Driving Results Through Culture

I am often asked about my three-phase culture refinement process. Today I’ll share how the first phase – the “define” stage – creates a foundation for your purposeful, positive, productive work culture. My approach is founded on this hard fact – senior leaders must drive and champion their organization’s culture. They are ultimately responsible for clarity of the organization’s servant purpose, values and behaviors, strategies, and goals. They can’t delegate this responsibility to HR or any other function – they must model and coach their desired culture daily. In the define stage, I help senior leaders formalize their desired culture through an organizational constitution – which includes the four elements noted above. First, it describes the organization’s present day servant purpose. This statement describes what the company does, for whom, and to what end – how what they do for customers improves customers’ quality of life. When I interview team leaders and team members in an organization, I ask, “What’s

  When leaders find undeniable data that their work culture is bent or broken, they must address the problem immediately. In recent days, two highly-regarded work cultures have been faced with such undeniable data. In one case, 16 US Marines were arrested on their Southern California base, on suspicion of drug offenses and smuggling of undocumented migrants. In the second case, Rear Admiral Collin Green communicated to all SEAL team leaders and members that, “We have a problem.” In response to an entire SEAL team recently being sent home from Iraq due to allegations of sexual assault and alcohol abuse and members of a second SEAL team allegedly having abused drugs while stationed in Virginia last year, Green said, “I don’t know yet if we have a culture problem. I do know that we have a good order and discipline problem that must be addressed immediately.” Workplaces face these same issues. Simply defining your desired values and behaviors doesn't mean people will actually embrace them. In today's thre

How healthy is your work culture? The reality is that senior leaders can’t improve their work culture unless they understand the real condition of their current work culture. Here are three ways to solve that problem. First, ask. This is an informal way of gathering information about cultural health. One of my clients spends three hours a week to “stay connected” to team members and team leaders across the organization. Second, measure. This is a more formal way of gathering information about cultural health. I recommend Human Synergistics’ Organizational Culture Inventory (OCI) to my clients. It provides a valid assessment of the health of one’s work culture across the organization and within sub-units. Third, refine. After listening and learning in the first two steps, begin making small changes to improve respect, relationships, and cooperation. In today's three minute episode of my Culture Leadership Charge video series, I share details about these three ways for senior leaders to learn the condition of t

Creating an inclusive culture requires shifts in thinking, recruiting, hiring, and operating. Our biases are not obvious to us – yet these biases inhibit the creation of truly diverse and productive work cultures. I’m always looking for unique, healthy work cultures. I learned about Five Points Academy through an insightful TechCrunch article by Ken Kao. The academy’s owners focused on creating a community where everyone was welcomed. One owner, Steve said, “By not having the right culture, you might turn away a person – not just women but also other men – that can potentially improve your gym.” He added, “We don’t want an a-hole culture – not just because women might be turned off, but men would, too.” As new members joined, they consistently asked, “What environment would be welcoming for him or her?” They’d then do their best to cater to a broader range of members needs. In this three-minute episode of my Culture Leadership Charge podcast series, I examine how Five Points Academy modeled my three-step cult

The leader’s most powerful tool boils down to two compelling words: “Thank you.” Before you dismiss this idea, let’s look at the science behind the expression of gratitude – in our homes, schools, communities, and workplaces. Author, professor, and scientist Robert Emmons shares research that found people that practice gratitude enjoy significant physical, psychological, and social benefits. Some of those benefits include a stronger immune system, lower blood pressure, higher levels of positive emotions, higher alertness, more compassion, and less isolation. Gratitude doesn’t come as naturally to us humans as crankiness. We notice and talk about things going badly more than we notice and talk about things that are going great. In order to act from a place of gratitude, we have to train ourselves to be on the lookout for good things around us. We have to pay attention – we have to observe good things, notice good things, and express appreciation for those good things. The cool thing is that people are doing go

  How do leaders in your organization keep their “fingers on the pulse” of the employee experience? To stay in tune with employee perceptions and with the employee experience, leaders must make “being attuned” a priority. They must invest time and energy regularly to ask, learn, and modify. First, ask. There are a number of effective ways to gain reliable, valid insights from employees. Use a variety of different methods regularly – from one-on-ones to informal meetups with senior leaders to town hall meetings, etc. In addition, conduct formal employee surveys at least once each year. Employee surveys typically focus on engagement or on values alignment. Both of these angles are equally important – which is why I coach clients to do both, every year. Employee engagement surveys provide insights into work relationships, practices, and policies. Values alignment surveys are specific to your company’s values and behaviors. These surveys provide employees the opportunity to rate their bosses (and the company’s se

  I am working on my next book, which I’m writing with the brilliant Mark Babbitt. It’s in the proposal stage and you’ll hear much more about our book in the months to come. In our research and interviews, two consistent themes are apparent: * first, the failure of leaders to improve employee engagement or the employee experience over the past 30 years, and * second, the failure of leaders in the past 10 years to adapt workplace assumptions, practices, and structure to accommodate younger generations entering the workforce. These failures have, not surprisingly, led to increases in workplace stress. A 2018 study by Korn Ferry found that 76% of respondents reported that stress at work had a negative impact on personal relationships. 66% report they’ve lost sleep due to work stress. 16% quit their jobs due to stress. Leaders have a huge impact on workplace stress. 35% of respondents say that their boss is their biggest source of job stress. 80% say a change in leadership (a new direct boss, for example) negativ

How many of you have done team building activities with work groups? We’ve all done events like bowling or tower building or trust falls. How often, though, have those activities translated into sustained healthier work relationships? Not very often. Does that mean team building is a worthless endeavor? Not at all. Effective teamwork lies at the heart of most good things that happen in workplaces. Teams with purposeful, positive, productive work cultures accomplish things that separate individuals cannot consistently deliver. So, how can we create effective team building that contributes to sustained healthy relationships? By engaging with others in meaningful, cooperative activities away from the workplace and then leveraging insights gathered there into positive and productive work relationships. The most compelling team building experiences use cooperative interaction. In this episode, I describe the powerful impact of cooperative interaction and share how to refine a typical team building activity to requ

I’m fascinated to learn how companies with purposeful, positive, productive work cultures make that happen – and make sure it keeps happening every day. We got a wonderful “behind the scenes” look recently at one of Glassdoor’s 2019 Employee’s Choice Best Places to Work – Trader Joe’s. Last month, a Trader Joe’s employee opened a discussion on Reddit, inviting questions about the unique work culture there, why employees are so happy there, and more. In response to “why are employees so happy there?,” this employee said, in short, “we’re treated very well.” This employee described five characteristics of their culture: * No bureaucracy * Be yourself * Act with integrity (which is one of their company values) * Great environment * Great coworkers None of these characteristics surprise us Trader Joe’s shoppers. We can see employees’ joy and are wow’ed by the service we enjoy and by the store’s terrific products. What is shocking is that so few organizations embrace these characteristics. Despite the knowledge th

There are no small lies. Every lie erodes your integrity. In this episode, Chris shares a story about being asked to lie – by his boss – and how he handled that challenging scenario. This is episode sixty-three of Chris' Culture Leadership Charge video & podcast series. In these concise episodes, Chris presents the best practices for creating and maintaining a purposeful, positive, productive culture - at work, at home, and in your community. This content was released in video format on Chris' website, http://DrivingResultsThroughCulture.com, on April 1, 2019. Check out Chris' YouTube channel to view all of his short, crisp Culture Leadership Charge video episodes.

Here is episode sixty-two of S. Chris Edmonds' Culture Leadership Charge video series. In these concise videos, Chris presents the best practices for creating and maintaining a purposeful, positive, productive culture - at work, at home, and in your community. In this episode, Chris examines powerful research from TinyPulse's 2019 Employee Engagement Report and shares a simple, effective two-step process for ensuring leaders recognize good things happening on their team. This content was released in video format on Chris' website, http://DrivingResultsThroughCulture.com, on March 18, 2019. Check out Chris' YouTube channel to view all of his short, crisp Culture Leadership Charge video episodes.

Here is episode sixty-one of S. Chris Edmonds' Culture Leadership Charge video series. In these concise videos, Chris presents the best practices for creating and maintaining a purposeful, positive, productive culture - at work, at home, and in your community. In this episode, Chris explains how humans' flawed logic and assumptions lead us to wrong conclusions. We need to dig for facts and base our understanding on truth, as best we can, daily. This content was released in video format on Chris' website, http://DrivingResultsThroughCulture.com, on March 4, 2019. Check out Chris' YouTube channel to view all of his short, crisp Culture Leadership Charge video episodes.

Here is episode sixty of S. Chris Edmonds' Culture Leadership Charge video series. In these concise videos, Chris presents the best practices for creating and maintaining a purposeful, positive, productive culture - at work, at home, and in your community. Today's topic: Chris describes how to respond to team leaders or team members whose effectiveness has diminished, through things like increased skill demands, disrespectful treatment of others, and more. This content was released in video format on Chris' website, http://DrivingResultsThroughCulture.com, on February 18, 2019. Check out Chris' YouTube channel to view all of his short, crisp Culture Leadership Charge video episodes.

Here is episode fifty-nine of S. Chris Edmonds' Culture Leadership Charge video series. In these concise videos, Chris presents the best practices for creating and maintaining a purposeful, positive, productive culture - at work, at home, and in your community. Today's topic: Chris describes how great bosses don't assume they understand what employees think - they ask, measure, listen, and learn, then refine leadership practices to build results and respect daily. This content was released in video format on Chris' website, http://DrivingResultsThroughCulture.com, on February 4, 2019. Check out Chris' YouTube channel to view all of his short, crisp Culture Leadership Charge video episodes.

Here is episode fifty-eight of S. Chris Edmonds' Culture Leadership Charge video series. In these concise videos, Chris presents the best practices for creating and maintaining a purposeful, positive, productive culture - at work, at home, and in your community. Today's topic: Chris shares a real client example outlining the critical importance of clarifying expectations - for results and respect - AND holding everyone accountable for demonstrating those vital outcomes daily. This content was released in video format on Chris' website, http://DrivingResultsThroughCulture.com, on January 21, 2019.

Here is episode fifty-seven of S. Chris Edmonds' Culture Leadership Charge video series. In these concise videos, Chris presents the best practices for creating and maintaining a purposeful, positive, productive culture - at work, at home, and in your community. Today's topic: Chris outlines the importance of creating a single, overarching personal servant purpose - to guide you no matter the role you're in, at home, at work, and in your community.

Here is episode fifty-six of S. Chris Edmonds' Culture Leadership Charge video series. In these concise videos, Chris presents the best practices for creating and maintaining a purposeful, positive, productive culture - at work, at home, and in your community. Today's focus: Chris shares his four top books for leaders to read to learn about culture leadership and creating a purposeful, positive, productive work culture.

Here is episode fifty-five of S. Chris Edmonds' Culture Leadership Charge video series. In these concise videos, Chris presents the best practices for creating and maintaining a purposeful, positive, productive culture - at work, at home, and in your community. Today's focus: "You get what you reward." That's a truism that leaders must consider, every day. If people don't treat each other with respect - and you want them to - you have to measure the degree of respectful treatment regularly. Chris explains how in this short cast.

Here is episode fifty-four of S. Chris Edmonds' Culture Leadership Charge video series. In these concise videos, Chris presents the best practices for creating and maintaining a purposeful, positive, productive culture - at work, at home, and in your community. Today's focus: We're surrounded by distractions - some within our control, some not. The trick is to reduce distractions as best you can and embrace those you can't ignore. Learn how in this podcast!

Here is episode fifty-three of S. Chris Edmonds' Culture Leadership Charge video series. In these concise videos, Chris presents the best practices for creating and maintaining a purposeful, positive, productive culture - at work, at home, and in your community. Today's focus: Kindness - demonstrating it and even observing it - brings great health benefits to us humans. Yet kindness isn't common. Treating others kindly isn't complicated. Learn how in this short podcast.