CultureLab with Aga Bajer: Recent Episodes
Aga Bajer: Culture Strategist, Writer, Coach
This podcast helps you turn your company culture into rocket fuel for meaningful growth. It explores how we can make work synonymous with fun, meaning, and belonging and looks at how we can build remarkable cultures that scale as our businesses grow and the world keeps on changing.
Have you ever wondered what it would take to tackle some of humanity's most urgent challenges such as climate change, social inequality, armed conflicts or economic disparity? If you have, you’re not alone. But not all of us think that THE institution with the highest capacity to create positive change in the world is business. My guest today, Carolyn Butler Madden envisions a world where business is not just about financial gain, but a powerful force for good, with the potential to drive profit through purpose. Her life's work has been to empower leaders to unlock the full potential of their organizations by embedding a meaningful purpose into the fabric of their business and brand strategies.
With her book, "For Love and Money" earning the title of best Social Responsibility book in the Australian Business Book of the Year Awards, Carolyn’s literary contributions have already paved the way for many businesses seeking a purpose-driven future.
In this conversation, Carolyn shares fresh insights into how purpose-driven leadership can unlock potential and drive growth.
You can follow Carolyn Buttler Madden on LinkedIn.
You can find the transcript HERE.
Join the CultureBrained® Community– a one-of-a-kind virtual community for Heads of Culture, founders, and leaders who want to up their culture game.
Check out more of our free resources 👉 HERE.
Have you ever felt like you are not connecting with someone and the barrier that stands in the way is cultural? It might be that the jokes you crack don't land, the emails you send seem to miss the mark, or the way you lead meetings doesn't resonate with everyone in the room. It can be like trying to tune into a radio station but finding yourself between frequencies, where everything just sounds like static. This is a common experience in today’s global workforce, where teams are more diverse than ever, spanning across different countries, cultures, and backgrounds.
Andy Molinky is a psychology Professor at Brandeis University and an expert in the field of intercultural relationship-building. He recently published a new book, Forging Bonds in a Global Workforce and in this conversation, we are exploring how to forge bonds across cultures.
You can follow Andy Molinsky on LinkedIn.
You can find the transcript HERE.
Join the CultureBrained® Community– a one-of-a-kind virtual community for Heads of Culture, founders, and leaders who want to up their culture game.
Check out more of our free resources 👉 HERE.
When was the last time you were genuinely playful at work? If you are like most of us, it might have been a while. We’ve been conditioned to believe that work and play don’t really mix. Not only we’ve been taught to draw a clear demarcation line between work and play, we’ve also been convinced that work is somehow way more noble and more important that play.
But what if truly great work couldn’t happen without a healthy dose of play? What if, unless we can have fun with the work itself, at least occasionally, we can’t really achieve greatness?
Today’s conversation with Gary Ware, the Founder of Breakthrough Play a keynote speaker, and author of the book Playful Rebellion: Maximize Workplace Success Through the Power of Play addresses these questions. Gary talks about the relationship of workplace productivity and play, play as the driver of innovation and performance, the eight play personalities and how we can integrate purposeful play into our workday.
You can follow Gary Ware on LinkedIn.
You can find the transcript HERE.
Join the CultureBrained® Community– a one-of-a-kind virtual community for Heads of Culture, founders, and leaders who want to up their culture game.
Check out more of our free resources 👉 HERE
Can you remember a time when it felt like things at work were unjustifiably and annoyingly hard? Maybe you had to read a 1000-word email that could have been just one paragraph, or had to attend a two-hour meeting that could have been an email. Or maybe you had to manually input data although the process should have been automated ages ago.
The reality is that every workplace is clogged with this type of destructive friction—the time-consuming, and soul-crushing practices that drive us crazy and undermine our ability to achieve meaningful goals. I imagine that at the global scale, millions of hours must get lost every day to red tape, workarounds that shouldn’t have to exist in the first place, and to misguided leaders who pile on needless complexity.
My guest today, Professor Bob Sutton has been so fascinated by the friction we experience in organisations that he researched it for a decade. His work resulted in a book co-authored with Huggy Rao, The Friction Project.
Bob Sutton is an organizational psychologist and Professor of Management Science and Engineering at Stanford University. He studies leadership, innovation, organizational change, and workplace dynamics. His main focus over the past decade is on scaling and leading at scale—how to grow organizations, spread good things (and remove bad things) in teams and organizations.
In this conversation, Bob Sutton and I talk about how to identify good and bad friction in an organization and how to make the right things easier and the wrong things harder.
You can follow Bob Sutton on LinkedIn.
You can find the transcript HERE.
Join the CultureBrained® Community– a one-of-a-kind virtual community for Heads of Culture, founders, and leaders who want to up their culture game.
Check out more of our free resources 👉 HERE.
Do you want to be more influential? For most of us, the answer is yes. Greater influence often translates to more power, enabling us to achieve our goals, drive change, and create positive impact.
But delving into the strategies and tactics of influence can leave us feeling uneasy. Words like “manipulative,” “sneaky,” and “coercive” come to mind. Zoe Chance explains this reaction this way: “The idea of influence has been corrupted by tacky, greedy people using tacky, greedy tactics to sell used cars, to promote sponsors’ products on social media, and to get us to buy now, while supplies last!” This is exactly why Zoe champions a different approach.
As a distinguished behavioral scientist at Yale School of Management, Zoe empowers smart and kind individuals to harness influence effectively. Her role at Yale involves guiding executives and teaching the highly sought-after MBA elective, 'Mastering Influence and Persuasion.' Her students achieve remarkable feats: they raise funds for charities, win political seats, kickstart successful startups, initiate social movements, save lives, and drive a culture change. And so can you. Tune in to learn how.
You can follow Zoe Chance on LinkedIn
You can find the transcript HERE.
Join the CultureBrained® Community– a one-of-a-kind virtual community for Heads of Culture, founders, and leaders who want to up their culture game.
Check out more of our free resources 👉 HERE.
So, here’s an interesting question: What does it take to actually build teams that are highly effective in this brave new world of work? And what's the relationship between making work better for people and the outcomes that organizations can achieve? Unlocking productivity is just a piece of the conversation that we dive into in today’s rich exploration with Brian Elliott.
You can follow Brian on LinkedIn
You can find the transcript of our conversation HERE.
Click here to learn more about the 👉 CultureBrained®– a one-of-a-kind virtual community for Heads of Culture, founders, and leaders who want to up their culture game.
Check out more of our free resources 👉 HERE.
Stacey Gordon is an expert on DEI and workplace bias and the author of “Unbias - Addressing Unconscious Bias at Work”. In this conversation, she shares her personal journey, offering unique insights from the experiences that shaped her understanding and approach to DEI work.
There are many misconceptions surrounding diversity hiring, and the essence of true inclusion and we face them head on. We also talk about the transformative power of empathy and storytelling in creating a culture where everyone can thrive.
This episode is a must-listen for anyone looking to understand the deeper layers of DEI and its impact on organizational success. Tune in for a thought-provoking conversation that challenges the status quo and provides practical tips for fostering an inclusive culture.
To join CultureBrained®, go 👉 HERE
To access our free resources and materials on cultivating thriving cultures, click 👉 HERE
Work relationships can be hard. The stress of dealing with difficult people dampens our creativity and productivity, and degrades our ability to think clearly and make sound decisions.
Too often we grin and bear it as if we have no choice. But you can only endure so much —there's your sanity to consider, and your career.
This is why, we are thrilled to have Amy Gallo joining us, the best-selling author of Getting Along: How to Work with Anyone (Even Difficult People) the HBR Guide to Dealing with Conflict, a how-to book about handling conflict professionally and productively.
Tune into this week’s episode, as we delve into workplace conflicts and tensions, exploring how they can be harnessed for cultural transformation and become opportunities to connect.
To join the CultureBrained®Community go to tinyurl.com/culturebrained
To access our free resources and materials on cultivating thriving cultures, click here: https://www.agabajer.com/resources/
In this Deep Dive Aga and Shani delve deep into a topic that has fascinated Aga for almost a decade – what drives people to do their absolute best work. Over the years, she's posed this question to more than 3000 individuals and discovered something truly unexpected: peak performance at work is often closely linked to one surprising factor - having fun.
But not the kind of fun associated with ping-pong tables and office parties. Instead, it's all about deriving genuine enjoyment from the work itself.
Join Aga and Shani in this illuminating conversation as they explore the concept of "Deep Fun" and its profound impact on workplace performance.
To join CultureBrained® with a 25% discount (until end of November) go to tinyurl.com/culturebrained
To learn more about our accreditation program, go to tinyurl.com/accreditationprogram
To access our free resources and materials on cultivating thriving cultures, click here: https://www.agabajer.com/resources/
Many companies aspire to be industry disruptors and innovation leaders, but only a handful can genuinely claim those titles. What sets them apart?
We're zeroing in on PepsiCo—a company that's nailed it when it comes to creating an environment where people excel. According to their Chief Design Officer, Mauro Porcini, the secret sauce is love, empathy, kindness, and generosity.
So tune into this week's episode of the CultureLab where we dig into the nuts and bolts of innovative cultures.
To join CultureBrained® with a 25% discount (until November 15th) go to tinyurl.com/culturebrained
To learn more about our accreditation program, go to tinyurl.com/accreditationprogram
To access our free resources and materials on cultivating thriving cultures, click here: https://www.agabajer.com/resources/
In a world where the relentless pursuit of productivity often overshadows well-being, it's easy to overlook the fundamental connection between what we eat and how our bodies and minds perform.
But what if the secret to enhanced cognitive function and overall vitality lay within the choices we make on our plates?
Our guest in this episode of the CultureLab podcast, Dana Chapman, is a leading mental health and wellness expert, specializing in the gut-brain axis.
Tune in this episode as we explore the synergies between nutrition, mind, and body and how they are all linked with creating thriving cultures.
To join CultureBrained® with a 25% discount (until November 15th) go to tinyurl.com/culturebrained
To learn more about our accreditation program, go to tinyurl.com/accreditationprogram
To access our free resources and materials on cultivating thriving cultures, click here: https://www.agabajer.com/resources/
The workplace landscape has transformed dramatically over the past few decades with 5 different generations now working side by side, each bringing their unique perspectives, experiences, and workstyles to the table.
In this Deep Dive, Shani and Aga unpack generational diversity that if not handled thoughtfully, can inadvertently lead to friction.
Join us as we talk about how we create strategies that help our organization fight age-related stereotypes and create an environment where everyone unlocks their potential.
To join CultureBrained® go to tinyurl.com/culturebrained
To learn more about our accreditation program, go to tinyurl.com/accreditationprogram
To access our free resources and materials on cultivating thriving cultures, click here: https://www.agabajer.com/resources/
Interview with Chip Conley on the CultureLab podcast- The New Age of Wisdom: The Rise of a Modern Elder
This month on the CultureLab podcast, we're diving deep into the intricacies of a multigenerational workforce. You know the scene: Boomers nostalgically talking about "the way we used to do things," Gen Xers serving as the bridge between old and new, Millennials demanding meaningful work, and Gen Zers, the digital natives through and through.
It's a variety of perspectives that can either invigorate or implode a workplace. How do you navigate through these differing viewpoints without losing your mind or your patience? This series of episodes aims to answer just that and we are kicking it off with an outstanding guest, Chip Conley. Chip disrupted the hospitality game not once but twice and co-founded the Modern Elder Academy. His upcoming book, "Learning to Love Midlife: 12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better With Age," aims to make the case that wisdom isn't obsolete; it's making a comeback.
We'll talk about what it means for experience to have its day in the sun again and how workplaces can be fertile grounds for both wisdom and innovation. Whether you’re a seasoned executive or a newbie just starting out, this episode is going to have something for you. Stick around; you won't want to miss this deep dive into age, work, and the many layers in between.
To join CultureBrained® with a 25% discount (only in October) go to tinyurl.com/culturebrained
To learn more about our accreditation program, go to tinyurl.com/accreditationprogram
To access our free resources and materials on cultivating thriving cultures, click here: https://www.agabajer.com/resources/
In this compelling episode with Michelle MiJung Kim we explore how culture, diversity, inclusion, and equity intersect to create a thriving culture. Michelle's journey, from South Korea to LGBTQ+ activism and award-winning authorship, provides a unique perspective. We talk about valuing marginalized voices, the power of collective action, and the importance of accountability in our quest for equity. This conversation is a must-listen for anyone committed to fostering an inclusive and equitable workplace culture. Tune in and be inspired to drive positive change.
To join CultureBrained® go to tinyurl.com/culturebrained
To learn more about our accreditation program, go to tinyurl.com/accreditationprogram
To access our free resources and materials on cultivating thriving cultures, click here: https://www.agabajer.com/resources/
Interview with Minda Harts on the CultureLab podcast- Expanding the Table
Join Aga Bajer and Shani Persson as they explore the often-daunting world of DEI in the latest Deep Dive. With curiosity and humility, Aga and Shani navigate the maze of systemic biases, the transition from diversity to true inclusion, and the challenges of measuring meaningful impact. This episode is not an interview; it's a collaborative exploration designed to help you reflect on how to address those intimidating DEI issues and elevate your workplace culture. We hope this episode will help you tackle the topics you might have hesitated to confront and elevate your approach to DEI.
To join CultureBrained® go to tinyurl.com/culturebrained
To learn more about our accreditation program, go to tinyurl.com/accreditationprogram
To access our free resources and materials on cultivating thriving cultures, click here: https://www.agabajer.com/resources/
More people than we think feel like they don’t belong at work. This leads to a range of concerning consequences, such as disengagement, diminished productivity, and a stifling of individual creativity.
While the importance of DEI has gained widespread recognition in the past few years, we still have a ton of work to do to foster a truly inclusive and equitable environment at work.
This is what this conversation today revolves around. My guest is Minda Harts, the author of three best-selling books and a global expert on all things DEI.
Tune into this episode of the CultureLab podcast where we delve into actionable measures that organizations can implement to cultivate diversity, equity, and inclusion.
To join CultureBrained® go to tinyurl.com/culturebrained
To learn more about our accreditation program, go to tinyurl.com/accreditationprogram
To access our free resources and materials on cultivating thriving cultures, click here: https://www.agabajer.com/resources/
Interview with Ruhuni Anand on the CultureLab podcast- Leveling the Playing Field
You meet a new colleague for the first time, and… something clicks! You trust them, but you don't know why. Then, on another day, you're teamed with someone you’ve known and worked with for a while but a barrier stands in the way.
That's the enigma of trust. It isn't merely about familiarity. It’s about something more elusive - an intangible connection that either binds or separates us.
In the workplace, trust certainly isn’t a nice to have; it's vital for working relationships to thrive. It can elevate a team to excellence, speed things up, and create an environment where innovation and creativity flourish. Conversely, a lack of trust can become a stumbling block, slowing progress to a crawl, stifling ideas, and fostering a climate of doubt and uncertainty.
Given the importance of trust, we wanted to understand it better and so we invited one of the world’s leading trust experts, Rachel Botsman, a professor at Oxford University.
Tune in to learn why trust is contextual, how to nourish it in a remote environment, how to repair it and more!
To join CultureBrained® go to tinyurl.com/culturebrained
To learn more about our accreditation program, go to tinyurl.com/accreditationprogram
To access our free resources and materials on cultivating thriving cultures, click here: https://www.agabajer.com/resources/
Interview with Daniel Coyle on the CultureLab podcast- The Culture Playbook
Belonging - a concept that speaks to the core of our human experience. We all yearn for acceptance, a place to belong, and the freedom to be our authentic selves. In this thought-provoking episode of the CultureLab podcast, we dive into the transformative power of true belonging with Lorne Rubis, a fervent advocate for fostering inclusion within teams.
Lorne shares invaluable insights into his Belongify System - an approach empowering leaders to create a culture of belonging in hybrid or remote teams.
To join CultureBrained® go to tinyurl.com/culturebrained
To learn more about our accreditation program, go to tinyurl.com/accreditationprogram
To access our free resources and materials on cultivating thriving cultures, click here: https://www.agabajer.com/resources/
We often leave workplace relationships to chance, hoping they’ll simply fall into place. But healthy, productive relationships require intention and work.
In this episode of CultureLab, we’re shifting the narrative with Conversations That Matter - and doing the deep dive into the tools we need to intentionally build stronger working relationships.
We spotlight three pivotal conversations, often overlooked, yet foundational in shaping our professional lives and uncover the blueprint of a truly healthy working relationship.
To join CultureBrained® go to tinyurl.com/culturebrained
To learn more about our accreditation program, go to tinyurl.com/accreditationprogram
To access our free resources and materials on cultivating thriving cultures, click here: https://www.agabajer.com/resources/
The average person spends over 90,000 hours working throughout their career. That's a substantial amount of time building connections with colleagues, clients, and collaborators. What's truly fascinating is the profound impact these relationships have on our careers, company culture, and overall life satisfaction.
Despite the significant impact of these working relationships, many of us allow them to develop haphazardly, relying on chance rather than intention.
Our guest today, Michael Bungay Stanier, has a lot to say on the topic. He even wrote an entire book about taking an intentional approach to improving relationships at work.
Tune into this week’s episode to uncover valuable insights on nurturing and maximizing the potential of your professional connections.
To join CultureBrained® go to tinyurl.com/culturebrained
To learn more about our accreditation program, go to tinyurl.com/accreditationprogram
You can listen to the previous episode of Michael Bungay Stanier here: tinyurl.com/building-a-coaching-culture
To access our free resources and materials on cultivating thriving cultures, click here: www.agabajer.com/resources/
Despite the tremendous success of many companies operating in a nearly fully remote setup during the pandemic, we are now experiencing a shift, with mandates urging employees to return to the office, full-time or part-time.
Why the obsession with in-person collaboration?
Tune into this week’s Deep Dive with Shani revolving around how we can navigate this brave new world of remote and hybrid work and support teams to perform at their full potential.
To join CultureBrained® go to tinyurl.com/culturebrained
To learn more about our accreditation program, go to tinyurl.com/accreditationprogram
To access our free resources and materials on cultivating thriving cultures, click here: https://www.agabajer.com/resources/
For Bretton Putter's episode "Future-Proof Your Hybrid Culture" go to https://tinyurl.com/BrettonPutter-2
Picture our ancestors, hunters and gatherers roaming the savannah. Various anthropological studies indicate that the early homo sapiens experienced working together towards a common goal (survival of the species) as a source of fun, meaning, and belonging. However, the modern concept of work seems to have strayed from this original purpose. Closing the gap between our ancestors' experience and today's work culture is the central focus of our conversation with Teresa Clark, a recognized expert on well-being at work.
To join CultureBrained® go to tinyurl.com/culturebrained
To learn more about our accreditation program, go to tinyurl.com/accreditationprogram
To listen to my interview with Jeanette Bronee, go to https://tinyurl.com/JeanetteBronee-CultureLab
To access our free resources and materials on cultivating thriving cultures, click here: https://www.agabajer.com/resources/
Let’s be honest - hybrid work can be great, but it can also be quite annoying.
In this episode, Bret Putter, the leading expert in hybrid work strategies and practices, discusses hybrid friction at work and how to avoid it. He also shares strategies associated with hybrid work and remote best practices to support your distributed team better.
To join CultureBrained® go to tinyurl.com/culturebrained
To learn more about our accreditation program, go to tinyurl.com/accreditationprogram
To access our free resources and materials on cultivating thriving cultures, click here: https://www.agabajer.com/resources/
Check out Bretton’s latest appearance on the CultureLab Podcast: https://tinyurl.com/BrettonPutter-1
This Deep Dive focuses on how we can reclaim agency over our own well-being and that of our colleagues and cultivate an environment where people can truly thrive.
We explore topics related to mental and physical health: the true sense of care at work and how it is linked to finding our purpose, tailoring solutions for well-being, engaging employees in discussions about their own well-being, including metrics that show how well we do, early signs of burnout, the relationship between belonging and well-being, the difference between being and doing, and how to address the stigma of mental health at work.
To join CultureBrained® go to tinyurl.com/culturebrained
To learn more about our accreditation program, go to tinyurl.com/accreditationprogram
To listen to my interview with Jeanette Bronee, go to https://tinyurl.com/JeanetteBronee-CultureLab
To access our free resources and materials on cultivating thriving cultures, click here: https://www.agabajer.com/resources/
As organizations grow, they often encounter unique challenges in building and maintaining a thriving culture. The very things that made a company successful in its early stages – its core values, startup mentality, and close-knit team – can become diluted or even lost as the company scales.
In this episode, Cameron Herold, the Founder of the COO Alliance and author of Second in Command discusses the importance of investing in employees' skills to keep up with company growth and uncovers how to bring your vision to life by using his jigsaw puzzle approach.
To join CultureBrained® go to tinyurl.com/culturebrained
To learn more about our accreditation program, go to tinyurl.com/accreditationprogram
To access our free resources and materials on cultivating thriving cultures, click here: https://www.agabajer.com/resources/
The Deep Dive with Aga and Shani is your monthly episode about all things culture.
This episode focuses on rebuilding a resilient workplace culture as companies face immense challenges nowadays that can have lasting effects on their culture and relationships.
Whether you're a seasoned HR professional, a team leader, or an entrepreneur looking to build a strong and resilient culture from the ground up, this episode is for you.
To join CultureBrained® go to tinyurl.com/culturebrained
To learn more about our accreditation program, go to tinyurl.com/accreditationprogram
To access our free resources and materials on cultivating thriving cultures, click here: https://www.agabajer.com/resources/
Rituals are a fascinating aspect of human behaviour. From ancient religions to the modern workplace, they play a significant role in shaping our culture and behaviour.
In this week’s episode, Ezra Bookman, the founder of Ritualist, shares practical strategies and real-world examples of how companies have leveraged the power of rituals to create a dynamic and thriving work environment.
To join CultureBrained® go to tinyurl.com/culturebrained
To access our free resources and materials on cultivating thriving cultures, click here: https://www.agabajer.com/resources/
In this episode, we dive deep into the power of language and how software can help businesses create more inclusive communication and culture.
In a time when inclusivity and empathy are more important than ever before, AI-powered natural language processing (NLP) is revolutionizing the way we write and communicate.
Our guest, Kieran Snyder, the Co-Founder and CEO of Textio is an expert in NLP and she talks about how we can embrace collaborative intelligence of humans and machines to create a better workplace.
To join CultureBrained® go to tinyurl.com/culturebrained
To access our free resources and materials on cultivating thriving cultures, click here: https://www.agabajer.com/resources/
THE DEEP DIVE with Aga and Shani: Activating Your Values
The Deep Dive with Aga and Shani is your monthly episode about all things culture.
This episode focuses on activating company values and creating a culture where values are not just talked about but lived and breathed by every employee.
Whether you're a seasoned HR professional, a team leader, or an entrepreneur looking to build a strong culture from the ground up, our podcast has something for you.
To join CultureBrained® go to tinyurl.com/culturebrained
To access our free resources and materials on cultivating thriving cultures, click here: https://www.agabajer.com/resources/
Do you ever wonder why some teams thrive while others struggle?
According to recent studies, the secret sauce to success may lie in something unexpected - play at work.
My guest, Kristi Herold, the founder and CEO of JAM and the author of “It Pays to Play” talks about how to incorporate play into how we run our businesses.
To join CultureBrained® go to tinyurl.com/culturebrained
To access our free resources and materials on cultivating thriving cultures, click here: https://www.agabajer.com/resources/
Is it possible to make a difference and make money? Nikki Gatenby says yes!
If you are looking to make a difference in the world while still running a successful business, this episode is a must-listen. Nikki provides valuable tips and ideas on how to be profitable and purposeful and how we can contribute to creating a better world through our businesses.
Tune into this episode to learn how to pursue both success and positive impact.
To join CultureBrained® go to tinyurl.com/culturebrained
To access our free resources and materials on cultivating thriving cultures, click here: https://www.agabajer.com/resources/
When it comes to creating a truly just workplace, many companies today seem fixated on ticking off diversity metrics. But DEIB (diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging) is not just about numbers - it's about creating a culture where everyone feels seen, heard, and valued.
Our guest today, Trier Bryant, the President of 82VS, Alloy Therapeutics’ affiliated venture studio that builds and invests in next-generation biotech companies and the Co-Founder and CEO of Just Work, puts it perfectly: "If even your straight white men don't have a good experience at work, increasing the diversity of your workforce will not solve the problem - it will probably make it worse."
Tune in to this episode with Trier to learn about creating truly inclusive and equitable workplaces.
To join CultureBrained® go to tinyurl.com/culturebrained
To access our free resources and materials on cultivating thriving cultures, click here: https://www.agabajer.com/resources/
In this episode, we dive into the importance of innovation in the modern business world. Our guest, Dan Strode, shares insights on how a corporate culture that nurtures creativity and encourages experimentation can foster innovation and give a company a unique competitive edge. He delves into the ways companies can cultivate an environment that values and prioritizes innovation, and how it ultimately leads to success in an ever-changing marketplace. Join us as we explore the role of innovation in driving growth and competitiveness for businesses today.
To join CultureBrained® go to tinyurl.com/culturebrained
Drama in the workplace is a major drain on productivity, creativity, and collaboration. It manifests as emotional outbursts, unresolved disagreements, resistance to change, or misalignment with strategic priorities.
It’s not just unpleasant - it can cost billions in lost engagement and productivity, exacerbating mental health issues.
Fortunately, we can learn how to minimize or even eliminate drama in the workplace, and that’s exactly what we talk about in this episode of the CultureLab podcast with my guest, Caitlin Walker.
Tune in to hear us explore her methodology and demos of a series of “clean questions”.
To join CultureBrained® go to tinyurl.com/culturebrained
Charles Vogl | Belonging at Work
Belonging is not a by-product of success - it’s a necessary condition for any team. In this episode, I am joined by one of the most distinguished experts on belonging and community building, Charles Vogl. Tune in to hear us do a deep dive into some of the foundational principles of nurturing authentic and supportive communities at work - and in life.
To join CultureBrained® go to tinyurl.com/culturebrained
Jessica Zwaan has amassed quite a following among HR professionals frustrated with the old way of doing things and keen to develop an agile, evidence-based approach to serve their people and business and to drive performance. Jessica is currently the COO at Whereby, and outside of her company, she is most well known for her approach to people ops as a product.
Jessica’s latest book is called Built for People - Develop an Agile, Evidence-based Approach to HR to Drive Performance, and together we explore people ops. Tune in!
To join CultureBrained®, go to tinyurl.com/culturebrained
There’s a major positive side-effect to the pandemic - it presents us with the biggest opportunity we’ve had in the past 100 years to redesign the way we work and finally fix the stuff that's been broken since the industrial era.
In this episode, Lynda Gratton, a Professor of Management Practice at London Business School talks about how you can make hybrid work. She is one of the foremost global thought-leaders on the future of work, named by ‘Business Thinkers 50’ as one of the top fifteen business thinkers. It’s worth tuning in and learning from her!
To join CultureBrained®, go to tinyurl.com/culturebrained
For many people, fun and work don’t mix. We tend to think of work as the serious and virtuous stuff of life. Fun, on the other hand, is perceived as something frivolous, an indulgence that we can rarely afford. But fun at work turns out to be serious business; it’s one of the pillars of thriving cultures, alongside meaning and belonging.
Today my guest is an award-winning science journalist, Catherine Price who went down a similar rabbit hole when it comes to fun as I did.
Catherine’s latest book is called The Power of Fun - How to Feel Alive Again and together we explore the power of fun at work. Join us!
To join CultureBrained®, go to tinyurl.com/culturebrained
Most people struggle with “constructive” feedback. It’s hard to hear it and even harder to give it. We are neurologically hard-wired to avoid feedback like the plague. And yet, we cannot grow and develop without it.
Our guest, Kim Scott, discovered that when feedback comes from a place of caring deeply and challenging directly, it can be very effective. She calls it radical candor.
If you are not familiar with radical candor, this episode is a great introduction, not just to the concept but also to its origin story. Plus, we have a really interesting conversation about recognizing and addressing bias, prejudice and bullying at work.
To join CultureBrained, go to tinyurl.com/culturebrained
“When’s the last time you had a good chat with yourself? The kind of chat where you ask yourself, “How am I in there?” - this is one of the questions Jeanette Bronée likes asking. Rethinker, Culture Strategist, Global Keynote & 2 x TEDx Speaker, Author, CEO & Founder of Path for Life®, Jeanette Bronée is rethinking self-care in the workplace as the foundation for peak performance, engagement, and a culture where people belong and work better together. To join CultureBrained®, go to tinyurl.com/culturebrained
Megan Reitz, Professor of Leadership and Dialogue at Hult International Business School talks about creating spaces for dialogue that enable employees to speak truth to power and elaborates on the skills we need to develop to successfully navigate the relatively new territory of employee activism.
To join CultureBrained®, go to tinyurl.com/culturebrained
Robin Dunbar is a professor of evolutionary psychology at Oxford University. He has spent most of his career trying to answer a deceptively simple:
How and why did humans evolve to be such a sociable species?
He is perhaps best known for the so-called Dunbar's number, the idea that there is an upper limit to the number of meaningful social relationships we can maintain. In this interview professor Dunbar talks about how we can apply the findings from his research when we design our teams and organisations, why the number 150 is so important to keep in mind when we build a business, his forecast when it comes to the return - or no return - to the office - and so much more!
To join CultureBrained, go to tinyurl.com/culturebrained
We’ve all felt pulled in two seemingly opposite directions and faced tough dilemmas at work at times: Culture fit or culture add? Employees-first or customer-first? Innovation or efficiency? Self-managed teams or traditional hierarchy?
In this episode, Professor Wendy Smith from the University of Delaware talks about her new book Both/And Thinking; Embracing Creative Tensions and the opportunities that open up when dropping the “either/or” mindset and embracing a paradoxical one.
To join CultureBrained, go to tiny.one/culturebrained
Have you ever felt frustrated by the fact that people tend to stick to their guns, even when presented with indisputable evidence that their beliefs are completely unfounded or plain wrong? This is the question that intrigued my guest, David McCraney, a science journalist fascinated with brains, minds, and culture. It led him on an investigative journey that resulted in a new book, How Minds Change. In this episode, David and I do a deep dive into the science of practices and methodologies that can lead to significant changes in how people think, feel and act at an individual and a collective level.
To join CultureBrained®, go to tiny.one/culturebrained
This month we are sharing some of the best episodes from our archive and this episode with Max Mckeown is a must-listen and a great place to start when thinking of how to align culture and strategy.
We talk about how to find your next big idea, what role strategy plays in your ability to create the future you want and what scenarios could emerge if culture and strategy really sat down to have breakfast together instead of trying to cannibalize each other.
Just a note: This episode is a rerun and was recorded a while ago. There are some references that may seem a little out of date but the content is more relevant than ever.
To join CultureBrained, go to tiny.one/culturebrained
What would happen if you got rid of traditional HR? Listen to this episode where Heiko Fischer, the CEO of Resourceful Humans, talks about how he moved from noodling over this question to actually giving it a go at Crytek, one of Europe’s biggest video gaming companies. Learn how Crytek transitioned from a traditional hierarchy to a network of self-managed teams that are fueled by 100% entrepreneurship and 0% bureaucracy - and how you can implement some of these practices at your company. To join CultureBrained, go to tiny.one/culturebrained
How do you avoid joining a company with a toxic culture—or build a healthy one when you are already a part of the organization? These are just a couple of questions addressed in this episode of Adam Grant’s WorkLife that we are grilled to bring you as part of our new collab with TED Audio Collective. In this episode, Adam Grant explores how to recognize the four deadly sins of work culture when you’re on the outside looking in, and shares strategies that can help shape a thriving workplace from the inside. To join CultureBrained, go to tiny.one/culturebrained
As a society, we've certainly made some progress in honoring the contribution of the LGBTQ workforce. But, there are still minds, hearts, teams, and companies that do not engage and where people, irrespective of what group they identify with, do not experience psychological safety. And so we thought that during the Pride Month, it would be more relevant than ever to release the interview with the mother of psychological safety, Amy Edmondson.
Amy is the Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at the Harvard Business School with a long standing academic career. She’s the author of The Fearless Organization and in this podcast, we explore why the fear of taking interpersonal risks will destroy your culture and any DEI efforts you might have undertaken.
To join CultureBrained, go to tiny.one/culturebrained
How do you know that it’s time to update your views on what’s best for your team and your business? Our guest, Mark Rickmeier, the CEO of TXI, believes that the best time to rethink comes when you first sense that the way you work no longer serves your team. In this interview, Mark shares his personal journey of challenging his personal beliefs evolving the culture at TXI, and of the three major shifts that tested his open-mindedness and ultimately helped his company to thrive in this brave new world of remote and hybrid work. To join CultureBrained, go to tiny.one/culturebrained
Storytelling is the very stuff of culture. It’s also the language of the mind. Stories bridge the gap between the past and the future, create shared identities, provide us with meaning, and shape the culture within our communities. But there is more to storytelling than just telling stories. Influencing, changing minds and inspiring action is ultimately about shaping the stories people choose to believe in. And in this interview, Jamie Dixon, the author of the upcoming book “The Story Habit – How Leaders Shape Stories that Drive Action” shares his methodology for doing just that. To join CultureBrained, go to tiny.one/culturebrained
What on Earth is frontalis? And why is it the most important part of human anatomy when it comes to forging authentic connections in the remote work environment? How can a corny catchphrase help a team accomplish more? What’s a better alternative to brutal honesty when we want to speak the truth at work? What can leaders learn from Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy? And how can we harness the power of deep fun to improve our workplaces?
These are just some of the topics we discuss in this episode with Dan Coyle, the New York Times bestselling author of The Culture Code, and the upcoming title, The Culture Playbook. Tune in and enjoy.
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This month we are sharing some of the best episodes from our archive and this one is very special as our guest is none other than the honorary godfather of our show, Seth Godin! Seth is the author of 19 books that have been bestsellers around the world and have been translated into more than 35 languages. He’s also the founder of altMBA and The Marketing Seminar, online workshops that have transformed the work of thousands of people. He writes about the post-industrial revolution, the way ideas spread, marketing, quitting, leadership, and most of all, changing everything - including culture!
To join CultureBrained, go to tiny.one/culturebrained
This month we will be sharing some of the best episodes from our archive and we are starting with one of our biggest blockbusters - an interview with Frances Frei and Anne Morriss. When Google, Uber, WeWork, Riot Games or other high-growth companies need help with their culture and leadership, they call Frances Anne. Frances Frei is a Professor of Technology and Operations Management at Harvard Business School and her wife, Anne Morriss, is the Executive Founder of The Leadership Consortium. They supported a growing list of companies with culture change and wrote a wonderful book on leadership called Unleashed, The Unapologetic Leader’s Guide to Empowering Everyone Around You.
Just a note: This episode is a rerun and was recorded in January 2021. There are some references that may seem a little out of date but the content is more relevant than ever.
To join CultureBrained, go to tiny.one/culturebrained
In many companies, the approach to shaping culture can be quite superficial. Our guest, LaTonya Wilkins, suggests it's time to go "below the surface" and embrace a radically inclusive leadership style. This interview explores her signature REAL leadership system which creates psychologically safe relationships across differences, empowers underrepresented employees to feel valued, heard, and engaged - and creates cultures of belonging in the workplace.
To learn more about CultureBrained, go here: tiny.one/culturebrained
A bit like the operating system on their PCs, culture is something most leaders rarely think about - until it starts causing them problems. When culture slows their teams down and makes work more difficult than it should be, people often start panicking and finally give it the attention it deserves. But even then, it's often with the mindset of "Let's fix it asap and get back to work!"
But what if culture was the work, especially for leaders? What if it was their primary responsibility to create an environment where people can do their best work?
And what would happen if leaders took a more intentional approach to culture?
This is what Dr. Donte Vaughn and I talk about in this episode of the CultureLab podcast.
From neurons to social networks, Jay Van Bavel’s research investigates the psychology and neuroscience of implicit bias, group identity, team performance, decision-making, and public health. In this conversation, we talk about how we can put the science of social identity into practice so that we can increase performance, improve company culture and create more of a sense of belonging for our people.
To join the CultureBrained Community, go to: tiny.one/CultureBrained
Rodney Evans is a pioneer in adaptive organization design and the future of work. She has taught new, better ways of working in dozens of complex environments—including Airbnb, Macy’s, GE, Cooper Hewitt Museum, Intuit, and Johnson & Johnson—to slay bureaucracy, unleash talent, and modernize traditional workplaces and practices.
To join the CultureBrained Community, go to tiny.one/culturebrained
In this episode, Rohini Anand draws on her experience as the former Chief DEI Officer at Sodexo and shares insights from her book, Leading Global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: A Guide for Systemic Change in Multinational Organizations. We focus on how you can level the playing field so that anyone can do their best work in your organization, irrespective of their identity and background.
To learn more about the CultureBrained community, click here: https://www.agabajer.com/culture-brained-community/
Leandro Herrero is the pioneer of Viral Change™ - a methodology that delivers large-scale behavioural and cultural change in organizations. In this episode, we explore how to create viral change within an organization by following five vital principles for change.
To join the CultureBrained Community, go to tiny.one/culturebrained
Charlie Sull developed a groundbreaking AI tool to understand and assess organizational culture through the use of big-data processing. The tool mines “digital traces” of culture in electronic communications, such as emails, Slack messages, or Glassdoor reviews. By studying the language employees use in these communications, AI can gauge what the current culture is and how it influences people's thoughts and behavior at work.
To join the CultureBrained Community, go to tiny.one/culturebrained
Timothy Clark is an expert on psychological safety in the workplace. He is recognized as a global authority in the fields of senior executive development, strategy acceleration, and organizational change. He is also the author of five books, including The Four Stages of Psychological Safety, a wonderful, hands-on guide that shows us how we can build psychological safety in our teams and organizations. Tune in for actionable insight on how to build the foundations for a healthy culture.
To join the CultureBrained Community, go to tiny.one/culturebrained
Kevin Oakes is CEO and co-founder of the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp), the world’s leading human capital research firm focusing on people practices that drive high performance. In this episode, he shares his research into company culture and what he's learned about culture change.
To join the CultureBrained Community, go to: tiny.one/culturebrained
Pim De Morree, co-founder of Corporate Rebels talks about what he and his partner, Joost Minaar discovered traveling the world and researching innovative organizations. He shares the 8 shifts that the pioneering organizations embrace as they move towards a more engaging and meaningful work experience.
To join the CultureBrained Community, go to tiny.one/culturebrained
Tom Chi is one of the founding members of Google X who served as head of product experience at developing technology such as Google Glass and Google's self-driving cars. In this episode, we dive into the topic of cultivating an innovative culture and the role leaders play in enabling their teams to develop radical new technologies to solve some of the world’s hardest problems.
To join the CultureBrained Community, go to: tiny.one/culturebrained
Tom Chi is one of the founding members of Google X who served as head of product experience at developing technology such as Google Glass and Google's self-driving cars. In this episode, we dive into the topic of cultivating an innovative culture and the role leaders play in enabling their teams to develop radical new technologies to solve some of the world’s hardest problems.
To join the CultureBrained Community, go to: tiny.one/culturebrained
Community and social belonging are fundamental human needs, hardwired into our DNA. Gina Bianchini, the founder and CEO of Mighty Networks has had a front-row seat to hundreds of thousands of successful communities. She has also seen an equal number of communities fail. In this conversation, she shares what she learned about what sets successful communities apart and how you can apply her insights to create community and social belonging in your company.
To join the CultureBrained Community, go to: tiny.one/culturebrained
With hybrid and remote work, building diverse teams that collaborate well together is more challenging than ever. So, how do you go about creating an environment that drives innovation, performance, and impact and where people can create products that customers love and the business needs?
My guest today, Yvette Pasqua, shares her experience on the topic.
Yvette is the CTO of EXOS where she leads the product and engineering teams with a focus on continuous improvement, iteration, and using data to launch software that helps their members become healthier and achieve their wellness and professional goals.
To join the CultureBrained Community, go to: tiny.one/culturebrained
Spotify's CHRO, Katarina Berg, knows how to maintain a thriving culture while scaling from a successful startup to a global giant. She shares some of her secrets around unlocking human potential and turning the company culture into the grease that helps it keep rolling at top speed. She also discusses the importance of clarity about who you are and what you stand for and finding effective ways to operationalize your Culture Playbook. She shares how Spotify helps people connect meaningfully while they are working remotely and why people tend to have fun working for the company.
To join the CultureBrained Community, go to: tiny.one/culturebrained
People don’t leave bad jobs, they leave bad managers. So here is a radical idea: What if we got rid of managers altogether? What if we could do it without decreasing the power of traditional hierarchy but by increasing the power of everyone else? This week Aga is joined by Brian Robertson, the father of holacracy to explore these questions and more.
Giff Constable is a product leader, entrepreneur, and author who has sold three companies and helped build many others. In this wide-ranging interview, we cover a lot of ground: from developing great products, leadership, cognitive biases, designing an HR function that actually works for the business, creating psychological safety, taking on creative pursuits that scare us, and much more.
Bretton Putter is the CEO of CultureGene and he helps companies build and develop strong, functional company cultures. He recently published his second book, Own Your Culture, and in this episode, we talk about what to think about and what to do (asap!) to create a thriving culture in the world of remote or hybrid work. Brett shares plenty of actionable insights and examples of practices you can implement to adapt to this new way of working.
The world’s top leadership and culture whisperers - Frances Frei and Anne Morris joined me for a fun, wide-ranging, and insightful conversation about how you can unleash your team’s potential. Frances and Anne talk about redefining leadership, the relationship of culture and strategy, love and trust in the workplace, their experience working with Uber, WeWork and Riot Games, and much more.
For more ideas on how to build a thriving culture at scale, download my FREE Culture Playbook Guide
Growth. We all crave it. Both in our personal lives and in business. But what we often forget is that the biggest growth spurts inevitably come with growing pains. Suddenly we are in this weird place in the middle - no longer a child but still not an adult. Adolescence: something’s emerging, everything is changing and it’s really, really messy. Turns out that startups go through a very similar stage. And this is exactly what my guest today and I talk about in this episode of the CultureLab podcast.
For the Culture Strategy Bootcamp, go to bit.ly/culture-bootcamp
My guest today, Dorie Clark, suggests we need to make things easier for ourselves in 2021 and embrace the lowercase "r" reinvention: small, subtle changes that, over time, compound and often produce major transformations. But to achieve such impressive results over time, we need to develop a "reinvention habit."
And this is exactly what we talk about in this episode of the CultureLab podcast. I can't think of a better way to ease ourselves into 2021.
For Culture Bootcamp click here: bit.ly/culture-bootcamp
"I hate this company,” I said to myself, sitting in the office in San Francisco. “I can’t believe I created this.”
This is how my guest today, Darius Mirshahzadeh, opens his book, The Core Value Equation.
Darius had been successful by any external measure. He was the founder and CEO of a company that would soon hit the $10,000,000 revenue mark. He had 150 employees and a seventeen-thousand-square-foot modern tech office space in the heart of San Francisco’s SOMA district.
And yet, he had serious regrets as a founder. He realized that the company he created was not the one he intended to. Somehow, while trying to build a successful business, he lost track of what he now considers one of the most important factors to achieve success and grow with minimum growing pains - the core values.
And core values are what we are focusing on in this episode.
What does a successful startup founder look like?
You probably have a vivid picture in your head – two supercharged recent college graduates bursting out of the gate with a fresh new idea that hits them like a lightning bolt, gets massive funding, and leads to a product launch that is an astounding success.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
My guest today is Ethan Mollick, an award-winning researcher at Wharton and the author of a new book, THE UNICORN’S SHADOW: Combating the Dangerous Myths that Hold Back Startups, Founders, and Investors.
His mission is to democratize entrepreneurship.
In this wide-ranging conversation, we talk about what's a myth and what is true in the world of startups.
Today, my guest is the co-founder and CEO of X4 Group, Peter Rabey.
Peter and his team managed to scale and grow their business through extremely challenging times. Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, X4 Group has realigned the entire business strategy to avoid layoffs. The reboot went so well that their business - and headcount - grew by over 50% since June.
Tune in to this wide-ranging conversation about scaling through the pandemic, hiring, onboarding, cultivating a healthy culture, and more!
To download the Culture Playbook guide, click here.
Wendy Smith is an associate professor of organizational behavior at the Alfred Lerner School of Business at the University of Delaware. She earned her PhD in organizational behavior at Harvard Business School, and she researches a really interesting area - strategic paradoxes. For the interview with Professor Smith, click here. To be the first to receive the new audio postcards, please click here.
To say that 2020 has been a challenging year would be an understatement. But there are many ways to look at our struggles and Bobby Herrera, the founder and CEO of Populus Group, suggests that we choose to see them as a gift. In this wide-ranging conversation, Bobby and I talk about his entrepreneurial journey and the culture he is committed to cultivating in his company.
Dr Max McKeown is a visionary, and influential presenter who reveals insider knowledge, gleaned from twenty-five years’ experience consulting for Pfizer, Topshop and Sony, amongst many other major global brands. In this conversation, we talk about how to find your next big idea, what role strategy plays in your ability to create the future you want and what scenarios could emerge if culture and strategy really sat down to have breakfast together instead of trying to cannibalize each other.
Garry Ridge is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the WD-40 Company, a billion-dollar business with a 93% employee engagement index. WD-40 has been making history when it comes to harnessing the power of organizational culture. It has kept its values aligned for over six decades by making them the heart and soul of the company. On its culture homepage, WD-40 has the following message for job applicants: "Please consider employment with WD-40 Company only if you feel as strongly about our values as we do." Here's a message from Garry on how to navigate this difficult period. For the interview with Garry, click here: https://www.agabajer.com/podcast-list... To be the first to receive the new audio postcards, please click here: https://mailchi.mp/eafee17fef25/audio...
This audio postcard comes from Bobby Herrera, from Michigan. Bobby Herrera is the co-founder and CEO of Populus Group - one of the fastest-growing HR services companies in the United States with annual revenue of $500 million and many Fortune 100 customers. Bobby speaks beautifully about how he sees his role as the CEO during the times of Coronavirus. I hope you enjoy his message.
Today, on the CultureLab podcast, we welcome Aaron Dignan - the author of one of my favorite business books of the past few years - Brave New Work and the founder of the Ready.
If you feel like the way we work hasn’t worked for a while and if you are curious about what new ways of working we could adopt, you’ll enjoy this conversation.
In this interview, Aaron and I talk about why scale and bureaucracy that once made companies strong have become huge liabilities. Today, it’s the companies that operate with transparency, autonomy, decentralization, and empowerment that are better positioned to navigate disruptive changes.
Our conversation was set in the context of the current events, especially the COVID-19 pandemic. And while there's a lot of tragedy happening right now, Aaron believes that there's a lot of promise in this moment as well. He says that the current disruption has challenged a lot of assumptions that we hold about trust, remote work and empowerment. It looks like we have been presented with a unique opportunity to rethink the way we work and renegotiate our social contracts. Now it’s up to us to take advantage of this opportunity.
It's in times like these that our values and ethical standards are put to the test. COVID-19 emergency and its aftermath will call for empathy, compassion, and generosity. If business leaders don't rise to the occasion, they'll put their companies at risk. In this audio postcard, crisis expert, Melissa Agnes, encourages us to put ourselves in our stakeholders' shoes and ask: how can we serve them to the best of our capabilities?
When people don't speak up, the organization's ability to innovate and grow is at great risk. A culture of silence is a dangerous culture. A culture of openness and candor, on the other hand, offers immense benefits for creativity, learning, and innovation. But for people to speak up, they need to experience psychological safety and this is what Amy Edmondson, my guest today, has studied for more than 25 years.
It looks like we might be in a pretty long tunnel. And while there's certainly light at the end of it, why wait? We can create some light right now by building human connections through the means we have available. Here's Thimon De Jong speaking on this topic.
We have a new postcard - this time from Ron Carucci. Ron says that we are currently in an odd, liminal space, in between chapters. And while it's undoubtedly a difficult season, things will resume eventually. So how can we prepare for our new normal? Listen in!
We have created the Audio Postcards series to help you tackle the challenges of COVID-19 pandemic in a calmer and wiser way. This week, the postcard comes from Aga Bajer and she shares three questions to explore with your team to regain a sense of control and purpose in these crazy times.
As time goes by, we all realize that the Coronavirus outbreak is, first and foremost, a human tragedy. But it has also become increasingly clear that COVID-19 is having a growing impact on the global economy, causing many businesses to switch to full-on survival mode. While taking short-term measures to mitigate the effects of the current disruption, many leaders ask themselves:
How do you deal with the current issues without losing sight of the long-term goals? And how do you embrace an infinite mindset in times of a crisis of such vast proportions?
Simon Sinek shares his thoughts on the subject.
We have created the Audio Postcards series to help us tackle the challenges of the Coronavirus pandemic in a calmer and wiser way.
This week we have a postcard from Toronto, from my dear friend Liane Davey who speaks about how not to let a good crisis go to waste.
If you want to be on our postcard mailing list, sign up here: http://tiny.cc/5utvnz
The quality of the relationship with your boss has a major impact on your career, satisfaction and even your overall wellness and health. And yet, it’s much easier to find advice and guidance on how to be a good boss than on how to manage a relationship with one. In this episode, Mary Abbajay, the author of the best-selling Managing Up: How to Move Up, Win at Work, and Succeed with Any Type of Boss. shares how you can take control of your career by managing up.
Episode Highlights
Here are some of the themes that we explore in this conversation:
- Why so many people still have terrible bosses
- The unique nature of the relationship between a boss and a team member
- What’s at stake when you are not managing the relationship with your boss
- The boss spectrum: from the unicorn boss to the toxic boss
- The three choices we have when faced with a difficult situation
- Why people tend to spend 30% more time working for toxic bosses than for good bosses
- Key principles to managing your boss really effectively
- How to avoid being delusional about who we are and who our boss is
- How to give feedback to a boss that has a negative impact on the team’s culture
- How to deal with a micromanager
We have created the Audio Postcards series to help us tackle the challenges of the Coronavirus pandemic in a calmer and wiser way.
The tricky thing with being a leader or an entrepreneur in times like these is that while we have no clear answers, our team, our family, and our friends are looking to us for guidance.
And so it's important that we learn how to walk the line between the light and the dark. Here's a message on this topic from Michael Bungay Stanier.
We have created the Audio Postcards series to help us tackle the challenges of the Coronavirus pandemic in a calmer and wiser way.
This postcard is second in the series and comes from Cy Wakeman.
Cy challenges us to let ourselves and our teams be impacted by the current crisis and approach it with curiosity, using this "time-out" to grow, develop and perhaps even transform the way we think, feel and act.
In difficult times, we all need some guidance, some inspiration and... an occasional kick in the butt.
To help leaders, entrepreneurs and soloists navigate the unchartered waters of the Coronavirus pandemic and its impact on our lives, our team started producing audio postcards.
They contain powerful messages from the world's leading thinkers, leaders, movers, and shakers.
This message comes from Seth Godin.
Our guest today is Nikki Gatenby. Nikki is a business consultant and best selling author, specializing in the field of culture and engagement at work, having been featured in The Guardian, The Times, Management Today, Chamber of Commerce and Corporate Rebels.
Over the last 10 years as MD and co-owner of Propellernet, Nikki transformed the Brighton based SEO agency into a global marketing organization and SAAS technology provider, serving the PR, content and search world with coveragebook.com and answerthepublic.com. This, hand in hand with Propellernet, being one of the top 15 Best Places to work in the UK, for 8 years running.
Episode Highlights
In this episode, Nikki and I talk about how to create and maintain a company culture that drives performance, boosts enthusiasm, increases engagement levels, and…makes life better at the same time.
Here are some of the themes that we explore in this conversation:
- How a mix of curiosity, frustration and a belief that there’s a better way can lead you to an idea for a successful business
- Why putting wellbeing at the heart of your business boosts creativity and innovation
- Ways of bringing your company’s purpose to life, with concrete examples from Propellernet, including one simple question that you can use when making decisions
- What it means to have a people-first culture
- How Propellernet achieved 90% engagement rate
- The role that self-induced constraints can play in stimulating innovation and growth in your company
- Why you should rip up job descriptions and hire for the real (current and future) needs of your organization instead
- The pitfalls to be mindful of when building a people-first culture
- Reaching a perfect balance between profitability and people-focus
- The importance of language in cultivating a culture
- How your employees’ dreams and side-hustles might become a part of your company’s business plan
- The difference between being engaged and… superengaged
- The power of questions and helping employees become more curious and more inquisitive
Our guest today is Siobhan McHale, a culture change specialist, EGM People, Culture & Change at DuluxGroup and the author of The Insider’s Guide to Culture Change.
Siobhan has worked across four continents, helping thousands of leaders to create more agile and productive workplaces. She has been on the “inside”, as the executive in charge of change in a series of large, multinational organizations. One of these inside jobs was a radical seven-year change initiative at Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ) that transformed it from the lowest-performing bank in the country into one of the highest-performing and most admired banks in the world.
Professor John Kotter used her work with ANZ as a Harvard Business School case study designed to teach MBA students about managing change.
Episode Highlights
In this episode, Siobhan and I talk about how to disrupt dysfunctional patterns of behavior in a company. Here are some of the topics we cover:
- Culture as patterns of relatedness and behavior between the parts of the wider organizational system
- The challenges of seeing patterns clearly in our own environment
- Why focusing on behavior change is not enough
- The power of reframing roles
- How our mental maps drive our behaviors
- Supporting people in stepping into a reframed role to drive culture change
- What can lead to a tipping point when it comes to culture change
- How to track culture change progress
- The dangers of linear thinking
Our guest today is Kirsty Bashforth, the founder and CEO of QuayFive Ltd.
Her new book on managing organizational culture (Culture Shift) was published by Bloomsbury in July 2019.
In this episode, Kirsty and I talk about shifting culture so that it serves the business, its employees and the wider ecosystem.
Jitske Kramer is a Dutch anthropologist. She travels the world to learn from traditional healers, leaders, surprising innovators, and random passersby. She looks at the world and at organizations through the eyes of an anthropologist, and what she sees is fascinating. In this interview, we talk about what's involved in the making of a corporate tribe.
Episode Highlights
Here are some of the things that we discussed:
- The lessons Jitske learned when doing research in Uganda
- The two opposites that attract us: harmony and disruption
- What is anthropology and how it’s relevant to organizational life
- Nature and nurture debate in the context of culture
- The elements that shape culture: purpose, definition power, and the cultural narrative
- One of the biggest misunderstandings about self-organized teams
- The importance of reflecting on what leadership means in your organization
- Why boundaries are important and how to set them in a way that supports rather than constrains
- Two forces present in every tribe: power and love and how they play out in modern organizations
- What to do to set foundations for a healthy culture in a start-up or a new team
- How to effectively deal with diversity in a team and create true inclusivity
- The three stages of change and the different types of leadership required for each of the stages
- The nature and importance of rituals
- The three questions you need to ask every day to cultivate an inclusive and healthy culture
Our guest today is Mike Ganino. He is a storytelling and communication expert who helps executives, teams, and thought leaders communicate, connect, and engage. Mike is also the author of Company Culture for Dummies and has been named a Top 30 Culture Speaker by Global Guru. Mike is also the executive producer of TEDx Cambridge and the head performance coach at Heroic Public Speaking, where he helps people connect in authentic and engaging ways with audiences.
I first met Mike when he was facilitating a workshop in HPS, and I was blown away by his ability to craft a compelling story.
Why is storytelling important when it comes to cultivating a healthy culture?
Because a great story engages and moves people. It makes them feel invested in the outcome; it helps them make meaning out of what surrounds them and it changes the way they think, feel, and act.
We humans have been using the power of story for millennia to pass on knowledge, instill common values, and influence each other. The success or failure of our ideas often hinges on our ability to tell the right story.
Episode Highlights
In this episode, Mike and I talk about the stories that shape culture. Here are some of the things that we discussed:
- Mike’s early cultural influences and how they shaped him as a person
- Mike’s book, Company Culture for Dummies, and which parts are most relevant to founders and leaders who want to change their culture but only have one hour to read
- Global and local culture and what the value of local rockets of culture can be
- How to craft a compelling story that can change the way people feel, think, and act
- What are “anti-value” stories and why they can be a powerful tool in embedding cultural values
- How to engage people in bringing a vision to life
- Sourcing stories that support your cultural messages
- A mindset shift that can help anyone focus more on culture and less on blaming others or circumstances
Our guest today is Melissa Agnes. Author of Crisis Ready: Building an Invincible Brand in an Uncertain World, Melissa is a leading authority on crisis preparedness, reputation management, and brand protection.
Melissa’s area of expertise is something that most of us don’t enjoy thinking about. She works with organizations to explore questions such as: What will happen if things go off the rails and we find our business in a major crisis situation? Are we ready for the worst? Do we have what it takes to handle a crisis in an effective manner? Can our brand and our reputation survive a major crisis? And most importantly: Is there a way to prevent what’s preventable?
After a recent crop of scandals—including Uber, Volkswagen, Wells Fargo, and Boeing, just to name a few—companies and boards have started to emphasize shaping a healthy culture as a way to reduce risk.
If you and your company want to create an invincible brand, make sure you don’t miss this conversation.
Episode Highlights
In this interview, Melissa and I discuss:
- Melissa’s early cultural influences
- How she found her calling and where she found the strength to pursue it
- What helped Melissa persists through the most challenging stages of building her business
- How she defines crisis and the key differences between an issue and a crisis
- What is crisis readiness and why you can throw your crisis management plan away
- How to identify your high-risk scenarios
- What were the first telltale signs of Uber’s culture crisis
- Examples of a crisis well managed and how to emerge from a crisis stronger than before
Our guest today is Cy Wakeman. Cy is a drama researcher, global thought-leader, and New York Times best-selling author who is recognized for cultivating a counter-intuitive, reality-based approach to leadership.
Backed by 20 years of unparalleled experience, Cy’s philosophy offers a new lens through which employees and executives alike, can shift their attention inward, sharpen their focus on personal accountability, and uncover their natural state of resourcefulness simply by ditching the drama.
Cy and I had a wide-ranging conversation exploring what can happen when we ditch drama, take accountability and stop blaming culture and our environment for why we can’t do things. I hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed interviewing Cy.
Episode Highlights
In this interview, Cy and I discuss:
- Cy’s early cultural influences
- The influence of Rumi’s poetry on Cy’s personal philosophy and her work
- Changing our experience by changing the lens we view the world through
- How Cy defines drama and what the effects of drama in the workplace are
- The dangers of believing everything that we think
- The magic of editing the stories that we are telling ourselves down to undeniable facts
- What a portable culture is and how to we can experiment with an idea that we can co-create culture by bringing what’s missing into it
- Three top competencies we need to thrive in the times of constant and exponential change
- Why Cy believes that it might be a good idea to ditch leadership books for a while and start exploring the work of great spiritual teachers instead
- The importance of language and self-reflection in cultivating a healthy culture
In the early days of the CultureLab, I approached Seth Godin and invited him to come on the show. He told me, “Sure, I’d love to. I’ll be your 50th guest.” This is what Seth does. He finds ingenious ways to help us keep going, do the work that matters, and persist in the face of adversity and our own resistance. He shows us how to hone our craft and show up with integrity every single day.
Seth is also an incredible source of practical wisdom on how to shape cultures around us so that we can make a dent in the world and bend history in the right direction.
It was such a privilege to pick his brain and learn from him, and it is such a joy to bring this conversation to the audience of CultureLab!
If you care about the place where you are and the impact you want to make, this interview is for you.
Meet Ron Carucci, the co-founder and managing partner at Navalent, who works with CEOs and executives pursuing transformational change for their organizations.
I came across Ron’s work in the Harvard Business Review. His writing on leading change, navigating conflict, and understanding corporate values and lies, as well as many other topics, has always challenged my thinking and offered valuable insights.
Ron is someone deeply invested in helping leaders thrive by impacting the lives of those they lead.
I was fascinated to learn that Ron keeps a collection of antique door knobs, door knockers, and skeleton keys so that he gets a reminder that life is about finding and pursuing the open doors in front of us and making sure those doors open for others.
Episode Highlights
In this interview, Ron and I discuss:
- Being an introvert and the superpowers that come with it
- What helps Ron be grateful for all those in his life who’ve been part of his story
- How artifacts impact our behavior
- Ron’s research on why people lie or withhold the truth at work
- How companies inadvertently institutionalize duplicity and trigger dishonesty among their employees
- Enabling the culture of honesty in an organization
- The dangers of using values without living them
- Conditions that need to be present to prevent the misuse of corporate values
- How to know when training is the answer (and when it is NOT) when it comes to behavior change
More About Ron Carucci
Ron has a thirty-year track record helping some of the world’s most influential executives tackle the challenges of strategy, organization, and leadership. From start-ups to Fortune 10s, turnarounds to new markets and strategies, overhauling leadership and culture to redesigning for growth, he has worked in more than 25 countries on 4 continents. In addition to being a regular contributor to the Harvard Business Review and Forbes, he has been featured in Fortune, CEO Magazine, BusinessInsider, MSNBC, Inc, Business Week, Smart Business, and Thought Leaders.
- Navalent
Books Mentioned in this Episode:
Free ebook, Leading Transformation: Owner’s Manual
Ron Carucci, and Mike Roberts, Leadership Divided
Ron Carucci, Relationships That Enable Enterprise
Ron Carucci and Eric C. Hansen, Rising to Power: The Journey of Exceptional Executives
Ray Dalio, Principles: Life and Work
David Whyte, Crossing the Unknown Sea: Work as a Pilgrimage of Identity
John Kotter, Corporate Culture and Performance
Tasha Eurich, Insight: The Surprising Truth About How Others See Us, How We See Ourselves, and Why the Answers Matter More Than We Think
When leaders want the culture to change or to be a certain way, they often try to convince their teams to adopt a new way of being and behaving. Often, their communication style resembles a pitch rather than a conversation or dialogue. Our guest this week, Chris Westfall, says that it’s time to stop pitching and start connecting.
Chris Westfall is the author of Leadership Language: Using Authentic Communication to Drive Results and a consultant to financial leaders and Fortune 100 companies. He’s helped entrepreneurs launch a broad array of businesses and successfully rebranded products and services around the globe. Working with thousands of business leaders, he's helped launch over 50 companies, while raising over $100 million – and counting – in investment capital.
He’s coached teams to victory in the Intel Global Capital Conference, the Harvard Executive MBA Pitch Competition, and the Rice Business Plan Competition 2016 (the largest and most lucrative pitch competition in the world).
Episode Highlights
In this interview, Chris and I discuss:
- What a truly effective pitch looks like
- The role our assumptions and beliefs play in our ability to lead change
- How to deal with our internal dialogue
- How to challenge collective assumptions and beliefs
- The importance of creating an environment of psychological safety to enable people to engage in new behaviors
- How creativity fuels results and engagement
- Characteristics of an environment that supports innovation
- An exercise that can help you and your team view things from the perspective of someone who will be impacted by your decisions
- Authenticity and the role it plays in leading others
- The importance of “listening to discover” in creating a culture of performance
Meet Jim Lawless, a leading authority on what he calls AQ: developing organizational AdaptAbility skills to deliver bold, fast change.
Jim works with senior leaders to build cultures that can adapt and deliver. He has contributed to bold, fast change in global organizations, government, Olympic teams, and business schools for two decades. He has inspired and educated over half a million people on five continents through his mind-set shifting keynotes and even more through his bestselling book, Taming Tigers.
What’s fascinating about Jim is that he tested and developed the AQ skills personally. He became a televised jockey within a year of starting to ride and became Britain’s deepest freediver after just eight months of training. Both done alongside his day job – a key element of AdaptAbility.
Episode Highlights
In this interview, Jim and I discuss:
- His definition of the fear algorithm and the role it plays in organizational change
- The importance of creating a safe environment for people to embrace change
- How leaders inadvertently prevent their team members from moving away from the old patterns of behavior
- CEO’s and other leaders’ role in evolving a culture
- The importance of giving people the “permission” to change
- The reasons why behavioral changes need to be linked to the goals people care about
- The roots of resistance to change in our teams and the value of testing the data we have available
- The most effective ways of managing our self-limiting internal dialogue
- Making space on our calendars for change to take place
Meet Jos De Blok, the founder and CEO of Buurtzorg. Buurtzorg Nederland was founded in 2006 by Jos and a small team of professional nurses who were dissatisfied with the delivery of health care by traditional home care organizations in the Netherlands. Together, they decided to create a new model of patient-centered care focused on facilitating and maintaining independence and autonomy for the individual for as long as possible.
Episode Highlights
In this interview, Jos and I discuss:
- How Buurzorg grew from a team of 4 to 14,000+ with a simple and flat structure, no departmentalization, minimal back-office functions, and minimal employee monitoring and controlling functions
- Buurzorg’s experience with independent, autonomous, self-managing teams with no team leaders and under no line-managerial direction or control
- Scaling company culture through a collection of loosely connected teams, unified by a common purpose
- The role technology played in Buurzorg’s success
- The critical importance of creating a positive social impact for businesses today
- The key success factors and key obstacles that Jos experienced while building the company
Meet Dr. Liane Davey, the New York Times bestselling author of You First, Inspire Your Team to Grow Up, Get Along, and Get Stuff Done; a regular contributor to the Harvard Business Review; and an organizational psychology expert for Quartz magazine.
Liane’s new book, The Good Fight: Use Productive Conflict to Get Your Team and Your Organization Back on Track, was released in March 2019, and it’s the best book I’ve read on conflict.
I loved speaking to Liane and learning how to make conflict more productive - both in our lives and in our organizations.
Episode Highlights
In this interview, Liane and I discuss:
- Why some of the imagery and language we use around teamwork can be misleading or even damaging
- How excessive focus on happiness in the workplace can hurt performance
- The importance of normalizing conflict in the workplace
- The origins of human beings’ aversion to conflict
- How to build a mindset that helps us engage in conflict in a constructive way
- The difference between being nice and being kind
- An exercise that you can run with your team to navigate conflict more effectively
- Why tension is necessary if you want your team to achieve great results
- What to do when someone catches you off guard and says something that you completely disagree with
- Three things that you and your team can do tomorrow to deal with conflict in a more effective way
We hope you enjoy it!
Meet Srdja Popovic, an activist who formed the Otpor! movement in 1998 to overthrow Slobodan Milosevic.
Born and raised in Belgrade, Serbia during times that he describes as culturally schizophrenic, economically devastating, and historically confusing, Srdja initially didn’t see himself as a change agent.
A bass player in a band, Srdja just wanted to play music and have fun. Like most of his friends, he despised the security police, the terror, and the repression, but he didn’t believe anything could be done about it. That is, until he and his friends realized that activism could be…cool and that it was, in fact, possible to mobilize people to resist Milosevic regime.
Today, Srdja is the Executive Director of The Centre for Applied Nonviolent Action and Strategies or CANVAS, a Belgrade-based NGO he founded with a handful of other Otpor! members in 2003. He has now advised and trained pro-democracy activists in more than 50 countries, including India, Iran, Zimbabwe, Burma, Ukraine, Georgia, Palestine, Belarus, Tunisia, and Egypt.
I really wanted to interview Srdja because the principles he developed are extremely relevant to creating change in organizations, especially in evolving organizational culture.
Episode Highlights
In this interview, Srdja and I discuss:
- What changed Srdja’s self-perception and allowed him to view himself as a change agent
- How Srdja and his colleagues from CANVAS identified the main principles of nonviolent movements
- What makes a movement successful
- What makes humor such a powerful tool in building movements
- How nonviolent action principles can be applied to non-movement organizations (aka: to your company!)
- What to do after you have succeeded with the change you were looking to create
- Why disruption can be one of the best opportunities to shake things up and improve them
My guest today is Chris Fussell. He serves as the President of McChrystal Group and is the author of the 2015 New York Times bestseller, Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World as well as 2017 Wall Street Journal bestseller, One Mission: How Leaders Build a Team of Teams.
In this episode, Chris and I explore his experience as a Navy SEAL and what it taught him about shaping adaptive cultures and successfully meeting the challenges that we face in the business world today.
My guest today is Zeynep Ton. Zeynep is an adjunct associate professor in Operations Management at MIT Sloan School of Management and co-founder of the nonprofit Good Jobs Institute (GJI). Before MIT Sloan, Zeynep spent seven years on the faculty at Harvard Business School.
Zeynep’s research explores how companies can design and manage their operations in a way that satisfies customers, employees, and investors simultaneously. In 2014, Zeynep published her findings in a book, The Good Jobs Strategy: How the Smartest Companies Invest in Employees to Lower Costs and Boost Profits.
I wanted to speak to Zeynep because while cultivating healthy and adaptive cultures requires focus on issues such as purpose, mission and vision, behaviors. and skills, it also calls for something that we don’t talk about enough in the context of culture - making the right operational choices.
Zeynep shares her expertise, experience, and examples in this interview and gives us a lot of useful ideas on how to build the supporting architecture for better cultures.
Episode Highlights
In this interview, Zeynep and I discuss:
- Why bad jobs put companies in a vicious cycle of poor service, low profits, and low employee engagement
- How better operational choices can lead to reversing that cycle and creating superior value for employees, customers, and investors
- The 4 operational choices that drive performance and continuous improvement: Focus & Simplify, Standardize & Empower, Cross-train, and Operate with Slack
- What the right balance between standardization and empowerment might look like
- Why empowerment often doesn’t work and what companies who got it right do differently
- How one company saved 1.2 million just by giving their frontline employees an opportunity to contribute and make improvements to processes and solving issues
My guest today is Ed Morrison. Ed directs the Agile Strategy Lab at Purdue University.
For the past 25 years, he’s worked on a new approach to developing strategies to address complex challenges.
His methodology is called “strategic doing,” and it emphasizes the strategic value of collaboration.
Ed brings a refreshing approach to strategy creation. He defines an effective strategy as "a process of shared learning that has open participation and leadership guidance.”
If you are looking for an effective way to address any complex business challenge, you will definitely benefit from listening to this episode and reading Ed’s book, Strategic Doing.
Episode Highlights
In this interview, Ed and I discuss:
- The value of practice and discipline versus skimming the surface of things
- The need to slow down before going fast
- The benefits of creating a safe space for deep, focused conversations
- How power and hierarchy can stand in the way of collaboration
- What adaptive challenges are and why they require a platform where people can come together as equals to solve them
- How to frame a strategic conversation around opportunities rather than problems and what is the structure of framing questions
- The value of engaging people around what an ideal solution would look like
- The importance of thinking about what company you want to pass on to the next generations
- Culture as a set pattern of thinking, behaving and doing
My guest today is Jeanette Bronée, an author, speaker, performance strategist, and culture coach. She helps leaders and companies rethink performance and culture by focusing on creating what she calls a Culture of Care™.
Jeanette highlights how physical health and emotional, mental, and social well-being affect people’s resilience and performance. She shows how our mindset affects our productivity and why self-care habits at work are essential to creating a human work culture.
One thing is certain - depleted and burned-out individuals can’t create healthy, high-performing, and well-balanced cultures.
That’s why this conversation is so important and relevant to anyone who hopes to change the culture in their little pocket of the world - whether it’s their team, their organization, or society at large.
Episode Highlights
In this interview, Jeanette and I discuss:
- Why taking good care of ourselves is such a challenge in the workplace
- How we can ground ourselves and be more present when it really matters
- What we should eat when we need to be calm and what’s a better choice when we need to be alert to perform at our best
- Why having 45-minute meetings instead of 60-minute ones can be such a game changer
- What’s the impact of seeing and acknowledging people for who they are and what they bring to the table
- The importance of identifying why we do what we do
- The power of identifying a micro-purpose for the important activities throughout the day
- The four pillars of Jeanette’s self-care framework
- What listeners can do to cultivate a culture of care in their teams
In her book, “Primed to Perform - How to Build the Highest Performing Cultures Through the Science of Total Motivation”, Lindsay McGregor and her co-author Need Doshi say:
“While most people agree that culture is important, building great cultures still feels like magic that only a gifted few are born knowing how to practice.”
In this episode of the CultureLab podcast, Lindsay talks about the findings of her research to demystify this “magic”.
We explore what she learned from over a century of existing science on high performance as well as from her original research that involved iconic organizations such as Southwest Airlines, the Apple Store and Starbucks.
Episode Highlights
In this interview, Lindsay and I discuss:
- What brought her to culture work
- What tactical and adaptive performance are, how they differ and why it’s so important to balance both
- Total Motivation (ToMo) - what it is and why it can revolutionize the way you and your team work and what you can achieve
- New insights after publishing her book
- What’s next for Lindsay and her company, the Vega Factor
In 2014, Greg Satell experienced the Orange Revolution in Ukraine. What he observed in Kiev during that time seemingly defied all logic or reason: thousands of people would all of a sudden stop whatever they were doing and do something else entirely. And they did it in unison as if guided by a mysterious force. This whole situation baffled Greg so much that he decided to research what makes some social movements successful while others fizzle out without making an impact.
The outcome of the decade-long quest for understanding the principles of successful change is Greg’s new book, "Cascades - How to Create a Movement That Drives Transformational Change”.
The main thing that Greg discovered in his research was that:
"To truly change the world, you don't need a catchy slogan or a charismatic leader. What you need is a cascade, small groups, loosely connected but united by a common purpose."
If you seek to change the culture in your team or your company, you will find that Greg’s new book and our conversation are full of practical tips on how to successfully challenge the status quo, create transformational change and maintain it over time.
Bruce Daisley is obsessed with figuring out what makes a really great workplace. A Vice President EMEA for Twitter, he created the number-one business podcast in the UK, Eat Sleep Work Repeat, in his spare time.
On the podcast, Bruce interviews leading experts about how to fix our workplace and make work more enjoyable.
Recently, Bruce also published a new book based on his findings from the podcast. The book’s title is The Joy of Work, and it consists of 30 tips that cover a wide range of our modern office life.
If you are not entirely happy with the status quo at work and want to find out how to evolve your culture and start enjoying work more, this episode is for you.
Stan Slap is the CEO of SLAP. He has a hard-core point of view about what’s right with the world and must be protected and what’s wrong with the world and must be corrected.
Stan believes that nobody should be diminished by business - working in it or buying from it.
He is a realist who knows that we need to make a business case for humanity.
That's why he created SLAP and studied and worked with corporate culture for more than 20 years now.
Episode Highlights
- How Stan’s unique definition of culture came about
- What is employee culture, management culture, and customer culture… and how they differ
- Tactical advice on how to create “performance insurance” - getting the culture to stand up for the company when it needs it most
- Why we need to understand how culture operates if we want to bring about cultural change in our team or company
We often hear how important it is for an organisation to have a meaningful mission and purpose. And yet, a lot of companies struggle to see the link between their mission, purpose and business results.
So, here is a question:
Can a meaningful social mission help you grow your business and win in the marketplace?
Digital Divide Data (DDD) proves that it can.
DDD was founded by Jeremy Hockenstein and his friends after Jeremy's Cambodian vacation in 2001.
What Jeremy noticed during his first visit to Cambodia was the need to bring tech skills and living-wage work to men and women in underserved communities.
Since then, DDD established operation in Cambodia, Laos and Kenya and helped plant the seed for a socially responsible outsourcing practice known as impact sourcing.
Impact sourcing involves intentionally hiring and offering career opportunities to people who otherwise have very limited prospects due to poverty, disability, etc.
The combination of training and work experience that DDD offers, propels their graduates to find fulfilling work and earn lasting higher incomes.
On average, DDD graduates earn USD $175,000 more than their peers throughout their lifetime.
My guests, Jeremy Hockenstein, the CEO of the Digital Divide Data and Sopheap Im, DDD's Executive Vice President talk about how making sure that that their business is fully aligned with their mission helps the company succeed.
Episode Highlights
- the life-transforming power of DDD's business model
- the difficult balancing act that any social enterprise needs to perform: focusing on the core social mission and on making profits at the same time
- the challenges faced when working across cultures
- what DDD does to create a culture that helps them bring their mission to life: to transform lives around the world through sustainable training and employment programmes
Claude Silver is the Chief Heart Officer at VaynerMedia, a digital agency founded by Gary Vaynerchuk, an entrepreneur, author, speaker and internet personality.
In our interview, Claude explains that the “heart” in Chief Heart Officer means being in touch with the heartbeat of every single person at the agency.
She feels it’s her job to have a finger on the pulse of who needs mentorship, who needs a chat, who needs a team change, or who needs anything really.
Claude is constantly reaching out and communicating with people — through one-on-one conversations, text messages, emails, and quick phone calls.
Claude and I talk about the challenges of maintaining such a high-touch job while running an HR department of an agency with 800+ employees, what the culture at VaynerMedia is really like, and why “heart" is important when running a business.
Wes Kao is a marketing strategy expert who helps challenger brands maximise their product launches.
When working with her clients, she often finds that the biggest challenges for a lot of companies lie at the intersection of brand identity, marketing and culture.
Wes strongly believes that the culture people experience inside their organisation has a major influence on how the company is perceived externally and how successful it can be in the marketplace.
In this interview, Wes shares her experiences as a marketing strategist who's helped companies evolve their culture to achieve success and growth.
Barnaby Lashbrooke, the founder and CEO of Time Etc, brings busy entrepreneurs and incredible Assistants together.
Barnaby managed to transform his second business, Time Etc, from an initial failure into a global success story. As Time Etc culture evolved, the business itself has changed the lives of thousands of entrepreneurs by liberating them from more than two million tasks and saving them almost 500,000 hours to spend with their families or growing their businesses.
On this episode, we talk about Barnaby's journey towards creating a great company culture by discovering how to bring his authentic self into work and entrepreneurship.
Women often choose to take career breaks to take care of their children or other relatives, such as ageing parents. Some men are gradually joining them, too. And, sadly, what they quickly find out is that it’s really difficult to get reintroduced to the workplace after taking a break.
Lisa Unwin discovered that there’s a huge untapped potential in this talent pool.
This triggered her to carry out research in collaboration with the Edinburgh Business School, to establish a consultancy called “She’s Back” and to co-author a book under the same title.
Lisa’s book aims to help hundreds of thousands of professional women (and men) who have taken an extended career break, then realise that they have 20 (or more) years of professional life ahead of them and have no idea how to get back onto the right career track.
Every tenth episode of CultureLab, we look back at the previous 9 episodes and pick the ‘best bits’: the tips and stories that help us demystify organisational and team culture to make it more accessible and less overwhelming in its complexity.
The Best Bits episode is also an opportunity to zoom out and see the big picture, extracting common themes from the interviews with our diverse group of guests.
This time, yet again, we had a truly eclectic mix of guests: Rahaf Harfoush, Kate Cairns, Sue Black, Garry Ridge, Wendy Smith, Patty McCord, Kip Lambert, Dave Ulrich, and Ayse Birsel.
Here’s what you will find in this compilation:
- How Dave Ulrich defines culture and why he believes that we should be building a culture from the outside-in
- The "secret sauce" of Netflix’s success
- What's more important than technology in the future of work according to Digital Anthropologist, Rahaf Harfoush
- What building a culture from the inside-out looks like
- Why Garry Ridge and Kip Lambert credit the culture of their companies for their financial success
- Professor Wendy Smith talking about why we tend to get trapped in false dichotomies and how to break free of them by adopting a paradox mindset
- What Patty McCord, the author of "Powerful", has to say about the so-called "culture of fear" in Netflix
- Ayse Birsel speaking on how you can use design thinking and process to design a culture that your customers and employees love
- Professor Sue Black sharing what she does when she sees a problem that she cares about
- Kate Cairns on why we have more power to drive change than we think
Our guest, Ayse Birsel, learned that, contrary to what a lot of us believe, ordinary people can be extraordinarily creative - provided that they are given the right tools and use the right processes.
We can use this creativity in all sorts of unique pursuits, including reimagining and reinventing our teams, our cultures and our workplaces.
In this episode, Ayse and I discuss how to think like a designer to create a team, a company or a culture that we love.
In this episode, Dave Ulrich - the father of modern HR - talks about the ideas with the most impact that he encountered in his 40-year career as a management thinker and consultant.
Not surprisingly, he considers the shift of focus - from individual talent to culture - to be one of the most game-changing ideas in HR in the past decades.
But while in most cases we approach shaping culture from the inside out, Dave suggests there is a better way - identifying the right culture and shaping it "from the outside in".
When people think about the key attributes of a successful company culture, kindness doesn’t always make it to the top of the list. In fact, it often doesn’t make the list at all.
And yet, when you think of how kindness could potentially express itself through people’s daily actions at work, you’ll easily come up with a long list of highly desirable behaviours.
In this context, it’s not surprising that Kip Lambert, the co-owner and Chief Culture Officer of the company called Destination makes it his priority to cultivate a culture of kindness.
In this episode, Kip shares why kindness is so important for him and what he and his team do to create WOW experiences for their team members.
We live in the era of exponential change. Business as usual is dead and we need to redefine, reimagine and rethink work.
Our culture and our HR systems need a long overdue update.
Patty McCord is one of the biggest HR disruptors, challenging the old way of “doing HR”. She served as chief talent officer of Netflix for fourteen years and helped create the famous Netflix Culture Deck.
In this episode, she shares her disruptive thinking and culture lessons from the Silicon Valley.
We continuously ask ourselves the question: "Do I do this OR do I do that?
We are hard-wired to crave certainty and clarity and so we seek the best choice.
And instead of finding the answers that feel good and produce desired results, we are perpetually trapped in the same old dilemma: A or B?
But is it really a matter of choosing one over the other?
Our guest, Professor Wendy Smith doesn't think so.
Garry Ridge is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the WD-40 Company, a billion-dollar business with a 93% employee engagement index.
WD-40 has been making history when it comes to harnessing the power of organisational culture. It has kept its values aligned for over six decades by making them the heart and soul of the company.
On its culture homepage, WD-40 has the following message for job applicants: "Please consider employment with WD-40 Company only if you feel as strongly about our values as we do."
In this interview, Garry shares what makes WD-40 culture so unique and how its tribal nature fuels the company’s impressive business results.
For most of us, fear can be paralysing. The moment we experience fear, it stops us dead in our tracks - we are unable to move forward, desperately clinging to what we perceive to be our comfort zone.
But not Dr Sue Black. Every time Sue Black faced fear, it mobilised her to push beyond it and get to the other side. It seems that she knew perfectly well that everything that she ever wanted was on the other side of fear. In this interview, Sue Black and I talk about overcoming our fear, creating movements and evolving culture.
It can feel risky to put our head above the parapet and be the first one to challenge the status quo. And, it's even harder to actually do something to put things right.
In this interview, Kate Cairns reminds us that speaking up for what is right is crucial and brave - and sadly does not happen often enough. When we uncover a problem - in our team, our company, or our industry - it's up to us to DO something to fix it.
Tune in to find out what compelled Kate Cairns to advocate for policy change and what strategies she used to change the culture in an industry where women are still the minority.
In this episode we explore how technology and digitisation impact our culture: the way we live, learn, work, travel create, and fall in love. Best-selling author, strategist, and digital anthropologist, Rahaf Harfoush, challenges our view of technology, work, and our belief systems surrounding how to achieve fulfilment and happiness in our lives.
Rahaf works at the intersection between emerging technology, innovation, and digital culture. She is currently working on her third book entitled “Hustle & Float,” about our contemporary work culture and the realities of a post-work society.
We talk about what led Rahaf to focus on culture and technology, about the potential of technology to become a tool in creating workplaces that are healthy, stimulating and engaging, and the need to strike a balance in how we “hustle and float” - alternating periods of intense activity with “going with the flow.”
Every tenth episode of CultureLab, we look back at the previous 9 episodes and pick the ‘best bits’: the tips and stories that help us demystify organisational and team culture and make it more accessible and less overwhelming in its complexity.
Best Bits episode is also an opportunity to zoom out and see the big picture, extracting common themes from the interviews with our greatly diverse group of guests.
This time, we had a truly eclectic mix of guests: Richard Newman, Terence Mauri, Ed Schein, Michael Bungay Stanier, Tim Kuppler, Patsy Rodenburg, Thimon De Jong and Whitney Johnson.
Whitney Johnson is an innovation and disruption expert, best-selling author and one of the world's most influential management thinkers by Thinkers50. She’s an expert in disruptive innovation and personal disruption, and in this interview we talk about how you can tap into our innate human need to grow and develop to drive learning, engagement and innovation in your team.
Does the idea of a driverless car make you nervous? Timon De Jong, a futurist specialising in human behaviour, takes us back in time when automatic elevators made people just as apprehensive.
Originally, elevators had an operator who would stop the car at the right level and open and close doors manually.
It wasn’t ideal because of high cost of labour and human errors that often led to serious accidents. So when the first automatic elevator was invented in 1900, its creators were convinced that it would catch on like the proverbial sliced bread.
And yet, it took more than 50 years before the automated elevator was widely used by the public.
Why? Tune in to find out!
Patsy Rodenburg divides her time between London, New York and Silves in Portugal.
While London and New York is where she keeps busy, Silves is her place to retreat, write and recharge.
I met Patsy in her farmhouse in Silves - a perfect setting for a conversation about presence. Surrounded by citrus groves and vineyards, with an unobstructed view of the Silves Castle on one side and white storks of the Algarve busily flying to and fro above us, we eventually settled in her kitchen with a cup of tea.
Patsy was completely relaxed when I rearranged her furniture to minimise the echo of her newly renovated house, as if having people armed with huge mics and headphones was a daily occurrence on the farm.
It wasn’t until I looked at her fridge that she set her boundaries.
“I’m not switching that off.” she said, smiling.
I took a mental note: “This is how you can be warm and firm at the same time.”
Patsy and I sat opposite each other in the least “boomy” part of her house, crammed between her fridge and the kitchen window, when I asked my first question, the one i ask every CultureLab guest.
“What were the early cultural influence that shaped you as a person?”
Without any hesitation, Patsy replied, “Shakespeare”.
She discovered the great English poet and playwright as a 9-year old girl and her life was never the same since.
Since then, Patsy Rodenburg has become a world expert on teaching voice, speech and presentation skills, initially to actors, but more recently in high profile corporate spheres.
And it’s through her work with Shakespeare that she developed the concept of the Three Circles of Energy that we talk about during the interview.
We also talked about other really big topics - culture, leadership, fairness, service, redemption, love, and women’s voices.
Being in conversation with Patsy, in second circle, was a really powerful and intimate experience. She truly practices what she preaches and I hope that you enjoy this interview as much as I enjoyed spending time with her.
Episode highlights * What Shakespeare can teach us about power, love and fairness - and how it can be applied in modern organisations * The three circles of energy and why being in second is so important, particularly for leaders * Why people lose their presence and live their lives disconnected (and what can be done about that) * What enables creativity and high performance in organisations * How leaders contribute to creating a healthy culture * What great actors, singers and great leaders have in common * Lessons Patsy learned while working in high security prisons * The transformational practice of self-reflection and facing our own demons * Why it’s not possible to think our way of certain situations - and what we should be doing instead * Generosity and creating a healthy work environment * Maintaining presence when speaking in public * Tips for women to get their voices heard
More about Patsy Rodenburg Patsy originally trained as an actor but soon moved into voice coaching, fast becoming an associate of the Royal Court Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company, and eventually working as Head of Voice at the Royal National Theatre for 16 years. Her first book, The Right to Speak, was first published by Methuen in 1992 and was re-printed in 2015. Patsy then wrote The Need for Words (Methuen, 1993), The Actor Speaks (Methuen, 1997), and Speaking Shakespeare (Methuen, 2001), the last of which is viewed by the theatrical industry as a seminal work on the performance of Shakespeare.
She has worked extensively with actors (including Dame Judi Dench, Sir Ian McKellen, Daniel Craig, and Natalie Portman), directors (Trevor Nunn, Richard Eyre, Franco Zeffirelli and Tim Burton) and playwrights (Arthur Miller, Harold Pinter, Samuel Beckett), earning her OBE in 2005 for services to drama. She has also coached extensively for high profile politicians and statesmen.
Her extensive experience in examining human interaction on a theatrical level has given her vast insight into the qualities that are required for success in the corporate world, concepts which are best explored in her books, Presence (Penguin, 2007) and Power Presentation (Penguin, 2009).
Patsy is based in London but has taught all over the world transforming people from all walks of life, helping them to overcome perceived obstacles by helping them to redefine their presence. She is currently Professor of Text and Poetry at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, where she has been for 36 years and is on the board of directors with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Patsy also works extensively in the U.S.A from the Michael Howard Studios in New York.
To learn more about Patsy Rodenburg, go to:
www.patsyrodenburg.com
www.michaelhowardstudios.com/
Resources mentioned in this episode Ian Mcgilchrist, "The Master and His Emissary; The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World"
Patsy Rodenburg, "Presence: How to Use Positive Energy for Success in Every Situation"
Other resources Blog post
Reclaiming Your Presence
Videos of Patsy Rodenburg
The second circle
Why I do theatre
As I like to say, culture can be like the proverbial soap - often too slippery to grasp. My guest, Tim Kuppler - the Director of Culture and Organisation Development with Human Synergistics, is on a mission to make this deep and complex topic more accessible to an average person. And he does it brilliantly here.
In this episode, Tim and I have a truly in-depth conversation about what makes a culture transformation successful.
Tune in to listen to this incredibly rich and interesting interview that will answer many of the questions you had about evolving culture.
What you will learn in this episode * Why oversimplifying culture can be dangerous * What the difference between organisational culture and organisational climate is * Why assessing both culture and climate is so important * What are the three most popular approaches to culture change and why the future of culture transformation lies in combining all three * What’s the process that Tim and Human Synergistics use in their culture transformation projects * Why we need to combine qualitative and quantitative methods to understand culture in teams or organisations. * What are the 3 key factors that are always present in culture change projects that fail * How to overcome objections your stakeholders might have to undertaking culture work * What are the signs of readiness for culture transformation * How to enable the discipline that’s necessary to successfully implement the culture change agenda * What’s the number 1 reason that senior leaders stay away from pursuing culture work * Why it’s important to have a trusted guide when undertaking a culture change journey * Why your common frustrations might not be due to the difference in values but a difference in beliefs * Why sometimes it’s better not to call it “culture work” * What are the signs that it might be time to look for a new job * Why experimentation is great but only if you learn the basics first
About our guest Tim Kuppler is the Director of Culture and Organization Development with Human Synergistics, a 40-plus-year pioneer in the field of workplace culture and leadership. He is also the founder of CultureUniversity.com, an educational blog with a faculty of culture experts and a purpose to positively impacting society on a global scale through culture awareness, education, and action. He is an accomplished speaker and recognized as a top 100 leadership conference speaker on Inc.com.
He was a senior automotive executive and managed numerous culture and performance transformations with best practices featured in case studies, books, and keynote presentations. He was previously President of Denison Consulting and is the author of Build the Culture Advantage, Deliver Sustainable Performance with Clarity and Speed.
To learn more about Tim and Human Synergistics, go to:
constructiveculture.com
humansynergistics.com
Books and other resources mentioned in this episode Edgar Schein, Organizational Culture and Leadership, 5th edition
Edgar Schein, Humble Consulting
Charles Duhigg, The Power of Habit
Culture University Blog: cultureuniversity.com
Michael Bungay Stanier was the first Canadian Coach of the Year, he is a Rhodes Scholar, and was recently recognized as the #3 Global Guru in coaching.
In this episode, we talk about how to be a coach-like manager to increase your team’s productivity, impact and engagement.
Michael is the founder of Box of Crayons, a company best known for teaching 10-minute coaching so that busy managers can build stronger teams and get better results.
While he’s all for promoting coaching in the organisations, he says that we should never try to build a coaching culture.
Coaching is a powerful force of change and goodness in organisational life but it’s a means to an end - a process that helps better outcomes happen. And when we talk about building a “coaching culture” too much, the danger is that we make coaching culture the thing rather than what it allows to bring to this world.
"Coaching is a powerful force for change in organisations. But we shouldn't forget that it's merely a means to an end - a process that helps better outcomes happen."
Michael knows that asking managers to do something over and above what they are already juggling as part of their role isn’t be realistic. So instead, he approaches coaching as “a way of being”.
"Being a coach-like manager is not about adding something to your already too long to-do list. It's about transforming the way you do things."
Being a coach-like manager is basically about being curious for a little bit longer and rushing to action and advice giving just a little bit more slowly.
"To be a coach-like manager, all you need to do is to stay curious a little bit longer and rush to action just a little bit more slowly."
Michael's no-nonsense, manager-focused approach to cultivating a coaching culture reminded me of the huge importance of empathy in a change effort.
And probably one of the reasons why so many change efforts fail, particualrly culture change efforts is that empathy is not easy. We are not wired to step into someone else’s shoes and to see the world from their perspective. But if you can do the empathy bit well, everything else just flows from there.
Empathy is not easy. We are not wired to step into someone else’s shoes and to see the world from their perspective. But if you can do the empathy bit well, everything else just flows from there.
What struck me in this interview is that Michael has done his empathy homework really well. He has very clear answers to questions like: “Why do managers resist coaching?” or “What are their concerns when it comes to coaching?”. No wonder that his approach to teaching coaching and building a coaching culture is met with such a great enthusiasm from people he works with.
What you will learn in this episode * Why it should never be just about building a coaching culture * Key reasons managers don’t coach as much as they’d like to * Ways of overcoming obstacles to managerial coaching * What to do when you realise that you contribute to your team members’ challenges at work * How to convince people in your organisation that coaching is worth their time and effort
More about Michael When people talk about his successes, Michael likes to balance it out mentioning that he was banned from his high school graduation for “the balloon incident,” was sued by one of his law school lecturers for defamation, and his first published piece of writing was a Harlequin romance short story called “The Male Delivery.”
On the way to founding Box of Crayons in 2002, Michael lived in Australia, England, the United States and Canada, his current home.
He has written a number of books. His latest, the Wall Street Journal bestseller The Coaching Habit, has sold over 350,000 copies. It has been praised as one of the few business books that actually makes people laugh out loud.
"If I had to pick a person to have dinner with, when I need to be prodded and challenged and inspired to think about the things I really am committed to think about for myself and what I’m doing, I’d pick Michael Bungay Stanier. He has an ability to shake our tree and make us more conscious and responsible about what we know but aren’t willing to admit we know yet.”
—David Allen, author of Getting Things Done
You can find out more about Michael at:
boxofcrayons.com
coachinghabit.com
michaelbungaystanier.com
Books and resources mentioned on this episode Michael Bungay Stanier, “Do More Great Work”
Michael Bungay Stanier, “The Coaching Habit”
Frederic Laloux, “Reinventing Organisations”
Richard Pascal, Jerry Sternin & Monique Sternin, “The Power of Positive Deviance”
The Coaching Habit Podcast
The Great Work Podcast
There is no getting away from it - the person ultimately responsible for organisational culture is the leader. It’s what they do, what they pay attention to, and what they encourage and reward that will ultimately shape the organisation’s culture. Interestingly, it is also what the leaders don’t do and don’t pay attention to that can be a tremendously powerful culture shaping factor. As Ed said in the interview:"When it comes to culture, leaders get what they settle for."
What you will learn in this episode * what the key attribute of a successful culture is * how to determine whether you should be worried about your team’s or organisation’s culture * the circumstances in which culture is particularly important for an organisation * what people in organisations pay most attention to when it come to culture * when it makes sense to evaluate culture using quantitative and qualitative tools * what changing a culture really entails * whether small, light-touch interventions can be effective in changing culture * what a CEO or a leader should do when they want to see more of a coaching or innovation culture in their organisation * what Ed thinks of starting culture projects "in the middle" * what’s “personizing” and why it's important * More about the guest
Edgar Schein is a Society of Sloan Fellows Professor of Management Emeritus and a Professor Emeritus at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He made a notable mark on the field of organizational development. He is well known for his ground breaking work on the Organizational culture model.
You can find more about his and his son’s work on www.ocli.com
Books mentioned on this episode "Humble Leadership" by Edgar Schein and Peter Schein
"Humble Consulting" by Edgar Schein
"Humble Inquiry" by Edgar Schein
"Turning the Ship Around" by David Marquet
"The Team of Teams" by General Stanley McChrystal
To join The Experimenters Club, a community of people who try out the ideas from the podcast, click here.
To subscribe to my newsletter, the CultureLab Insider, click here.
If you are feeling nostalgia for the “old good times”, Terence Mauri doesn’t have good news for you. He believes that there’s no going back.
The era of gradual, incremental change is gone for good. Going forward, we’ll experience a perfect storm of exponential change. What used to be science fiction will now be science fact.
Terence says:"The speed of change today is the slowest you will ever experience in your lifetime. It can be both scary and exciting, all at the same time."
According to Terence, our fear of losing jobs and control to robots is mostly unfounded. He believes that there is a fantastic opportunity for humans to focus on tasks that we are naturally good at and allow the robots to do the “boring” stuff. Uniquely human traits, such as empathy or creativity will be valued more than ever in the future and we will have more and more opportunities for self-actualisation.
What you’ll learn in this episode: * what today's leaders need to do (and be) to thrive * how to cultivate an entrepreneurial culture * why experimentation is so important and how to carry out a successful experiment in your team * what "moonshot thinking" is and how to use it in your team or your business to shape culture * how technology can help us to understand culture in our organisations * what’s the kind of mindset that we all need to thrive in the future * what Day 1 and Day 2 cultures are
About our guest Terence Mauri is a global expert helping leaders innovate, adapt and succeed in the age of disruption in which massive yet hard-to-predict upheavals are expected. He is a keynote speaker, Inc. Magazine Columnist and author of the best selling book, The Leader’s Mindset: How To Win In The Age of Disruption. To learn more about Terence, go to: https://www.terencemauri.com
Books and other recources mentioned by Terence Dual Transformation: How to Reposition Today's Business While Creating the Future by Anthony Gilbert
The Moonshot Effect: Disrupting Business as Usual by Lisa Goldman , Kate Purmal , Anne Janzer
Fast/Forward: Make Your Company Fit for the Future by Julian Birkinshaw and Jonas Ridderstråle
Artificial Intelligence Personal Assistant website: https://x.ai
Business Insider article on Amy
The Experimenters Club To join experiementers club, just click here.
To subscribe to the CultureLab Insider, click here.
Imagine what would be possible if you could talk in a way that connects with people's emotions and mobilizes them to action.
Or craft stories that give meaning and illustrate what your team or your organization is truly about. Imagine what it would feel like to pitch your products or services at a 100% win rate...
In this episode of CultureLab, we host an award-winning communication expert and speechwriter, Richard Newmanwho shares incredibly useful tips on how to do all of the above - and more!
Communication and storytelling play a huge role in shaping cultures. In his book, “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind”, Yuval Noah Harrari makes a compelling case for storytelling and myths being the key factors for homo sapiens dominating our planet. He argues that stories and myths were the main enablers of civilisation as we know it. Without them, we would still live the life of our early ancestors, hunters and gatherers, struggling for survival in the world where homo sapiens was just a marginal creature.
Organisational myths and stories are no different. They serve as the collective memory and are one of the main tools to shape organisational culture.
So, do we really know how to use this powerful tool and make the desired impact on our co-workers and our work environment?
Richard Newman and I talk about how to improve the impact of our words and our stories.
About the guest
Richard Newman is an award-winning expert in communication, storytelling and influence.
He recently won the most coveted award in speech-writing, the Cicero Grand Prize Award for being the Best International Speechwriter, selected by a committee in Washington DC.
His team has given coaching to 50,000 people, across 45 countries, including CEOS and leadership teams.
His clients include Expedia, EE, AXA, Capgemini, Microsoft and 3M.
He is regularly featured on BBC London Radio and TV, discussing the communication styles of leaders.
Richard is a guest speaker at London Business School, where he teaches the MBA students.
Last year his team helped one client win over £1.2 billion in new business by improving the way they communicate, winning 100% of the work they bid for.
You can learn more about Richard at: http://www.ukbodytalk.com/
Books mentioned on the show:
Daniel Kahneman, “Thinking, Fast and Slow “
Simon Sinek, “Start with Why”
Robert McKee, “Storynomics”
Quotes from this episode:
“Many great ideas fail simply because they are poorly communicated” - Richard Newman
Tweet this quote: https://ctt.ec/35aM4
“When leaders are thinking of changing culture, it’s got to be on the emotional side of things. You’ve got to make sure that you win the emotion of the people involved.” - Richard Newman
Tweet this quote: https://ctt.ec/L36qf
Too busy to be on the lookout for new episodes of CultureLab? No problem. You can subscribe to the CultureLab Insider here ➦https://bit.ly/2FDoskq and you’ll get notified of each new episode that’s being released.
On March 13th CultureLab was 10 episodes old. To celebrate, we’ve created this “best bits” compilation with some of my personal favourites. From Marissa Levin, Richard Barrett and Emmanuel Gobillot on the role leaders play in shaping culture, through the transformative power of truth-telling and contagious nature of culture with DJ Mitsch, the 3 top skills that managers need today to create wellbeing cultures, the dialogue that moves mountains with David Clutterbuck, keynote listening with Itay Talgam to the “formula of guaranteed success’ with David Taylor.
If you are new to CultureLab, this is a great place to start!
For our organisations to create healthy cultures, we urgently need a new breed of managers: emotionally intelligent, able to give candid feedback, open, transparent and effective in leading organisational change.
According to our guest, Professor Cary Cooper, we still don’t have enough managers with strong people skills. In spite of progress made in the domain of HR in the past decades, people keep getting promoted to managerial roles for their technical expertise, not their leadership qualities.
It comes as no surprise that leaders lacking social skills create dysfunctional cultures characterised by utter lack of interpersonal understanding, transparency, recognition and personal and professional development.
As a result, the teams and organisation that they lead are often driven by fear and blame rather than by purpose and meaning.
Professor Cooper says that in order to creating wellbeing cultures where people thrive, change needs to start at the top. We need more senior leaders who walk the talk and can be seen as role models.
Sometime this may even require something that is greatly dreaded in the macho culture which is still so prevalent in today’s business world - vulnerability.
A good example of walking the talk and being is Antonio Horta-Osorio, the CEO of Loyds Bank in the UK, who admitted that his job nearly “broke” him as the bank’s finances drove him into a zombified state. Instead of trying to bury the news of his 2-month leave of absence caused by stress, he’d given details of the episode to raise awareness of mental health problems at work.
Other key qualities that the new breed of managers requires, according to Professor Cooper, are:
- Emotional Intelligence
- Keeping the right balance between recognition for a job well done and the useful constructive feedback
- Proficiency in supporting their teams to navigate change and solve problems
Resources and links:
CultureLab Facebook page ⥤ https://www.facebook.com/CultureLabPodcast/
The Experimenters Club Facebook page ⥤ https://goo.gl/G7ubo7
More on Building a Coaching Culture Programme ⥤ https://goo.gl/Wyayqy
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According to Professor David Clutterbuck, one of Europe's most influential management thinkers and author of over 70 books, truly great leaders have one thing in common:
They've mastered the art of dialogue that moves mountains.
David deeply believes that the majority of problems we face in the workplace could be easily solved through honest conversations where both parties are prepared to be open, to listen and take different perspectives on board.
So, what stands in the way of these powerful conversatons at work (and at home)?
One of the main obstacles is our apparent inability to be honest.
Not only are we not honest with others, we lack honesty with ourselves as well.
We've created an environment where being honest can be considered suicidal, particularly at work.
After all, who’d dare to tell their boss that their performances problems are due to the boss’ management style?
So, what's the solution?
David believes that to change the current status-quo, we need more “secure leaders”. (As in:"not insecure").
People who are confident enough to be honest.
Not afraid to be vulnerable.
Willing to share their weaknesses and quirks.
Managers who don't feel the need to control everything and everyone.
Leaders who choose to focus on creating an environment where people can manage themselves.
David refers to that environment as a place of “fizz and buzz”.
"Fizz" is the energy that you get from the work that you do. "Buzz" is the energy that you get from the people you do it with.
Want to find out more? Tune in to this episode of CultureLab.
Too busy to be on the lookout for new episodes of CultureLab?
Subscribe to the CultureLab Insider ⇒ https://goo.gl/AUUbJz
To learn more about the Building a Coaching Culture Programme, click here ⇒ https://goo.gl/Wyayqy
To learn more about Building and Sustaining a Coaching Culture book, click here: https://goo.gl/aAmtrF
To learn more about David, go to: https://www.davidclutterbuckpartnership.com
https://coachingandmentoringinternational.org
In 2005, David Foster Wallace addressed the graduating class at Kenyon College with a speech. He began it with a parable:
There are these two young fish swimming along, and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says, “Morning, boys. How’s the water?” And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes, “What the hell is water?
In this interview with Samie Al-Achrafi, he echoes Wallace and says:
Culture is to humans what water is to fish.
It's this mysterious thing “hidden in plain sight” that’s all around us.
Culture drives our behaviour and impacts almost everything that happens in our teams and organisations.
And yet we can rarely define it and are seldom fully aware of it.
In this episode CultureLab Samie and I take a stab at demystifying organisational culture. Here’s just a small sample of the topics we cover:
- what’s Marmalade Fish and why you might want to be one
- how to increase your ability to “see water” - and do something about it
- lessons Samie learnt during his experience as a cultural trainer at Walt Disney World in Florida
- culture blind spots - what they are and how to identify and address them with your team or colleagues
- ways of making culture change more accessible and more successful (hint - it’s all about chunking it up and making small, 1-degree shifts!)
- getting your team’s or organisation’s culture to align with and support your desired outcomes
Samie and his team created two very useful resources on organisational values and culture and they very generously share them with CultureLab listeners. To dowload, click on one of the links below:
1) Values Guidebook: https://goo.gl/LJuYPm
2) Culture Guidebook: https://goo.gl/D5iqwP
To subscribe to CultureLab Newsletter and get an update when a new episode is realeased, go to: https://goo.gl/AUUbJz
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Imagine that you are in a car, driven by a close friend of yours. She's speeding, going 50 mph in an area where the limit is just 30 mph.
And suddenly she hits a pedestrian.
After the incident, your friend's lawyer reassures you: “There were no other witnesses - if you swear under oath, your friend will be free."
Two questions:
- What right does your friend have to expect you to lie to protect them?
a) definite right
b) some right
c) no right
- Would you lie or not?
Just take a minute to answer these questions before you read on.
Ready?
Ok, let’s keep going.
What you have just experienced is a dilemma.
While a problem is something that can be easily solved if we have enough resources (such as money or time), a dilemma is much trickier than that.
My guest on CultureLab this week is Fons Trompenaars, a master of dilemma reconciliation and one of the 50 most influential management thinkers alive. He’s recognised as one of the world's most sought-after culture gurus and his book “Riding the Waves of Culture, Understanding Cultural Diversity in Business” is one of the most popular books on culture. Fons defines a dilemma in the following way:
"A dilemma is having two things that are important to us
(in this case friendship and truth)
and feeling like we have to sacrifice one over the other."
The way we tend to resolve the dilemmas in our lives is often driven by our national culture. Fons' research indicates that the majority of Italians, Greeks or Chinese would decide to help their friend, Germans would opt for being truthful, whereas the Americans…would say the truth - but promise to visit their friend in jail!
One thing that almost all of us have in common is a feeling that we are forced to choose - and the choice is almost impossible to make.
However, Fons suggests that we don't have to choose between the two.
WE CAN HAVE THE CAKE AND EAT IT, TOO!
Listen to this insight provoking conversation with Fons and let me know what you think.
And if you enjoy listening to CultureLab, consider suporting us by spreading the word. You can take a snapshot of your screen while listening and post it on Facebook or LinkedIn tagging @Aga Bajer or @coachaga on Twitter and using the hashtags #CultureLab #culturematters #handleonculture.
Or you can join the conversation on Facebook!
There’s a common misconception about what makes an orchestra electrifying: that it requires musicians to play in absolute harmony. The reality, however, both in music and in business is that truly extraordinary performances result from the right combination of unity and diversity.
Ensemble performances provide a powerful analogy to how teams operate in the workplace. A symphony orchestra is an example of teamwork, discipline, learning, role clarity, execution and true leadership in action.
And in this interview, Itay Talgam, an Israeli orchestra conductor and disciple of Leonard Bernstein talks about what we leaders can learn from the world of music to elevate their team’s performance.
Itay Talgam grew up in Israel. His early cultural influences were extremely diverse and rich. His parents were lawyers, but he grew up surrounded by their bohemian friends, European antiques, Japanese artefacts and a wonderful collection of contemporary Israeli art that his mother curated throughout her lifetime.
In this interview, Itay and I talked about a variety of topics - his first experience with leading a group of people while in Israel Defence Forces, the influence his mentor, Leonard Bernstein had on him and what he learnt about leadership during his career as an orchestra conductor.
Here are my key take-aways from this interview. I hope you find them useful in your search for ways to contribute to a strong and healthy culture in your team or organisation.
Embrace ignorance
Itay’s book, “The Ignorant Maestro” has been inspired by a French philosopher, Jacque Ranciere who quotes Joseph Jacotot, a nineteenth-century professor: “An ignorant can teach another ignorant what he does not know himself.”
To me, this is closely aligned with the coaching approach to leadership. Instead of telling people what to do or giving them answers to their questions, we encourage them to come up with their own solutions, interpretations and conclusions.
And what about you? Are you working too hard, trying to give your team members all the information you think they need, answering all their questions every time they arise? What if you could put the “ignorant teacher” hat once in a while and help your team members figure things out on their own for a change?
Take the whole person approach
The person who had the biggest influence on Itay was his mentor, Leonard Bernstein. He was the first orchestra conductor to enjoy the celebrity aura of a rock-star. A genius in many areas, Bernstein was incredibly skilled in enabling his musicians to bring and integrate their whole being into music making. He was interested in people’s hobbies, personal lives, their experiences and how these could be integrated into playing. His musicians were much more than just instruments for him. This whole-person approach defined Bernstein’s main mode of communication: a dialogue. And when he focused his attention on someone, that person knew and felt that they had his genuine, unconditional and undivided attention. He gave people the joy of discovery and creativity back. And this is when the magic happened.
So, how well do you know your team members? Do you think that they bring their whole being into the workplace and integrate it their work? How can you encourage that?
Expose and explore the gaps
As Itay says: “Gaps occur to us as a sense of incompatibility: Something doesn’t fit (…) A gap will occur when something taken for granted proves not to be the case. In other words, the coherence of one’s worldview is compromised.“ An example of a gap is when two colleagues who need to collaborate on a project have a completely different interpretation of certain aspects of the project plan. According to Itay, gaps like this are often experienced as uncomfortable and therefore usually ignored in the hope that they will somehow disappear. But this is precisely where the powerful potential lies: creativity in all forms of life, from arts to business depends on our ability to recognize and explore gaps. According to Itay, one of the most important functions of leadership is to recognise - and expose - the most potent gaps in the organisation. and for this, we need the next element.
When you think about your team or your organisation, what are the seemingly incompatible areas, what seems not to fit, what doesn’t seem to work? How could you use these gaps to bring about positive change?
Become a key-note listener
Itay uses the term “key-note listener” as the opposite to a “key-note speaker”. In key-note speaking, the agenda is set by speaking, by performing, by doing things to others. In key-note listening, on the other hand, the agenda is set by openness and active participation, by observing and co-creating, by doing things with others. Key-note listener’s focus is on noticing and creating dialogue.
What would creating an agenda by listening and observing look like in your team? How could you integrate it into your management style?
To learn more about Itay, go to:
www.talgam.com
When DJ Mitsch attended a writing workshop with Sam Horn in Washington, she thought it would help her polish the manuscript of what seemed to be a great case study book. However, instead of the final touches to her almost finished manuscript, she left the workshop with a title and an idea for a completely new book. That’s how “Zombies to Zealots” was born. And if you haven’t read it yet, the only thing I can say is “What are you waiting for?”
We embark on careers of our choosing with varying levels of enthusiasm and passion. But very few of us took a conscious decision to sell our soul for a pay-check. And yet, soon after we land that first job, things gradually creep up on us: a bad boss, a dysfunctional team, a boring project, a perceived lack of meaning. And, without even realising, we gradually lose our mojo at work. We spend our days in an unconscious, sleepwalking daze. We become, as DJ Mitsch put it, “zombified”.
The magnitude of this phenomena is huge. In fact, it looks like we might be experiencing an unprecedented zombie apocalypse in the workplace. According to the most recent Gallop survey, 85% of employees worldwide don’t feel fully engaged in their work. And it’s even worse in Western Europe.
That’s why I can’t think of a better way to kick off 2018 than with the interview with Darelyn DJ Mitsch who talks about how we can bring our soul back to life at work.
DJ is hard to label (but I will try anyway) - she’s a mystic, a coach, an author, a businesswoman, an innovator, a torch-bearer, a light worker and a game-changer. She lives with one foot in the world of Spirit and one firmly planted in the world of Business. Her mission is to blend these two worlds when coaching leaders around the globe.
And she has a message that at least 85% of people worldwide need to hear at the beginning of this year:
YOU CAN GET OUR GROOVE BACK AT WORK
How?
Tune in to find out!
Focusing on financial stability, customer satisfaction and employee engagement is necessary but not sufficient for an organisation to thrive.
According to Richard Barrett, long term success requires what he refers to as “full-spectrum consciousness”. It calls for a strong focus on creating a culture based on a shared vision and values, making a difference to others and embracing a service mentality.
Full spectrum consciousness cannot be achieved without full-spectrum leaders. As Richard says: "In the end, it’s all about you and the level of consciousness that you operate from - because this will be reflected in the group of people that you are leading."
Want to find out if you are a full-spectrum leader? Then tune-in to this episode!
ON RICHARD'S JOURNEY
Richard decided to pursue his current career relatively late in life. He was in his forties when, against the well-meaning advice of his friends, he left a comfortable position at the World Bank, giving up a 6-figure, tax-free pension to do something he had no qualifications in. He did that because he felt compelled to answer what he calls “his inner calling”.
This seemingly risky move turned our amazingly well for him if we consider that he now lives what he calls a “soul consciousness” life. Not only that, but he is also widely considered to be a world-class expert on culture and values in business and society.
WHAT WE TALK ABOUT
In this interview, Richard and I talk about the stages of human development and what resources are available to help us move through the stages. Richard describes what full-spectrum consciousnesses is and why it’s important to cultivate it in organisations.
We also discuss the, often underestimated, influence individual leaders can have on shaping a culture in an organisation, how to speed up the process of culture change and more!
Join the Conversation on Facebook and let us know what you think of how leaders shape a culture in their organisation!
MORE ABOUT RICHARD
Richard Barrett is an author, speaker and internationally recognised thought leader on the evolution of human values in business and society. He is the founder and chairman of the Barrett Values Centre®, a Fellow of the World Business Academy and Former Values Coordinator at the World Bank.
He is the creator of the internationally recognized Cultural Transformation Tools® (CTT) which have been used to support more than 6,000 organizations on their transformational journeys. To date, more than 5,000 change agents, consultants and coaches have been trained by the Barrett Values Centre to use the Cultural Transformation Tools in over 50 countries
Richard has been a visiting lecturer at the Consulting and Coaching for Change, Leadership Course at the University of Oxford and HEC in Paris. He has also been an Adjunct Professor at Royal Roads University, Institute for Values-based Leadership, and a visiting lecturer at the One Planet MBA at Exeter University.
Richard Barrett is the author of many books, the most recent ones A New Psychology of Human Well-Being: An Exploration of the influence of Ego-Soul Dynamics on Mental and Physical Health (2016), The Metrics of Human Consciousness (2015), Evolutionary Coaching: A Values-based Approach to Unleashing Human Potential (2014), The Values-Driven Organisation: Unleashing Human Potential for Performance and Profit (2013).
You can find more information about Richard Barrett on:
https://www.valuescentre.com/about/richard-barrett/
Links to resources mentioned on this episode:
where Richard talks about what’s culture, why it’s important and how can you make it conscious:
https://business-reporter.co.uk/2017/08/24/building-high-performance-culture/
Full-spectrum consciousness model:
https://www.valuescentre.com/mapping-values/barrett-model/full-spectrum-consciousness®
Richards’s books: https://www.valuescentre.com/resources/books
If we had to narrow it down to just one factor that differentiates a victim of culture from a leader, it would have to be their identity. While they often feel the same frustrations, notice the same problems and experience similar challenges, the leader sees herself as an agent of change. This self perception urges her to take action that challenges the status-quo. And it turns out that this act of courage creates ripples and waves that make a world of difference to others.
In this episode Emmanuel Gobillot talks about how an individual within an organisation can significantly contribute to improving their company culture, what’s important to keep in mind when we are trying to create a culture of collaboration and how to overcome fears that stand in the way to creating an environment where 1+1 equals much more more than 2.
About the guest
Emmanuel Gobillot is the founder of Emmanuel Gobillot Limited, and a co-founder of ‘Collaboration Partners’.
Emmanuel and I go back many years - we both used to work in Hay Group in our previous lives and this is where our paths had crossed for the first time.
Emmanuel has worked with many organisations ranging from Astra Zeneca to Google and The United Nations and for more than 15 years, he’s delivered results based on his mantra:
‘There must be a better way and together we will find it’.
A lot of his fascinating ideas are captured in his books: The Connected Leader, Leadershift, Follow the Leader, and his most recent - Disciplined Collaboration.
To learn more about Emmanuel, you can go to:
www.emmanuelgobillot.com
When profits or revenues plummet or when people feel disengaged and disconnected, the culprit is often the company culture.
In this episode of CultureLab, Aga talk to Marissa Levin, the CEO of Successful Culture about what can be done to create a culture that works for your company, not against it.
How would you go about harnessing the power of culture in your organisation?
What happens when an organisation’s culture gets stuck in its natural evolution?
And - is there are difference between inspiring and motivating others?
These are just some of the questions we explore with Marissa Levin on this episode of CultureLab.
Marrisa’s earliest cultural influences find their roots in her religion and her family. She was brought up in an environment where service to others was at the centre of family values. Her father, a high ranking leader in NASA was deeply committed to developing others and creating equal opportunities for everyone. Marrisa’s mother was actively engaged in supporting AIDS patients since the eighties, when AIDS was still surrounded by mystery and fear.
The example of her parents stuck with her throughout her life and inspired her to make her own contribution to enabling others live a life of dignity and potential. So much so that today Marissa is a growth strategist on a mission to educate, equip, & empower 100 million entrepreneurs & leaders with the skillsets and mindsets they need to reach their greatest potential.
In our interview, Marissa talks about the importance of self-awareness for leaders who want to shape the culture of their organisation. She emphasises the critical role organisational values play and the process she uses to help clients define their core values, mission and vision. She also talks about companies she admires for their culture and how she approaches cultivating a successful culture in her own business.
To find out more about Marissa and her company, you can go to:
www.successfulculture.com
David Taylor (aka The Naked Leader), believes that change has become the most meaningless, boring, and pointless word in every organisation. And what he suggests focusing on instead of change is choice.
David makes a bold statement - he says that he figured out the formula of guaranteed success. He claims that if you follow the formula, success is guaranteed no matter what your background, your present position, where you want to go, or who you want to be.
Sounds too good to be true? Have a listen to this inaugural episode of CultureLab and find out!
David Taylor is the Founder of Naked Leader and the author of the fastest selling business book in the world: The Naked Leader (and four follow-ups to it). He’s also the Visiting Professor of Entrepreneurial Leadership at Ulster Business School.
As a speaker, David has keynoted in 74 countries – he has been voted Best European Business Speaker and has shared platforms with the likes of Nelson Mandela, Bill Clinton and Michael Gorbachev, and he has featured in three TV series. You’ll understand why when you listen to the podcast.
But most of all, David is a provocateur - in the most positive sense of the word. He challenges our beliefs and the status quo and forces us to see the reality in a completely different way.
David believes that the most powerful force that drives everything in our lives and in organisations are choices. His key message is “be successful by being yourself because this is the only thing that you will need.”
He believes that this principle can be applied to organisations as well. While the traditional approach to culture change focuses on identifying what doesn’t work, David advocates focusing on what people in the organisation are already great at and the aspects of the organisation culture that already work and that people are proud of.
This is definitely what I have learnt about culture evolution as well - the paradox is that you can only change a culture if you respect it and work with it and within it, instead of against it.
There are many more fascinating topics that we cover in this interview with David. I hope that you enjoy listening to this episode as much as I enjoyed interviewing David!
To learn more about David Taylor and Naked Leader, you can go to:
www.nakedleader.com