From Surveys to Feelings – Using Emotion as Hard Data to Drive Performance with Matt Stephens

Welcome to another episode of transformer CEOs. Matt Stephens has led two of his own companies in consulting and employee insight Quest Agency and Inpulse. He's worked with hundreds of CEOs globally, some of them transformers. So brings both perspectives through his own work. Matt has transformed how CEOs value employee insight data and use it to drive performance. He also brings a distinct societal generation, political and even spiritual angle to leadership by transformer CEOs. KEY TAKEAWAYS Annual engagement surveys alone are not effective. Short, frequent “how do you feel and why?” pulses expose what’s really driving performance and risk. Emotion is hard data. When CEOs track feelings and the reasons behind them team-by-team, they can link them directly to engagement, attrition, sickness, and output. Most issues are relational. Better conversations between managers and teams fix more than new programmes and expensive initiatives do. True transformation demands CEOs go beyond “did we make more revenue?” to a richer definition of winning that includes engagement, growth of people, client impact, retention, and the health of the culture. Transformer CEOs start with self‑awareness. If you can’t read and regulate your own emotions, you can’t authentically lead anyone else. BEST MOMENTS “To be a transformer, you've got to know how to sell…You have to know how to influence people.” “We can't walk on eggshells, because eggs are going to get cracked here, because we're talking about issues that are challenging, difficult, personal, real.” “You can think you're a leader, until you realise no one's following you.” ABOUT THE GUEST https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-stephens-a210051 PODCAST DESCRIPTION If you're a CEO, Chairman or investor this is a destination podcast for you. At some time, all companies get out of step with their consumers, fall behind the competition, or lose their top talent – or all three. The financial fallout can be severe. The Transformer CEO podcast meets global leaders who have taken on the brief to transform their company from ugly duckling to swan. It explores their corporate and personal journey, their leadership values, their challenges, and successes along with their mis-steps and learnings. It inspires those about to start, re-assures those already underway and offers a benchmark for those who feel they have concluded. If you want to know what it takes to succeed in tough environments, you'll not want to miss Transformer CEOs. HOST BIO Erik is described by CEO and Chairmen as "exceptional", "undoubtedly one of the top global HR leaders" and "a strong strategic thinker and amazing change leader". After 35 years working with some of the most successful companies on the planet including Diageo, GE, LEGO, HSBC, and Pandora, he focuses in the podcast on sharing the unique character of corporate leaders who take on some of the biggest challenges and win. This is also a critical topic in his consulting work where he partners with CEO’s, Chairmen and Investors as Founder & Managing Director of Erik Schmidt Consulting & Advisory (erikschmidt.co.uk) to help companies achieve out-performance. https://www.erikschmidt.co.uk/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmidt-erik/ This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/