April 30, 2025 • 12 mins
Is your next level of growth a process problem or a people problem?
Highlights Covered
- How a three-tier, national franchise model adds complexity to culture alignment
- The difference between handing out handbooks and living your mission
- Why the right senior hire is often the real unlock for growth
- How Covid forced consistent, system-wide communication and culture buy-in
- Leadership takeaway - most plateaus aren’t solved with how - they’re solved with who!
Summary
This episode offers practical insights on scaling culture, leading remotely, and making the people investments that matter most.
Will Gladhart is joined by Adam Povlitz, CEO and President of Anago Cleaning Systems, a national commercial cleaning franchise with a unique three-tier model.
With experience in both corporate finance and entrepreneurship, Adam shares how a shift from IBM analyst to franchise owner gave him the grounded leadership perspective he brings to the business today.
Adam reflects on the challenges of leading culture across a multi-layered franchise system - corporate team, master franchisees, and unit-level operators - many of whom he rarely sees in person.
Especially during Covid, Adam and his team built a cadence of twice-weekly, system-wide communication to create clarity, encourage feedback, and drive alignment in real time - not just once a year at an annual meeting.
He also shares one of the most important lessons of his leadership journey - growth isn’t always about refining the process.
Often, it’s about finding the right person to get the organization to the next level. For Adam, progress has almost always come down to a “who,” not a “how.”
We'd love your feedback on how we can improve - send us a Text!!
Seeking to align your culture, boost performance & impact your bottom line? Let’s chat—no sales, just real talk about your challenges. Not ready? Join our PL3 Community for free insights & connections.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
William Gladhart (00:00):
Welcome to the Leadership Levers Podcast.
I'm your host, Will Gladheart,CMO at the Culture Think Tank.
At the Culture Think Tank, weempower leaders with metrics
that strengthen culture, driveperformance and return.
We're here today to learn aboutthe actions leaders have taken
to address organizational change.
(00:21):
Today, our guest is AdamPovlitz, CEO and President of
Cleaning Systems.
Thank you so much for takingthe time to join us.
Thanks for having me.
Glad to be here, great.
Well, let's begin by having youshare with our audience a bit
about yourself, your backgroundand your organization.
Adam Povlitz (00:40):
Sure, I am, as you said, the CEO and President of
Anago Cleaning Systems.
We are a commercial cleaningfranchise brand, but we are a
little bit different fromfranchise brands that most
people are familiar with,because while most brands are a
two-tier system right, soMcDonald's, and then the people
that own the restaurants right,we are a three-tier system.
(01:01):
So it's a bit unique in that wehave our corporate office and
then what we have is what'scalled a master franchise and
then, underneath the masterfranchise, we have what's called
a unit franchise, and so, ifyou just think of it more like
most commercial cleaning is doneat night, it's probably easier
mentally to say like the day jobversus the night job.
The master franchise handlesthe day job, so it's the sales,
(01:22):
marketing and accounting, andthen the unit franchisee owns
the janitorial business andthey'd learn the chemicals, the
equipment, hire the crews andkeep the buildings clean.
And we've found that the modelworks really well because it
allows for people who maybe arelooking to get into business but
aren't quite sure how and maybedon't have the business
background, they can start abusiness inexpensively at the
(01:44):
unit franchise level.
Or if someone has a corporatebackground and knows how to
manage a sales team or acustomer service team.
They can come in at the masterfranchise level.
So it creates a cool synergywhere the master franchise does
absolutely zero cleaning butthey're in the cleaning business
and the unit franchise gets allthe clients that they need to
(02:04):
grow their business but doesn'thave any sales reps or sales
staff that they have.
So everyone, everyone kind of,works together and saves money
on overhead.
William Gladhart (02:13):
Yeah, that's really interesting, especially
giving the opportunity ofsomeone who wants to get in
business, because, you know, alot of the time I hear from
business owners they're like, oh, I didn't realize I had to be
the salesperson and theaccountant and the and the biz
lead, the biz dev guy and allthis stuff.
I just I got into this becauseI love doing something.
So thank you for sharing that.
I think when we talked briefly,you kind of have an interesting
(02:34):
story about how you got intothis business.
Adam Povlitz (02:37):
Yeah, I mean so.
My father founded the businessin 1989.
I never wanted to get into thequote unquote, you know, family
business or anything like that.
My background is actuallycorporate finance.
I was with IBM for a littlewhile in New York and then,
during the 2008, 2009 recessionthat we all lived through, ibm
did this huge mass round oflayoffs.
(02:58):
I wasn't laid off.
I was actually one of theanalysts reviewing.
I didn't have names, I hademployee numbers and I was
reviewing who of the analystsreviewing?
I didn't have names, I hademployee numbers and I was
reviewing who got the, basicallywithout having a name.
Who got the golden parachute,whose parachute was not so
golden and it leaves quite asour taste in your mouth for
corporate America.
(03:19):
I happened to be down for theholidays visiting my dad and he
said you got to check this wholething out.
I think I might have the tigerby the tail and it was about six
months later that I joined andhe literally goes.
I don't even know anybody whosays this, but he said
congratulations on leaving yourhighfalutin finance job.
High-falutin, that was the word.
I remember that for some reason, you left your highfalutin
(03:41):
finance job and your first jobat Antigo.
You're going to be atelemarketer by day and a
franchisee's assistant at nightcleaning a daycare.
So I went from the old whiteshirt, blue suit of IBM to jeans
and a T-shirt, scrubbingtoilets and 55-gallon out
drums full of diapers.
William Gladhart (04:01):
Well, that's, that's definitely a different
mindset shift, especially for aleader as well.
Adam, we're going to bediscussing three questions today
as a warm-up to start ourconversation.
Would you share why you believea healthy culture is critical?
Adam Povlitz (04:16):
Sure, I think the old cliche about culture eating
strategy for breakfast it alwayscomes true no amount of
strategy or planning can make upfor a disconnected culture.
I think when people feel likethey're part of something that
matters, they're going to workharder, they're going to push
further, and it creates acreative environment where
people can thrive, rather thanan oppressive place where people
(04:38):
are avoiding being punished.
William Gladhart (04:40):
Right.
I think that's really greatinsight for others to hear and
we specifically can provenumerically that and I'm sure
you've seen it in your bottomline that when people are
engaged, when they'reincentivized, when they're
connected to the organization,they understand their role,
there's an increase inperformance across the board and
everyone understands whatthey're supposed to be doing and
(05:00):
moving in the same direction.
It's been our experience thatleaders tend to struggle in
three key areas people, processor profits or a combination of
those.
In your role as CEO, could youidentify which one of these
areas represented a culturalchallenge within your
organization?
Adam Povlitz (05:16):
Ours would probably be really focused on
people, for two reasons.
Number one, we are a franchiseorganization, so the culture
within our organizationobviously we can have a direct
impact on, but then the culturein our franchisees organizations
and then the unit franchiseesorganizations as well.
It's multiple layers down andtrying to impart that culture,
(05:37):
the Antigo culture acrossmultiple layers, is definitely
not for the weak-willed.
And then, secondarily, I thinkit's all about bringing in the
right hires.
I would say I was probably forlack of a better word.
I would say I was maybe afraidto make some big splash, senior
level hires, early on in mycareer.
And if I was going to tell myyounger self, right, it would be
(05:58):
like no, no, no, do it, do itnow, do it right away, because
it's all about the right peoplein the right seats.
William Gladhart (06:04):
I think that's a really interesting
perspective, to be able to putthose people in the right seats.
But also there is a tippingpoint where it could be too late
versus where it might not quitebe right.
But if it's the right person,it'll make all the difference in
the organization.
Adam Povlitz (06:26):
Can you identify a challenge that negatively
impacted your organization, kindof around those same tenants?
I think the most key way toexpress it is, particularly with
our franchisees, when you'renot in the office quote unquote,
like the classic in the office,together building that culture
it's very easy for them to feeldisconnected.
They have things they need tocontinue growing their business
and you know they don't feellike they're being heard.
It's how do you, how do you getpeople who you don't see every
(06:48):
day, you might only be in frontof in person once or twice a
year, to buy into a largervision and mission and the
direction that you want to takethe organization and ultimately
take it to the next level.
It's and it turns intosomething where it's like this
it's not your mission statement,it's not the employee handbook,
right, it's.
It has to be lived, it has tobe reinforced through real
(07:11):
interactions with real people.
William Gladhart (07:13):
Yeah, and I think you expressed you have a
particular challenge and notonly are there franchisees that
are part of the one division,the organization and there's
franchisees that have are partof another part of the
organization, to that third tier, and creating that balance but
also the outreach as a leader tothose different groups of
people and you know how do youbring them all together as one.
(07:35):
I think is a challenge thatmost of us would be thinking,
that that would be kind ofsomething big to overhaul
no-transcript.
Adam Povlitz (07:47):
So I think that tipping point for us was
actually all happened kind ofduring Covid.
During Covid, everyone's goingwhat you know, kind of what do
we do next?
What's going on.
And we had to make it a pointto regularly communicate with
the entire system.
Initially it was literallytwice a week.
Twice a week, all hands on deck.
Call anybody who's available.
Call in that day.
If you can't make it, we'rehaving one on.
(08:09):
You know, two days from now,just to say here's the latest,
here's what's going on, here'swhat's, here's what we know,
here's what we don't.
And you see the the all of asudden, through this intentional
communication, regularintentional communication that
people start getting aligned,people start rowing the boat in
(08:31):
the same direction and thendeliberately right, asking for
feedback and then sayingno-transcript annual meeting, to
(09:33):
find out that something hasn'tbeen working for 10 months.
We're only waiting 30 days andcan pivot really quickly.
William Gladhart (09:39):
Yeah, I love that you shared that, because
that's a lot of the part of thework we do as the Culture Think
Tank, but also within ouranalytic performance solutions,
is looking for that consistentfeedback every 30 days, and I
love that you've created notonly a structure but something
to be extremely proactive acrossthe board, versus reactive, as
(10:00):
you said, where six to 12 monthshas passed and everyone's like,
well, that doesn't reallymatter anymore and we're getting
consistent, constant feedbackso that you and the leadership
can adjust, pivot, make betterdecisions.
So is there anything else you'dlike to share with other
leaders as we wrap up today?
Adam Povlitz (10:16):
Yeah, and kind of throughout this conversation and
just kind of think.
You know, I've had to thinkabout my career at to prepare
for our conversation a littlebit today and I realized that
every time I've reached one ofthose inflection points or
plateaus, I guess that Icouldn't push past.
I think instinctively you wantto review the process and go
like, okay, what else can we dodifferently, what else can we do
(10:38):
better?
But in reality it always was aperson.
It was always a who problem,not a how problem.
It was always who do we need tohelp us get to the next level
here, rather than trying tosharpen the pencil even sharper
or make the wheel even rounder,because no, no, we needed more
people who could think on thelevel of where we wanted to be
versus where we were, so that weweren't spinning our wheels.
(11:00):
And ultimately, investing inthe right people pays off.
William Gladhart (11:04):
Absolutely Well.
I think that's some reallygreat advice for other leaders
is thinking about.
Probably like yourself, I tendto go back to that process and
performance piece because it'ssometimes easier than the people
.
But, as you said, putting theright people on the team,
positioning it for growth, makesall the difference in the world
.
Adam, I've enjoyed having you onour Leadership Levers podcast
today.
(11:24):
Thank you so much for yourinsights, my pleasure.
Thank you for joining us on theLeadership Lovers podcast.
Find all our Leadership Leversepisodes on the Culture Think
Tank website at www.
theculturethinktank.
com, or listen on your favoritestreaming platform.
(11:45):
We'd love to hear from youabout the challenges you have
faced as a leader.
Tune in weekly as we inviteleaders to share their
experiences in strengtheningculture and performance, one
action at a time.
Welcome to the Leadership Levers Podcast.
I'm your host, Will Gladheart,CMO at the Culture Think Tank.
At the Culture Think Tank, weempower leaders with metrics
that strengthen culture, driveperformance and return.
We're here today to learn aboutthe actions leaders have taken
to address organizational change.
(00:21):
Today, our guest is AdamPovlitz, CEO and President of
Cleaning Systems.
Thank you so much for takingthe time to join us.
Thanks for having me.
Glad to be here, great.
Well, let's begin by having youshare with our audience a bit
about yourself, your backgroundand your organization.
Adam Povlitz (00:40):
Sure, I am, as you said, the CEO and President of
Anago Cleaning Systems.
We are a commercial cleaningfranchise brand, but we are a
little bit different fromfranchise brands that most
people are familiar with,because while most brands are a
two-tier system right, soMcDonald's, and then the people
that own the restaurants right,we are a three-tier system.
(01:01):
So it's a bit unique in that wehave our corporate office and
then what we have is what'scalled a master franchise and
then, underneath the masterfranchise, we have what's called
a unit franchise, and so, ifyou just think of it more like
most commercial cleaning is doneat night, it's probably easier
mentally to say like the day jobversus the night job.
The master franchise handlesthe day job, so it's the sales,
(01:22):
marketing and accounting, andthen the unit franchisee owns
the janitorial business andthey'd learn the chemicals, the
equipment, hire the crews andkeep the buildings clean.
And we've found that the modelworks really well because it
allows for people who maybe arelooking to get into business but
aren't quite sure how and maybedon't have the business
background, they can start abusiness inexpensively at the
(01:44):
unit franchise level.
Or if someone has a corporatebackground and knows how to
manage a sales team or acustomer service team.
They can come in at the masterfranchise level.
So it creates a cool synergywhere the master franchise does
absolutely zero cleaning butthey're in the cleaning business
and the unit franchise gets allthe clients that they need to
(02:04):
grow their business but doesn'thave any sales reps or sales
staff that they have.
So everyone, everyone kind of,works together and saves money
on overhead.
William Gladhart (02:13):
Yeah, that's really interesting, especially
giving the opportunity ofsomeone who wants to get in
business, because, you know, alot of the time I hear from
business owners they're like, oh, I didn't realize I had to be
the salesperson and theaccountant and the and the biz
lead, the biz dev guy and allthis stuff.
I just I got into this becauseI love doing something.
So thank you for sharing that.
I think when we talked briefly,you kind of have an interesting
(02:34):
story about how you got intothis business.
Adam Povlitz (02:37):
Yeah, I mean so.
My father founded the businessin 1989.
I never wanted to get into thequote unquote, you know, family
business or anything like that.
My background is actuallycorporate finance.
I was with IBM for a littlewhile in New York and then,
during the 2008, 2009 recessionthat we all lived through, ibm
did this huge mass round oflayoffs.
(02:58):
I wasn't laid off.
I was actually one of theanalysts reviewing.
I didn't have names, I hademployee numbers and I was
reviewing who of the analystsreviewing?
I didn't have names, I hademployee numbers and I was
reviewing who got the, basicallywithout having a name.
Who got the golden parachute,whose parachute was not so
golden and it leaves quite asour taste in your mouth for
corporate America.
(03:19):
I happened to be down for theholidays visiting my dad and he
said you got to check this wholething out.
I think I might have the tigerby the tail and it was about six
months later that I joined andhe literally goes.
I don't even know anybody whosays this, but he said
congratulations on leaving yourhighfalutin finance job.
High-falutin, that was the word.
I remember that for some reason, you left your highfalutin
(03:41):
finance job and your first jobat Antigo.
You're going to be atelemarketer by day and a
franchisee's assistant at nightcleaning a daycare.
So I went from the old whiteshirt, blue suit of IBM to jeans
and a T-shirt, scrubbingtoilets and 55-gallon out
drums full of diapers.
William Gladhart (04:01):
Well, that's, that's definitely a different
mindset shift, especially for aleader as well.
Adam, we're going to bediscussing three questions today
as a warm-up to start ourconversation.
Would you share why you believea healthy culture is critical?
Adam Povlitz (04:16):
Sure, I think the old cliche about culture eating
strategy for breakfast it alwayscomes true no amount of
strategy or planning can make upfor a disconnected culture.
I think when people feel likethey're part of something that
matters, they're going to workharder, they're going to push
further, and it creates acreative environment where
people can thrive, rather thanan oppressive place where people
(04:38):
are avoiding being punished.
William Gladhart (04:40):
Right.
I think that's really greatinsight for others to hear and
we specifically can provenumerically that and I'm sure
you've seen it in your bottomline that when people are
engaged, when they'reincentivized, when they're
connected to the organization,they understand their role,
there's an increase inperformance across the board and
everyone understands whatthey're supposed to be doing and
(05:00):
moving in the same direction.
It's been our experience thatleaders tend to struggle in
three key areas people, processor profits or a combination of
those.
In your role as CEO, could youidentify which one of these
areas represented a culturalchallenge within your
organization?
Adam Povlitz (05:16):
Ours would probably be really focused on
people, for two reasons.
Number one, we are a franchiseorganization, so the culture
within our organizationobviously we can have a direct
impact on, but then the culturein our franchisees organizations
and then the unit franchiseesorganizations as well.
It's multiple layers down andtrying to impart that culture,
(05:37):
the Antigo culture acrossmultiple layers, is definitely
not for the weak-willed.
And then, secondarily, I thinkit's all about bringing in the
right hires.
I would say I was probably forlack of a better word.
I would say I was maybe afraidto make some big splash, senior
level hires, early on in mycareer.
And if I was going to tell myyounger self, right, it would be
(05:58):
like no, no, no, do it, do itnow, do it right away, because
it's all about the right peoplein the right seats.
William Gladhart (06:04):
I think that's a really interesting
perspective, to be able to putthose people in the right seats.
But also there is a tippingpoint where it could be too late
versus where it might not quitebe right.
But if it's the right person,it'll make all the difference in
the organization.
Adam Povlitz (06:26):
Can you identify a challenge that negatively
impacted your organization, kindof around those same tenants?
I think the most key way toexpress it is, particularly with
our franchisees, when you'renot in the office quote unquote,
like the classic in the office,together building that culture
it's very easy for them to feeldisconnected.
They have things they need tocontinue growing their business
and you know they don't feellike they're being heard.
It's how do you, how do you getpeople who you don't see every
(06:48):
day, you might only be in frontof in person once or twice a
year, to buy into a largervision and mission and the
direction that you want to takethe organization and ultimately
take it to the next level.
It's and it turns intosomething where it's like this
it's not your mission statement,it's not the employee handbook,
right, it's.
It has to be lived, it has tobe reinforced through real
(07:11):
interactions with real people.
William Gladhart (07:13):
Yeah, and I think you expressed you have a
particular challenge and notonly are there franchisees that
are part of the one division,the organization and there's
franchisees that have are partof another part of the
organization, to that third tier, and creating that balance but
also the outreach as a leader tothose different groups of
people and you know how do youbring them all together as one.
(07:35):
I think is a challenge thatmost of us would be thinking,
that that would be kind ofsomething big to overhaul
no-transcript.
Adam Povlitz (07:47):
So I think that tipping point for us was
actually all happened kind ofduring Covid.
During Covid, everyone's goingwhat you know, kind of what do
we do next?
What's going on.
And we had to make it a pointto regularly communicate with
the entire system.
Initially it was literallytwice a week.
Twice a week, all hands on deck.
Call anybody who's available.
Call in that day.
If you can't make it, we'rehaving one on.
(08:09):
You know, two days from now,just to say here's the latest,
here's what's going on, here'swhat's, here's what we know,
here's what we don't.
And you see the the all of asudden, through this intentional
communication, regularintentional communication that
people start getting aligned,people start rowing the boat in
(08:31):
the same direction and thendeliberately right, asking for
feedback and then sayingno-transcript annual meeting, to
(09:33):
find out that something hasn'tbeen working for 10 months.
We're only waiting 30 days andcan pivot really quickly.
William Gladhart (09:39):
Yeah, I love that you shared that, because
that's a lot of the part of thework we do as the Culture Think
Tank, but also within ouranalytic performance solutions,
is looking for that consistentfeedback every 30 days, and I
love that you've created notonly a structure but something
to be extremely proactive acrossthe board, versus reactive, as
(10:00):
you said, where six to 12 monthshas passed and everyone's like,
well, that doesn't reallymatter anymore and we're getting
consistent, constant feedbackso that you and the leadership
can adjust, pivot, make betterdecisions.
So is there anything else you'dlike to share with other
leaders as we wrap up today?
Adam Povlitz (10:16):
Yeah, and kind of throughout this conversation and
just kind of think.
You know, I've had to thinkabout my career at to prepare
for our conversation a littlebit today and I realized that
every time I've reached one ofthose inflection points or
plateaus, I guess that Icouldn't push past.
I think instinctively you wantto review the process and go
like, okay, what else can we dodifferently, what else can we do
(10:38):
better?
But in reality it always was aperson.
It was always a who problem,not a how problem.
It was always who do we need tohelp us get to the next level
here, rather than trying tosharpen the pencil even sharper
or make the wheel even rounder,because no, no, we needed more
people who could think on thelevel of where we wanted to be
versus where we were, so that weweren't spinning our wheels.
(11:00):
And ultimately, investing inthe right people pays off.
William Gladhart (11:04):
Absolutely Well.
I think that's some reallygreat advice for other leaders
is thinking about.
Probably like yourself, I tendto go back to that process and
performance piece because it'ssometimes easier than the people
.
But, as you said, putting theright people on the team,
positioning it for growth, makesall the difference in the world
.
Adam, I've enjoyed having you onour Leadership Levers podcast
today.
(11:24):
Thank you so much for yourinsights, my pleasure.
Thank you for joining us on theLeadership Lovers podcast.
Find all our Leadership Leversepisodes on the Culture Think
Tank website at www.
theculturethinktank.
com, or listen on your favoritestreaming platform.
(11:45):
We'd love to hear from youabout the challenges you have
faced as a leader.
Tune in weekly as we inviteleaders to share their
experiences in strengtheningculture and performance, one
action at a time.
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