Rethink Culture

How do you set an example of the ownership mindset you want from your team? Kerry Siggins, CEO of StoneAge and author of Ownership Mindset, talks about the pathway to the "Own-It" culture on the Rethink Culture podcast. Watch or listen to the episode here: YouTube: https://buff.ly/3wg2Ry9 Spotify: https://buff.ly/3vZdMfn Apple Podcasts: https://buff.ly/4aIdSHg

How can leaders prioritize intentional culture-building to create workplaces employees love to work for, and why does this matter more than ever? Andreas Konstantinou, host of the Rethink Culture podcast, discusses why he started the show, featuring leaders like Bob Chapman who see businesses as forces for societal good, and highlights the importance of intentional workplace cultures that prioritize employee fulfillment. Listen... On YouTube: https://buff.ly/4gHHhUZ On Spotify: https://buff.ly/3PnHgK5 On Apple Podcasts: https://buff.ly/3PqhDYZ

Do people at work shy away from taking initiative? When employees don't take initiative outside their formal role, the organization simply cannot achieve its full potential. Lack of initiative slows down innovation, while the status quo remains unchallenged, and the organization’s competitiveness suffers as it’s less adaptable to change. Taking initiative is foundational to a culture of bottom-up innovation, also known as intrapreneurship, ie giving a license to employees to act like entrepreneurs and idea torchbearers within an organization. Several companies have successfully cultivated intrapreneurial cultures, leading to groundbreaking products and services. For example, Google's "20% Time" policy has allowed employees to dedicate 20% of their work hours to passion projects unrelated to their primary job functions. This initiative has led to the creation of major products like Gmail and AdSense. Similarly, 3M encourages employees to spend a portion of their time on innovative projects. This freedom led to the invention of the Post-It Note by Dr. Spencer Silver and Art Fry. At Sony, Ken Kutaragi, a?former junior employee, developed the concept for the PlayStation during his personal time. Despite initial resistance, his persistence resulted in one of the most successful gaming consoles in history. To cultivate an intrapreneurial culture where entrepreneurs take initiative, consider the following: - Allow employees to dedicate a portion of their work hours to explore new ideas, like Google’s “20% time”. Alternatively, organise a hackathon where teams take on a competitve challenge unrelated to their job title. For example Atlassian's "ShipIt" days allow employees to work on any project they are passionate about, assemble their crew from different teams, and execute their idea within 24 hours. (https://lnkd.in/ddatbQMD) - Offer the necessary tools, funding and mentorship to nurture employee-driven projects. This could be idea competitions, funding awards for the best ideas, and senior colleagues who act as mentors to help employees commercialise a new idea. - Accept and celebrate failure. Employees will only take risks with new ideas if they feel psychologically safe without the risk of blame if their idea fails. At X, formerly known as Google X, embracing failure is integral to fostering innovation. X rewards teams that recognize and terminate unfeasible projects, offering bonuses and public acknowledgment. This approach encourages calculated risk-taking, viewing failures as valuable learning opportunities. For a deeper insight into X's approach to failure and innovation, see Astro Teller's TED Talk, “The unexpected benefit of celebrating failure”.(https://lnkd.in/dnFGCTAi) - Recognise and reward innovation: Implement recognition programs to celebrate successful intrapreneurial employees, and position them as role models.?

Have you felt the pressure to project constant positivity? ?"That's when positivity can become toxic, when we don't talk about the fear or the adversity that we can feel in our lives or in our business," says Ulla Sommerfelt, serial entrepreneur and author of 'Firesoul Leadership', in the Rethink Culture podcast. In professional environments and on social media, the norm is to project constant optimism. We ignore or deny life’s struggles and wear a fixed-on smile, always ready to boast how rosy things are. But life is never a straight line. It’s always a wiggly one. It takes us into dark places as well as bright ones. And when we ‘re in a dark place, wearing a smile on says “I don’t want to accept that I ‘m having a difficult time, and I don’t think you want to know”. Yet behind that frozen smile is an inner child asking to be hugged, to be heard or to be helped. At work this leads to isolation, and leads problems to fester. Genuine positivity isn't about denying or ignoring life's struggles. It’s about courageously confronting adversity together, listening in to understand and to help the other person feel understood. By honestly acknowledging our challenges, we can build stronger relationships, resilient teams, and a deeper sense of well-being, making space for genuine optimism to flourish. Listen to Ulla Somerfelt On YouTube: https://lnkd.in/dtFDZZ7r On Spotify: https://lnkd.in/dVdPv5XR On Apple Podcasts: https://lnkd.in/dFv_bZmX ?? Do you want to build a high performance culture? It all starts here -> rethinkculture.co #RethinkCulture #Podcast #Workplace #Culture #Leadership?

Donald Sull at MIT Sloan and his co-authors write: "Much of the media discussion about the Great Resignation has focused on employee dissatisfaction with wages. How frequently and positively employees mentioned compensation, however, ranks 16th among all topics in terms of predicting employee turnover... In general, corporate culture is a much more reliable predictor of industry-adjusted attrition than how employees assess their compensation." What does this tell us? That in the midst of the Covid pandemic, when this research was completed, people left primarily not because they weren't being paid well, but because of the way they were being treated. Treating people with respect, or like Joey Coleman likes to say "making people seen feel, heard and understood" goes a long way in keeping your best talent. However, in the pursuit of performance, and while still treating people as resources (we 're human, but not resources, remember?), we forget that people at work have fundamental human needs - the need for psychological security, belonging, esteem, personal growth and meaning. If we start treating people as humans and not as resources, only then we can start building cultures that thrive, where people not just smile more, but do the best work of their life at our company. Now how cool is that? ?? Do you want to build a high performance culture? There's now an app for that: app.rethinkculture.co Link to MIT Sloan article: https://lnkd.in/g5U-AsMx

What does your company do to ensure employees leave work feeling fulfilled instead of drained? Jason Lippert, third-generation leader of Lippert Components, talks about how positive workplace culture can ripple into family life and future generations on the Rethink Culture podcast. Listen... On YouTube: https://buff.ly/41hRFhv On Spotify: https://buff.ly/4hD7pjU On Apple Podcasts: https://buff.ly/3BkH9vk #RethinkCulture #Podcast #Workplace #Culture #Leadership

At work, have you often felt overwhelmed by the number of messages, calls or requests that come your way? Have you felt unsure which messages you need to respond now, save for later, or even ignore? A common pitfall in communication is that we often don’t clarify our intentions when communicating. Is it to inform? Is it to seek input? Is it urgent and/or important? Is it to seek action? When expectations are unclear, employees may feel pressured to read every email or message that’s sent their way and respond quickly, leading to stress and confusion. In her book Reculturing, Melissa Daimler, describes a system of labelling emails on the subject line, that makes it clear what is the urgency of each email, and which emails require action or are just informational.? - FYI, for things that don't need to be responded to but read. - NAN (no action needed). For things that don't need to be responded to or read - Urgent, if a response is needed within 24 hours, could also be followed up with a text message,? - AN, action needed, for things that needed a response within the next 48 hours. Such a communication habit helps everyone quickly filter and prioritize requests. What matters is that you set clear guidelines on how to apply these labels and reinforce them in messages. Another approach to improve communication is to summarise the key takeways at the top of a long message or report. In tech circles this is known as TL;DR (short for “too long, didn’t read”), and lets team members grasp the main ideas without reading the entire document immediately. It also shows you respect their time and leads to faster, more focused discussions. Are you intentional at work about how you communicate?

"You manage your bank account and you manage inventory, you don't manage people. What you do is help people become a better version of themselves." Garry Ridge, former CEO of WD 40, talks about the return of investing in a better employee experience. Watch the full episode on our YouTube channel: https://buff.ly/48w3MHY #RethinkCulture #Leadership #SuccessStrategies

How do you create a workplace culture where rock star employees want to work and never want to leave? Listen to Jeff Hoffman on the Rethink Culture podcast to find out. On YouTube: https://buff.ly/3JeHFvd Spotify: https://buff.ly/49BlWIu Apple Podcasts: https://buff.ly/4cT6z16 #Rethink #Culture #workplaceculture #rockstaremployees

"None of us will build great companies. We will lead incredible people who will build great companies." Are you as a leader cultivating a command-and-control culture or fostering an environment where passionate stakeholders thrive? It's not just about making decisions; it's about empowering and inspiring your team to greatness. Listen to the full Rethink Culture podcast episode on Spotify at https://buff.ly/3SxNDfX Watch the episode on YouTube at https://buff.ly/3vNDUJQ #RethinkCulture #Podcast #EmpowerTeams #Leadership #WorkplaceCulture