Transcript
A (0:00)
Empathy is absolutely necessary at the CEO level if you want to win hearts and minds. And if you can't win hearts and minds, you can't be successful as a CEO. I truly believe that. I think there's plenty of history if you went back and you looked at CEOs that were very mechanical, that treated people like things or numbers as opposed to humans with feelings and needs. If you can use empathy to connect with those things, you can be way more successful. So I think that's a message to technologists and to people without empathy. You cannot be effective at the very top of leadership if you don't connect with that empathetic aspect of yourself.
B (0:49)
Welcome to Take Command, a Dale Carnegie podcast. I'm Joe Hart, CEO of Dale Carnegie and if you're ready to to grow your leadership skills, follow Take command now and never miss an episode that could transform your career. Today's guest reveals how discomfort and purpose driven leadership shaped his rise from IT leader to CEO. He shares why embracing empathy and innovation isn't just transformative for careers, it's the key to building companies that thrive. He leads one of America's most iconic food brands as the first non family president and CEO in the company's 107 year history. Rising from IT leadership to CEO, he proves that technologists can be visionary business leaders. He also serves on the board of the North American Meat Institute and is a named inventor on four US patents. Please welcome president and CEO of Omaha Steaks, Nate Rempe. Nate, welcome to the Dale Carnegie Take Command podcast.
A (2:00)
Thanks Joe. Super pumped to be here.
B (2:02)
I'm pumped to have you here, especially after having the honor of being your guest on your podcast Brain of Command. So that was a lot of fun.
A (2:12)
You brought a ton of really interesting points and value. So on top of being a nice guy, you also sort of know what you're doing, which is always nice to see and hear.
B (2:22)
Thank you. I appreciate it. I do the best I can when I can. Sometimes successfully, sometimes more than others, sometimes less so. Nate, you've had incredible career. You're the CEO, President, CEO of Omaha Steaks. You're the first non family member CEO 107 year old company. Interestingly, you started your career in IT. In fact, I think for the first maybe 17 years of your career as an IT related person, you came into Omaha Stakes and as a VP of IT became the CIO and in 2020 became the CEO of Omaha Stakes. So a lot to talk to you about. Let me just ask you kind of right out of the box. So to Speak, that's not a common career path for a lot of CEOs. A lot of CEOs aren't necessarily going from it to the CEO role. How did you do that? What was your experience?
