Episode 52: The COO Who Started in Aisle Five With Joe Baker
What does a grocery store in Philadelphia have to do with running a billion-dollar operation? If you’re 17-year-old Joe Baker, quite a lot, actually. Joe started bagging groceries at 17. By 24, he was the youngest store manager in company history. And by 32, he was running a billion-dollar business for Hertz in Los Angeles. Today, Joe Baker is the COO of Veritext and a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, and the lessons he learned as a grocery bagger still resonate with him all these years later.
On this episode of Quality Time with MoreSteam, Joe explains how he leads at the intersection of people, process, and technology. For Joe, the industries may change, but his approach does not. Joe puts people first, and he believes that a great culture is the foundation of a great organization.
Joe and host Dan Swartwout get into the good stuff. How do you earn trust in a new organization? How do you get people to actually buy in? How do you build a culture where people care? Joe has been answering those questions his entire career.
Business is a game of inches. The inches we need are everywhere around us. They’re also in every minute, every second of this interview with Joe Baker.
In this episode, you will hear about:
1:42 - Meet Joe Baker
5:39 - Getting into Villanova’s MBA program
8:38 - The common thread throughout Joe’s career
10:24 - Learning about leadership at Joe’s very first job
12:56 - Why Joe’s first job was so impactful
15:29 - The best opportunities for improvement or change when joining a new organization
18:18 - One of Joe’s first mentors
20:19 - Joe’s introduction to Lean Six Sigma at Hertz
26:24 - Business is a game of inches (voice of the customer)
30:52 - Dan’s survey story
32:38 - Conducting effective surveys
36:04 - Joe’s work coaching and developing people
37:12 - Joe studies leadership at 17… yes, 17!
40:00 - Learning from John Maxwell and Jack Welch
41:53 - Being open and genuine as a leader
45:45 - Finding the right balance as a Lean Six Sigma leader
49:46 - Using data to tell a story
52:30 - Analysis paralysis in sports and business
58:14 - Joe’s final thoughts
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Host • MoreSteam
Dan Swartwout is the host of Quality Time with MoreSteam. A lifelong Central Ohio resident, Dan is a double Buckeye. He earned both a BA and a law degree from The Ohio State University. Before joining MoreSteam, Dan had a long career as a host, comedian, and master of ceremonies. For 17 years, Dan was the studio audience host for the Ohio Lottery game show Cash Explosion. Dan was also the host of CBuzz, which was a collaboration between the Columbus Chamber of Commerce, WWCD 92.9, and the Columbus Dispatch. On CBuzz, Dan interviewed some of the most prominent entrepreneurs in Central Ohio. From 2002-2020, Dan toured the country as a standup comedian. Tracks from his comedy CD have been played over 5,000 times on Sirius/XM satellite radio. Now, Dan brings his experience and enthusiasm to Quality Time with MoreSteam -- it's business and fun, together.
Chief Operating Officer • Veritext Legal Solutions
Joe Baker is an experienced senior level leader who has excelled at delivering operating results with 3 of the best known Fortune 300 world-wide service brands. Currently, he serves as COO of one of the largest Legal Tech providers in the US. Joe is a proven innovator at designing and implementing management development programs for mid-level management, while leveraging succession planning to execute long-term operating results. Joe's skills include creating a shared vision for objectives and driving key performance indicators through front line execution strategies that connect employees with customers. Joe is also recognized for his ability to lead organizational change, while growing people faster than the business.
[Image and bio courtesy of Joe's LinkedIn page.]
