264. The Real Reason People Stay Loyal with Mick Spiers

What if the secret to exceptional customer experience isn't found in customer-facing strategies at all, but in how you treat your own team? This powerful question frames our exploration with Lynn Daniel, CEO of The Daniel Group, who has achieved something remarkable in an industry known for turnover: a team that not only stays but thrives.

"If you're not listening to your people, they'll find the exit, just like customers do." Lynn's wisdom cuts straight to the heart of effective leadership. While companies obsess over customer feedback, they often neglect using those same listening skills with their employees. Lynn's managers are trained listeners who approach team members with genuine curiosity and support. When someone faces personal challenges, even something as serious as cancer, they aren't sidelined—they're supported. This creates the foundation of loyalty that translates directly to customer experience.

Lynn's approach to hiring illuminates another crucial insight: "You can't just hire for skills; you have to hire for culture fit." He seeks collaborators who align with the mission and bring positive energy to the team. For Lynn, culture isn't an abstract concept or a poster on a wall; it's the lived experience of how people treat each other daily. This extends to his leadership style, captured in his philosophy: "If I have to manage your time, you shouldn't be working here." This trust-based approach fosters ownership, empowerment, and ultimately, results. When employees feel properly enabled and trusted, they take initiative without being asked.

What small change could you make today to build a workplace where people choose to stay because they feel seen, supported, and inspired? When you lead with purpose and empathy, people don't just remember—they stay. Subscribe to The Leadership Project for more insights on creating cultures where both employees and customers experience true loyalty and connection.

Chapters

• 0:01 Leadership is Listening
• 3:10 Culture Over Credentials
• 4:17 Freedom Breeds Ownership
• 5:52 Key Leadership Takeaways
• 8:11 Episode Wrap and Next Guest

Transcript

Mick Spiers: 0:01

What if the secret to great customer experience was actually how you treat your team? Would your employees say that you listen to them or just hear them? And if your workplace was a democracy, would your people re elect you as their leader in today's episode, I'm going to share my reflections from a recent conversation with the remarkable Lynn Daniel, CEO of the Daniel group. Lynn runs a business that helps organizations improve customer experience, but what struck me most was not just how he serves his clients, it's how he serves his people in an industry with notoriously high turnover, Lynn's team stays. They don't just stay. They thrive. Welcome back to The Leadership Project. I'm your host. Mick Spiers, today we're reflecting on my conversation with Lynn Daniel all about loyalty, listening and leadership. I'm going to share with you my reflections on what I took away. The first lesson was that leadership is listening. One of the most powerful messages from Lynn was this, if you not listening to your people, they'll find the exit just like customers do. And that line stuck with me. We often talk about listening to customers, gathering feedback, spotting pain points, delighting the user. But how often do we listen to our employees with the same care and urgency? Lyn's managers are trained listeners, they coach, they support, they stay curious, and when someone on the team is struggling, even facing something as serious as cancer, they don't get sidelined. They get supported, because empathy is not a policy, it's a practice. And people don't forget how you made them feel, especially when they were most vulnerable, in the famous words of Maya Angelou, people may forget what you said. They may forget what you did, but they'll never forget how you made them feel. And ultimately, this is what everyone looks for in the workplace. They all want to feel seen, they want to feel heard, and they want to feel valued. They want to feel that they matter and that the work that they do matters. And these are simple acts that you can do as a leader every single day, to go out of your way to make sure that every single member of your team feels seen, feels heard and feels valued, feels that their inputs, that their voice, that their opinions, are valued by you as the leader. If you want to take another perspective of this, how would you feel if you had great ideas and you kept on communicating them in the workplace and you felt like no one was listening, you too would also start finding the exit door. So put yourself in their shoes. What do they want? They want to feel seen. They want to feel heard, they want to feel valued, and then, as a leader, take actions every single day to make sure they feel that way. The next lesson from Lynn was about culture over credentials. This was another standout on his hiring approach. In the words of Lynn, you can't just hire for skills. You have to hire for culture fit. He doesn't want Lone Rangers. He wants collaborators, people who align with the mission, people who bring energy to the team, not just efficiency to a task. And what I love is how intentional he is about building this culture, even when hiring a potential successor, he didn't just go the headhunter route. He sought someone who shared the vision, the values and the why behind the work for Lynn culture isn't a poster on a wall, it's the lived experience on how people treat each other every single day. So when looking for people to join your team. Are these people going to fit in to the lived experience of how people treat each other? These are fundamental things to look for in your recruiting practice. The next gem from Lynn was that freedom breeds ownership. His quote was this, if I have to manage your time. You shouldn't be working here. That's trust, that's autonomy, that's adult to adult leadership. Lynn gives his people freedom, and what he gets in return is ownership. When it's crunch time, they don't need to be asked, they show up, they believe in what they're building and in who they're building it with. And here's the thing, this isn't just about being nice. This is about results, because loyal teams build loyal customers, the internal culture becomes the external brand the way that your organization is. Experienced by your customers. So it is trust, it's empowerment that leads to people taking great ownership. There's a lot of misnomers out there. A lot of people thinking that people don't like to take responsibility, but my lived experience is that this is not true. When people shirk responsibility, it's usually because they haven't been empowered to make the decisions that impact the outcome, or they haven't been enabled. They weren't set up for success. They were set up for failure. They were asked to do a task, but weren't enabled with the resources and the tools that they would need to be successful. So if you want people to take ownership, it starts with trust, it starts with empowerment, and it starts with enablement. So what does this all mean for you and me? What are the key takeaways for us as leaders? Listen like it matters, because it does, you must take the time to listen and to show the other person that you are listening. Your presence and your undivided attention is the greatest gift that you can give to any of your employees, and this is when you'll build that loyalty, because they will feel hurt, they'll feel seen, they'll he'll feel valued. Lead with empathy, not for appearances, but from a genuine care. Lead with empathy, not for appearances, but from a place of genuine care. As Teddy Roosevelt famously puts it, people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care, and when they feel that you have their best interest at heart and that you have their back, this is when they'll go the extra mile for you in return. Next hire for values, skills can be taught, alignment can't so make sure that when you're hiring you're hiring people, they're going to fit in with the values of the group. The way people treat each other in the workplace is the key outcome here. And finally, trust your team, not just to do their job, but to rise to the occasion when it matters most, when people are trusted, when they're empowered, when they're enabled, they will do amazing things, and they'll take great ownership in the results that you're looking for. If we do those things, we don't just reduce turnover, we create workplaces where people feel like they belong, and that's the kind of leadership the world needs more of probably more so than ever. So let me leave you with this question. Are you building the kind of culture where people choose to stay because they feel seen, because they feel supported and because they're inspired? If not, what's one small change you can make today to start building that kind of place, because when you lead with purpose and empathy, people remember, and more than that, they stay. That's it for today. In the next episode, we're going to be joined by Margie Graziano, founder and CEO of keen alignment, Best Selling Author of Ignite culture, and she's going to share with us the inner game of culture and the leadership lessons that she's uncovered in her career. Thank you for listening to The Leadership Project mickspiers.com a huge call out to Faris Sedek for his video editing of all of our video content and to all of the team at TLP, Joan Gozon, Gerald Calibo and my amazing wife Sei Spiers, I could not do this show without you. Don't forget to subscribe to The Leadership Project YouTube channel where we bring you interesting videos each and every week, and you can follow us on social, particularly on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram. Now in the meantime, please do take care, look out for each other and join us on this journey as we learn together and lead together.