Harbert Magazine Fall 2022

Bean's tattoo reflects the company’s commitment to taking its shared corporate values into the world through charitable work.

it very simple and say you need to be aligned with our five shared values. We think that if you’re aligned with our five shared values — Every- one matters, We take care of each other, High character and hard work above all else, Leadership is here to serve, and Always know where you stand — then you’re always going to have a job here. It’s hard to live out those five shared values and not be really successful here. HM:  You rose quickly through the ranks of the company to become CEO. Can you tell us about your own journey at Insight Global, and what you learned along the way? BB:  I think I’m really blessed to be hired when I was, by our founder and former CEO. I can’t not acknowledge that I took advantage of some really good timing. That said, I really bought into this idea that you can be whoever you want to be here, as long as you’re will- ing to put in the effort and as long as you’re willing to take the risk. Maybe what some folks forget to do, or shy away from, in their career, is to take the bet, moving for that opportuni- ty within the company that’s a little scary, raising your hand and saying, “Yes, I want that opportunity to go for this promotion.” I think this is what I did particu- larly well, finding yourself in a room

where all of a sudden your voice will matter if you use it. Most people still don’t use their voice. They think, “Well, what do I know?” I used my voice in those moments. HM:  Company culture is obviously important at Insight Global. How has that emphasis contributed to the company’s success? BB:  I think the secret of Insight Global is how we use our company culture as a causation for success. What I mean by that is culture is in many ways simply shared habits about what a company values. So if a company values gossip and backstab- bing, that’s going to be the habits and the culture of that company, and it’s going to be a toxic culture. We value things like our shared values, which I just spoke about. We value this ten- sion of taking care of each other, plus accountability, and our culture forms around that. What winds up happening, if you get the culture right, is you get people who have bought into the culture. What that really means is you get people who are really engaged. So much of why companies succeed or fail is how engaged their people are or are not. We like to say, how can we use our culture and our values to drive ultimate engagement? If we can do that, then I can get more production

out of my people, just because of how engaged and how aligned they are. The idea of interest alignment is really, really big. That’s the next step after engagement. If you can get your people aligned with the goals of the company and with the mission of the company, then that’s everything. HM:  The words “so they can be the light to the world around them” now appear in your company’s statement of purpose. What led to that decision and how has it influenced the way the company operates? BB:  Our company’s purpose, our why, is to grow our people personally, pro- fessionally and financially so they can be the light to the world around them. That last phrase, “so they can be the light to the world around them,” we added in 2020. At first, it was just, “To grow our people personally, professionally, and financially.” We thought if we do that really well, then everything else will take care of itself. But what we saw was that was a little selfish. We saw people start to lean in to the world around them. In some ways, it was al- most like they were taking their shared values to the world around them. In the pandemic, one of the reasons why we were able to actually grow 8% in revenue when our industry shrank 25% was because our people really leaned into this concept of being the

22 Harbert Business, Fall 2022

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