The Culture+ Blog
Insights to help you create a compelling and connected culture
High-performance teams come from high-performance cultures
The Latest!
Tuesday Tactic: Reduce turnover by identifying the full path of promotion
"Where do I go from here?" By the time the question is asked, it's too late. Several organizations I have worked with haven't clearly identified their pathways to full promotion. By failing to do this, you are inviting turnover. What do I mean? You might have a job sequence identified (with designations like Engineer 1, Engineer 2, Engineer 3), but what happens beyond that? Anything? Where else can they go in the organization? What are all the levels of advancement? What are the requirements...
More Insights…
Leadership in a high drag environment
Drag. Airplanes experience drag as an opposing force of thrust. (Pilots: do you remember the two other forces?) If you have ever flown commercially, you have experienced drag. Remember back to your last flight. Remember when the crew dropped the landing gear on...
From Naked Panic to Appreciated Risk [Future of Leadership Monthly – March 2020]
Robert Neville is getting agitated.It’s a reaction to Anna's optimism about their dire situation."Six billion people on earth when the infection hit.”He goes on to describe KV, the genetically-engineered measles virus designed to cure cancer that somehow went rogue....
Fear as function of context
The Dow Jones dropped over 1,000 points today, the third biggest point loss in its history. The reason for the decline? Well, it's the same reason every time: fear. This time we are fearful about the fallout from the Coronavirus. Fear is a big problem for us. Fear...
Creativity alone won’t get you anywhere
"...creativity is the single-most important skill in the world for all business professionals today to master." This quote courtesy of LinkedIn and via its data. I understand what they are trying to say, but it's incomplete. Creativity by itself is worthless in...
When learning happens
We learn in moments of reflection. The common misconception about working out is that all the muscle growth happens in the gym. It doesn't. Work done at the gym stresses the muscle fibers. The actual muscle growth in response to that stress happens when you are...
Tuesday leadership tactic: Let somebody else run the meeting
Tuesday leadership tactic: Let somebody else run the meeting. There must be a rule etched on a stone tablet that leaders need to run the meetings. Happens all the time. Why? One of the primary duties of a leader is to create an environment where leader seedlings can...
Oscars worthy work
What are you doing that is Oscars worthy? Not talking about acting. Instead, I am talking about that one project you have been pouring yourself into. Maybe you have one big initiative that has taken up residence in your mind and time on your calendar. I am talking...
Tuesday Tactic: Always use the name they gave you
Tuesday Tactic: Always use the name they gave you. My name is Jonathan. At work, I go by Jonathan. I introduce myself as Jonathan. My email signature shows Jonathan. Yet almost daily someone decides to make up some other name for me. Today it was "John" (yeah, with an...
Give context, get motivation
When we give context we get motivation. Today I received an email about a recent fundraiser we donated to. The email did not ask for more money. Instead, the organizer of the fundraiser got back in touch with the donors to tell us how the money has been spent so far....
Future of Leadership – February 2020
Welcome to the New Year! Welcome to the inaugural Future of Leadership monthly letter. Every month I will be going deeper on a fundamental concept for the future of leadership. Get the newsletter by signing up in the footer below. *** Fire Good People How do you fire...
Leaders: Learn to be comfortable with uncomfortable silence
Tuesday Tactic: Surf the silence. I often hear inexperienced (and experienced!) podcast interviewers ask a good question and then, while the interviewee is formulating an answer, fill all the silence by elaborating. Drives me nuts! We also do this as leaders. We step...
Package delegation to make it more effective
How do you encourage your team to critically think? Critical thinking will be among the most important skills in the future workplace. A recent World Economic Forum article placed this skill second only to "critical problem solving." The two are related. The ability...