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“We have to be intentional about culture. We have to talk about the culture that we want.”
Leadership behaviors define success as organizations grow across regions, teams, and priorities. What once worked in smaller environments begins to break down, often resulting in siloed operation, mixed signals, and inconsistent execution.
In this episode of Lead the Future, Vince sits down with Vivian Lewis, VP of Human Resources, for Smile Train for a leadership conversation about how a fast-growing, global, Not-for-profit (NFP) builds accountable leadership and a “one-company” culture at scale.
Vivian shares her practical insights on how to make accountability real and repeatable, while navigating strategic shifts. She shows how shared accountability comes to life when leaders step up. They address issues directly and constructively. They take ownership together to drive enterprise-wide success.
She also shares how Smile Train reinforced alignment across its global workforce through leadership cohorts, shared learning experiences, and ongoing conversations around culture and accountability.
As the organization expanded across regions and teams, leaders recognized that culture could not be left open to interpretation. Expectations had to become clearer. Ownership had to become more visible. And leaders had to consistently reinforce what accountability looked like in practice.
The result was a stronger “one-organization” mindset that helped leaders move beyond siloed thinking and focus on what was best for the enterprise as a whole.
This includes building the infrastructure, language, and leadership routines needed to support partners in the field, improve decision-making, and keep accountability connected to real outcomes, from quality and safety to forecasting and delivery. In other words, accountability becomes practical when leaders can see exactly where their ownership makes a difference.
Key Leadership Insights To Listen For
- Why leaders stall transformation when strategic shifts lack clear expectations and ownership, leaving accountability vague and execution inconsistent across the organization.
- How culture breaks down when leaders don’t actively define and revisit what it means, allowing silence to replace alignment and creating missed opportunities to shape behavior at the most basic level.
- Why training alone fails when leadership development isn’t reinforced through real-time accountability, resulting in good intentions that never translate into sustained behavior change.
- How performance plateaus can be avoided when leaders hold each other accountable, by stepping up, calling out gaps constructively, unlocking shared ownership, cutting through silos and driving higher-quality enterprise-wide results.
Meet the Leader: Vivian Lewis, VP of Human Resources at Smile Train
Vivian Lewis is a senior Human Resources executive with deep expertise in people strategy, organizational development, and regulatory compliance across complex, multi-site and global organizations.
With over 20 years experience, she currently serves as Vice President of Human Resources at Smile Train, where she leads enterprise talent strategy, workforce planning, and benefits oversight supporting staff in more than 70 countries.
Known as a trusted advisor to Executive Leadership, Vivian brings strength in labor relations, workplace investigations, change management, and building high-engagement cultures that drive performance and sustainability.
Her career reflects a consistent record of reducing costs, strengthening organizational infrastructure, and guiding leadership through complex workforce challenges.
Vivian combines strategic vision with practical execution, earning recognition as a respected voice in the HR profession.
Learn More
- Explore our Diagnostic & Assessment Survey solutions to identify leadership accountability gaps in your organization.
- Download your free chapter and purchase your copy of Dr. Vince Molinaro’s book Accountable Leaders.
- Read our customer success story on how JFE Shoji translated a one-organization mindset into aligned leadership and consistent execution.
