This week both TLMI converter and supplier members are gathered at the Omni LaCosta Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, CA, for the association’s Annual Meeting. Under the theme “Disruption Tour 2019,” the meeting’s activities include educational programming with guest speakers, a First Time Attendee Reception, TLMI Standing Committee Meetings, networking opportunities, supplier member tabletop exhibits, optional tours, golf and tennis tournaments. The meeting concludes with a gala reception and awards dinner, honoring: TLMI Label Awards Competition Winners, Environmental Awards Recipients, Supplier of the Year and Converter of the Year.

Kicking off the educational program on Monday, October 28, was keynote speaker John Izzo. A renowned leadership expert, Izzo is the author of the book The Purpose Revolution. According to Izzo, there’s a “seismic shift happening in business,” and it’s characterized by what he calls The Purpose Revolution – a radical desire for work to be about more than money and for our buying, employment, and loyalty connecting to a desire for meaning and social good. Companies and leaders who respond to these expectations are engaging both employees and customers, thus creating fierce loyalty, Izzo said.

Izzo aims to help his clients understand the emerging keys to employee and customer engagement while leaving a company’s team with ideas they can put into practice right away to grow your brand and win, motivate and keep the best talent.

Using 16-year-old Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg as an example, Izzo illustrated his point that sustainability and eco-friendly best practices are in fact more important than economic growth. He posed the question, “How do we feel about this?”  He went on to say that there is a generation that is up-and-coming that sees things differently than its predecessors.

Izzo pointed out that Unilever has set a goal where all of its plastic packaging will be recyclable and/or reusable. Companies such as this, he said, are focused on the environmental challenges plastic presents. “Will you be in the way of it, or a leader?” he asked of TLMI membership.

Izzo emphasized the significance of employees having a sense of purpose. He said a “job” is defined as where you go to get a paycheck, while a “career” is where you learn, grow and develop skills. But above all, he said, leaders should seek out employees who seek a “calling” – a deep sense they are making a difference.

According to Izzo, effective leaders talk about job purpose – not job function – in order to make someone “feel” their job.

He said leaders need to think about what they say. “In studies, 87% of leaders ask about profits. What they need to be asking about is their employees’ purpose,” he said. With regard to sustainability in particular, Izzo noted leaders should ask what they are doing at each location to achieve sustainabiity goals – not first about profits.

Leaders, Izzo said, should ask: How do we treat our employees? How do we treat our customers? How do we treat our environment?
 
Stressing the importance of talking to employees in order to gain valuable information that shapes a direction of a company, Izzo cited Tinder, the popular and successful dating app. He pointed out that many people do not realize that Tinder is owned my Match.com.

How did it start?  Match.com’s CEO met with employees and asked, “If you are our competitors, what would you do to put us out of business?” The employees answered with the suggestion that the app users should not be required to answer so many questions, that it should be simple and fun, and about hooking up. The employee input was paramount in making Tinder the very successful app it has become. 

Izzo urged TLMI members to “Learn what your employees purpose is – it will change the dynamics of your company. We need Force Multipliers.  Make a difference. Develop technology that’s good for the world. Develop employees that are good for the world. Once you know your purpose and the purpose of others, start sharing it with the world.”