The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

#297: Tero Isokauppila - CEO Of Four Sigmatic: Principled Based Leadership

Full show notes can be found at www.LearningLeader.com

Show Notes:

• Commonalities of sustaining excellence:
  • "They love what they do" -- Love the process.  The work
  • Humility/Excitement to learn -- they know things will change and they must adjust
  • Listen more than you talk.
  • Curiosity -- The Dalai Lama exemplifies this very well.
  • Able to adjust -- Madonna is a prime example of being able to adjust and reinvent herself
• How being a 13th generation farmer from Finland helped set the course for Tero's life -- "I have domain knowledge."
• Finnish people consume more coffee per capita than anyone in the world
• The idea of putting mushrooms in coffee came because of this
• Super foods help with:
  • Hormonal response
  • Gut health
  • Immune system
• Four Sigmatic is a company built with super foods
• The beginning -- "It all comes down to value generation.  If you want to generate value, you have to see what others don't yet see."
• Culture -- "You need to rally around people who believe in the mission."
• Find believers and sponsors as your first employees -- his founding team were former teammates
  • Get to know you team deeply -- how they think, feel, act, what motivates them
  • Currently they have a fully distributed team of 37 people
• The hiring process and qualities they look for.  Four lenses:
  • Can they do they job? -- Skills
  • How will they fit in our culture? -- Fundamentals
  • What do they cost? -- Financially and emotionally
  • What is their growth potential?
  • They must be "extra good" at communication - written and verbal.  How do they write emails?  Must be extra organized.
• "Culture exists whether you want or not.  It is what it is."
• Their principles:
  • S - Stay healthy, eat well, exercise
  • W - We are us, not them
  • A - Always carry product
  • R - Results with freedom -- KPI
  • M - Make it grow, let it go
• Examples of innovation