What happens when the founder’s personality becomes the company’s culture?

In this episode of Management Muse, Cindi Baldi and Geoffrey Tumlin explore the phenomenon of founder imprint: the lasting, often invisible fingerprints that founders leave on an organization’s values, behaviors, and decisions.

This episode complements our recent discussion on weak organizational cultures by diving into the special case of start-ups, which often have strong, founder-driven cultures. From Chick-fil-A’s Sundays off to Herb Kelleher’s wild-but-warm ethos at Southwest, Cindi and Geoff walk through iconic examples of founder imprint, and contrast them with stories from their own experience building a small business together.

You’ll learn how early team choices, value signaling, and founder preferences can shape a company’s identity long after the original leader has left the building. Tune in to hear how founder-led cultures can be both a strength and a stumbling block as organizations scale.

Episode Highlights:

• Why founder values “imprint” early and persist over time
• The surprising science behind why teams end up so similar
• When founder-led cultures work, and when they get in the way
• How cultural self-governance can be a gift or a trap
• What Cindi and Geoff learned from building their own firm

Watch This Episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/xIcIyDg_rK0

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*Get a Comprehensive Organizational Assessment with CulSure

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Want to Go Deeper? Check Out Our Recommended Reading:

• Zook, Chris. “Founder-Led Companies Outperform the Rest – Here’s Why,” Harvard Business Review, 24 Mar. 2016. https://hbr.org/2016/03/founder-led-companies-outperform-the-rest-heres-why
• Gutterman, Alan S. “Founders and Organizational Culture”, Oct. 2023, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/374695659_Founders_and_Organizational_Culture

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You might be doing everything right as a manager on paper and still holding yourself back. In this episode of Management Muse, Cindi Baldi sits down with management coach Mel Cidado to unpack three common mistakes that derail manager growth.

Through client stories, they explore how great employees can falter in leadership roles when they try to do it all themselves, when they get stuck in expert mode, or when they assume results speak louder than actions. Each pattern looks like success from the outside but creates blind spots that limit advancement.

This conversation is for new managers, seasoned leaders, and the organizations that support them. Cindi and Mel share what it takes to course-correct early and why the path to growth starts with clarity, connection, and communication.

Episode Highlights:

• Three common mistakes in manager development and how to avoid them
• Why high-performing employees often struggle after promotion
• How over-rewarding expertise can limit leadership potential
• Why strong KPIs don’t always translate into advancement
• The three 3 C’s of effective management

Watch This Episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/VG8GAchWIsE

About Mel Cidado:

Melissa (Mel) Cidado is an executive coach, leadership advisor, and former Fortune 100 Talent VP, who helps senior leaders grow into new, bigger, and more visible roles with clarity, confidence, and sustainability. With 25 years of experience advising and coaching hundreds of executives through disruptive change, Mel brings a unique blend of real-world executive insight and deeply human, no-fluff guidance.

Today, she helps executive leaders design careers that fuel them, so success feels sustainable and aligned from the inside out. She’s the founder of Breakthrough Coaching and a contributor to Forbes Coaches Council, where she writes about energy leadership, performative resilience, and how to thrive through disruption.

*Connect with Mel: Linkedin | Breakthrough Coaching

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Thinking about starting a side hustle? In this episode of Management Muse, Cindi Baldi and Geoffrey Tumlin unpack why now might be the best time to build something of your own.

Whether you're dreaming of a creative outlet or a full-on escape hatch from your day job, side hustles offer more than just financial upside. Done right, they’re a smart way to test-drive new ideas, stay engaged, and future-proof your career (without blowing up your life in the process).

Cindi and Geoff share the science and strategy behind side gigs that energize, not exhaust. They break down how to avoid common traps like overinvesting or partnering with the wrong person. Tune in to learn how your side hustle can be your lab, your launchpad, and your life raft, all at once.

Episode Highlights:

• How side hustles can foster creativity and lead to entrepreneurial opportunities
• The hidden risks of side hustles and how to avoid burnout
• Key strategies to ensure your side hustle aligns with your long-term career goals
• How pursuing a side hustle can lead to unexpected career opportunities.

Watch This Episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Xuf9iSghVLs

*Purchase your copy of The Uncertainty Playbook here

*Sign up for our newsletter and let us know what topic you’d like to hear next!

Want to Go Deeper? Check Out Our Recommended Reading:

• Scott, Shane. The Illusions of Entrepreneurship, Yale University Press, 26 Jan. 2010. https://www.amazon.com/Illusions-Entrepreneurship-Costly-Entrepreneurs-Investors/dp/0300158564
• Grant, Adam. Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World, Penguin Books, 7 Feb. 2017.https://www.amazon.com/Originals-How-Non-Conformists-Move-World/dp/014312885X
• Harroch, Dominique, “The Ultimate Guide to Side Hustles,” Forbes, 12 Jun. 2025. https://www.forbes.com/sites/allbusiness/2025/06/12/the-ultimate-guide-to-side-hustles/

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