S3 - E4: How Culture Works in Fintech M&A World - Podcast with Alex Cross - a podcast by Anirvan Sen
from 2023-03-04T10:37:27
How Culture Works in Fintech M&A World - Podcast with Alex Cross
Show Notes:
Alex got his bearing around culture when he was in the military. Over the years during his M&A stint, he encountered a lot of failures that prompted him to think hard and reflect on the cultural question. Culture is not about the values that get posted on the walls, it is not about what the CEO or the founder says about their companies, it is not about the annual employee assessment that gets sent out, culture is about “what are the ways of working, how do people work on a day to day basis, and what are the common strings that people can pull from that”.
There is a lack of respect for the complexity of culture. Leaders think that it is an HR thing to deal with. In reality, it is a leadership thing.
Alex shares examples from the eCommerce and financial world where culture played an important role especially around the way sales organizations integrated, how the culture was different, and what sort of challenges came up?
In M&A integration, there is a tendency to make a lot of promises upfront. Unfortunately, many of them cannot be kept and it destroys trust.
The biggest mistake companies make is not conducting a cultural assessment during due diligence not just about the target company but also, about themselves. By knowing yourself better through self-assessment, you can create better empathy.
Alex Cross is an Operations Executive with a track record of creating a vision, leading operational strategy, and producing cross-functional insights for executives to maximize efficiency while inspiring cultural change to transform businesses. As a pragmatic, detail-oriented, and data-driven problem-solver who builds consensus, Alex has successfully introduced disciplines to track objectives against measurable results and led people to meet commitments. He thrives in fast-paced environments and possesses the courage to kickstart change using a proven playbook to achieve strategic goals.
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Hosted by Anirvan Sen, CEO of Fifth Chrome, and Anahita Sen, Co-Facilitator of Fifth Chrome Podcasts
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This interview is part of a series run by Fifth Chrome, an business strategy advisory, and training company specializing in M&A, Integration, and Business Transformations.
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Books mentioned:
• Primal Leadership – Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis, Annie McKee
• Meditations – Marcus Aurelius, Gregory Hays
Further episodes of Fifth Chrome Business Insights
Further podcasts by Anirvan Sen
Website of Anirvan Sen