#172: Dave West on the role of CEOs in envisioning and implementing employee well-being initiatives, and how leaders can inculcate empathy, handle criticism

Dave West, CEO and Product Owner at Scrum.org, is on a mission to enable professionals to apply scrum through training courses, certifications, and ongoing learning all based on a common competency model.

Prior to joining the team at Scrum.org, Dave was Chief Product Officer at Tasktop where he was responsible for product management, engineering, and architecture. As a member of the company’s executive management team, he was also instrumental in growing Tasktop from a services business into a VC-backed product business.

Dave is one of the foremost industry experts on software development and deployment. He has helped develop many modern software development processes, including the Unified Process and the Agile methods. He is also the co-author of two books - The Nexus Framework for Scaling Scrum and Head First Object-Oriented Analysis and Design.

On this episode of The Shape of Work podcast, Dave defines a growth mindset as the ability to look at things and problems differently. He also shares his inspirational journey of how being dyslexic didn’t stop him from achieving his goals.

This episode is full of practical, actionable tips that you'll be able to apply to your community. We discuss with Dave:

• His advice to organizations joining the up-skilling revolution
• His take on investment in employee development
• Constructive ways leaders can handle criticism
• Role of CEOs in envisioning and implementing well-being initiatives
• How leaders can plan for employee well-being and bring empathy to their leadership
• How to revert failed well-being initiatives

Follow Dave on LinkedIn

Produced by: Priya Bhatt
Podcast host: Abijith Kanthadai

Springworks is a fully-distributed HR technology organization that is building tools and products to simplify recruitment, on-boarding, employee engagement, and retention. The product stack from Springworks includes:
SpringVerify — B2B verification platform
EngageWith — employee recognition and rewards platform that enriches company culture
Trivia — a suite of real-time, fun, and interactive games platforms for remote/hybrid team-building
SpringRole — verified professional-profile platform backed by blockchain, and
SpringRecruit — a forever-free applicant tracking systemSpringworks prides itself on being an organization focused on employee well-being and workplace culture leading to a 4.8 rating on Glassdoor for the 200+ employee strength company.

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