Today, Marcel Schwantes talks to Kristen Hadeed, author of Permission to Screw Up, and founder of Student Maid, a cleaning company that has employed thousands of students all around the world. This is a challenging industry, but Kristen blew industry standards out of the water with her innovative ideas, company culture and by focusing on love.

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Show Notes

• Marcel and Kristen talk about some of the challenges of running a company, and what Kristen does to keep positive and motivated throughout the day. They recommend a book and strategy that can help you transform your feelings about your life. [02:50]

• We don’t always end up where we think we’re going to! Kristen talks about her company, Student Maid, how she came up with the idea, and what role a pair of jeans played in building her business empire. [04:30]

• If you’ve run a business, you’ve experienced staff turnover – but Kristen had to deal with 45 out of a team of 60 walking out on no notice. She talks about what she didn’t know going into her business, and how she became obsessed with becoming a leader people wanted to follow. She and Marcel talk about what leadership is, and how to let go of the ‘standard’ definition. [7:30]

• In a world where retention is the gold standard, Kristen supports her people leaving to do other things. She actively shares her knowledge with people, and formally trains her employees on the kinds of skills they’ll need throughout their careers. [12:25]

• Cleaning is NOT an easy (or always pleasant) job, but Kristen’s team is motivated to do it. Marcel wonders about the different generations she works with, and she talks about her outlook on what makes people tick – regardless of when they were born. [16:30]

• Marcel notes that vulnerability is a word that scares a lot of leaders. Kristen shares what it means to her, and the different ways you can practice it to connect with your people. Often, that means making mistakes and Kristen talks about her most epic screw up, and what she learned because of it. [21:00]

• Compassion is being considered more and more important in professional relationships. Marcel and Kristen talk about what compassion looks like in the workplace, and how to navigate situations where being compassionate isn’t the same as being nice. Marcel notes that compassion can take the form of tough love. [26:00]

• As part of the research Marcel is conducting, he and Kristen talk about fear and love in leadership. They get into what success means, being afraid at work, the impacts of experiencing fear and difficulties, and those wonderful times when you get to feel love at work. At the end of the day, Kristen thinks that having a team you can trust and rely on makes a world of difference. [29:45]

• Kristen talks about one of the challenges many leaders experience – and all dread. Losing one of your top people always hurts, and it can have effects similar to grieving. She also talks about a statistic that is tugging at her heart. [36:30]

• Marcel asks Kristen to talk about what she thinks will make a difference in people’s lives. She shares something she thinks is critical for every business owner, and other kinds of leaders should try to do. [38:00]

The Book

Resources

Student Maid | KristenHadeed.com | LinkedIn  | Twitter

Related Episodes

• Renée Smith: The Benefits of Love in the Workplace (Episode #16)
• Annie McKee: How to be Happy at Work (Episode #13)
• Claude Silver: Being a Chief Heart Officer (Episode #6)

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