COLIN ON CULTURE
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Another Way
Someone recently said, "Everything is negative these days." I disagreed. While negativity is everywhere, we become what we consume
Pranks
April Fools' Day is all about fun and pranks, but are they suitable for the workplace?
Leading on and off the field
Sports is starting to take culture seriously and if teams want to see sustained performance it’s important that more follow St Helens’ lead.
It’ll never be us
Toxic culture is every organisation’s biggest risk. Toxic cultures harm humans, results and reputations. But they are preventable.
Anomie
Anomie is ‘a lack of rules’ and it's the silent killer of great work. It's what happens when nobody knows which standards matter anymore.
Toxic culture and UFOs
In almost all cases of reports into toxic cultures, the first response from senior leaders has either been to deny the existence of toxic culture or else to pretend that what’s obvious to everyone else, isn’t obvious to them.
Winning
Winning is not about crushing the competition or stepping on colleagues; it's about creating an environment where winning becomes a natural outcome of doing things properly.
Cynics and sceptics
What’s the difference and why does it matter for your workplace culture?
Entitled or just badly managed?
There’s a trend for CEOs to blame ‘entitled’ employees for the resistance to returning to the office - but take a look in the mirror and you’ll see a lack of managerial skill reflected.
If you can't stand the heat
The culinary (and corporate) world has long perpetuated the myth that enduring abuse is somehow a badge of honour, a rite of passage that transforms good chefs and leaders into great ones.
Fact vs. future
If you're going to invest time in defining the key elements of your culture, do it with conviction and purpose.
Loading luggage in an ice-storm
The most memorable leaders are the ones who aren’t afraid to park strategy in order to get stuck in at the coalface.
5 steps to behaviour change
The behaviours we demonstrate at work influence those around us and have a profound affect on the culture and employee experience. In this episode I walk through the five step REACH framework and how it can guide behaviour change.
Culture decay
Dysfunctional workplaces need intervention precisely because they're dysfunctional. Every day you wait the problems become more entrenched, behaviours become more normalised and cynicism grows deeper.
Broken promises
Promises create expectation. When we don’t deliver on that expectation, trust - and more - is lost. Make yours a culture that can keep its promises.
How to be an email trailblazer
Too much email is everyone’s problem. Yet is can be simple to solve - provided there’s agreement on some behavioral changes.
Is your culture slowly rotting?
The signs of a toxic culture are there if you’re willing to look. And then you must take action to stop the rot.
Leadership is not a Checklist
It’s not a list that you’ll never be able to live up to, a pithy saying or a lesson you can easily learn. Leadership takes focus and intentional action, every day.
Is Too Much Culture Stuff a Bad Thing?
If your culture ‘stuff’ is getting in the way of your culture evolution then it’s time to simplify by focussing on what really matters and making sure you move from ticking boxes to taking ownership.
Three culture questions my clients always ask me
Cultures are unique but there are common threads, barriers to success and sticking points that all organisations experience. Here’s three and my insights on how to navigate them.