Thanks for joining us on Season 5 of The Flourishing Culture Podcast, brought to you by The Best Christian Workplaces Institute. You’ll learn how to build a flourishing workplace culture that drives the ministry impact of your organization, your church, or your company brought to you by the Best Christian Workplaces Institute. Now here’s your host, BCWI president, Al Lopus.
Have you heard “culture eats strategy for breakfast”? Do you believe it? In today’s episode, I interview a CEO who has turned three, faith-based organizations around by focusing on workplace culture as the strategy for change.
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I’m so pleased to have with me is Dusty Rubeck, President of CDF Capital, based in Irvine, California. Dusty, it’s really a pleasure to welcome you to the Flourishing Culture Podcast.
When it comes to culture building: be wise, be knowledgeable, be intentional, be steadfast. And connect with BCWI and allow them to help you get where you need to be.”
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
- The history of CDF Capital (02:00)
- Facing the turbulent financial crisis of 2010 (03:42)
- Leadership transition and dealing with a hurting culture (04:00)
- The Five Levers of Corporate Culture (04:45)
- History, Mission, Vision, Core Values, & Norms (Rules & Regulations) (5:45)
- The importance of an effective mission statement (07:33)
- Building a great culture is a strategy (08:40)
- What are Culture Plus/Delta exercises? (10:25)
- Culture is like a river. The current of a river always wins (14:31)
- Build a culture that reinforces itself and accelerates success (15:11)
- Key to retaining the best talent: the right mission, communicated in the right way, given the right fuel (17:39)
- There’s no strategy you can pursue effectively if you first have to overcome a bad culture (19:32)
- The three types of capital: Financial Capital, Leadership Capital, and Spiritual Capital (20:00)
- A leader’s awareness of pain and dealing with the uncertainty of the future (22:49)
- As a leader, you get the culture you allow or you get the culture you build. You get the culture you deserve (24:55)
- When it comes to culture building: be wise, be knowledgeable, be intentional, be steadfast. And connect with BCWI and allow them to help you get where you need to be (25:44)
Additional Resources
Download BCWI’s four-page guide for inspirational leadership in crisis for FREE.
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Read a complete, word-for-word transcript of the episode here

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