The Real Impact of Coaching on Your Culture with Alex Sharpe, President and CEO of Signature Travel Network

**Alex:** [: 00:00:00

everaged by partnerships with: 1300

**Kate:** Enjoy the episode.

**Alex:**

**Kate:** All right, Alex, I'm so excited we're getting to chat. Thanks so much for taking some time.

**Alex:** Oh gosh. Thanks for inviting me. This is great. Looking forward to it.

**Kate:** [: 00:01:00

**Alex:** Culture in the workplace is how you do what you do, right? I mean, it's. Understanding how we want to be presented, the way we wanna do things, and making sure that you create a group around you that, will act that way. So that's the way I look at culture.

**Alex:**

**Kate:** Hey. I think that's great, Especially when we live in a world where we glamorize complexity. We need simple, we need some simplicity in life.

**Kate:** alright, so. You, are the, president of a big organization. You have a lot of people you're managing, you're leading, you're coaching a lot of people in your organization.

so I'm curious What have you [: 00:02:00

**Alex:** you know, if you think of the Covid period, some of it was starting to dismantle the business a little bit, Break it down a little bit, make it a little smaller, a little more efficient, so that we could survive covid and then rebuild it, which is always a great opportunity in any business.

**Alex:** so we're cooperative of travel agencies, which is important from this standpoint. we have a great team of people and that's the culture I focus on. But we also have a broader culture. Within the umbrella of signature, there are 200 travel agencies, so small businesses, small to large businesses, and then 15,000.

hrough and build culture and [: 00:03:00

**Alex:** And so, That was really the, plan, It was the lead by example to understand how do we right size, then how do we regroup so that we can build back in a way that was gonna allow people to thrive, come out the other, side of Covid. And that's what we did at Signature was.

**Alex:** we really rethought everything. We had a pause, unlike any pause anyone would ever want, travel was outta standstill for 500 days and. We took that opportunity to understand what was most important for our customers, what was most important, for our coworkers. And then we were translating that to these other businesses that are affiliated with us and saying, okay, how do you prepare yourself for what comes next?

**Alex:** How do you prepare yourself for the great comeback? Now we're reaping the rewards, Everybody is up tremendously. They're more efficient, they're more profitable, and that's all you could hope for, right? I was explaining it to my wife the other day. She says, oh my gosh, you make it sound like it was me having a baby.

ul, horrible thing. And then [: 00:04:00

**Alex:** But we certainly are, enjoying this ride on the other side and the work that was put in

**Alex:** during covid to get us in this position.

**Kate:** How did you grow as a leader during that time and help your people in such times of uncertainty?

**Alex:** Yeah, it was a really, really difficult time, particularly early on. I've been in this role for nine years now, so let's say six years at the beginning of Covid and the travel industry has always been one with ups and downs, You could point to different, world events, different travel events.

,: 2008

**Alex:** I got all these notes back, says if it weren't for Michelle, I would've never survived x, I would've never gotten through this. I would've never survived my own cancer, She was such a beacon, such a strength. And here I was, thinking, oh my gosh, here's the first chance that I'm gonna screw it up, we're gonna close. The travel industry's over. And once I got over my own self-pity I went back to again, the most simple thing. If you serve others, things will be taken care of for you. If we focus on, what's next for me? How's this gonna impact me?

**Alex:** So we're fortunate We're set up to serve these 200 businesses, these 15,000 advisors.

We attracted more and more, [: 00:06:00

**Alex:** and so it really worked. But that

**Alex:** was the key. Focusing on other people first.

**Kate:** That's so beautiful,

**Kate:** and I love that you talk about how by doing that, you're attracting those right people. I mean, that's, culture, right? Like people are hearing about, this culture in this organization where you Service to others, first people first. And when you do that, then other people in that same industry, they're like, wait a second.

**Kate:** What are they doing a little bit differently? And why might I want to join that team? Which obviously is, we have that internal culture and then people talk about it outside of. the people that are working there, and then when people leave and the experiences that they're having in that organization.

**Kate:** So do you feel as though you are intentional about building that type of culture? Or do you feel like you're just focused on really growing the business and putting those people first? how often are you thinking about culture?

ly, through coaching. that's [: 00:07:00

**Alex:** And then I can Reset a little bit and what else could we do and how could we refine this to be even more compelling. But I think, when you start from a place of good, When you just say, I wanna serve other people, a lot of good comes from that, and that's where we started.

**Alex:** It wasn't, Hey, we're gonna build a culture and we're gonna show them. It was just like, I don't know what else to do right now. I could sit here and worry about what life's gonna be like over the next three, six months. Is travel gonna make it, all these different challenges that we were up against.

**Alex:** We had to stay busy. It was like, how do I dig in? how does every one of our members get P P P? the payroll protection. These are small business owners in some cases that, were intimidated by the process.

rst couple of months, And so [: 00:08:00

**Alex:** and what else can we do? how are you gonna reshape your business? How are you gonna look at your fee structure? How are you gonna look at your, pay structure? how can we help you negotiate your leases better? All those things. And our organization's somewhat unique in that it's this, bigger, family of, many different travel agencies.

**Alex:** we became the connector for the. different owners to help each other. we became the folks that said, well, Joe does this extremely well. Can I connect you with Joe? And then they would go together and figure it out. And so we just built this culture of collaboration and caring for each other.

les volume, If you go back to: 2019

**Alex:** We're gonna focus on the ones we have. how do you think about bringing on new and you gotta take care of these guys and then the damn broke, partners, Our other travel agency owners were saying, oh no, but you have to have this agency. You have to have this person. They're great.

**Alex:** They fit with us. They'll be wonderful, they'll give back,

**Alex:** and it just blew up and it's been wonderful.

**Kate:** That's so awesome. let's talk about coaching because you. You have been working with one of our Floyd coaches for a number of years now, and I love that you shared that. Obviously you have conversations with them, every month. And what does coaching provide for you, to help you grow as a leader?

oach, but I have a great team[: 00:10:00

**Alex:** But I think as people wanna complicate things and what I love about having a coach is, I can get into all these permutations and this and that. And he said, well, what it boils down to his ex right? And. Yeah, you're right. Okay. It's simpler than that. And so a lot of times it's just getting me focused on what's most important, but then strategically it's, okay, where do we take this next?

**Alex:** How do we turn your managers into coaches? Alex, what are you doing for your team? What are they doing for their team? In order to make sure that we're, truly coaching people, getting the most out of them. and so it's really made us look at our business completely different.

**Alex:** How do you approach your coaching sessions and how do you approach them going into them? And then afterwards when you're, done with your therapy session and you're moving forward.

But I go in with what are my [: 00:11:00

**Alex:** It might be a personnel issue, right? It could be. we have an upcoming board meeting and this is the way the board's thinking, this is what I think is best. How do I get them on the same page kind of thing. So we'll go through those types of things, but really I'm not getting business plan for my coach.

how can I think about it differently? how can I draw people the way I'm thinking about something and get their feedback and make them feel part of the process so that we can arrive at the right decision? it's subtle things, but it does help me going into it Try and spend some time thinking about what are the top three things that are on my mind today? What are the big three things I wanna get resolved in the next month? and then coming out of it, what are those action items and how am I gonna get 'em so that when I come the next month, I'm not coming back with the same three things?

**Alex:** Those are resolved. So that's the first thing. I finished my homework, I did X, Y, and Z as we discussed, or, this one's still in process, but here

**Alex:** the next three. And, so that's really the way I

**Alex:** approach it.[: 00:12:00

**Kate:** such a big part is the accountability piece. It's so interesting how we have so many clients that say, literally, the only reason I got this completed is because I did not wanna get on a call with you and tell you I didn't do it.

**Alex:** Personal things, that are in my way, let's say, or things that I'm working through. But then there's the larger company priorities, Understanding and having that perspective that, okay. I can put out fires every day and we can work on these projects that are important to me.

**Alex:** But if we take a step back, are we doing the right things? from a organizational standpoint, are we thinking about these things? and so having that perspective and I look at it the same way. What we do. and exchanging ideas and the whole thing. coaches, they have a great background.

**Alex:** They're obviously, well-read, well taught all those things, but they're also learning from us and from the other 50 people they're dealing with. So

deas and then pass them back [: 00:13:00

**Alex:** And that's really what, my coach does for us. and I say for us, because the impact is far more than just. What it gives me, That sounding board, that therapy session, that direction, that trickles down to our whole organization. as you know, we've done broader coaching We stopped it during Covid and now we're talking about how do we bring it back and what's the right way to do that,

**Alex:** You have to build not just managers, but coaches, otherwise, culture and the rest of it will get stale they get on the tasks and those types of things versus developing people, developing ideas.

**Alex:** that's the magic, and we

**Alex:** need to make sure we're doing that.

**Kate:** When we,were talking about coaching and you said, I'll always invest in my people and coaching for my people because it's the right thing to do. and it is because you're helping them develop as people, and as leaders.

oaching in your life has had?[: 00:14:00

**Alex:** well, there's a couple of things. Some ahas with individuals that we've had coached, Some of them have been coached to figure out that. That's not necessarily their strength, we've coached 'em out of, management positions. They said, I'm really good at this.

**Alex:** and that's okay, right? Understanding what's expected and, We've had others that have really blossomed, That have gained so much confidence in how they handle situations, how they handle people, I'm learning from them.

**Alex:** So we've seen both, sides of it. I think for me, It's just made me a little bit more thoughtful. I think it's so driven and focused on the tasks that I forget about the bigger picture. I forget about the idea that we're serving each other. I think people who, embrace coaching, it's an interesting dynamic because one of the things I said to the team was, we're gonna embrace this.

doing coaching, did a great [: 00:15:00

**Alex:** She was gonna get a job. She became a coder. She was gone for four years, and came back and said, there's no place I'd rather work than here. And now she's managing people and she's managing projects and she has this.

**Alex:** new, background and, information. And we don't hire coders. we have third party, right? We have a, programming company. She's the first person we've hired internally to do this because she just gets our culture. She gets what we're trying to do in our business and she understands the other side of it. So something like that for me is super rewarding because sometimes, I think the fear that people have around coaching, around doing some of these things as well. They're gonna get good and, I'm not going anywhere. So where are they gonna go? How are they gonna find new opportunity?

at internally and externally,[: 00:16:00

**Alex:** So it comes back to doing the right thing.

**Kate:** see that's what it's about. When people talk about why would I invest in my people if they are gonna leave well while they're there. Don't you want them to be the best version of themselves as long as they stay there, rather than them not doing the work or not being productive because they're not even happy, or they should be somewhere else.

that's what leaders get to do. We get to help our people grow how beautiful that sometimes they come back because they think about, Hey, I really enjoyed working with Alex. I've really enjoyed the culture. I have these new skills that I've developed and learned, and the trusted faith that you're gonna continue to help them grow when they do come back, because that is the culture that you've created.

ravel agency that then says, [: 00:17:00

**Alex:** there's a lot of benefit, There's so many times where, we've run back into people that we worked with earlier, and if you treated them right and you work to develop them, they might be your customer now, they might be your partner, they might be your vendor, whatever it is.

**Alex:** But there's so loyal to you.? So there's a lot of good reasons to do that. In addition to showing everyone who's in your organization. What you're about and that you care, and that's really culture, when they know that you care about them and their development. Whether it serves you, three years from now or not directly, that says a lot about who you are and

**Alex:** the

**Alex:** kind of company you're trying to build.

**Kate:** for sure. So when people talk about coaching, Many times they will ask, what's the ROI ? It's a big investment, whether it's just for themselves or their people. how do you measure the r o ROI of your coaching experience? And then of course in investing in your people.

**Alex:** if you tried [: 00:18:00

**Alex:** We do a lot of internal surveys with our team to understand what's important to them, how we could serve them better, what's on their mind. Every other year we enter into one of those best places to work and we found one, our headquarters was in Los Angeles.

**Alex:** And the reason we picked that one is cuz it was like 150 questions survey. And I figured, okay, I can't buy this award. Right? Every coworker, is asked to fill out this survey how many coworkers of the total fill it out? And then what those scores are is how you get ranked.

**Alex:** And so we do it every other year. seven years ago we went from 35th in Los Angeles, which we thought was the coolest thing ever to like 20th to 10th last year

cause of Covid. We had lost, [: 00:19:00

**Alex:** We were 10. Three weeks after we got to where we did our raises, we reinstated, oh, we did all those things that we had been promising that we were working towards. that's cuz people believed, people were invested, people understood our culture and wanted to be part of it.

**Alex:** just because you're in trouble doesn't mean you can't do anything else. I mean, these are bright young people with, degrees from U S C and from U C L A that could go work at any company. But they chose to stay in a travel company that, in an industry that was fledgling,

**Alex:** The travel perks were gone, right? No one was traveling and yet they still scored better and better. And I can only attribute that to, coaching and culture, That improved during the worst time in our industry.

** What do you like the best [: 00:20:00

**Alex:** I originally, was

**Alex:** chasing

**Alex:** Matthew

**Alex:** to do, my coaching

**Alex:** I had read his faith-based books and then found his business books and went, here's someone who understands both,

**Alex:** And so living your faith at work is harder and harder these days, I'm not gonna get up and preach and do these things, but I wanna just do the right things, And through your actions, people understand that. And so, I have this platform, not just our company, but this broader platform of 15,000 advisors,

**Alex:** That we have some level of influence of and so Matthew was like, I'm not taking on personal clients. And I hired him, actually, he came and did a keynote for us, one time at our shareholder meeting.

it was funny, I was in the back of the room like, this is a secular talk, right? we can't get up and do the Catholic thing. And he laughed at me and he was just so spot on, And makes it simple and we're gonna do the right things. And it was, wonderful. And then he said, talk to Tony,

was trying to understand is [: 00:21:00

**Alex:** The good thing is I don't focus on living my faith at work. It just happens now because we're doing the right things, And we're serving and we're investing, and we're doing all these things for our coworkers and for our broader team. So I just really love that bit of it, nothing is off limits,

**Alex:** When I talk to, my coach, it's really about. My whole life, Because it all plays in,

**Alex:** I've always had a different coach than what we've used for the rest of the company. Cause I never wanted people to think that, he was sharing secrets or something with me.

**Alex:** But just the holistic approach, has really helped me. And I think in turn has paid

**Alex:** certainly dividends for the company as a

**Alex:** whole.

eople will obviously love it.[: 00:22:00

**Alex:** Well, they love the concept. We read the book as a company probably six or seven years ago. both Dream Manager and off balance. I think both of them have some really important pieces, When I think a dream manager, again, it goes back to caring,

**Alex:** If you care enough to understand what your coworkers dreams are. Then you've made a connection that's deeper than most, and you can help guide them overall, how do we get there? A lot of times it's their work, that's gonna help them achieve their personal dreams

**Alex:** And so we thought that was really, really important. People enjoyed, and then off balance as well,

**Alex:** I agreed with Matthew's assessment, which is work-life balance is in the way people think about it is impossible. Just do whatever you do passionately and that'll be your balance, right? if you have to work a long workday, but you kick butt.

e to remember is when I work [: 00:23:00

**Alex:** I need to be all in on those things as well. When I'm on vacation, I need to disconnect and really recharge. So finding that balance, doing any one thing passionately is I think the balance we're really looking for.

**Alex:** Because most of our people's dreams, and we just, collected this, right? we asked for dreams of what they were looking for, and some of them were like, I wanna save money to buy a house. I'm

**Alex:** like, okay, you have to move out of Los Angeles.

**Alex:** It's about places they wanna experience and cultures. And it ties right into what we're doing on our nonprofit side too, and giving back working with these in destination with these charities. And I think there's so many, opportunities, right? I'm sure every company, if they asked all their co-workers one of their dreams, some of them are more attainable and easier than others.

t time in tighter to us. Get [: 00:24:00

**Alex:** We're getting their most passionate work. I think that's important,not just giving 'em great trips and experiences, but,how does that translate right into. getting more from your folks, and I don't mean necessarily more hours, just more passionate, more thoughtful, more,

**Alex:** meaningful

**Alex:** work from folks.

**Kate:** it's so great. Even, hearing you talk about it is so empowering cuz you can feel how much you want it for your people. How much you want to encourage them to dream and because so many times people have forgotten to dream or they forget that those are dreams, like the places you wanna go, things you wanna experience, the skills that you wanna develop, all of those things.

**Kate:** Buying your first home. Getting out of debt. All of these things. a lot of people aren't considering those dreams. they don't classify them as dreams, but that's what they are. So when people are like, I don't have dreams. When they have a leader like you that's encouraging them, no, you do and I'm gonna help you make that happen.

ngaged and passionate because[: 00:25:00

**Alex:** And their dream might be a different career path. It could be education that's gonna take them down a different path. How do we get there? How do we get to a point where they can afford to do it or they have the time to do it, or whichever. So, the most exciting part of what we do is really understanding our coworkers and then how do we serve them?

**Alex:** And again, if we serve them, they're gonna serve us, So how do we take care of them in a way that isn't just, throwing money at it or you think about Silicon Valley these days, right? It's just who can pay more? Then there's perks. We're gonna get a bus that's gonna pick you up, so you never have to drive.

**Alex:** We're gonna get wifi on this. We're gonna give you free food. Some of that stuff is important, I think, but to me, material stuff you start to take for granted pretty quickly. we need to pay well, do we need to, give bonuses, share profits, all those? Yes, a hundred percent.

hat, it does create loyalty, [: 00:26:00

**Alex:** They're gonna give back in a meaningful way. If we have this, like it's a tit fort kind of thing, that's not true service.And that's not true dream managing. That's just trying to find, the next little. nugget that's gonna keep someone, tied to your company longer.

**Alex:** and I think it has to be a little more genuine than that. It has to be how do we serve them? And if we

**Alex:** do that, then they're gonna serve us.

**Kate:** if there is a leader that is listening, thinking, I've never done coaching, I've never had a coach, what advice would you give to someone thinking about potentially hiring a coach for the first time or maybe hiring a coach again?

**Alex:** I think having that sounding board is just so important.

**Alex:** It is private, and so I can throw the dumb ideas and I'm thinking about this and I'm my way off base here. And just to have that sounding board for me has, just made me more effective, I believe, as a leader.

, It's just about being open [: 00:27:00

**Alex:** And understanding what's working and what's not. And I think that's a, fear that most leaders have. we say we want feedback, but do we really, just want everyone to smile and nod and say life's grand? but I think you just have to get over yourself and, accept that we're better,

**Alex:** if we can really share openly and get. Good constructive

**Alex:** feedback.

**Kate:** Gotta take the ego out of it.

**Alex:** Yes. I really believe that when I watch companies that struggle, when I watch companies do well, it's almost always in my mind, hinged on ego, right?

**Alex:** Are they humble? Are they serving or are they looking for something? And this for me has been a great. humble experience, To say like, I don't have the answer here. I have trepidation about this upcoming meeting. I don't know how to handle this coworker. I wanna serve them. But at the same time, this is the challenge I have.

**Alex:** And so I leave there invigorated because I have new ideas, but I have to humble myself to be able to share those things openly.

o grateful that you took the [: 00:28:00

**Kate:** So you talk about it so passionately, so I appreciate you,

I always felt like I took over a company that had a good culture but I think it's so much better today. and I don't take credit for that. but it's also the people we listen to. So your feedback, the books we've read, the coaching I've got, the coaching the team's gotten, has made us much better and certainly made us more prepared for those dark days during Covid and now the,

**Alex:** recovery and resurgence.

**Alex:** So thank you

**Alex:** for all of

**Alex:** your help.

**Kate:** Thank you so much for listening to this episode. We hope you got lots out of it.

oaching, his passion for his [: 00:29:00

**Kate:** Ultimately it's gonna help our business grow. That's what's gonna create that great culture. It's gonna help you attract and retain great talent, great clients, the people that we get to work with. That's what it's about. So if you are considering hiring a coach for the first time, or maybe you've hired someone in the past and maybe it's time to get a new coach, we would love to talk to you about that and how we have the right coach for you at the right time in your business, whatever it is that you're going through.

**Kate:** and you can check that out over@floydcoaching.com. And as always, thank you so much. We so appreciate you listening. If you have not yet written a review, please take a couple minutes to go over to iTunes or wherever you're listening to this podcast and write a review on the show. It really does help us out.

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