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Conventional wisdom says a founder who takes her foot off the gas will watch the business fall apart. Elise Mitchell slowed down, built a firm that could thrive without her, and sold it on her own terms.

In this episode of The Intangible Brand, Jerry Gennaria sits down with Elise Mitchell, founder and former CEO of Mitchell Communications Group, author of Leading Through the Turn, and executive coach, to talk about building a values-driven firm, keeping culture intact through rapid growth, and learning to enjoy the ride along the way.

Elise built her PR firm in Northwest Arkansas alongside clients like Walmart, Tyson Foods, and J.B. Hunt, grew it 500% in a few years, and sold it to Dentsu on her own terms. She’s candid about the moments she isn’t proud of, from the intervention that broke her workaholism to the day her team was fighting in the hallways. She also shares the simple habits that kept her connected to clients and employees as the firm scaled.

In this episode

• Why destination leaders need a journey mindset
• How “cultural scoundrels” quietly drive away your best people
• Turning values into behaviors people can be held accountable to
• Why self-interest undermines every client relationship
• How a Main Street USA point of view became a competitive advantage
• Why a founder-centric firm can only grow as far as its founder

Key Takeaways

• A performance culture that rewards the what but ignores the how creates a double standard, and once that happens, your values become words on paper.
• Values only stick when your team defines what living them looks like. Mitchell’s five values became real when small groups turned each word into everyday behaviors, which later showed up in annual reviews.
• Clients can sense a hidden agenda. When they know you’ll do what’s best for them even at a cost to you, trust follows, and making your client a hero is how you keep their business.
• In a crisis, the nimble firm wins. During the 2008 recession, Mitchell said yes to everything, embedded staff in client offices, and kicked off five years of rapid growth.
• Elise recommends Your Brain at Work by David Rock, a book that reflects her belief that self-awareness and mindset matter more as a leader’s stakes rise.

Resource and References

• Leading Through the Turn by Elise Mitchell: https://www.amazon.com/dp/125986099X
• The Trusted Advisor by David H. Maister, Charles H. Green, and Robert M. Galford: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0743212347
• Your Brain at Work by David Rock: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0061771295

Learn more about Elise Mitchell: https://elisemitchell.com
Learn more about The Intangible Brand: TheIntangibleBrand.com

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