COLIN ON CULTURE
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Things Don't Always Get Better
Middle-aged men often hide their struggles behind the phrase, "Things can only get better," but the truth is, real change requires vulnerability and seeking help. Your well-being matters—don’t suffer in silence.
Beyond National Food Days
Celebrating diversity with food is just the beginning. True cultural empathy involves understanding the stories, values, and communication styles that shape your colleagues. Let’s dive deeper to build stronger, more empathetic teams.
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.
Communication: the key to success
Communication permeates every aspect of our working lives. From explaining strategies, crafting compelling presentations and negotiating deals to resolving conflicts and building trust-based relationships. Effective communication shapes outcomes at every turn.
A case of the Mondays
We all have bad days but your mood is contagious and spreading negativity is a culture killer.
The Five Levels of Management Mastery
Middle managers are the difference between organisation success and failure and yet most managers lack the training to make a real difference every day. I share my experiences to help fast-track your learning.
Agency, the culture secret
When employees are given the opportunity to define their own working conditions — how they connect, behave, work together and be creative — they gain not only a sense of pride in what they’ve built, but also a determination to uphold it.
Anchored in the past
The stories in your culture will determine whether you sail or sink.
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.
The quote that never was
In every office, every sports team, every startup, every Fortune 500 company, we've seen it happen. The perfect strategy, meticulously planned, beautifully presented... and it falls flat. Not because the strategy was wrong, but because the people weren't ready.
Cynics and sceptics
What’s the difference and why does it matter for your workplace culture?
Is it still worth doing?
The real measure of a project isn't the resources it consumes but the value that the change creates. When we fixate on time and cost, we optimise activity for predictability instead of possibility.
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.
Potential has no expiry date
It’s never too late to learn that new skill, try that new thing or achieve your burning ambition! What’s stopping you starting?
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.