Act Like an Owner: Greg Hawks on Culture, Workplace Vandals, and Leading Through Uncertainty

In this week's episode, Geoff sits down with Greg Hawks, keynote speaker, corporate culture expert, and bestselling author of Act Like an Owner. Drawing on 25 years of leadership experience and a framework born from running a nonprofit and managing rental properties simultaneously, Greg shares why most engagement strategies target the wrong employees, what it actually takes to build culture that sticks, and how leaders can maintain trust through layoffs and AI uncertainty. Key Takeaways Greg's owner-renter-vandal framework identifies three archetypes in every organization: (i) owners who take genuine initiative, (ii) renters who do their job transactionally, and (iii) vandals whose active disengagement undermines everyone around them Most engagement strategies focus on converting disengaged employees to engaged, but the real leverage is in addressing the actively disengaged—when vandals are dealt with, the disengaged re-engage on their own Vandals persist for four predictable reasons: they (i) generate significant revenue, (ii) have long tenure, (ii) benefit from nepotism, or (iv) they're in a position of power (e.g., the founder of the company) Culture is built through consistent leadership habits, not values recitations—Greg's most effective tool is leaders sharing weekly personal challenges they faced in living out company values, which creates the thick trust that makes honest communication possible Transparent, proactive communication is the only mechanism that preserves trust through layoffs AI should be treated as a partner to experiment with openly rather than a threat to stay quiet about Links https://www.greghawks.com/ https://www.gallup.com/workplace/701486/em...