Why Your Company Culture is Failing (And How to Fix It)

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Welcome back to Mork Unfiltered, the podcast where we ditch the fluff and get real about hard choices and bold careers. I’m your host, Patrick Mork, and today’s guest is a master of the "hard pivot."

Alexander Masharov is a global CEO, turnaround specialist, and single dad who has built a life of purpose from the ground up. From his early days as an immigrant starting from zero to managing massive factories in Russia and leading global operations in the Netherlands, Alex’s journey is a masterclass in grit.

In this episode, we dive into:

The Neurosurgeon Who Wasn’t: Why Alex walked away from a family legacy in medicine to find his own path.

The "Boss is the Answer" Culture: Navigating the massive cultural shift of managing 200 people in Russia.

The CEO’s Secret Weapon: Why Alex believes culture is owned by the CEO, not HR.

The 3 AM Decision: The heart-wrenching moment Alex had to choose between his career and being with his son during the pandemic.

The Referee Mindset: How 20 years as a basketball official taught him to make high-stakes decisions in a split second.

Chapters:

[01:10] Breaking the Family Chain
[05:29] The Immigrant Hustle
[12:04] The Startup Gamble
[21:25] Scaling Up in Russia
[31:43] Owning the Culture
[41:30] The Strategic Retreat
[47:04] The Pandemic Choice
[51:07] The Referee’s Edge
[58:46] Finding Meaning

#MorkUnfiltered #LeadershipGrit #CompanyCulture #CEOInsights #CareerTurnaround #DecisionMaking #ResilientLeadership

If this episode moved you or gave you a different lens on adversity and growth, I want to invite you to go deeper.

I wrote Step Back and Leap for people exactly like us. People building through chaos. People trying to find meaning inside uncertainty. People choosing purpose over comfort. You can get it here:
https://a.co/d/e4nd8RT

And if you want practical tools you can use today to strengthen your resilience, I created a short, tactical guide you can download immediately. It’s called The Mork Guide to Resilience and it is designed to help you build inner strength, recover faster, and lead from a grounded place:
https://aa5c-ea.systeme.io/resilience

Because sometimes the most powerful leaps forward start with stepping back, grounding yourself, and reconnecting to why you are here in the first place.

— Patrick