What Is Culture?

This summer, after months of planning, Tangoe’s Operations department rolled out the Service Delivery Manager Service Excellence Employee Development Program. Also known as the SDM SEED Program. In late September, our first round of Service Delivery Managers went in front of the SDM Quarterly SEED Board, and eleven employees achieved SEED certification. In this episode, you get to hear global experiences from three of the certified: Vicky Pearce, from England; Christian Smith from the United States; and Imran Hussain, from India. You’ll learn why they each decided to take part in the SEED program, some valuable things they’ve learned throughout the process and how it has and will continue to help them in their role. And of course, because this is the What is Culture podcast, you’ll also get to learn more about them beyond their work. 

Carmen Sorice, Tangoe's Senior Vice President of Strategic Partnerships, is fairly new to the company though is already making a big impact. In this candid episode, we talk about how to have both productive work weeks and productive weekends, why recognition is an important part of being a leader, what it takes to become a best place to work, and how he’s helping build a “winning culture” within the sales organization.

Derek McCauley, Tangoe’s Vice President of Services, indirectly supports and manages a team within our operations department comprised of nearly 250 employees. Hear what he believes makes a company, “a best place to work.” In addition, you’ll get to learn more about Tangoe’s newly released SEED (Service Excellence Employee Development) Program and our commitment to improving the customer and employee experience.

One of Tangoe’s Priorities for 2021 is to become, “The best place to work.” But what does that mean to different people across our organization? What do we expect from our jobs, our colleagues, our managers? What does it take for a company to be considered a best place to work? In season six, we’ll search for answers to all those questions. The premiere episode features Patricia Cairns, Tangoe’s Service Delivery Manager, who has been with the company since 2010 when she began as an Invoice Processing Analyst shortly after college. We cover quite a bit in a short time: we talk about her childhood dream of becoming a commercial airline pilot, her African culture, her perception of what it means to be a best place to work, and why integrity is a huge factor.

October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, which is a time to raise the collective awareness of online threats and vulnerabilities. It's also a time to ensure that everyone does their part to increase online safety and security. You might be wondering: What does cybersecurity have to do with culture? Why is this a relevant topic for this podcast? Both fair questions, and in this episode, you will hear Tangoe’s Chief Information Officer, Mark Troller, discuss what it means—and why it’s so important—to help foster a culture of cybersecurity.

Gene Gurkoff founded Charity Miles in 2012 in honor of his grandfather who passed away from Parkinson’s Disease. Eight years later, it’s one of the top-rated health and fitness apps, and the #1 charity app in the app store. In this episode, we talk about Charity Miles’ Empowerment Program, which is designed for companies looking to build a culture that values health, empathy, and giving back. In addition, Gene and I discuss some challenges associated with being an entrepreneur, as well as his own podcast The Extra Mile, and of course, his take on company culture.

This compilation episode features the past ten conversations, which aired from May to August 2020, and includes a wide variety of guests (both inside and outside of Tangoe) from current and former employees, to entrepreneurs, to professors. To hear any of the ten episodes featured here today, visit whatisculturepodcast.com and the associated blog for this episode includes information and links to every guest.

In this week’s episode, Anna Evans and Austin Trout, both Tangoe employees from Indianapolis who serve on the culture committee, come onto the podcast to discuss challenges posed on their teams during the pandemic and to address why our entire organization must work to think differently about how best to engage our employees during a very challenging time.

Lauryn Robinson, Tangoe’s Director of Service Excellence, takes time out of her Kentucky vacation to discuss her progression at Tangoe, challenges posed by COVID-19, the struggles of a working parent, and the current state of our company culture, including what we can or should start doing to help nurture it. This episode also includes a surprise guest who shares a revealing account of her experience joining Tangoe in the midst of a pandemic.

This week we head southeast of Denver, Colorado for an inspiring conversation with Tangoe’s Stephanie Newman, Senior Business Analyst, tenured remote employee, and an industry veteran with more than 20 years of experience. In this candid episode, Stephanie shares challenging yet pivotal moments in her life — including the acquisition of Telwares in 2011, living with a chronic disease, and undergoing a divorce — all events that ultimately helped her regain confidence and achieve a healthier state-of-mind. Additionally, Stephanie offers advice for those still struggling to find a rhythm while working from home.

This week, we step outside of Tangoe to speak with Esther Weinberg, Founder & Chief Leadership Development Officer of The Ready Zone. Esther coaches leaders through change with proven systems to reframe, refocus, realign—and ultimately—put people first. In this episode, we discuss what makes an organization resilient and offer up some practical advice on what leaders can do to help create a "culture of readiness," even during a global pandemic. Esther’s breakthrough strategies have assisted many clients in the entertainment industry, including Netflix, ESPN, Warner Bros., CNN, DreamWorks Animation, National Geographic, and Nickelodeon.

In case you’ve forgotten, resilience is a key topic throughout season five, and this week, you’ll learn from the very inspiring Jennifer O’Hagan, Tangoe’s Director of Service Excellence, who’s been with the organization for more than 17 years. In this candid episode, Jen and I discuss many areas, including the true goal of Service Excellence, how to nurture workplace culture during a pandemic, and how her colleagues became her “virtual support system” as she experienced a very significant loss as a result of COVID-19.

The season 5 premiere features Jasen Corrente, Tangoe's Director of Implementations, who’s been with the organization over 13 years. In this timely and important conversation, not only will you learn about Jasen and his team’s contribution to the business, as well as his perceptions of our culture (pre and post COVID-19), you will also discover more about LGBTQTIA+ Pride Month, and why it’s so important that we all help contribute to a collective company culture that promotes equality.

Season 4 concludes with a professional and outside perspective from Paul Mastrangelo, the Principal Strategist at CultureIQ, a global culture management company, headquartered in New York City, that helps organizations align their culture with their business goals. Paul is a former tenured professor who received his Ph.D. in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from Ohio University. He has more than 25 years of experience in organizational development, organizational research, and adult education. Essentially, as the title of this episode suggests, Paul discusses how COVID-19 has and will continue to affect workplace culture. Note: This episode was recorded on May 22, 2020, which was before the racial and civil unrest that we’re seeing today. Had we recorded after these events, I’m sure the conversation would’ve been different.

This week's episode features Tom Nevins, Tangoe’s Director of Solutions Architecture, who has been with the organization more than 15 years. Tom and I recorded back on March 10th, with the intention to release his episode the following Monday, but almost immediately after our conversation, the coronavirus pandemic took over this show and much of our lives. And although season four of this podcast has been utilized to discuss the impact/effect that the global pandemic has had on Tangoe, this episode is a nice break from all that coronavirus talk. It offers listeners a change of pace and returns to the original intention of this podcast: To hear from Tangoe's employees, to learn about their contributions to the organizations, and to discuss their perceptions of our culture. We cover many areas, including what Tom and his team does to support Tangoe's sales and implementations, and how they instill trust and confidence within our customer base. We also discuss shooting pool and playing golf, and Tom even describ

As the Chief Revenue Officer (CRO), Mark Desautelle is responsible for all revenue generating activities, including the direction and the management of Tangoe’s sales organization and all of our business development efforts. Think pre-sales, sales, renewals, sales enablement, and sales operations. In this episode, Mark discusses the current sales environment, including the specific challenges (and opportunities) that the coronavirus pandemic has posed for Tangoe’s sales team.

Thus far in season four, we’ve spent a lot of time talking about COVID-19 and how it has affected our Tangoe employees, both personally and professionally. But, we’ve never spoken to anyone whose job is preparing for and responding to these kinds of emergencies and natural disasters. This week’s guest is Gavin Tavares, Tangoe's Senior Manager of Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery, and we talk about all of the preparation and action that was and is involved behind the scenes during a global pandemic.

This look-back episode features the past ten conversations, which aired from February to April 2020, and includes quite a mix of guests (both inside and outside of our organization) from current and former Tangoe employees, to authors, to therapists. Guests in this episode: Tanner Steele: Director of Client Experience at Lessonly; Sarah Argenal: Speaker, Writer, Author & Marriage and Family Therapist; Kelsey Balimtas: Customer Success Enablement Manager at HubSpot; Billy Boughey: Speaker, Entrepreneur & Author of "Culture Reconstructed"; Amy Densmore: Director of Service Excellence; Tara Rodriguez: Senior Business Analyst; Sarah Curtis: Former Director of Sales Enablement; Kirk Webb: Solutions Architect Director; Ailsa Stewart: Operations Manager for Mobile Solutions; Danielle Bauer: Vice President of Global Solutions; Karen Litz: Director of Product Management & Compliance; Shellie Allen: Senior Manager of Implementations; Tammy Hunter: Project Manager; Stephanie Davis: Project Manager; and Miche

Shellie Allen (Tangoe’s Senior Manager of Implementations) and I initially set up a time to record an episode with just the two of us, but we quickly decided that it would more fun and more informative for our listeners if we brought on Shellie and her whole team, which includes Tammy Hunter, Stephanie Davis, and Michelle James, all Project Managers who work from our Memphis, Tennessee location. In this fun, yet very honest conversation, Shellie and her team (known as “The Allen Achievers”) talk about how they lean on each other heavily to make it through each day as we endure COVID-19 and all the stressors it brings.

Karen Litz, Director of Product Management and Compliance, has been a remote employee of Tangoe for more than 20 years. She has undergone several mergers and acquisitions, and in that time, she’s worked in nearly every department, including: implementation, operations, customer service, development, products, sales, and legal. She’s a wealth of product knowledge, she’s seen many organizational changes, and she has overcome many personal challenges, making her an ideal person to bring on the show right now. In this episode, in addition to a discussion of the impact and effects of the coronavirus pandemic, Karen shares her battle with cancer at the age of 27 and what she calls the worst and best year of her life. She tells her story to offer hope to those who may be experiencing their own challenges, both personally and professionally, as we endure a time of worry and uncertainty.