Dec 11, 2019Sharon Spano's Podcast

Spreading Joy Through a Culture Worth Sharing, with Rich Sheridan

 

Rich Sheridan is the CEO and Co-founder of Menlo Innovations. Rich is also the author of Joy Inc.: How We Built a Workplace People Love and his newest bestselling book Chief Joy Officer: How Great Leaders Elevate Human Energy and Eliminate Fear, which is a 2018 Nautilus Book Award Winner for Business and Leadership. His company was founded in 2001, “To end human suffering in the world as it relates to technology.” Today Rich travels the world speaking about joy, creativity, and human energy in the workplace. In addition to his corporate responsibilities, Rich passionately shares the Menlo way through workshops, tours of his company, speaking, and mentoring entrepreneurs in the community.

Rich has never shied away from challenges or opportunities. His focus is always on technology, teamwork, and organizational design, and always with one goal in mind, the business value of joy.

What you will learn in this episode:

  • How Rich’s new book Chief Joy Officer differs from his first book, focusing instead on the how-to of creating a culture of joy in today’s businesses and organizations
  • What has changed at Menlo Innovations since Rich’s last appearance on the Other Side of Potential podcast and since the launch of Chief Joy Officer
  • Rich shares a story about encouraging a mother at his company to bring her child to work with her and how this “experiment” set a precedent for the Menlo
  • How the daily routine and structure at Menlo is ideal for allowing parents to bring their babies to work and why it matters
  • Why people crave clarity and the opportunity to do meaningful work, and why these concepts are central to the way Menlo structures their paper-based workflow
  • How visitors translate Menlo’s organization methods into their own industries, and how employees even use those methods in their family lives
  • Why Menlo pairs employees at shared computers throughout their workday and how this unique practice supports better employee engagement and higher performance and productivity.
  • Why an effective business culture needs intentionality to thrive, and how Menlo’s interviewing and onboarding process is designed to teach Menlo’s culture
  • How the culture systems Rich has put in place serve to also hold him accountable in his role as CEO
  • Why Rich recommends reading and continual learning to any business leader who wants to keep growing

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