Building Better Cultures

'How are you feeling and why?'. That's the question Matt Stephens uses when he's measuring wellbeing and how engaged people are at work.

Starting his career as a coder in Aviva, Matt was 'found' by the Head of Internal Communications and that put him on a new career trajectory. After a number of years in Aviva, he moved into performance coaching and NLP working with senior execs across a range of organisations before founding Quest Agency with a focus on leadership, culture and engagement.

In 2015 he founded Inpulse, a new way of measuring how employees are feeling by asking them just that – 'How are you feeling and why?'. His customers include Unilever and Asos.

In this episode, he and Scott talk about putting more of a focus on people's wellbeing, why organisations struggle with emotions and why purpose is so important when it comes to creating great places to work. Matt runs Inpulse and his clients include Rolls-Royce, Asos, Zurich Insurance and Heathrow Airport Links: Matt's book – The Power of Emotion is available on Amazon

Show Notes:

2.45 – A bit about Matt – 10.00 – Is employee engagement having a renaissance? - 12.50 – An increased focus on Wellbeing – 16.30 – The critical role of leaders - 20.50 – Putting purpose into practice – 22.45 – Driving action from surveys - 29.20 – Why do organisations struggle with emotions? - 34.40 – What success will emotional engagement bring? – 37.40 – A bit about Inpulse

With a background in marketing and PR, it was when Lindsay went into internal comms in a large Dutch oil and gas company. She soon realised that communications within large firms were complex and surrounded by a sea of fog. This resulted in their people not being on the same page and feeling a sense of ambiguity.

This desire to create clarity, confidence and community in organisations led her to create MirrorMirror.

Show Notes:

2.30 – Lindsay and MirrorMirror – 05.00 – Defining misalignment - 8.45 - Culture and alignment – which drives which? – 13.00 – The role of leaders in aligning teams – 15.00 –Internal communicators have a key part to play - 21.00 – We need to better translate key messages – 25.20 – Alignment and remote working - 29.00 – Today's remote working tools get in the way - 32.00 – Practical things teams can do to drive alignment – 34.20 – Alignment in a changing landscape – 37.30 – A bit about MirrorMirror

A marketeer by trade, James worked as CEO and CMO in a number of large multinationals including fashion brand Anthropology, VisitLondon and Selfridges, where he oversaw the incredible turnaround of that business in the early noughties.

Buying Springwise – a global crowdsourcing movement for innovative ideas - in 2015 was the catalyst for James's innovation journey. In 2017, inspired by Springwise, he co-founded Re_Set – a strategy consultancy focused on helping their clients in the areas of innovation, disruption and sustainability.

Show Notes:

2.30 – James, Springwise and Re_Set – 06.50 – The benefits of being a B Corporation - 10.05 - Brands will fail if they don't have purpose – 13.15 – Aligning people with purpose is about leadership – 17.05 –Success is about leading across the organisation - 18.30 – Best practice in bringing people on a change journey – 23.20 – Building a culture where it's OK to fail - 28.00 – The role of internal communications - 33.00 – The turnaround of Selfridges – 25.10 – To drive innovation, become a B Corporation.

Brendan didn't come from training or HR but started in advertising and marketing – but it was 'why do people do what they do?' that fascinated him. Coming from a competitive sailing background he saw the power of chemistry and leadership when it came to bringing together teams. He started SeachangeNow in 2006 to help leaders to be the most effective, human and impactful they can be.

In this episode, he and Scott talk about empathy and how many senior leaders are disconnected from their people and change starting with everyone in the business.

Show Notes:

2.30 – Brendan's background – 8.20 – Senior leaders are disconnected from their teams – 10.15 –People have less time to talk about how they're feeling – 11.40 – Empathy - SMEs are more tuned in – 13.15 – An opportunity for CEOs to make a difference - 15.50 – The role of culture during change – 16.30 – Organisations are having a culture crisis - 19.00 – Cultural rebirth is underway - 20.55 – The COVID opportunity – 25.10 – But how do you make that change? – 28.10 – Reframing your thinking is key – 30.40 – The criticality of people leaders – 34.00 – Doing the right things attracts the best talent – 35.40 – Change starts with individuals

Coming from backgrounds in workplace relations and global marketing, David Macleod and Nita Clarke seemed like the perfect team to undertake a research project on behalf of Peter Mandelsen, the then UK Secretary of State. They knew there was a better way to improve productivity in the UK workforce.

In 2009, David Macleod and Nita Clarke published their findings as 'Engage for Success'.

Since then they created a movement to raise the profile of Employee Engagement and shine a light on good practice and the significant benefits it can bring to organisations and their people.

Show Notes:

2.50 – A bit of David and Nita's background – 7.00 – Why was the report commissioned? – 8.40 – Four ways to improve business – 10.40 – Most companies are still in command/control – 12.45 – Put your people first - 16.00 – Enabler 1 – Strong Narrative – 20.30 – Enabler 2 – Engaging Leaders – 23.50 – Recognise good behaviour! - 26.00 – Enabler 3 – Employee Voice – 31.00 –Enabler 4 – Act with Integrity – 35.30 – Why is global disengagement so high? – 39.00 – The people agenda is in the boardroom now – 42.30 – Success is about the people, stupid – 47.30 – What has COVID-19 taught us? – 50.30 – Learn more about Engage for Success

Pedro Angulo (not a Kerry name as he reminds us!) is Head of Leadership Development in AIB.

As he told us in his first appearance on this podcast (Ep8), his focus is on helping leaders to be the best they can be and ensuring they "show up" in a way that's engaging, respectful and caring.

​In this episode, we focused heavily on the past few months of COVID lockdown, what has set leaders apart and some of the things we've learned that businesses should be looking to retain. Outside of AIB, Pedro is Programme Director in the IMI and is a former President of the Irish Chapter of the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC).

Show Notes:

2.30 – People and leaders in times of change – 4.40 – The impact on how leaders lead? – 5.40 – Key stages of crisis leadership – 8.30 – Flexing leadership styles – 10.15 – Reflecting and self-awareness - 12.15 – Firefighting the 'urgent-important' – 15.00 – Good leadership is about direction and energy – 17.40 – We need to challenge assumptions more - 19.00 – Trust, leadership and flexi-working – 23.00 – Practical tips for successful flexi-working – 30.00 – Culture – rewarding what's right – 32.00 – Purpose and values to grow culture – 32.30 – Culture change takes time – PERSIST – 35.15 – How do we grow from this? – 39.40 – Retaining positive practices

By her own admission, Carole Ann's career is a bit of mixed bag.

From a degree in Applied Languages and Business to the Diageo Graduate Programme and on to a number of sales and marketing roles. A spate in ad agencies followed before Carole Ann moved to Coca-Cola where she headed up experiential marketing before becoming Head of Digital. ​

She left Coca-Cola in 2013, having become unwell herself, and turned instead to leadership coaching and then to mental health and wellbeing coaching. In 2018 she founded I am Here to help organisations put people and mental health at the heart of their cultures. She's also a former Irish Rugby Captain.

Show Notes:

2.40 – A bit about Carole Ann – 6.00 – I am Here – 12.00 – The power of values – 13.40 – Conscious leadership and the rise of the mental health agenda – 15.00 – Looking after your staff is just good business - 17.00 – We've learned a lot about leadership from Covid – 21.05 – How do leaders create safe team cultures – 27.00 – Tools to help build resilience through change – 34.00 – The lower of listening as a leader – 36.40 – Empowering vs telling – 38.40 – Leaders need to learn from Covid – 39.00 – If only I'd known 10 years ago… 'Get you know yourself'

With over 70 years of IC experience between them, Katie Macauley, Chuck Gose and Mike Klein joined me for this episode. We discussed what the world will look like for IC Teams post-Covid, the role of leaders as communicators and much more.

​Katie is a 30-year Internal Communications veteran. She is the founder of AB, one of the UK's longest-standing internal communications agencies and the host of The Internal Comms Podcast.

Chuck previously produced the ICology podcast and, more recently, Culture, Comms & Cocktails podcast. He's worked for brands including GM and Rolls-Royce and is currently Senior Strategic Advisor at Social Chorus. ​

Mike runs a Netherlands-based internal communications consultancy, Changing the Terms. He's worked in internal comms for 20 years before which he managed political campaigns in the US. Links:

Film I referenced re Marriott Hotels – CEO Arne Sorenson -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SprFgoU6aO0&t=11s

Show Notes:

3.20 – A bit about Katie, Chuck and Mike – 6.50 – Ambiguity, uncertainty, precariousness and progress – 8.40 – Friction in our future plans. 11.40 – New constants will have an impact on workplaces – 14.55 – Companies that are true values-led will thrive – 16.00 – The rise in employee activism – 18.00 – Building stronger cultures in remote workforces – 25.00 – The future impact on IC Teams – 26.30 – Don't tear up the rule book! – 28.00 – Get better at listening – 29.30 – A crisis brings out the IC Heroes – 31.00 – To listen more closely, ditch the annual survey – 33.20 – The role of people leaders during change – be authentic, contextualise and be the truth-tellers - 40.00 – In a crisis, people want honesty from leaders, not authenticity or transparency – 42.00 - What's the one thing you'd do as Head of IC in a new company?

"Adversity becomes a learning opportunity if you know how to process it"

​Ryan had a love of flying from a young age and, at the age of 17 he decided he wanted to be the youngest person to fly a single-engine aircraft around the world, something he achieved two years later. ​

When he was 21, another aircraft-related incident changed his life. He crashed a vintage bi-plane shortly after take-off, had to be cut from the wreckage, was flown to a hospital and, when he woke up he had no feeling below the waist – he'd broken his back. ​

What followed was six months in hospital and 18 months in rehab as he learned to walk again.

Show Notes:

2.00 - A bit on Ryan's backstories – 12.50 – A life-changing plane crash – 14.45 – 'Things happen for a reason, right? – 16.40 – Why are people resistant to change – 18.40 – We spend a lot of time worrying about things we can't control - 20.00 – Ryan's checklist for navigating change – 22.30 – Step One - Gratitude – 25.00 – Step Two - Confidence – 26.15 – Step Three - Resilience – 28.00 – Getting into a more change and challenge ready mindset – 29.30 – Where does empathy fit it? – 31.40 – Change and challenge is personal, adversity isn't a competition – 35.50 – A bit about what Ryan does – 38.00 – If only I'd known 10 years ago…

"Every company needs their people to be advocates for that business" ​

Aisling went straight into her career in 1987, when she chose, rather than going to university, to join AIB. By her own admission her education, knowledge, growth and expertise came from the school of life and work. ​

She worked at AIB for 29 years during which time she held leadership roles in branch banking, business banking, retail banking operations, strategy and transformation.

In 2016, she joined Danske Bank UK, Northern Ireland's largest bank as Head of Branch Banking where she leads a team of up to 400 people.

Show Notes:

1.47 - A bit on Aislings career – 5.00 – Culture in retail banking – 9.50 – Culture and collaboration through co-working – 11.30 – What's a leaders role in driving great culture – 13.50 – A leader's language is key - 17.00 – Leaders' roles in driving customer experience – 20.00 – Values, behaviours and recognition are key – 22.30 – Maintaining motivation during change is about WHY – 27.10 – Leaders need to translate key messages – 28.00 – Aisling's leadership role models – 31.00 – Aisling's advice for your 20-year-old self.