Vendasta + Me

Chris Fossenier
June 29, 2022

You may have noticed a new segment at the weekly All Hands meeting lately, where Vendastians are introducing themselves to the company and sharing stories - personally and professionally. It is always interesting and inspiring to learn more about our coworkers! You may be wondering where this initiative came from, what it all means, and how to get involved. Chris Fossenier explains the initiative in this week’s feature story.

So the concept really came from talking to a lot of different people about what they do at Vendasta and listening closely in meetings about strategy and vision at all levels.

Here is an excerpt from Patty McCord’s book “Powerful”

“How do you know when people are well enough informed? Here’s my measure. If you stop any employee, at any level of the company, in the break room or the elevator and ask what are the five most important things the company is working on for the next six months, that person should be able to tell you, rapid fire, one, two, three, four, five, ideally using the same words you’ve used in your communications to the staff and, if they’re really good, in the same order. If not, the heartbeat isn’t strong enough yet.”

- Patty McCord

Since my arrival at Vendasta a year ago, I have had the privilege of speaking to many Vendastians at all levels and learning a lot about them, how they contribute to the company and what they look forward to.

I also realized that not everyone has the opportunity to do this. I reached out to several people for feedback, and ideas around a framework and it started to take shape.

So how can we leverage this opportunity to have multiple positive impacts on Vendasta as a whole?

Let’s learn more about every Vendastian and share that.
Let’s learn more about how each person at Vendasta contributes and challenge those people to critically think about how they contribute to Vendasta’s mission and vision.
Let’s learn more about what people at Vendasta are looking forward to for themselves and for Vendasta.
Let’s listen and learn. Let’s share with new hires, and with OGs who have never met certain people in a 700 person company.
Let’s pay attention to these messages and see what we can learn, and how we can improve.
Let’s learn what else we can learn!

You may have heard of Peter Drucker. He was a well known author around executive management and had coached many of the top CEOs in the world.

Often when I get into a deep conversation with someone at Vendasta, their passion for the culture here surfaces. It might be team specific, maybe it’s around a social aspect, and often it focuses on how everyone here is always willing to help each other. I am guessing that many of you have experienced something like this.

Vendasta+Me is another tool to assist with culture. A way to quickly share the lives, thoughts and dreams between Vendastians.

If you are interested in participating by creating a short video, it’s super simple. Just use the outline below as a guide and shoot some videos. Get creative and have fun. You don’t even have to worry about editing them, it will be handled for you.

Here’s an outline you can use (not a checklist, just a guide):