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Built on Belief: Why Commitment is the Real Competitive Advantage

📍New York, NY

What truly sets winning brands apart? For Matt Marcotte, it is not strategy, technology, or product. After more than three decades leading some of the most iconic companies in the world including Apple, Gap, Tori Burch, Bergdorf Goodman and Salesforce, Matt believes the real differentiator is culture. His new book Built on Belief: Why Cultures of Commitment Are the Competitive Advantage argues that lasting success comes when leaders prioritize belief over compliance and create organizations where people feel invested, not just instructed.

One of Matt’s most powerful insights is the difference between compliance and commitment: “Compliance requires supervision. Commitment requires partnership.” Compliance may produce results in the short term, but it rarely lasts. Commitment inspires people to deliver because they want to, not because they have to. That shift changes how teams work together and how companies grow.

Matt also reframes how we think about profit. Rather than treating it as the main goal, he sees profit as the outcome of doing the right things consistently: developing people, investing in culture, and aligning employees around a shared vision. From Apple’s cultural training to Tori Burch’s focus on employee development, his stories show how belief embedded in an organization creates experiences customers can feel. Employees, as he reminds us, are a company’s most important customers. When they are engaged and supported, that energy reaches the people they serve.

These lessons invite leaders to rethink how they guide their teams and build their businesses. For anyone in retail, leadership, or entrepreneurship, Built on Belief is a reminder that culture and commitment are not abstract ideas. They are the foundation of long-term advantage.

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