Aug 15, 2020
Bennie S. Covington, Chief People Officer for Integrated Financial Settlements, comes on the show to share his story about falling into HR even as he tried to avoid it, what it means to run a successful business, and what you need to cultivate to be a strong leader and aspire to the C-suite, even when you don’t!
ABOUT OUR GUEST
Bennie S. Covington has helped small businesses, nonprofits, Fortune 500, and global organizations align their culture to their mission-critical goals to help them to create a blueprint for success in the global market. He leverages best practices in Agile principles, Industrial/Organizational Psychology, and adult learning theory to do this effectively.
He has mentored hundreds of leaders and managers globally in the U.S., Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, and Belgium. In 2017, he earned recognition for being in the top 10% of global leadership development programs in the areas of executive coaching, team development, and new leader development from HR.com.
He currently is the Chief People Officer at Integrated Financial Settlements. As a community leader, he has participated in the Downtown Denver Partnership leadership program, served on the Five Points Business District Welton Street Design Working Group, and the Denver Mayor’s Pedestrian Committee.
GET IN TOUCH WITH BENNIE ON LINKEDIN
THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS
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KEY TAKEAWAYS
[1:52] Michael introduces Bennie and asks him to share an interesting tidbit about himself as well as share a little about Integrated Financial Settlements.
LEGACY [9:30] Bennie touches on how his goal at the onset of his current role was to stabilize, partner, and transform HR in the business. He walks us through the key points to keep in mind in order to tackle such an undertaking and what sustainability really means for a business.
DREAMS OF A CXO ROLE? [13:01] Being C-suite, even being in HR, had never been on Bennie’s radar; he talks about the very personal way he became interested in HR and how he came to see CXO roles as a way to transform operations.
C-SUITE QUALITIES [18:06] In order to be tapped for a C-suite role, you have to demonstrate some understanding of business. Bennie talks about a few more reasons why he may have been initially tapped for the VP role as well as some questions he was asked.
IMPORTANT EXPERIENCE [21:35] Having some background in the more technical aspects of the job might have been helpful in the beginning, so Bennie suggests that if you do have a strong interest in a field, you should stay up-to-date.
RADIO [26:02] Bennie was aiming for a radio hosting career, he recounts how that began in earnest and how he actually changed paths when the industry began consolidating. He does rely upon some of that experience for public speaking.
LEVEL SETTING [33:12] Bennie shares a tip to make sure people follow you in a conversation.
CHRO to CEO? [33:46] Bennie doesn’t know if CHRO moves to CEO but it seems like it might be the time for it.
ADVICE [36:50] Understand the business and the number 1 expense is Bennie’s biggest piece of advice for aspiring CXOs. Bennie shares a city design example!
BEST WORST JOB BENNIE EVER HAD [42:00] Call center work… Bennie touches on what he learned working in a field that was not for him.
[46:50] Michael thanks Bennie for coming on the podcast to share his insight and closes out the podcast with his favorite takeaways.
We hope you learned something today and enjoyed the conversation. Please give us 5 stars on iTunes and share your comments so we can improve and ask the questions you want to hear.
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
Integrated Financial Settlements
SPECIAL THANKS TO