In this episode of The Steward Chair, Rick Plympton, Corporate Fellow and Former CEO at Optimax Systems, Inc, shares their journey of transitioning to an employee ownership trust and empowering a local workforce, exploring how shared prosperity drives meaningful, long-term success.

Rick and Jeff discuss open-book financial management, the math behind profit-sharing models, and creating a perpetual purpose trust that makes a business unsellable, providing actionable takeaways for leaders committed to stewardship, integrity, and impact.

Key Takeaways

• Empowering the Whole Team: Shifting away from a command-and-control hierarchy allows a company to scale at the sphere of influence of the entire workforce rather than just a few top executives, which unlocked a sustainable 20% year-over-year organic growth rate for OptiMax.
• Radical Equity and Shared Wealth: Distributing 25% of company profits equally among core team members—regardless of whether they are the CEO or the custodian—fosters a unified workspace culture where every individual values absolute precision and quality.
• Hardcoding Legacy with EOTs: Moving to an Employee Ownership Trust (or Perpetual Purpose Trust) establishes permanent corporate governance that blocks predatory corporate buyouts, protects local families, and caps executive compensation at a healthy 7x ratio to the lowest earner.

Resources Mentioned

• Visit Optimax’s website at www.Optimaxsi.com

Join the Conversation
The Steward Chair is about equipping and inspiring business leaders to build organizations that stand the test of time. If this episode resonated with you, share your biggest takeaway and tag us on LinkedIn:

Chat With Leaders Media https://www.linkedin.com/company/chatwithleaders/ and End of the Line Productions https://www.linkedin.com/company/end-of-the-line-productions/.

Elevate your podcast, company meeting, or industry event strategies to better engage stakeholders and drive meaningful growth! Visit ChatWithLeaders.com to learn more about how we can help.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of The Steward Chair, host Jeff Bond sits down with Jackie Cardello, President of GRF CPAs & Advisors, to discuss how values, independence, and community impact drive sustainable success. Jackie shares how her background in English, philosophy, and psychology fuels human-centered leadership in a technical industry.

We explore GRF's courageous pivot from an "eat what you kill" compensation model to a goals-based system that rewards collective stewardship and leadership behaviors. Jackie also shares the strategic advantages of remaining fiercely independent and managing difficult partner conversations with vulnerability.

Key Takeaways

• The Humanities Edge: A background in philosophy and psychology builds the empathy and communication skills required to lead people and navigate tough organizational shifts.
• Incentivizing Stewardship: Swapping out individual profit models for goals-based compensation allows a firm to intentionally reward mentorship and collaboration over short-term revenue.
• Independence as a Magnet: Staying independent preserves a firm's core values, allowing for client-first decision-making and an authentic culture that naturally attracts and retains top talent.

Resources Mentioned

• Visit https://www.grfcpa.com/ Follow Shane on LinkedIn at
• Follow GRF CPAs & Advisors (GRF) on social media at:
  • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/grf-cpas-and-advisors
  • Twitter / X: https://twitter.com/grfcpas
  • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/grfcpas/
• Follow Jackie on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackie-cardello-grf/

Join the Conversation
The Steward Chair is about equipping and inspiring business leaders to build organizations that stand the test of time. If this episode resonated with you, share your biggest takeaway and tag us on LinkedIn:

Chat With Leaders Media https://www.linkedin.com/company/chatwithleaders/ and End of the Line Productions https://www.linkedin.com/company/end-of-the-line-productions/.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of The Steward Chair, Kevin Clegg, CEO of Clegg Auto, shares his journey of transitioning his family's auto shops into the first employee ownership trust holding company in the U.S., exploring how the care factor drives meaningful, long-term success.

We discuss transitioning an exit strategy into a daily operating model, guiding employees to own their own lives before owning a company, and replacing traditional management with a 200% accountability culture, providing actionable takeaways for leaders committed to stewardship, integrity, and impact.

Key Takeaways

• Transitioning to an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) protects an organization’s mission in perpetuity, ensuring the business remains evergreen and cannot be sold again.
• True company ownership requires employees to first own their lives and careers by identifying what they care about most and aligning their vocational track with those values.
• Traditional management can be replaced by a 200% accountability model where team members are 100% committed to their roles and 100% committed to keeping their peers accountable through peer coaching.

Resources Mentioned

• Visit Clegg Auto at https://cleggauto.com/
• Follow Kevin on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-clegg-59655a/

Join the Conversation
The Steward Chair is about equipping and inspiring business leaders to build organizations that stand the test of time. If this episode resonated with you, share your biggest takeaway and tag us on LinkedIn:

Chat With Leaders Media https://www.linkedin.com/company/chatwithleaders/ and End of the Line Productions https://www.linkedin.com/company/end-of-the-line-productions/.

Elevate your podcast, company meeting, or industry event strategies to better engage stakeholders and drive meaningful growth! Visit ChatWithLeaders.com to learn more about how we can help.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.