Jay Thompson | Growing People to Build a Meaningful Business
Chad talks with Jay Thompson, CEO of SITECH, about the challenge of growing a company while keeping people at the center. Jay shares how he learned to move people from wrong seats to right seats (like Lawson's journey from struggling in sales to thriving in operations), the difficulty of letting go and trusting others with pieces of the business you love, and why developing people has to come before growing revenue. They discuss building a culture of gratitude where 65 employees gave each other 1,100 kudos in one month in their company.
Key Takeaways:
Have the conversation when someone's struggling - When Lawson was working her tail off in sales but not feeling fulfilled, Jay made time to talk about what she actually liked doing and moved her to operations where she thrived
Let go of the stuff you love so others can grow - Jay had to give up pieces of the business he enjoyed (like HR tasks) to people like Mona, which was hard but let everyone develop and the company grow faster
Focus on developing people, not just hitting numbers - His philosophy is simple: grow your people and they'll grow your business; when people feel valued and challenged, everything else follows
Build gratitude into your culture - They created a system where 65 employees gave each other 1,100 thank-you messages in one month, proving that focusing on the positive alongside continuous improvement creates a winning mindset
