September 18, 2018

18: Be a Culture Change Agent with Wes Kao

31 minutes

Whether you're trying to build a high performing team or transform your organization's culture, you need to be a change agent. When it comes to changing culture, thinking like a marketer can help. In episode 018 I speak with Wes Kao, an expert in marketing, product, and growth, and former Executive Director of Seth Godin’s altMBA. We talk about generating buy-in for bigger culture change work as well as creating a high performing team culture in which people take ownership.

Key Takeaways:

Culture is simply 'how we do things around here.' It subconsciously impacts how we engage at work - are we proactive, do we take ownership, etc.

Changing culture is, in part, marketing. We're selling ideas to our team members, supervisors, and colleagues.

If your values are out of line with those of your organization, (1) move to a different organization or (2) frame your idea in ways where people who are attached to the status quo don't feel threatened.

You want your idea to be new and interesting, not new and scary.

Culture change happens person by person. It needs to be continually reinforced.

Create a foundation of psychological safety so people are able to share their ideas without feeling foolish.

Combine psychological safety with rigor. This means you encourage people to share out-of-the-box ideas knowing that they will be met with a rigorous discussion. That response is not because the ideas are bad or the person was wrong to share them, but because we have a culture of rigor when it comes to debating ideas.

In a high performing team, everyone thinks like an owner and is proactive, people care about each other, and people ask question and think critically.

Read the article based on this episode: How Rockstar Managers Tackle Changing Culture

Join the Modern Manager community to listen to the recoding of the bonus Q&A call with Wes. Get additional resources to support your learning journey when you join.

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KEEP UP WITH WES

website: https://www.weskao.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/weskao/

Seth Godin's AltMBA: https://altmba.com/

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @wes_kao

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By Mamie Kanfer Stewart

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