Words Matter: How Gui Costin Built a Culture of Kindness and Excellence

Today, on Notable Leaders’ Radio, I speak with GUi Costin, Founder and CEO, of Dakota. He shares his incredible journey from a young entrepreneur influenced by his mother’s insightful advice to becoming a successful business owner and author. In today’s episode, we discuss: Leadership & Culture: Gui delves into the essence of effective leadership, highlighting the importance of being kind versus being nice, the significance of clear communication, and creating a positive work environment. Learn what it means to remove obstacles for your team and aspire to excellence continually. The Power of Words: As a rhetoric and communication graduate, Gui stresses the critical impact of words and their power to shape environments and interactions. His advice: "Words matter. Details matter." Innovative Work Environment: Learn about Gui’s approach to designing a workplace that feels like a welcoming hotel lobby, fostering creativity and productivity. Understand the importance of having fun at work and how it ties into achieving high performance. Vulnerability in Leadership: Gui believes that vulnerability and trust are key leadership traits, which he practices through policies he has created on the foundation of “treat the company like your own,” so there are no set vacation or T&E policies.  RESOURCES: Guest Bio Gui Costin is the founder and CEO of Dakota, a company built to help investment firms grow their businesses. Since 2006, Dakota’s fundraising services and data solutions have helped thousands of investment firms and their salespeople scale their businesses and careers.  What sets Dakota apart is not just what they do but why they do it. At the heart of the company is the Dakota Way—a guiding philosophy rooted in a time-tested, repeatable sales process. By creating clarity and structure in the often unpredictable world of fundraising, Dakota brings a sense of order and reliability to an otherwise chaotic industry. It’s this unwavering commitment to a process-driven approach that enables Gui and the team at Dakota to inspire trust and help its clients and customers succeed. Website/Social Links https://www.dakota.com/ gui@dakota.com   https://www.linkedin.com/in/guicostin/    BOOKS 1st –Millennials Are Not Aliens  https://www.amazon.com/Millennials-Are-Not-Aliens-Everything/dp/1946633429   2nd (coming out soon) - The Dakota Way https://amzn.to/4hZ92c0 Belinda’s Bio: Belinda is a sought-after Leadership Advisor, Coach, Consultant and Keynote speaker and a leading authority in guiding global executives, professionals and small business owners to become today’s highly respected leaders. As the Founder of BelindaPruyne.com, Belinda works with such organizations as IBM, Booz Allen Hamilton, BBDO, The BAM Connection, Hilton, Leidos, Yale School of Medicine, Landis, and the Discovery Channel. Most recently, she redesigned two global internal advertising agencies for Cella, a leader in creative staffing and consulting. She is a founding C-suite and executive management coach for Chief, the fastest-growing executive women's network. Since 2020, Belinda has delivered more than 72 interviews with top-level executives and business leaders who share their inner journey to success; letting you know the truth of what it took to achieve their success in her Notable Leaders Radio podcast. She gained a wealth of expertise in the client services industry as Executive Vice President, Global Director of Creative Management at Grey Advertising, managing 500 people around the globe. With over 20+ years of leadership development experience, she brings industry-wide recognition to the executives and companies she works with. Whether a startup, turnaround, acquisition, or global corporation, executives and companies continue to turn to Pruyne for strategic and impactful solutions in a rapidly shifting economy and marketplace.   Website: Belindapruyne.com Email Address: hello@belindapruyne.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/belindapruyne  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NotableLeadersNetwork.BelindaPruyne/  Twitter: https://twitter.com/belindapruyne?lang=en  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/belindapruyne/