Since joining Cengage Group 11 years ago, one of my priorities has been cultivating our company culture in partnership with our 4500+ global employees.
We have collective ownership of the culture we have built together – one that emphasizes transparency and candor. When I had the opportunity to spend time with Cengage Group employees in Denver recently, it was a great opportunity to feel the benefits of our culture come to life.
At Cengage Group, we are always refining how we work and how we can better serve our learner and educator customers. In spending time with this group, I was reminded of the importance of bringing employees along on the journey to transform education. We have a saying at Cengage, “these changes will happen with you, not to you.” Cultivating a culture where employees trust leadership and trust the process, is extremely gratifying. I greatly appreciated the trust these employees – all varying tenures and roles – demonstrated in their openness to engage and ask questions during a very honest conversation around some changes we have made in recent months. It was a true back-and-forth dialogue, with lots of good ideas and feedback shared about the changes we are making and how to refine our implementation.
Our conversation reminded me that trust, communication, transparency, candor and a willingness to listen are foundational elements of good leadership, and something I strive for each day as CEO of Cengage Group.