Episode Description
What happens when you pay people to notice ways they can make a difference?
A client’s dog interrupted a routine Zoom call.
Most people would apologize, mute the barking, and move on with the agenda.
The team at Lemonade Stand did something else.
What happened next became one of CEO Derek Miner’s favorite examples of a culture program producing a result nobody could have planned—and nobody in the room could ignore.
The story only exists because of an unusual line item on the company’s P&L.
Every employee gets money to give away.
They can use it to help a teammate, surprise a client, or meet a need in their community. The company asks them to follow two rules.
Spend the money to bless the lives of others (not yourself)
Share your story of generosity with the rest of the company
This small budget that empowers employees care turned into something much bigger.
A client retention tool.
A sales advantage.
A driver of employee loyalty.
And a growing archive of stories that teaches people how Lemonade Stand expects them to show up.
When Derek shared the numbers behind the program, we were shocked… and I’m confident you will be too.
This episode breaks down the system of care that Lemonade Stand built, why it works, and how you can test the same underlying idea without writing a blank check.
🕥 TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Meet Derek Miner
00:50 The Culture Worth Chasing
03:10 Love Who You Work With
08:10 When Life Happens at Work
13:20 Build Then Bless: Two Rules
17:30 Making the Economics Work
22:20 Living the Core Values
32:20 Listen, Serve, Stay Humble
44:10 The ROI of Care
54:20 NTLT and the Ripple Effect