to use these principles to drive employee engagement, satisfaction, and business growth. If you lead a team, you must read this book!

Kris Malkoski, CEO, Home Solutions, Newell Brands

A foundational element of the WD-40 Company tribal culture was formalizing our values. The most impactful element, though, is holding everyone accountable for modeling our values and behaviors daily. Good Comes First maps out a path to success for both elements.

Garry Ridge, Chairman & CEO WD-40 Company

Culture has almost become a buzzword. And yet, for business leaders, Chris and Mark have created a practical field guide for creating a meaningful, deeply human company culture. Good Comes First is a must-read!

Tamara McCleary, CEO, Thulium

I have always led with the belief that People with Passion drive Performance. Too many companies believe performance is the input when the real input is people within a great culture. Chris and Marks Good Comes First outlines detailed steps on how to bring a contagious culture to your company and truly create a differentiating model where respect is valued as high as results.

Joel D. Anderson, President/CEO of Five Below, Inc.

This book is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information about organizational cultures. Neither the author nor the publisher is engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services by publishing this book. If any such assistance is required, the services of a qualified financial professional should be sought. The author and publisher will not be responsible for any liability, loss, or risk incurred as a result of the use and application of any information contained in this book.

Good Comes First copyright 2021 by S. Chris Edmonds and Mark S. Babbitt

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

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First E-Book Edition: September 2021

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021938098

ISBN 9781953295651

eISBN 9781953295996

Editing by Rachel Phares, Alyn Wallace, David Ellis, and Ellen M. Babbitt

Copyediting by Michael Fedison

Proofreading by Jenny Bridges and Sarah Vostok

Indexing by Amy Murphy

Text design and composition by PerfecType, Nashville, TN

Cover design by Paul McCarthy

Cover image Shutterstock/Blan-k

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S. Chris Edmonds

Im indebted to my wife, Diane, and my family for keeping me on track with coaching, humor, and love.

My mother, Mary Jaene Edmonds, was the first author in the family. I believe shes smiling upon my efforts from above.

Im grateful for the partnership and friendship of my colleague and coauthor, Mark Babbitt. Marks insight, clarity, and passion have made my life and business richer.

Im thankful for my clients, who accept my coaching (and prodding and pushing) with grace and enthusiasm as we work together to create uncompromising work cultures where good comes first.

Mark S. Babbitt

To my wife, Deb: I know Im lucky to have youyour love keeps the lights on. Thank you for tolerating my attempt to make a difference while still trying to grow up.

To my kidsTJ, Ryan, Katlin, Lindsay, and JW: We may not be together as much as I once imagined, but youre in my heart. And to my grandchildrenAJ, Posey, Kaiden, Bodie, and Kinsley: My only hope is that youll always think Grandpa is funny.

To my mother, Ellen: You always believed in my ability to put words to paperand Im forever in your debt.

And to my coauthor, Chris: You brought a sense of balance first to my life, then my workand now my words. Im forever grateful for your friendship.

Finally, to those leaders and coaches who inspired this book: From the great mentors to those who helped mold my thoughts and work in their own ways, my experiences with you helped me realize that good must come firstespecially now. And to those who have worked with me and for me all these yearsfrom the baseball fields to the start-up incubators to the corporate boardroomsI thank you.

CONTENTS

P eople know me as a tennis playerfour Olympic gold medals, twenty-three Grand Slam titles, and a world No. 1 ranking. But Im more than just a tennis player. My world is bigger than that.

Im also an aunt who loves her niece very much, a New York Times best-selling author, an owner of the NFLs Miami Dolphins, and a vocal advocate for equality and diversity. For nearly twenty years, Ive also been an entrepreneur. As a business owner, Im ultimately responsible for results. I also feel responsible, at least in part, for the livelihoods and happiness of the people who work with me and for me.

That deep feeling of responsibilitythe same one you feel as a business leaderis how I came to know the authors of the book you have in your hands now, Good Comes First.

In 2018, I read The Culture Engine by S. Chris Edmonds. I immediately understood that the cultures of my two companiesas successful as we had beenwerent created intentionally. Just as important, I learned those cultures werent always positive or productiveand they werent always purposeful. After reading Chriss book, what really struck me was that my company and my team didnt fully understand our companys valuesand perhaps mine.

As the CEO of both companies, I realized I was solely responsible for building the company cultures I had imagined as an entrepreneur. I also realized I didnt know everything about building a values-driven company culture. The fact was, I didnt know how to articulate our values so every member of my teams would understand, and believe, so much that they would embrace and model those values. Not only when I was physically in the office, but always.

Knowing my organizations needed more polish, and everyone needed to know what we were aiming for, and what we should rally around, I took a big step with V Starr, my interior design firm. I brought Chris in to help me create a positive and purposeful company culture where good consistently comes firstand respect is expected as much as results. I wanted to give my team that greater purposeto be that company where you know why youre there and what youre working toward.

Precisely as outlined so well here in Good Comes First, we jumped right in. Chris helped our senior leaders immediately begin creating our Organizational Constitution for V Starr by formalizing our companys servant purpose, then brainstorming and defining our values. My team, including some of the smartest people Ive ever met, signed on. They completely embraced the process youre about to beginto them, it was a complete no-brainer. They knew this change would make a better workplace for them. Soon, instead of asking, What does this mean? they were excitedly asking, Whats next?