Featured on Snack Walls Podcast E57
Overview
Today we sit down Gary Ware, a corporate facilitator and keynote speaker who uses the power of play to transform lives! He has been recommended by previous guests and for good reason, so sit down, listen up, and enjoy.
Gary acknowledges that finding diverse talent requires extra effort. Companies that struggle to find diverse candidates need to peel back the layers on their recruitment efforts to find the problem. Are they looking for talent in schools that promote diversity? Perhaps your company needs to support efforts in the local community to help young people of color get exposure to the tech industry. Gary supports the push to remove CS degree requirements from software engineering roles because many of the necessary skills for the trade can be self taught or learned through mentorship. An apprenticeship is a great way to identify people who have the hunger and drive to learn. This model works because it teaches the apprentice the technical skills needed to get the job done and it also allows them to learn the grit and adaptive skills that cannot be taught in a classroom. In regards to retaining talent, Gary recommends that a company set metrics on their culture by referencing Primed To Perform a book by Lindsay McGregor and Neel Doshi. Additionally, he believes that the workplace should be one where employees feel like they want to be at work, their needs are heard, and their leadership cares about them.
Gary Ware, the Founder of Breakthrough Play is a sought-after Corporate Facilitator and Keynote Speaker with nearly a decade of experience as performer in improv theatre. He assists teams with unlocking creativity, confidence, and sparks collaboration with experiential methods proven to drive peak performance. Gary became obsessed on learning how to use play as a transformational tool and as a result, happily transitioned from marketing to pursue facilitation full time.