In the final episode of Culture Speak: The art of talking about work, I summarise the six previous episodes and talk about what it takes to not only put the learning together but also how to positively evolve the culture.
I emphasise the need for continuous feedback and engagement, advocate for pulse surveys over traditional yearly assessments and highlight the significance of redefining culture collaboratively and ensuring that all employees feel a sense of ownership in the cultural journey. Building a vibrant culture is one thing, staying there is another challenge entirely!
Key takeaways:
Sustained vibrant culture requires committed executive support.
You can only have one skeptic in the team.
Training managers is crucial for building culture.
Culture is perpetual and constantly changing.
Pulse surveys are more effective than yearly engagement surveys.
People should rate their own culture for better insights.
Engagement scores can significantly improve with ownership.
Activities to maintain culture should be frequent and engaging.
Everyone should have a say in defining culture.
Creating a culture journey involves collective input.
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction to Culture Speak
02:33 The Three Elements of Vibrant Culture
04:31 Defining and Measuring Culture
06:24 Engagement and Ownership in Culture
In episode 6 of Culture Speak: The art of talking about work I discuss the characteristics of a vibrant culture, where engagement is high, people are consistently able to bring their best selves to work and results are achieved. This is the kind of culture that everyone wants to work in!
Key takeaways:
Vibrant cultures are built on emotional intelligence and engagement.
Management capability is crucial for fostering a vibrant culture.
Culture must be actively maintained, not just defined.
Leadership commitment is essential for a strong culture.
Learning from failure is a key aspect of vibrant cultures.
Investing in culture can take various forms, including time and creativity.
Engagement scores can indicate the health of a culture.
Changing a culture takes time and consistent effort.
Defined cultural values must be upheld by all members.
Vibrant cultures create an environment where anything is possible.
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction to Vibrant Cultures
02:19 Defining and Maintaining Culture
05:33 The Role of Leadership in Culture
07:22 Engagement and Continual improvement
If you only listen to one episode of this seven-part series of Culture Speak, make it this one. In episode 5 I discuss the characteristics of a toxic culture, where - if swift action isn’t taken - lives, results and reputations can be ruined. I discuss the three levels of toxicity (0-2), how to spot it and how to deal with it so that you don’t ever get to level two.
Key takeaways:
Toxic cultures are easily avoidable.
Engagement is a two-way street between the organization and employees.
Combatant cultures can lead to high stress and anxiety.
Unconscious bias thrives in consistently combatant cultures.
Persistent profanities and microaggressions are signs of toxicity.
Cutting off toxic individuals is essential for cultural recovery.
Corrosive cultures can cause genuine harm to employees.
Toxic cultures have led to significant business failures historically.
Emotional cruelty is as damaging as physical harm.
Assessing your culture can guide necessary changes.
Chapters:
00:00 Understanding Toxic Cultures
02:46 Identifying Combatant Cultures
05:29 Corrosive and Harmful Cultures
08:39 Moving Towards Vibrant Cultures
In this fourth episode of Culture Speak I discuss the characteristics of a combatant culture, where engagement is high, but emotional intelligence is low, and every day is filled with anxiety, stress and busy-work.
Key takeaways:
Engagement is a two-way street between the organization and the employee.
Combatant culture can be beneficial in small doses but harmful if prolonged.
High engagement with low emotional intelligence can lead to toxic behaviors.
Brilliant jerks can undermine team dynamics despite their skills.
Combatant cultures often exhibit anxiety, stress, and burnout.
Workplace culture oscillates between pleasant and combatant, leading to exhaustion.
Engagement scores can be misleading if toxic behaviors are present.
People often wear their busyness as a badge of honor in combatant cultures.
Effective leadership requires addressing toxic behaviors promptly.
Understanding your workplace culture is crucial for improvement.
Chapters:
00:00 Understanding Combatant Culture
02:44 The Impact of Engagement and Emotional Intelligence
05:45 Navigating Toxic Behaviors in the Workplace
In this third episode of Culture Speak I discuss the characteristics of a pleasant culture, where emotional intelligence is high, but everything is just, well, a bit ‘nice’.
Key takeaways:
Emotional intelligence and engagement are key workplace factors.
Pleasant cultures can lead to stagnation despite empathy.
Respect is crucial in team dynamics, even without friendship.
Gossip and backbiting can arise in pleasant cultures.
Pleasant cultures often lack the challenge needed for growth.
Blind optimism can hinder progress in organizations.
Risk aversion is common in pleasant cultures.
Culture change requires engagement and skill development.
Organizations must align their engagement levels with employee expectations.
The Five Cultures quiz can help assess workplace culture.
Chapters:
00:00 Understanding Pleasant Cultures
06:18 The Challenges of Pleasant Cultures
In this second episode of Culture Speak I discuss the importance of emotional intelligence and engagement in work culture and highlight the detrimental effects of stagnant cultures, where individuals prioritise personal interests over teamwork
Key takeaways:
Emotional intelligence and engagement are crucial for a positive work culture.
Stagnant cultures are characterised by individuals prioritising personal interests.
Low engagement leads to high attrition rates and poor performance.
Feedback and accountability are essential for team success.
A lack of consequences for poor behavior fosters stagnation.
Teamwork requires collective agreement and commitment.
Cultural stagnation can be more frustrating than toxic environments.
Generational shifts have changed perceptions of teamwork and individualism.
Organisations must address poor performance to improve culture.
Optimism is often lacking in stagnant work environments.
Chapters:
00:00: Understanding Emotional Intelligence and Engagement
02:41: The Impact of Stagnant Cultures
05:42: Consequences of Poor Performance in Organisations
In this first episode of Culture Speak, I introduce the concept of organisational culture, emphasising its importance and talking through the elements that shape a work environment.
I discuss the necessity of committed leadership, capable management, and a common language to foster a vibrant culture.
The episode also highlights the significance of emotional intelligence and engagement in creating a positive workplace culture, setting the stage for further exploration in subsequent episodes.
Chapters:
00:00: Introduction to Culture Speak
02:55: Understanding Organizational Culture
04:44: The Three C's of Vibrant Culture
07:04: The Role of Middle Managers in Culture
10:23: Emotional Intelligence and Engagement in Culture
Takeaways:
Culture is the shared values, behaviours, and practices.
You get the culture that you choose to build.
Culture is perpetual and requires ongoing effort.
Committed executive support is essential for cultural change.
Middle managers play a crucial role in shaping culture.
A common language around culture is necessary for feedback and accountability.
Emotional intelligence helps build strong relationships at work.
Engagement is a two-way street between the organisation and individuals.
Culture is built at a team level, not just top-down.
The goal is to create fantastic places to work.
To take the culture quiz head to www.fiveculturesquiz.com
#culture #communication #leadership #motivation
The jostling between consulting and training organisations for AI transformation programmes has begun. However, rather than the 'technology agility' approaches that they're selling to implement AI, what's required is a change in culture, or 'emotional agility.'
On this episode of the Colin on Culture podcast I provide 5 behaviours that employees need to adopt in order to build an AI-ready culture.
There's a lot of performance with regards to culture and values are one of the worst culprits with 75% of employees in one survey saying that the correlation between the organisation stating them versus the daily practice of them is zero!
On this episode of the Colin on Culture podcast I provide 5 signs that your values may be worthless.
How we work - our culture - is perpetual. It changes all of the time and is shaped by 3 distinct factors. Once leaders and employees understand these fators they are better able to respond and build a programme of events that ensure that the culture continually evolves to be relevant to the way people want to live and work today.
If you are interested in the printed resource that I talk about in this podcast you can get this from www.colindellis.com/resources
According to research, over $3tn is wasted every year on excess bureaucracy ranging from simple process flaws to overly risk averse people and control freaks! In this video I not only talk about the issues that bureaucracy creates, but also provide a model to better understand how it arises and three actions you can take to stop it.
Link to research: https://www.garyhamel.com/sites/default/files/uploads/three-trillion-dollars.pdf
Sign up to my daily blog: www.colindellis.com/boom
In this episode of the Colin on Culture podcast I talk about the growing problem of meetings and provide strategies on the things that you can do to ensure that they don't kill your culture.
The recent BBC culture review highlighted a number of issues, not least, what behaviour is considered to be acceptable and what's not. In this episode I discuss the findings and also talk about how your organisation can avoid these 'grey' behaviours.
Read the BBC report at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/documents/bbc-workplace-culture-report.pdf
Middle managers are the difference between success and failure and yet not only do they recognise that they don't have the skills to succeed, organisations recognise that they underinvest in them too!
On this episode of the Colin on Culture podcast I provide insights and statistics on how to tackle the middle management crisis.
Let's explore the key characteristics of vibrant workplace cultures and take inspiration for culture change.
I look at the importance of building human relationships, effective collaboration, celebrating successes, learning from failures, establishing meaningful values, promoting equity, and maintaining work-life balance. By adopting these practices, you too can foster a positive and productive work environment.
Subcultures play an important role in shaping organisational culture. Managers have the agency to create their own team cultures without needing permission, but they don't always have the skills to foster a sense of belonging among employees. In this episode I explore how subcultures can drive culture change and enhance overall performance and the crucial skills development for managers that will make it possible.
Subscribe to Colin on Culture here for weekday emails full of insights and inspiration for creating a great place to work: www.colindellis.com/boom
Take the Five Cultures Quiz and find out what kind of culture you have right now: https://www.fiveculturesquiz.com/
In this episode I'm exploring the parallels between toxic workplace cultures and the phenomenon of UFOs, emphasising how leadership often denies or gaslights concerns about toxic behaviours. Let's look at the importance of acknowledging issues, the toxic culture ladder, and the necessity of creating a safe environment for employees to report concerns. I also look at the need for effective crisis management and communication strategies to address and mitigate toxic cultures.
Subscribe to Colin on Culture for a weekday mixed media email that will help you to create a great place to work.
Leadership behaviour significantly influences and shapes workplace culture.In this episode I outline a five-step framework for effective behaviour change that emphasises the importance of recognition, setting expectations, accountability, coaching, and providing help to facilitate sustainable change.
Behaviour change is not only possible but essential for creating a vibrant organisational culture. And yes, you can teach an old dog new tricks.
Subscribe to Colin on Culture for a weekday mixed media email that will help you to create a great place to work.
Welcome to the first episode of the Colin on Culture podcast - a revamp of Culture & Coffee for 2025!
In this episode I explore the critical distinction between merely investing in organisational culture and being genuinely invested in it.
I share some insights from my own experiences which have reinforced for me that true investment in culture involves active participation, accountability, and a commitment to continuous improvement.
📧 Subscribe to Colin on Culture - a weekday newsletter and a monthly deep dive: https://www.colindellis.com/boom
Free resources when you sign-up:
☑️ Access to my virtual masterclass: How To Build A High Performance Culture
☑️ 10 Benefits of Purposeful Culture Building - a visual guide
☑️ Whitepaper: How Executives Enable a High Performance Culture
☑️ Whitepaper: A Management Guide To Great Cultures
☑️ The Common Sense Email Charter
☑️ The Common Sense Manifesto
What does it mean to be happy at work and why does it matter?
In this episode I discuss the importance of employee happiness, distinguishing it from mere engagement, and explore where happiness is derived from: well-being, a growth mindset, and achievement.
I share insights on how organizations can foster a culture that values happiness, leading to increased productivity and reduced turnover. Let's also look at the role of leadership in creating an environment where employees feel motivated and fulfilled, ultimately contributing to both personal and organizational success.
What kind of culture do you have right now?
Take the free Five Cultures Quiz and find out.
