How to create great company culture ... without the fluff

There are a lot of good leaders. They invest in leadership training for their team, regularly review engagement scores, and put their values on the wall for everyone to see.

Then there are great leaders. And to be one of those, takes a bit more work, and a wider vision.

Take Ronnie Altit, Visionary and CEO of Insentra. He knows that the strength of an organisation is in its people. Being listed #8 on the Great Places to Work list in 2016 - the first time Insentra entered - proves he has got a few things right. And Ronnie knows it’s good for the bottom line: Insentra is a regular on the CRN Fast50 (84.46% year-on-year growth is fast in anyone’s book).

So what insights can Ronnie share with us?

Well, Ronnie shares the “Train Story” with everyone who wants to get on board. It’s an analogy that makes it easy to understand, communicate and remember the standards, expectations, and behaviours that are required every day to live the company values.  It also means that people who aren't a fit opt out early.

The story covers all aspects of the business, gathering speed as it goes: 

• The company is the steam train, and far from being the fat controller, Ronnie is leading from the front; as the driver of this train, his job is to decide which tracks to take, and how fast (or how slow) to go. 
• Each carriage is connected to the others, and you can see straight through to the front – which means everyone knows how everyone fits together, and where they are going, together.  And crucially, you can walk straight through to the driver - Ronnie is available, regardless of which carriage you spend most of your time in.
• Keeping the train’s engines stoked is the team’s job, as well as making sure the other carriages are ok – guaranteeing everyone arrives at the destination together.  
• And the only passengers at Insentra are the clients and customers - people who are happy to come on board, spend time, and recommend others come along for the ride. Everyone looks after them too.

“I hire very intelligent people. They are adults, who behave like adults and so we treat them like adults … I don’t want to run an adult daycare centre.”

There are many more twists and turns to the Train Story and it's definitely a compelling way to support Insentra’s “one team, one dream” mantra.  So what else has contributed to the “zero voluntary turnover” reported by Ronnie? 

To find out, join us at Culture17, the Company Culture & Disruptive Leadership Summit on 1 March in Sydney CBD.

Final tickets on sale NOW.

About Culture17

Ronnie is one of eleven speakers sharing what they do on 1 March in Sydney, so you can make your company culture work and positively impact your results:

Big corporate, big culture | The future of culture: young leadership | Disruptive leadership: no BS and Bow Ties | Growing pains - growing your culture & your business | Give and you will receive: culture & charitable giving | The change imperative: sustaining culture through imposed change | Merging companies, merging cultures | The culture effect: creating raving fan customers | Building a culture of workable wellness | How to be a great place to work | Culture and the agile start up

It's a 100% no selling event (meaning no consultants or coaches, only leaders who are actually 'in the trenches' doing this every day). And best of all, the whole day has been designed to be an experience, so be prepared to be immersed, not just inspired.

See you there. #disruptiveleadership #leadership #companyculture

? Author: Julie Alexander for Changing Change International (CCI) and cultureincorporated.com.au

Julie Alexander & Diane Gray are the creators of Culture17 and founders of a global consultancy partnering with successful business leaders to produce breakthroughs in critical areas of their business. By creating shifts in thinking and behaviour fundamental to success, unleashing disruptive leadership and empowering people to create dramatic shifts in performance, their Culture Incorporated? program transforms company cultures so that team members thrive, solid bottom line results are attained and sustainable competitive advantage is achieved. Culture, Systems, People.

Culture and business performance specialists, writers of blogs, facilitators, speakers, trainers, coaches and mentors. You can get to know them on Facebook and Twitter.