Description

Robert J. Kohlhepp joined Cintas Corporation in July 1967 as controller. Over a span of 50 years with Cintas, he was promoted to positions of general manager, vice president and treasurer, executive vice president, president, and CEO, then served as Vice Chair and Board Chair until retiring in 2016. Additionally, Kohlhepp has served on several association, corporation, nonprofit and university boards. His new book is Building a Better Organization. Visit robertkohlhepp.com.

In this episode Steve and Robert discuss:

• One key trait for successful people
• Cultivating a culture in your team
• Getting people on board with company culture
• Directness for the sake of making other people better

Key Takeaways: 

• When you set yourself to do something, make it a matter of "when" it's going to be done and not "if" it's going to be done. The road to success is always under construction. 
• There will always be an existing culture, the question you must ask as leaders is how are we defining the culture? It takes intentionality and investment to shape your company’s culture. 
• Tell somebody that if they don’t follow the company culture, they’re not gonna be happy and the company’s not gonna be happy with them. Nobody wins in that situation. So give them a choice to get on board or step aside.
• Directness is for authentic leaders who genuinely care about people’s growth. Being direct and being a difficult boss are two very different things. Once people realize that you are being direct for their sake, and that you are on their side, that’s when they will begin to trust you and listen to your feedback. Criticize the behavior, not the individual. 

“In any endeavor, you're gonna get knocked down more than once. The people who are successful get back up, dust themselves off and get back in the game.” - Robert J. Kohlhepp

Click here to check out Robert Kohlhepp’s book: https://robertkohlhepp.com/books/build-a-better-organization/

Connect with Robert J. Kohlhepp:

Website: https://robertkohlhepp.com/

Connect with Steve and Jason:

LinkedIn: Jason or Steve

Website: Rewire, Inc.: Transformed Thinking 

Email: grow@rewireinc.com

Show notes by Podcastologist: Justine Talla

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.