TRAITS podcast: Building Higher Performing Organizations

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A leaders responsibility is to ensure the organization survives and thrives. Drawing on the insights of industry leaders and the TRAITS psychometric assessment tool, this podcast explores the lessons these experts offer on building higher performing organizations.

  1. 5d ago

    S2 Ep 8 | Remarkable: How Organizational Culture and Belonging Transformed a Family Business into a National Award Winner with Dean Koeller

    Organizational Culture and Belonging: The Secret Behind one of Canada’s Most Admired Mortgage Companies Organizational culture and belonging are not just HR buzzwords at Calvert Home Mortgage — they are the foundation of everything the company does. In Season 2, Episode 8, host Mark sits down with Dean Koeller, CEO of Calvert Home Mortgage, a family-founded company that has grown into one of Canada’s most admired organizations, winning the Waterstone Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Culture award twice. From Family Conflict to Cultural Clarity Dean opens up about how working alongside his father and brother nearly broke the business apart — a family psychologist once told them it would never work. What saved them was structure, self-awareness, and the TRAITS model. Understanding each other’s personality profiles transformed conflict into complementarity, and that principle now runs throughout the entire organization, from hiring to onboarding to daily team communication. What Belonging Really Means at Work Dean’s definition of culture goes beyond perks and ping-pong tables. It is built on three pillars: mastery, autonomy, and meaning — and held together by belonging. Culture, he says, acts like an immune system: when someone does not fit, the organization naturally surfaces it. But psychological safety without accountability creates risk. The balance of both, under the umbrella of genuine belonging, is what makes organizations thrive — and what has made Calvert trusted, caring, and fast for nearly 50 years. Show Notes: What You’ll Learn How the Koeller family used the three-circle model (family, ownership, management) to survive working together Why a family psychologist said their business would fail — and how they proved him wrong How TRAITS profiles are used in hiring, onboarding, and daily team communication at Calvert What the baseball card system is and how it creates belonging from day one Why culture acts like an immune system — and how to build one that works The balance between psychological safety and accountability How mastery, autonomy, and meaning create retention in the next generation What Calvert’s three words — trusted, caring, fast — actually look like in practice Key Moments 00:03:45 — Dean introduces Calvert Home Mortgage and the family history 00:05:37 — The family psychologist says it won’t work — and what they did next 00:06:23 — The three-circle model: family, ownership, and management 00:16:12 — How the TRAITS model changed everything for the Koeller family 00:19:37 — How TRAITS is used across hiring, culture, and team communication 00:23:00 — Dean’s definition of culture: mastery, autonomy, meaning, and belonging 00:30:37 — The baseball card system — onboarding with traits profiles 00:39:44 — Psychological safety and accountability: why you need both 00:44:54 — Mark’s personal experience with Calvert: trusted, caring, fast About Dean Koeller Dean Koeller is the CEO of Calvert Home Mortgage, a family-founded Canadian mortgage lender established in 1975. Under Dean’s leadership, Calvert has won the Waterstone Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Culture award twice and has been recognized by the Alberta Business Family Institute as Signature Family of the Year. Dean is a graduate of Singularity University’s executive program and is a passionate advocate for purpose-driven leadership, psychological safety, and building organizational cultures rooted in belonging. Connect & Subscribe Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts Leave a review — it helps us reach more entrepreneurs like you Have a topic or question? Drop a comment or reach out — Mark reads every one 🔗 Connect with us on LinkedIn 📸 Follow us on Instagram 📰 Read our BLOG 📩 Sign up to our Newsletter

    51 min

  2. May 20 ·  Video

    S2 Ep 7 | 3 Critical Business Succession Planning Mistakes Every Entrepreneur Must Avoid with Dave Bullock

    Business Succession Planning Starts on Day One — Not the Day You Want to Leave Business succession planning is not an exit conversation — it is a starting conversation. In Season 2, Episode 7, host Mark sits down with Dave Bulloch, a fractional executive with decades of experience leading organizations across multiple industries. Dave’s message is clear: the entrepreneurs who build the most valuable, resilient businesses are the ones who begin with the end in mind from the very first day. The 3 Mistakes That Slow Business Growth Dave walks through the critical missteps that quietly break growing businesses. First, entrepreneurs fail to define where they are taking their business — whether to a sale, a family handoff, or a professionally managed operation — and that lack of clarity costs them options later. Second, they hire people like themselves rather than building complementary teams, perpetuating the very weaknesses that limit growth. Third — and the one that stings most — they hand out titles too freely, trapping loyal employees in roles they are not qualified to hold and blocking the business from bringing in the leadership it actually needs. The Right Fit for the Right Time Dave’s core philosophy: you do not need someone to take you from A to Z. You need the right person to take you from A to B. Business succession planning is not one decision — it is a series of intentional choices about people, roles, and timing, made with discipline and honesty at every stage of the business life cycle. Show Notes: What You’ll Learn Why business succession planning must start on day one The three exit options every entrepreneur should know about How to build a team that complements your weaknesses, not mirrors your strengths The red flag vs. yellow flag framework for vetting partners and hires Why titles are not free — and how inflation traps employees and businesses How to motivate people without promoting them beyond their capabilities Why you don’t need someone to take you from A to Z — just A to B The importance of having honest, upfront conversations with your team Key Moments 00:05:11 — Dave introduces himself and his fractional leadership work 00:09:55 — Begin with the end in mind: succession planning from day one 00:13:19 — How to hire for the gaps you have, not the strengths you know 00:19:29 — Red flags vs. yellow flags: data-driven vs. gut-driven decisions 00:28:06 — The value of psychometric assessments in hiring 00:34:43 — Title inflation: why titles are not free 00:39:27 — The “working lead” model as an alternative to premature promotion 00:44:16 — Closing thoughts and what’s coming in the series 3 Key Takeaways (from the Host) Begin with the end in mind — succession and exit planning is not optional, it is foundational Find the right fit for the right time — it is okay to hire for a stage, not forever Titles are not free — handing them out carelessly hurts your business and your people About Dave Bulloch Dave Bulloch is a seasoned executive and fractional leader with decades of experience in corporate finance, operations, and CEO-level leadership across multiple industries and business sizes. He specializes in helping growing businesses navigate succession planning, operational efficiency, and building the right leadership teams at the right time. Dave was previously featured in Season 1 of the podcast and returns for a new multi-episode series on the business life cycle. Connect with Dave Bulloch on LinkedIn Connect & Subscribe Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts Leave a review — it helps us reach more entrepreneurs like you Have a topic or question? Drop a comment or reach out — Mark reads every one 🔗 Connect with us on LinkedIn 📸 Follow us on Instagram 📰 Read our BLOG 📩 Sign up to our Newsletter

    50 min

  3. Apr 27

    S2 Ep 6 | 3 Unstoppable Forces: How AI Disruption in Business Is Rewriting the Rules for Leaders with Joel Thompson

    AI Disruption in Business: Are You Ready for What’s Coming? AI disruption in business is no longer a future concern — it is happening right now, and the organizations that fail to prepare will be left behind. In Season 2, Episode 6 of the podcast, Mark sits down with Joel Thompson, a CPA turned business optimization consultant and founder of Redline Consulting, to unpack one of the most pressing challenges facing leaders today: how to navigate the profound transformation that artificial intelligence is already triggering across every industry. Joel brings a unique lens to the conversation. With decades of experience as an internal CFO for large construction companies, he has built his consulting practice around a simple but powerful framework: the three pillars of technology, people, and process. Now, with AI expanding one of those pillars at an exponential rate, everything else must adapt — and fast. The Speed Problem: Why This Time Is Different Unlike previous technological revolutions — the printing press, electricity, the automobile — AI is advancing at a compressed speed that the human mind struggles to comprehend. Joel uses the analogy of folding a piece of paper 42 times to reach the moon: we simply cannot visualize the scale of what is coming. The AI race between global superpowers has removed guardrails and flooded the space with investment, pushing capability far ahead of any meaningful application. “The engine has gotten way ahead of where the rest of us are even aware,” Joel explains. Who Gets Hit First? Professional services firms — law, accounting, consulting — will feel AI disruption in business most acutely, and fastest. Joel breaks down how a $1,000 legal bill might soon look dramatically different when 80% of the work (research and collation) can be handled by AI in minutes. Margin compression is coming, and organizations that do not adapt their delivery model will simply stop getting calls. Product-based businesses will face a different, slower curve — but no one is immune. The Entry-Level Problem Nobody Is Talking About One of the most thought-provoking moments of the episode is Joel’s insight about entry-level jobs. AI is eliminating the “grunt work” that has traditionally trained young professionals. Without those foundational stepping stones — the research, the data entry, the clerical roles — how do people build the experience and wisdom needed to validate AI outputs, catch hallucinations, and make sound judgment calls? This is a challenge that organizations and educators have not yet begun to solve. AI Disruption in Business Requires Human Wisdom Joel draws a critical distinction: AI is artificial intelligence, not artificial wisdom. Knowing that a tomato is a fruit is intelligence. Knowing not to put it in a fruit salad is wisdom. As AI takes over knowledge-gathering and processing tasks, the value of human experience — the ability to do a “reasonableness check” — becomes more important, not less. Experienced leaders who can translate between business and technology, validate AI outputs, and design robust systems will become the most valuable people in any organization. The Three Pillars Framework in the Age of AI Joel’s three pillars — technology, people, and process — remain as relevant as ever, but they must evolve together. A business that invests heavily in AI technology without updating its processes or preparing its people will create new bottlenecks rather than removing old ones. “Leadership without process is chaos,” he notes, “and process without leadership is bureaucracy.” The goal is balance — and the integration point is always process. What Leaders Must Do Now Joel’s message to leaders is urgent: get to 30,000 feet and rethink your business model. Start small pilot projects. Build an innovation mindset across your team. Get people comfortable sharing and improving processes rather than hoarding knowledge out of fear. And above all — don’t wait. This is musical chairs, and the music is already playing. Whether you are running a construction company, a professional services firm, or a small entrepreneurial business, this episode delivers a clear-eyed, practical perspective on AI disruption in business that will challenge how you think about technology, your team, and the future of your organization. Show Notes: What You’ll Learn Why AI is advancing faster than any previous technological revolution Which industries will be hit hardest and fastest by AI disruption The entry-level job problem — and why it matters for your organization’s future Why AI is intelligence, not wisdom — and what that means for hiring How to use the 3-pillar framework (tech, people, process) to prepare your business What “data discipline” means and why it’s foundational to AI readiness How to build an innovation mindset across your team Why nimble organizations will win — and how to become one Key Moments 00:03:41 — Joel’s background: CPA, construction CFO, and the 3-pillar framework 00:09:00 — Why AI is different from every previous technological revolution 00:13:40 — How different industries will be affected and at what speed 00:17:44 — The future of jobs and the entry-level problem 00:28:05 — AI hallucinations, data hygiene, and the reasonableness check 00:38:06 — The 3-pillar framework explained in depth 00:40:38 — About Redline Consulting and how to connect with Joel Resources & Links Connect with Joel Thompson on LinkedIn Redline Consulting website Book mentioned: 10X Is Easier Than 2X by Dan Sullivan About Joel Thompson Joel Thompson is a CPA and business optimization consultant who has spent decades as an internal CFO for large construction companies. He is the founder of Redline Consulting, a firm that helps businesses align their technology, people, and processes to remove bottlenecks, streamline operations, and achieve exponential growth. Joel is a sought-after speaker on AI disruption in business and the future of work. Connect with TRAITS: 🔗 Connect with us on LinkedIn 📸 Follow us on Instagram 📰 Read our BLOG 📩 Sign up to our Newsletter

    55 min

  4. Mar 18

    S2 Ep 5 | Building to Last: The Science Behind Leadership with DeWayne Fliss

    https://youtu.be/sNrdH3s06-Q DeWayne shares how decades of experience shaped the science behind leadership and why strategy, people, and structure must evolve together for organizations to endure. In the Season 2 of The TRAITS Podcast, host Mark Frentz and DeWayne Fliss, founder of Concord Consulting, bring the story full circle: exploring the science behind leadership and how decades of research and real-world experience shaped the foundations of TRAITS. After years of helping organizations grow from small teams to multimillion-dollar enterprises, DeWayne noticed a pattern: every successful company reaches a stage where technical skills and intuition aren’t enough. They need structure, strategy, and self-awareness at the leadership level. This episode dives into how organizations evolve through growth stages and how leaders must adapt from entrepreneurial drive to strategic discipline. DeWayne unpacks the core principles behind TRAITS and the research that revealed that leadership is not art or instinct, it’s a science of human behaviour, motivation, and fit. Listeners will learn: ✅ When companies need to redefine what “strategic activities” really are. ✅ How to recognize the turning point where founders must shift from doing to leading. ✅ Why alignment between strategy, structure, and people determines long-term performance. ✅ How technology and HR evolve into strategic functions at scale. ✅ What “the science behind leadership” looks like in practice. DeWayne shares examples of companies that outgrew their systems and had to re-engineer their leadership approach, introducing strategic roles like finance, HR, and marketing as organizations approach $50 million and beyond. He explains how the language of leadership shifts from reacting to anticipating and how data, clarity, and self-awareness enable leaders to build organizations that last. By the end of the episode, listeners see how DeWayne’s engineering precision, behavioural insight, and strategic thinking combined to create TRAITS, the tool that bridges the gap between knowing your people and leading them effectively. It’s a fitting finale to his series: a blueprint for leaders who want to move from growth to longevity and build organizations designed to endure. Show Notes: 00:00 – Series recap and DeWayne’s final chapter 03:20 – The science behind leadership and organizational growth 09:45 – When entrepreneurial instinct stops working 16:15 – The shift from tactics to strategy 24:00 – Strategic roles and why they appear as companies scale 33:50 – Technology and HR as strategic functions 42:30 – The data-driven future of leadership 49:55 – Closing thoughts: building organizations that endure Connect with TRAITS: 🔗 Connect with us on LinkedIn 📸 Follow us on Instagram 📰 Read our BLOG 📩 Sign up to our Newsletter

    54 min

  5. Feb 26

    S2 Ep 4 | Cracks in the Foundation: Why Companies Struggle to Scale with DeWayne Fliss

    https://youtu.be/3dG7sfGrPsg DeWayne Fliss explores why companies struggle to scale—and how leaders can fix what’s beneath the surface before growth collapses it. In Season 2, Episode 4 of The TRAITS Podcast, host Mark Frentz and DeWayne Fliss, founder of Concord Consulting, take a hard look at one of the most common problems growing organizations face: why companies struggle to scale. Building on his engineering and leadership insights, DeWayne reveals how even the strongest organizations can experience “cracks in the foundation”—early warning signs of misalignment that appear as companies grow. These cracks may begin small, but left unaddressed, they widen until entire systems—and relationships—start to break down. Drawing from decades of consulting and leadership experience, DeWayne explains that scaling problems rarely come from strategy or market conditions. They come from people, structure, and communication—areas that leaders often overlook when growth is good. In this episode, Mark and DeWayne discuss: ✅ The three most common reasons why companies struggle to scale—and how to spot them early. ✅ Why leadership misalignment creates performance plateaus. ✅ How rapid growth can hide systemic issues that resurface later. ✅ The importance of redefining roles, responsibilities, and structure as organizations evolve. ✅ The moment leaders must shift from managing to mentoring. DeWayne shares powerful analogies between engineering principles and organizational behaviour. Just as a structure’s integrity depends on its unseen framework, a company’s success depends on its internal alignment—the trust, clarity, and accountability connecting its people. Listeners will hear stories of real-world clients who faced growth bottlenecks not because of demand, but because their teams and systems weren’t ready to support the next level. DeWayne unpacks how these companies overcame their challenges by strengthening leadership communication, refining accountability systems, and clarifying strategic priorities. By the end of this episode, you’ll understand that companies don’t fail because they grow too fast—they fail because they don’t grow intentionally. This conversation is essential for leaders, HR professionals, and entrepreneurs who want to prevent performance cracks before they turn into cultural collapses. Show Notes: 00:00 – Introduction: Revisiting lessons from engineering and leadership 03:15 – The first signs of cracks in growing organizations 08:40 – Why structure breaks when leadership alignment is missing 16:25 – How scaling too fast hides cultural weaknesses 25:10 – The importance of redefining leadership roles during growth 34:50 – Turning cracks into opportunities for clarity 42:00 – The mindset that separates reactive managers from proactive leaders Connect with TRAITS: 🔗 Connect with us on LinkedIn 📸 Follow us on Instagram 📰 Read our BLOG 📩 Sign up to our Newsletter

    52 min

  6. Feb 10

    S2 Ep 3 | Role Fit in Leadership: Why Great People Fail in the Wrong Roles with Mike Moreau

    https://youtu.be/CQf-I6xHW9Q Why role fit in leadership matters more than experience, effort, or good intentions Role fit in leadership is one of the most overlooked — and most costly — issues inside organizations. In this episode of the TRAITS Podcast, we explore why capable, hardworking people often fail in roles that simply don’t fit how they’re wired to work. Host Mark sits down with Mike Moreau, owner of Concord Consulting, to unpack one of the most practical frameworks for understanding performance: performance orientation. Rather than focusing on personality “types” or generic leadership traits, the conversation centers on how two behavioural traits — Assertiveness and Detail Orientation — shape how people naturally approach work, risk, and decision-making Mike introduces a simple but powerful analogy: foot on the gas vs. foot on the brake. High Assertiveness pushes action and risk; high Detail Orientation slows things down to ensure accuracy and control. When these tendencies combine, they create different performance orientations — Initiators, Facilitators, and Implementers — each essential to organizational success when placed in the right role. The problem? Organizations often hire and promote based on experience, tenure, or technical skill — not behavioural alignment. The result is familiar: directors micromanaging, managers stuck in the weeds, entrepreneurs frustrated by operational bottlenecks, and high-potential employees disengaging because their role doesn’t match how they naturally contribute. Using the now-famous ship analogy, Mike explains how organizations need people at every level — from those scanning the horizon to those ensuring the engine runs smoothly. Trouble starts when people are placed too high or too low on the “mast” relative to their natural work orientation The episode also tackles a hard truth: coaching can’t fix a role mismatch. While development matters, no amount of training will make someone comfortable in work that fundamentally clashes with how they’re wired. Instead, success comes from measuring behaviour, clarifying role expectations, and intentionally aligning people to the level of work where they can excel. For leaders, HR professionals, and business owners, this episode reframes hiring, promotion, and succession planning. The takeaway is clear: role fit in leadership isn’t about changing people — it’s about placing them where they can perform best. Show Notes: In this episode, you’ll learn: How to identify future leaders earlier — without guesswork What performance orientation really means Why role fit in leadership matters more than experience How assertiveness and detail orientation shape work behaviour Why coaching can’t fix a role mismatch How misaligned leadership slows organizations down Connect with TRAITS: 🔗 Connect with us on LinkedIn 📸 Follow us on Instagram 📰 Read our BLOG 📩 Sign up to our Newsletter

    23 min

  7. Jan 27

    S2 Ep 2 | The Human Equation: Leadership Lessons from Engineering with DeWayne Fliss

    https://youtu.be/H9EaCf6VsgI?si=OMLb1P2A9JiPu6gt How systems thinking and engineering logic shaped DeWayne Fliss’s leadership philosophy—and the lessons that inspired the next step toward TRAITS. Leadership Lessons from Engineering: The Human Equation In Season 2, Episode 2 of The TRAITS Podcast, host Mark Frentz continues the conversation with DeWayne Fliss, founder of Concord Consulting, to explore how an engineer’s approach to solving complex systems evolved into a framework for leading people. This chapter of DeWayne’s journey reveals how leadership lessons from engineering became the building blocks of the TRAITS philosophy. After years in civil engineering and construction, DeWayne began noticing something his training hadn’t prepared him for: the human side of performance. Projects failed not because of design flaws or budget miscalculations—but because of breakdowns in communication, motivation, and trust. The variables weren’t structural; they were behavioural. In this episode, DeWayne explains how engineering principles—precision, systems thinking, and process discipline—provided unexpected insight into leadership. He discovered that, just like structures, teams require alignment and balance. A small misalignment at the top—a poorly defined role, a personality clash, or a lack of feedback—could create exponential stress further down the organization. Together, Mark and DeWayne unpack the lessons that reshaped how he viewed leadership and culture: ✅ How the logic of engineering exposed the emotional realities of leadership. ✅ Why human systems fail when leaders underestimate behavioural alignment. ✅ The importance of measuring both technical competence and natural tendencies. ✅ How feedback and accountability create structural integrity in teams. DeWayne also shares stories from his time in construction management—moments where deadlines, pressure, and people clashed—and how those experiences revealed a pattern: leaders who understood human behaviour didn’t just complete projects; they built teams that thrived long after. By the end of the episode, listeners will see how leadership lessons from engineering set the stage for the development of TRAITS. It’s a story about bridging two worlds—the precision of data and the unpredictability of people—and finding the common thread that connects both: human design. Show Notes: 00:00 – Introduction: Building on the foundations of Episode 1 03:10 – Engineering precision and the human variable 08:40 – The first leadership lessons from managing people, not projects 15:20 – When structure meets emotion: understanding human systems 23:30 – How alignment and clarity prevent performance collapse 31:45 – The importance of accountability and honest feedback 39:10 – The link between systems design and organizational success 46:00 – How these lessons laid the groundwork for TRAITS Connect with TRAITS: 🔗 Connect with us on LinkedIn 📸 Follow us on Instagram 📰 Read our BLOG 📩 Sign up to our Newsletter

  8. Jan 13

    From Blueprints to Behaviour: The Early Foundations of TRAITS with DeWayne Fliss

    How one engineer’s search for better performance revealed the early foundations of TRAITS and a new way to understand people at work. In the Season 2 premiere of The TRAITS Podcast, host Mark Frentz sits down with DeWayne Fliss, founder of Concord Consulting and the visionary mind behind the TRAITS Assessment, to uncover the early foundations of TRAITS—and how an engineer’s fascination with systems evolved into a passion for understanding people. Long before developing one of today’s most practical tools for leadership and hiring, DeWayne was building something entirely different: bridges, structures, and careers in engineering. But beneath the blueprints and numbers, he began noticing something data couldn’t fully explain—the people. Why did some teams excel while others, with the same technical skill, fell apart? Why did some leaders inspire performance while others created resistance? That curiosity led DeWayne to study organizational behaviour and psychometrics, discovering how human tendencies, motivation, and self-awareness shaped outcomes far more than technical expertise. Those insights became the early foundations of TRAITS, decades before the tool itself existed. Throughout this episode, DeWayne and Mark explore how his experiences in engineering laid the groundwork for his people-first philosophy. They discuss: ✅ The turning point that made DeWayne question whether performance is more about personality than process. ✅ Early research on why people stay—or leave—organizations. ✅ Lessons from leading teams under pressure, where success depended on communication and trust. ✅ How curiosity about people evolved into a systematic approach to leadership and performance. Listeners will hear DeWayne describe how understanding behaviour became his blueprint for success—a way to diagnose team friction, improve leadership alignment, and drive long-term performance. His early work emphasized a timeless truth: people don’t fail because of what they can’t do, but because they’re in roles that don’t fit who they are. By the end of this episode, it’s clear that the foundation of TRAITS was never built on technology—it was built on human insight. DeWayne’s story reminds leaders that before you can optimize performance, you must first understand people. Show Notes: 00:00 – Welcome to Season 2 of The TRAITS Podcast 02:15 – DeWayne’s engineering background and the curiosity that changed everything 08:30 – The first sparks: lessons from leadership, teams, and behaviour 14:00 – Why organizational success depends on human fit 22:10 – How early research became the groundwork for TRAITS 32:45 – The shift from process-driven management to people-driven leadership 42:20 – Reflection: what self-awareness means for leaders today Episode Resources & Links Connect with TRAITS: 🔗 Connect with us on LinkedIn 📸 Follow us on Instagram 📰 Read our BLOG 📩 Sign up to our Newsletter

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A leaders responsibility is to ensure the organization survives and thrives. Drawing on the insights of industry leaders and the TRAITS psychometric assessment tool, this podcast explores the lessons these experts offer on building higher performing organizations.

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