StretchLab President Verdine Baker gives you 5 ways to foster meaningful relationships at work
Episode 175
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When early dreams of playing professional soccer were derailed by injuries, Verdine Baker channeled his competitive urge into finding a new game to conquer. And by all measures, he found his new “sport”: business leadership.
When Baker joined StretchLab as the national sales director, there were three franchise locations. Today, there are more than 400 studios across North America and 900 licensed locations globally, making them the global leader in assisted stretching. Baker has risen to the position of president of StretchLab, a brand among Xponential Fitness’s impressive portfolio, which includes Pure Barre and CycleBar.
As an athlete and a leader, Baker believes the secret to leading others is knowing what pushes and motivates them, and he shares his five, sure-fire means of getting to know them deeper than just the “surface level things” on a consistent basis in this episode.
“Our weekly meetings are not just feel-good meetings,” he pointed out. “You are actually gaining a competitive advantage because when the chips are down, you actually know what pushes and motivates them.”
In the podcast, Baker says he fully appreciates the challenges of getting to know your team below a surface level, but that creating connections with the team that also serves your business is mostly a matter of building trust— and understanding “what team members want out of the arrangement as well.” How do you build a safe, trustworthy “second home” at work?
Baker offers numerous tips including:
- How to use the first minute of every meeting to “humanize” the context and put everyone in a more open and collaborative mindset.
- Creating daily, weekly and monthly meeting rhythms that provide timely and relevant contexts for decision-making.
- Why your organization’s vision, purpose and values need to come down off the wall and into your personal and team day-to-day conversations.
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