Episode 829: Why organizations become shadows of their leaders, with Dr. Larry Senn

Onward Nation

Dr. Larry Senn is a pioneer in the field of corporate culture, having conducted the world’s first research on corporate culture in 1970. As chairman and founder of Senn Delaney, a global transformational and culture-shaping organization, Larry has been on a mission to make “culture shaping” an everyday practice of companies around the world. Larry is also the best-selling author of several books, including, 21st Century Leadership, Winning Team Winning Cultures, and most recently The Mood Elevator.

What you’ll learn about in this episode:

• How people are greatly influenced by significant adult figures in their lives and who first influenced Larry.
• Larry’s first entrepreneurial efforts and how they worked for him through school and then through college.
• The reason Larry compares many companies to dysfunctional families (with turf wars, politics, and trust issues).
• Larry’s connection to Walmart and its founder who envisioned bringing low-priced consumer goods to rural America.
• Why leaders have obligations to become their best selves. Hint! It has something to do with organizations becoming shadows of their leaders.
• How Larry developed a passion for helping companies develop a company culture.
• What it means to operate as an effective entrepreneur and why Larry believes it means operating lean, with few inefficiencies or redundancies.
• Why Larry chose “culture shaping” as his career and why it’s so important for businesses.
• Curiosity vs. judgment and why curiosity can help transform the way you approach problems or challenges in life and in business.
• Mood elevators and what they have to do with the way you respond to issues you address throughout the day.
• How riding the mood elevator influences everything in your life from your relationships to your personal effectiveness and even your professional success.
• How you can reduce the frequency with which you visit the lower floors of your mood elevator and to spend more time moving up.

Ways to contact Larry:

• [e-mail]