Building a Healthy Corporate Culture, with Andy Kalajian, Fort Leadership and Sales Consulting (North Fulton Business Radio, Episode 837)
In this episode of North Fulton Business Radio, host John Ray welcomes Andy Kalajian, founder and CEO of Fort Leadership and Sales Consulting. Andy shares insights into personal and professional development, emphasizing the importance of building a healthy corporate culture one character at a time. They discuss the significance of intentional growth, the process of selecting the right people for leadership development, and the value of authentic, relationship-based leadership. Andy also shares a success story and provides tips on how organizations can foster a culture of continuous improvement and leadership excellence.
John Ray is the host of North Fulton Business Radio. The show is recorded and produced by the North Fulton affiliate of Business RadioX® inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.
Andy Kalajian, Founder and President, Fort Leadership and Sales Consulting
Andy Kalajian is the Founder and President of Fort Leadership and Sales Consulting, based in Alpharetta, GA. Andy founded Fort Leadership in 2019 after a 33-year career in Medical Device Sales and Marketing Leadership; 25 of those years were with Zimmer (NYSE ZBH) formerly a division of Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE BMY).
Andy’s journey began at 9 years old when he started in Cub Scouts with his dad and his younger brother. His parents constantly reinforced the Scout lessons of character and integrity. Andy continued in Scouting and at the age of 16, he earned the rank of Eagle Scout. At 17, his mom handed him the book, How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. Andy credits that book with igniting his passion for learning how to get along with people. From Hill, to Covey, from Peale to Ziglar and Maxwell, Andy became a voracious reader of books about leadership, character, communication and teamwork.
After 5 years working as a golf caddie, Andy was the recipient of the prestigious Evans Scholarship Award (www.wgaesf.org). This full academic and housing college scholarship is awarded in recognition of a strong work ethic as a golf caddie, and strength of character, integrity, and leadership. Andy used his scholarship to earn a B.S. in Medical Technology from Michigan State University.
In 1985, Andy loaded up his car with nothing more than his resume, a sport coat and tie, $2500, a big dream and faith that God was going to fill in the gaps. He moved to Atlanta, GA, in pursuit of a medical sales career where he could leverage his passion for medicine to serve people. Andy grew his medical sales business well into 7 figures by applying the leadership, character, communication, and teamwork lessons he learned from reading books and listening to thought leaders. As Andy continued to advance in his career, he was invited to speak to organizations and train teams on those lessons learned throughout the United States and Puerto Rico.
Andy founded Fort Leadership to continue speaking, training, and coaching individuals and teams in leadership and character development. These skills foster growth in corporate leadership, communication, and teamwork. His corporate experience and insights train leaders to develop healthy corporate cultures with team members who are motivated, engaged, and purpose-driven, resulting in increased employee retention, team performance, and revenue growth!
Andy and his wife, Sherrie, live in Alpharetta, GA and have four adult children. They are members of Pastor Andy Stanley’s North Point Community Church (www.northpoint.org), where Andy is a small group leader in the North Point Men’s Ministry. Andy serves on the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors at Avalon (www.gnfcc.com), where he started the successful Member 2 Member Business Roundtable.
Andy’s LinkedIn | Fort Leadership Sales and Consulting: Website | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram
Topics Discussed in this Episode
00:00 Introduction and Welcome to North Fulton Business Radio
00:28 Guest Introduction: Andy Kalajian
01:47 Kickoff to Personal and Professional Development
02:49 Creating a Healthy Corporate Culture
04:15 Leadership and Team Development
06:19 The “Sunday Scaries” and Work-Life Balance
08:41 The Importance of Reading and Continuous Learning
13:33 Implementing a Leadership Curriculum
17:28 Self-Selection in Organizational Growth
19:50 Stephen Covey’s Trivia Question
20:26 Introduction to Teaching and The 7 Habits
21:10 The Importance of Character and Integrity
21:56 Thoughts, Actions, Habits, and Destiny
22:41 The Five F’s: Faith, Family, Finance, Fitness, Fun
23:22 Character Development in Business
25:28 The Law of the Farm: Patience and Persistence
27:06 Teamwork: The Ultimate Competitive Advantage
27:41 Motivating and Understanding Your Team
28:20 Leadership and Personal Growth
37:07 Coaching Success Stories
40:11 Contact Information and Closing Remarks
Renasant Bank supports North Fulton Business Radio
Renasant Bank has humble roots, starting in 1904 as a $100,000 bank in a Lee County, Mississippi, bakery. Since then, Renasant has become one of the Southeast’s strongest financial institutions, with over $17 billion in assets and more than 180 banking, lending, wealth management, and financial services offices throughout the region. All of Renasant’s success stems from each banker’s commitment to investing in their communities as a way to better understand the people they serve. At Renasant Bank, they understand you because they work and live alongside you every day.
Website | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | X (Twitter) | YouTube
About North Fulton Business Radio and host John Ray
With over 800 shows and having featured over 1,200 guests, North Fulton Business Radio is the longest-running podcast in the North Fulton area, covering business in our community like no one else. We are the undisputed “Voice of Business” in North Fulton!
The show welcomes a wide variety of business, non-profit, and community leaders to get the word out about the important work they’re doing to serve their market, their community, and their profession. There’s no discrimination based on company size, and there’s never any “pay to play.” North Fulton Business Radio supports and celebrates business by sharing positive business stories that traditional media ignore. Some media leans left. Some media leans right. We lean business.
John Ray is the host of North Fulton Business Radio. The show is recorded and produced from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta. You can find the full archive of shows by following this link. The show is available on all the major podcast apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Amazon, iHeart Radio, and many others.
The studio address is 275 South Main Street, Alpharetta, GA 30009.
John Ray also operates his own business advisory practice. John’s services include advising solopreneurs and small professional services firms on their value, their positioning and business development, and their pricing. His clients are professionals who are selling their expertise, such as consultants, coaches, attorneys, CPAs, accountants and bookkeepers, marketing professionals, and other professional services practitioners.
John is the national bestselling author of The Generosity Mindset: A Journey to Business Success by Raising Your Confidence, Value, and Prices.
