Culturelab With Aga Bajer

This audio postcard comes from Bobby Herrera, from Michigan. Bobby Herrera is the co-founder and CEO of Populus Group - one of the fastest-growing HR services companies in the United States with annual revenue of $500 million and many Fortune 100 customers. Bobby speaks beautifully about how he sees his role as the CEO during the times of Coronavirus. I hope you enjoy his message.          

Today, on the CultureLab podcast, we welcome Aaron Dignan - the author of one of my favorite business books of the past few years - Brave New Work and the founder of the Ready. If you feel like the way we work hasn’t worked for a while and if you are curious about what new ways of working we could adopt, you’ll enjoy this conversation. In this interview, Aaron and I talk about why scale and bureaucracy that once made companies strong have become huge liabilities. Today, it’s the companies that operate with transparency, autonomy, decentralization, and empowerment that are better positioned to navigate disruptive changes. Our conversation was set in the context of the current events, especially the COVID-19 pandemic. And while there's a lot of tragedy happening right now, Aaron believes that there's a lot of promise in this moment as well. He says that the current disruption has challenged a lot of assumptions that we hold about trust, remote work and empowerment. It looks like we have been presented with a u

It's in times like these that our values and ethical standards are put to the test. COVID-19 emergency and its aftermath will call for empathy, compassion, and generosity. If business leaders don't rise to the occasion, they'll put their companies at risk. In this audio postcard, crisis expert, Melissa Agnes, encourages us to put ourselves in our stakeholders' shoes and ask: how can we serve them to the best of our capabilities?

When people don't speak up, the organization's ability to innovate and grow is at great risk. A culture of silence is a dangerous culture. A culture of openness and candor, on the other hand, offers immense benefits for creativity, learning, and innovation. But for people to speak up, they need to experience psychological safety and this is what Amy Edmondson, my guest today, has studied for more than 25 years.

It looks like we might be in a pretty long tunnel. And while there's certainly light at the end of it, why wait? We can create some light right now by building human connections through the means we have available. Here's Thimon De Jong speaking on this topic.

We have a new postcard - this time from Ron Carucci. Ron says that we are currently in an odd, liminal space, in between chapters. And while it's undoubtedly a difficult season, things will resume eventually. So how can we prepare for our new normal? Listen in!

We have created the Audio Postcards series to help you tackle the challenges of COVID-19 pandemic in a calmer and wiser way. This week, the postcard comes from Aga Bajer and she shares three questions to explore with your team to regain a sense of control and purpose in these crazy times.

As time goes by, we all realize that the Coronavirus outbreak is, first and foremost, a human tragedy. But it has also become increasingly clear that COVID-19 is having a growing impact on the global economy, causing many businesses to switch to full-on survival mode. While taking short-term measures to mitigate the effects of the current disruption, many leaders ask themselves: How do you deal with the current issues without losing sight of the long-term goals? And how do you embrace an infinite mindset in times of a crisis of such vast proportions? Simon Sinek shares his thoughts on the subject.

We have created the Audio Postcards series to help us tackle the challenges of the Coronavirus pandemic in a calmer and wiser way. This week we have a postcard from Toronto, from my dear friend Liane Davey who speaks about how not to let a good crisis go to waste. If you want to be on our postcard mailing list, sign up here: http://tiny.cc/5utvnz  

The quality of the relationship with your boss has a major impact on your career, satisfaction and even your overall wellness and health. And yet, it’s much easier to find advice and guidance on how to be a good boss than on how to manage a relationship with one. In this episode, Mary Abbajay, the author of the best-selling Managing Up: How to Move Up, Win at Work, and Succeed with Any Type of Boss. shares how you can take control of your career by managing up.  Episode Highlights Here are some of the themes that we explore in this conversation: Why so many people still have terrible bosses The unique nature of the relationship between a boss and a team member What’s at stake when you are not managing the relationship with your boss The boss spectrum: from the unicorn boss to the toxic boss The three choices we have when faced with a difficult situation Why people tend to spend 30% more time working for toxic bosses than for good bosses Key principles to managing your boss really effectively How to avoid bei

We have created the Audio Postcards series to help us tackle the challenges of the Coronavirus pandemic in a calmer and wiser way. The tricky thing with being a leader or an entrepreneur in times like these is that while we have no clear answers, our team, our family, and our friends are looking to us for guidance. And so it's important that we learn how to walk the line between the light and the dark. Here's a message on this topic from Michael Bungay Stanier. 

We have created the Audio Postcards series to help us tackle the challenges of the Coronavirus pandemic in a calmer and wiser way. This postcard is second in the series and comes from Cy Wakeman. Cy challenges us to let ourselves and our teams be impacted by the current crisis and approach it with curiosity, using this "time-out" to grow, develop and perhaps even transform the way we think, feel and act.

In difficult times, we all need some guidance, some inspiration and... an occasional kick in the butt. To help leaders, entrepreneurs and soloists navigate the unchartered waters of the Coronavirus pandemic and its impact on our lives, our team started producing audio postcards. They contain powerful messages from the world's leading thinkers, leaders, movers, and shakers.  This message comes from Seth Godin.   

Our guest today is Nikki Gatenby. Nikki is a business consultant and best selling author, specializing in the field of culture and engagement at work, having been featured in The Guardian, The Times, Management Today, Chamber of Commerce and Corporate Rebels. Over the last 10 years as MD and co-owner of Propellernet, Nikki transformed the Brighton based SEO agency into a global marketing organization and SAAS technology provider, serving the PR, content and search world with coveragebook.com and answerthepublic.com. This, hand in hand with Propellernet, being one of the top 15 Best Places to work in the UK, for 8 years running. Episode Highlights In this episode, Nikki and I talk about how to create and maintain a company culture that drives performance, boosts enthusiasm, increases engagement levels, and…makes life better at the same time. Here are some of the themes that we explore in this conversation: How a mix of curiosity, frustration and a belief that there’s a better way can lead you to an idea for a

Our guest today is Siobhan McHale, a culture change specialist, EGM People, Culture & Change at DuluxGroup and the author of The Insider’s Guide to Culture Change. Siobhan has worked across four continents, helping thousands of leaders to create more agile and productive workplaces. She has been on the “inside”, as the executive in charge of change in a series of large, multinational organizations. One of these inside jobs was a radical seven-year change initiative at Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ) that transformed it from the lowest-performing bank in the country into one of the highest-performing and most admired banks in the world. Professor John Kotter used her work with ANZ as a Harvard Business School case study designed to teach MBA students about managing change.   Episode Highlights In this episode, Siobhan and I talk about how to disrupt dysfunctional patterns of behavior in a company. Here are some of the topics we cover: Culture as patterns of relatedness and behavior

Our guest today is Kirsty Bashforth,  the founder and CEO of QuayFive Ltd. Her new book on managing organizational culture (Culture Shift) was published by Bloomsbury in July 2019. In this episode, Kirsty and I talk about shifting culture so that it serves the business, its employees and the wider ecosystem.

Jitske Kramer is a Dutch anthropologist. She travels the world to learn from traditional healers, leaders, surprising innovators, and random passersby. She looks at the world and at organizations through the eyes of an anthropologist, and what she sees is fascinating. In this interview, we talk about what's involved in the making of a corporate tribe.  Episode Highlights Here are some of the things that we discussed: The lessons Jitske learned when doing research in Uganda The two opposites that attract us: harmony and disruption What is anthropology and how it’s relevant to organizational life Nature and nurture debate in the context of culture The elements that shape culture: purpose, definition power, and the cultural narrative One of the biggest misunderstandings about self-organized teams The importance of reflecting on what leadership means in your organization Why boundaries are important and how to set them in a way that supports rather than constrains Two forces present in every tribe: power and lov

Our guest today is Mike Ganino. He is a storytelling and communication expert who helps executives, teams, and thought leaders communicate, connect, and engage. Mike is also the author of Company Culture for Dummies and has been named a Top 30 Culture Speaker by Global Guru. Mike is also the executive producer of TEDx Cambridge and the head performance coach at Heroic Public Speaking, where he helps people connect in authentic and engaging ways with audiences. I first met Mike when he was facilitating a workshop in HPS, and I was blown away by his ability to craft a compelling story. Why is storytelling important when it comes to cultivating a healthy culture? Because a great story engages and moves people. It makes them feel invested in the outcome; it helps them make meaning out of what surrounds them and it changes the way they think, feel, and act. We humans have been using the power of story for millennia to pass on knowledge, instill common values, and influence each other. The success or failure of ou

Our guest today is Melissa Agnes. Author of Crisis Ready: Building an Invincible Brand in an Uncertain World, Melissa is a leading authority on crisis preparedness, reputation management, and brand protection.  Melissa’s area of expertise is something that most of us don’t enjoy thinking about. She works with organizations to explore questions such as: What will happen if things go off the rails and we find our business in a major crisis situation? Are we ready for the worst? Do we have what it takes to handle a crisis in an effective manner? Can our brand and our reputation survive a major crisis? And most importantly: Is there a way to prevent what’s preventable? After a recent crop of scandals—including Uber, Volkswagen, Wells Fargo, and Boeing, just to name a few—companies and boards have started to emphasize shaping a healthy culture as a way to reduce risk. If you and your company want to create an invincible brand, make sure you don’t miss this conversation. Episode Highlights In this interview, Melis