Episode Details

Nothing creates team buy-in more effectively than the “ownership mindset” espoused by our guest on this episode of Gratitude Through Hard Times. What’s the secret sauce? Kerry Siggins, CEO at StoneAge Inc., shares with Host Chris Schembra her powerful building blocks for cultivating workplace cultures rooted in accountability. It’s about caring – for colleagues, customers and ourselves – and ensuring that everyone feels seen and heard as well as empowered to act. She explains how StoneAge, an employee-owned manufacturer of waterjet tools and equipment for industrial cleaning based in Colorado, instills a sense of community and the safety to fail among its 250 employees (all of whom Kerry hopes to see become millionaires one day, thanks to their Employee-Owned Stock Plan, or ESOP). You’ll also hear all about Kerry’s latest passion project, her recently released book, "The Ownership Mindset: A Handbook for Transforming Your Life and Leadership." In it, she highlights her personal “hero’s journey” as well as hard-won lessons about how to conceive and execute corporate strategy. The formula includes several ingredients, the most important of which is learning how to formulate the right questions. Then ask, ask, ask again! Says Kerry: “You learn so much and quickly get to the root of what’s really going on if you’re curious. So that’s my superpower: Questions!” Find out how to find and foster an “ownership mindset” in your workplace by prioritizing gratitude, empathy, agency and curiosity. The show wraps up with a reminder from Chris that in today’s business global environment, these aren’t just soft skills, “they’re the hard skills needed to instill an ownership mindset within your team!”

Click here if you’d like to grab a copy of Kerry’s just-released book, "The Ownership Mindset: A Handbook for Transforming Your Life and Leadership."

Or check out her podcast, Reflect Forward: Conversations on Leadership, at this link.

If you’d like to learn more about Chris and his 7:47 Virtual Gratitude Experience or subscribe to our newsletter, please visit this link.

Click here to hear more fascinating conversations with Fortune 500 CEOs, professional athletes and entertainerswho have shared their human stories on Gratitude Through Hard Times.

KEY TOPICS:

• If you could give credit or thanks to one person in your life that you don’t give enough credit or enough thanks to – that you’ve never thought to thank – who would that be? So many people, but above all her first boss out of college, whom she “did wrong” and disappointed but who taught her so much nonetheless.
• It’s Never too Late: About the power of bringing shame out of the shadows.
• Why Now and Why This Book?
• For starters, Kerry loves to write!
• It provided a creative outlet and alternative to her day-to-day tasks as CEO.
• A compelling need to give back by sharing her personal story. 
• Changing One World at a Time: How Kerry’s journey – both personally and professionally – is a reflection of the “ownership mindset” she exemplifies.
• Defining “Ownership”: Why taking full responsibil