Thermoforming Report

by Keith Brown, President & Owner, Siena Group

It’s cold.  We are in the throes of winter to be sure.  And it’s been unusually cold and white for parts of the country that haven’t seen it in years.  But spring is coming and, given some personal things I’ve recently dealt with, the topic of “refresh and renew“ blossomed (yes, pun intended!). 

My family endured a loss in September last year: my father passed away.  It has not been easy, especially for those closest to him – namely me, my sisters, and of course our mother.  As things do, life continues and we must endure and move forward.  In recent weeks, my sisters and I came together to clean out my dad’s office… and it was a lot of work! 

The Need

The process of cleaning out and cleaning up is hard for a number of reasons.  It is dirty and messy.  It is emotional.  It is slow going.  It is challenging to accomplish everything you intended at the outset.  Most of all, it is necessary. 

As a small business owner going on 10 years now, I’ve come to understand that lessons learned in my personal life can easily be applied to our world of work, as individual contributors, leaders, and organizations. So, it’s not much of a stretch to connect the dots on the subject of “refresh & renew” when it comes to business! Every organization – no matter the size – should take time to evaluate what it takes to stay relevant while maintaining its core identity. This may require some cleaning out and cleaning up.

In every single role and function, there needs to be time invested to really figure out which part of the “house” needs to be attacked.  With the why already determined, a very deliberate plan needs to be developed and agreements on the whats and hows must be made.  Finally, you need to have the intestinal fortitude to get after it!

The Work

I’m not a pack rat nor am I a hoarder.  However, I can be sentimental over certain things and do tend to keep trinkets that trigger good memories.  In this challenging process, throwing things out is hard but necessary.  Change is hard in general.  Memories that come in the shape of posters taped to the walls and various trinkets tucked in drawers and deciding on what to do with each and every one of them is a just that – a decision.

This very same process must happen in our work lives.  Answer these questions… then decide and execute.

• What are we hanging onto that should be tossed aside? 
• What in our careers is holding us back from professional growth? 
• What is impacting our team and inhibiting our ability to deliver results? 
• What about the organization and company? 
• What are those hard things that must be done to make lasting and positive change? 

I pretty much guarantee it will be TOUGH TO DO! But the reward is worth it!

Case in point: I have the privilege of working with a candidate who landed a CEO role and was tasked with a turnaround.  The small company has managed to stay in business for 30 years… while not turning a profit!  The new CEO didn’t come out of the same industry, and this new perspective enabled him to leverage his experience and do things differently.  It’s been hard.  And it’s been painful.  People were impacted.  The business approach was fundamentally changed.  Yet – for the first time in the company’s history, 2024 was profitable! THIS is what “refresh & renew” is all about!

The Renewal

It took 30+ man hours to clean out and organize my father’s office. But – Wow! The transformation from what it was to what it is turned out to be extraordinary.  And we didn’t even get to do everything we wanted!  We were able to convert a space in my mother’s house that was a focus of sadness to one that feels renewed.  It still honors my father, but it is now a place where my mother can go to read, study, and more – without the crushing weight of what used to be there. When we cleared the dust of clutter, the strong comfort of my father’s legacy shined once again.

Our intention with the office wasn’t to extricate all semblance of Dad, but to refresh it in a way to enable a new usefulness while maintaining a connection to the past. This is what the work is for: a renewed sense of self, a renewed purpose, unity of commitment, and a clear path forward to accomplish what’s next. 

This same renewal can be accomplished in an organization. Assuming that the business is solid and the culture is strong, how do you achieve this task and preserve the culture?!? 

Forbes’ “Keeping Company Culture Alive In Times Of Rapid Growth” discusses this very thing:

The author, Nathan Rice, a Forbes Councils Member and President of Energy CX,, writes: “As a leader navigating this transformative stage, I’ve found that maintaining a vibrant company culture requires intentionality, adaptability and an unwavering commitment to the people who show up daily to make it all possible.”

“… leadership is the foundation of cultural preservation…”

While the topic of the article is all about preserving culture in times of rapid growth, the process of maintaining the culture through times of refresh and renewal is very similar. 

After all and as I said before, change is hard!  When those changes involve people – cutting some dead weight or those few that are cancerous to the team on one end and adding new All Star talent with fresh perspectives and experiences on the other – it can easily impact the culture.  Sometimes that’s a good thing; being aware and being deliberate about the end goal is very important.

Another Forbes Council Post, “3 Strategies For Keeping Culture Strong During Challenging Times“, really nails the topic of culture change – both in maintaining the good stuff and renewing in order to get the bad stuff out. I’ve taken the liberty of highlighting the key thoughts below.

1. Ruthlessly prioritize leadership behaviors in challenging times.
   • Culture is typically based on a set of core values or leadership behaviors, whether explicitly stated or not.
   • Organizations should clearly articulate their core values and leadership behaviors, then expect leaders to walk the talk. Strong signals can be sent for those who don’t demonstrate these behaviors, such as putting them through coaching or even taking a stance and not having leaders on board who don’t demonstrate alignment with core values. Those who exemplify the right behaviors should be recognized and suitably rewarded.
2. Actively work on levers that ignite energy and excitement.
   • Individuals are unique, and different things ignite their passions.
   • Organizational commitment requires finding ways to unleash employees’ passion, such as job crafting and creative career development.
   • It’s an opportunity for truly resilient leaders to differentiate themselves and help their organizations see the glass as half full.
3. Create systemic breathing spaces.
   • When employees lose breathing space, they’re more likely to simply see their deliverables as a checklist they have to complete.
   • We must be willing to take a harder look at goals and objectives, shift expectations and more systemically create breathing space for our workforce.

Forbes

Be Refreshed!

Sometimes grief can be worked out with dust cloths and keepsake boxes. After the visit, I reflected on all that we accomplished together cleaning out my father’s office… and all that still needed to be done.  There will always be more work to do.  But the satisfaction of knowing that the right things happened that led to positive change is certainly a great feeling! Through the challenges and dust and dirt and memories, a major impact was made that we hope will provide some healing and a sense of moving forward in a positive way.  

The same truth can be applied to the world of work. Identify the need, do the work, and be refreshed!  It is definitely worth the effort!

At Siena Group, we are your Thermoforming Talent Partner! We’re here to help in any and every way possible! With more than 30 years of experience in manufacturing, hiring & recruiting talent, we bring a greater understanding of the companies we partner with and the candidates we pursue. Let’s Strengthen Your Search!