#83: Moving People Forward with Intention with Nikki Lewallen Gregory

Lead the People

Nikki Lewallen Gregory is the Founder and Chief Meaningful Work Officer at PeopleForward Network, a pioneering consultancy dedicated to transforming workplaces through purpose-driven strategies. With a deep-rooted belief in the power of meaningful work, Nikki has cultivated a career centered on aligning organizational goals with individual fulfillment.

Under Nikki's visionary leadership, PeopleForward Network has become a beacon for businesses seeking to enhance employee engagement and cultivate thriving workplace cultures. Her approach empowers companies to unlock their full potential by prioritizing people and workplace purpose and strength. The network has experienced fast growth and is currently impacting thousands of leaders with over 1.6 million listens across the network.

Top 3 Takeaways

1. Keep everything in focus. We’ve long been told to start with why, but are we asking this question often enough? Old habits, long standing meetings, and workplace routines can always be put to the why test.
2. Know your code. I love how Nikki described her organization’s culture code as a “lived way of being.” This really underscores just how meaningful their intentions are to how they operate and hold one another accountable.
3. Leaders take an oath. Leadership means being responsible for the welfare of others. This should not be taken lightly. Do the work to learn the craft and push through your own boundaries to do it well.

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From the Source

“It's like the question I ask every team member before hiring them or regular check ins: ‘What is the why now?’ because that can change over time, but we have to be rooted in the why.”

“Life goes so fast. And we all can see seasons in our life where we're like, ‘How is that? Is this year already at this point?’ It just gets faster as you get older and you have to be present. You only get this one shot.”

“So you’ve got your mission and vision, and then you've got your values, but then your lived way of being is what I would call a culture code.”

“I love the people-first way of showing up. The mentality of ‘people first,’ I love that. It is sometimes overused. People forward is the outcome. We did the work. We are moving people forward through our mentality and the way of showing up. And that is where the name comes from.”

“At the end of the day, that person is also going to benefit from you walking them not only out the door but helping them to get to their next place that's a good fit.”

“You took the oath that said, ‘I'm here to lead people. I have a responsibility and therefore the first thing is self-awareness and accountability. Am I doing that? Or am I, am I sitting in the seat?’”

“I am empathetic to changing 30 years in. Having to do that is hard. A tech change and all the way that we do things on the backend. It's so hard.”

Connect with Nikki

Website: http://www.peopleforwardnetwork.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikkilewallen