New data coming out of Wuhan is showing that Covid-19 may be far deadlier than originally thought. Moreover, none of us knows what our economy will look like after the virus has run its course (or, more optimistically, after a vaccine is implemented.) The big, glaring takeaway? As leaders, we can no longer arrange our thinking and actions around crisis planning. Crisis planning runs on adrenaline and an unspoken assumption that this is a short-term challenge. Coronavirus is not. In fundamental w...
Apr 13, 2020•3 min
Does your work culture amp up stress – or does it purge stress? Stress is an emotion that’s created by limbo. If team members don’t know answers to questions like, “What should I do?” or “What if x, y, or z happens?“, they experience greater stress. Greater stress means they can’t act. They can’t move forward. And they worry about every single bad thing that could happen when they do take action. Workplace cultures riddled with stressed-out people are environments built on uncertainty — not heal...
Mar 17, 2020•4 min
What is your company’s servant purpose – its present day “reason for being”? Most companies do not go to the length required to formalize their servant purpose and then communicate frequently to team members how their work contributes to that higher purpose. Recent research from Gallup notes that only 4 in 10 US employees agree that they know what their company stands for and what makes it different from their competitors. Higher purpose has been shown to boost company performance. A 2016 Harvar...
Jan 16, 2020•4 min
To what degree does your organization demonstrate service to others? As part of my consulting work with senior leadership teams, I help them define their company’s servant purpose - a concise statement of what their company does, for whom, and “to what end.” The “to what end” piece is critical because it describes how what their company does improves customers’ quality of life. It formalizes the company’s desire to serve others. Demonstrating service to others definitely brings benefits. In her ...
Dec 15, 2019•3 min
To what degree might rudeness impact team performance - and team member performance - in your workplace? Rudeness and incivility is rampant in our organizations. A 2013 study featured in the Harvard Business Review found that 98% of employees reported experiencing incivility at work by bosses and peers. Individual reactions to incivility include: 48% intentionally decreased their work effort. 38% intentionally decreased the quality of their work. 63% lost work time avoiding the offender. 80% los...
Nov 18, 2019•3 min
Here’s a hypothetical situation. One of your good friend’s oldest child is looking for a new job. This friend tells you that his daughter is considering applying to a number of organizations, including your company. The friend asks you a vital question: “Is your company a great place to work?” For many of us, we’d have a tough time giving our company – and our company’s culture – a “great place to work” rating. It might be an “OK” place to work – but not great. The problem is that far too many c...
Nov 11, 2019•3 min
Does your workplace treat men differently than women? Your initial reaction might be, “My company pays women less than men.” Pay inequity is an issue that is gaining attention, though too few organizations are taking aggressive steps to solve that gap. Our challenge is that women experience greater workplace gaps than just salary. TINYpulse’s new Gender Equity Report examines data from over 200,000 employees in 488 global organizations to understand the female experience in today’s workplace. Th...
Oct 21, 2019•3 min
Are you a great partner, at work and in life, to those around you? Relationships with our work peers, friends, family, neighbors, or even strangers are not always healthy. Yet numerous research studies provide indisputable evidence that positive relationships lead to greater well-being and longer life. Most of us humans realize that we could serve others more effectively. Often, our selfish desires quash our ability to see opportunities to serve – and to act on those opportunities. What we need ...
Oct 07, 2019•3 min
I am often asked about my three-phase culture refinement process. Today I’ll share how the third phase – “refine” – ensures the effective evolution of 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 and demonstration of the organization’s servant purpose, values and behaviors, strategies, and goals. They can’t delegate this responsibil...
Sep 16, 2019•3 min
I am often asked about my three-phase culture refinement process. Today I’ll share how the second phase – “align” – creates commitment 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 any one or to any other fu...
Sep 02, 2019•3 min
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 othe...
Aug 19, 2019•4 min
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 a...
Aug 05, 2019•3 min
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 cu...
Jul 15, 2019•3 min
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 ...
Jul 01, 2019•3 min
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 ...
Jun 17, 2019•3 min
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 ...
Jun 03, 2019•3 min
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 generat...
May 20, 2019•3 min
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 individua...
May 06, 2019•3 min
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 th...
Apr 15, 2019•3 min
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 Chri...
Apr 01, 2019•3 min
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 release...
Mar 19, 2019•3 min
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'...
Mar 04, 2019•3 min
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 form...
Feb 18, 2019•4 min
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 vi...
Feb 04, 2019•4 min
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 re...
Jan 21, 2019•3 min
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.
Jan 08, 2019•3 min
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.
Dec 19, 2018•4 min
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. Chri...
Dec 19, 2018•3 min
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!
Dec 19, 2018•3 min
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.
Dec 19, 2018•3 min
