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The Steward ChairThe Steward Chair is a podcast that explores leadership as stewardshipthe responsibility of guiding organizations, people, and industries with integrity, long-term thinking, and a commitment to doing good while doing well. Author: Chat With Leaders Media
The Steward Chair is a podcast that explores business leadership as stewardship – the responsibility of guiding organizations, people, and industries with integrity, long-term thinking, and a commitment to doing good while doing well. Through deep, candid conversations with CEOs, Presidents and Founders that have stood the test of time, we unpack the challenges, decisions, and strategies that define values-driven leadership. This is a space for leaders who recognize that success is about more than personal achievement – it’s about leaving a lasting, positive impact on their organizations and communities. Each episode provides real-world insights on how to navigate key business decisions while maintaining ethical integrity, long-term sustainability, and a legacy-driven mindset. This show is produced in collaboration between Chat With Leaders Media and End of the Line Productions. Language: en-us Genres: Business, Education, Entrepreneurship, How To Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it Trailer: |
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Rick Plympton
Episode 208
Wednesday, 15 July, 2026
In this episode of The Steward Chair, Rick Plympton, Corporate Fellow and Former CEO at Optimax Systems, Inc, shares their journey of transitioning to an employee ownership trust and empowering a local workforce, exploring how shared prosperity drives meaningful, long-term success. Rick and Jeff discuss open-book financial management, the math behind profit-sharing models, and creating a perpetual purpose trust that makes a business unsellable, providing actionable takeaways for leaders committed to stewardship, integrity, and impact. Key Takeaways Empowering the Whole Team: Shifting away from a command-and-control hierarchy allows a company to scale at the sphere of influence of the entire workforce rather than just a few top executives, which unlocked a sustainable 20% year-over-year organic growth rate for OptiMax. Radical Equity and Shared Wealth: Distributing 25% of company profits equally among core team members—regardless of whether they are the CEO or the custodian—fosters a unified workspace culture where every individual values absolute precision and quality. Hardcoding Legacy with EOTs: Moving to an Employee Ownership Trust (or Perpetual Purpose Trust) establishes permanent corporate governance that blocks predatory corporate buyouts, protects local families, and caps executive compensation at a healthy 7x ratio to the lowest earner. Resources Mentioned Visit Optimax’s website at www.Optimaxsi.com Join the ConversationThe Steward Chair is about equipping and inspiring business leaders to build organizations that stand the test of time. If this episode resonated with you, share your biggest takeaway and tag us on LinkedIn: Chat With Leaders Media https://www.linkedin.com/company/chatwithleaders/ and End of the Line Productions https://www.linkedin.com/company/end-of-the-line-productions/. Elevate your podcast, company meeting, or industry event strategies to better engage stakeholders and drive meaningful growth! Visit ChatWithLeaders.com to learn more about how we can help.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
