🎙️ Greg Zabikow's Leadership Philosophy: Competitive Swimming Lessons Meet Fourth-Generation Family Business

Greg Zabikow brings his unique blend of treasury expertise, operational transformation, and collegiate swimming discipline to his leadership approach. Greg shares how lessons learned from training for championships shaped his approach to guiding teams through change, asking curious questions that uncover outdated processes, and honoring both history while adapting for future generations.

Through candid stories about debunking the belief that a pipe facility couldn't make certain products, living through the 2008 financial crisis in Amsterdam while managing regional treasury operations, and discovering that tearing his shoulder senior year taught him more about leadership than winning ever could, Greg reveals why introverts can excel in collaborative roles, how family-owned businesses maintain culture across generations, and why the best ideas often come from asking what appear to be dumb questions.

✨ Key Insights You'll Learn:

• Career evolution from retail banking through Allstate and Aon treasury roles into manufacturing transformation

• Collegiate swimming philosophy: training through losses to win championships at season's end translates to business strategy

• Debunking production myths at struggling pipe facility through equipment maintenance scheduling and operator training

• Building union relationships by connecting with people rather than treating it as management versus employees

• International assignments in Amsterdam during 2008 financial crisis and Calgary plant turnaround shaped global perspective

• Experience with a 132-year-old building materials company: witnessing first layoffs in 120+ years during 2008 crisis

• Fourth-generation family ownership maintaining culture through actions like annual retiree reunions and family picnics

• Curiosity without ego: asking "help me understand" creates space for collaborative problem-solving

• Three-day Lean workshops involving union and management together identifying process improvements

• Accountability framework: every task needs a name and a date to prevent reverting to old habits

• Introverts succeeding in collaborative roles by flexing into extroversion then recharging through solitude

• Regional treasury center establishment in Netherlands navigating favorable tax structures and banking safety during financial crisis

🌟 Greg's Key Mentors & Influences:

• Jerry Champer (College Swimming Coach)

• Greg's Father

• CFO at Early Career Role

• Lean Methodology Colleagues

• Union Team Members at Pipe Facility

• Fourth Generation Family Business Leadership

👉 Don't miss this powerful conversation about honoring history while adapting for the future, using sports discipline in business strategy, and why asking curious questions without ego unlocks collaborative solutions that individual expertise alone cannot achieve.

🔗 Connect with Greg Zabikow: LinkedIn: Greg Zabikow

📄 Transcript Available: Training Through Losses for Championship Wins: Greg Zabikow's Business Strategy Framework

📺 Watch on YouTube: Inspired Stories Podcast

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📄 Special Thanks to Anthony Codispoti & AddBack Benefits Agency: AddBack Benefits Agency - Providing innovative employee benefits solutions that improve employee well-being while optimizing your bottom line Website: addbackbenefits.com

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