Building Better Cultures

"People aren't after more communication, they're after more connection" ​

Jane started her career in the corporate world where she held roles in a number of large organisations including IBM and Sony, where she was Director of Engagement and Change.

​She founded The Culture Builders in 2011 and has since worked with companies around the world, helping them to put greater emphasis on their culture, people and performance.

​She's also a published author in the area of people and culture - The Culture Builders (2012) and Bank of Me (2018). Most recently she published 'Bank of me – a remote working special edition' (2020).

Show Notes:

2.40 - A delve into Jane's background – 4.42 – The remote working trap – what is it? – 5.10 - The three pillars of culture – what we believe; how we behave; and what we use – 6.50 – What are leaders doing differently? – 9.00 – How can leaders support teams emotionally?– 10.30 – Connection is more important than ever - 11.55 – Equipping middle managers is critical - 14.40 – Repetition is key – 16.00 – Find out how your people feel – 17.50 – This is the time to bring training to life – 19.10 – Practical hints and tips – 30.00 – Recognise what you're learning – 31.30 –There's learning at home too – 34.00 – There is a silver lining to this cloud?

"People with more power cast longer shadows and have a greater ability to shape culture" ​

Will's career started in sales where he made 100 cold calls a day!. But it was while he was in that role that he found his true calling, gazing across the office at the marketing team "where people were having fun". So he took some courses and so began a long career in marketing.

But deep down, he knew that he wanted to make his own mark on the world and, in 2002, following a chance meeting with Tom Nixon, the two founded the social media consultancy, NixonMcInnes. During that period he wrote Culture Shock, a practical guide on how companies can create more effective cultures for the digital age.

​In 2013 he joined Brandwatch as Chief Marketing Officer and has been there since.

Show Notes:

1.20 - A delve into Mary's background – 7.40 – What makes a great people leader? – 9.30 - The power of diversity in work – 13.00 –The key role of leaders during change - 16.05 – Trust is key – 16.30 – Celebrate achievements (and failures!) honestly – 17.36 – People can grow through change - 18.30 – Using a story to drive change – 24.55 – The importance of effective culture – 29.30 – How can leaders shape culture – 34.00 – Be yourself, not someone else - 39.30 – Mary's advice for her younger self – 'Be your authentic self'

"Being your authentic self and helping others to bring theirs is key to leadership" ​

Mary comes from an academic background in finance and a career that started in the Central Bank of Ireland where she held a number of roles including Consumer Director and Acting Chief Executive. She also held roles at the IMF and in the World Bank before joining the Institute of Banking as CEO in 2018.

With 34,000 members the IOB is Ireland's largest professional membership body and is also a college of University College Dublin (UCD). They are currently undergoing significant change as they digitise processes, procedures and their approach to learning. This will ensure that the IOB remains as relevant as possible to their growing customer base in banking, funds management and further afield in financial services.

Show Notes:

1.20 - A delve into Mary's background – 7.40 – What makes a great people leader? – 9.30 - The power of diversity in work – 13.00 –The key role of leaders during change - 16.05 – Trust is key – 16.30 – Celebrate achievements (and failures!) honestly – 17.36 – People can grow through change - 18.30 – Using a story to drive change – 24.55 – The importance of effective culture – 29.30 – How can leaders shape culture – 34.00 – Be yourself, not someone else - 39.30 – Mary's advice for her younger self – 'Be your authentic self'

​In October we ran a live event in partnership with AIB. Entitled 'Exploring the Power of Purpose', Pedro Angulo, AIB's Head of Leadership Development, opened the event with exploration and explanation of the purpose journey AIB has been on over the past few months.

Scott then hosted a panel discussion with a number of C-Suite execs from a mix of global organisations - Denis Doolan, Special Olympics; Alice Mansergh, Google, Tara O'Sullivan, Skillsoft (formerly) and Margot Slattery, Sodexo - each of whom brought their own unique perspectives on what purpose meant to them and their organisations.

The feedback on the event was so positive that we thought we'd release the panel discussion as a podcast episode - here it is!

Show Notes:

​"If you're going to use words, you might as well use the best ones you can" ​

John Simmons, has had many roles over his career but they all had one thing in common - a deep-seated passion for the 'joy of language', as he puts it. Starting his career in the UK's National Economic Development office, John soon moved into the agency world. During that period he worked on many 'visual identity projects but he always wondered if there was space too for 'verbal identity? And so the idea of Tone of Voice was born and became a key part of the brand programmes he worked on. ​

He left the agency in 2004 to work with a range of organisations, helping them to define their tone of voice and has written a number of books on the subject. He's also written a number of fictional novels and is a member of the Dark Angels collective.

Links:

John's Book, Dark Angels – www.dark-angels.org.uk

Show Notes:

2.00 - A delve into John's background – 7.40 – What is Tone of Voice? – 10.05 - TOV and internal comms – 11.00 – Tone of Voice, culture and customer experience – 12.40 – Connecting internal and external voice in WHSmith – 15.00 – Closing the gap between the spoken and written word – 18.53 – ToV is about getting the message across effectively – 19.33 – How does a company define its TOV? - 23.10 – Defining tone isn't about stifling creativity – 24.50 – Using TOV to change the culture in AIB - 30.00 – Bringing together internal and external TOV – 35.00 – Simple steps to a better tone of voice – clarity, personal pronouns and active verbs – 39.30 – Where to go for more on TOV -

"The mushroom theory of 'feed them $&*% and keep them in the dark' is gone" ​

Orlaith has had a number of different careers within a career. She started her career as a journalist in local radio and then with RTE before co-founding Gavin Duffy and Associates. Her focus was very much on media relations training, coaching and supporting thousands of business and political leaders. In latter years, however, that naturally broadened out into leadership development, talent development and leadership coaching.

Today, Orlaith is a coach and leadership consultant, spending much of her time coaching leaders and helping businesses to cope with the changing world of work - from working with Millennials and GenZs to maximizing retention, creating purpose and driving career ownership.

Links:

Orlaith's book on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Perform-Leader-skills-strategies-where/dp/0993289207/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=orlaith+carmody&qid=1567432991&s=gateway&sr=8-1

Show Notes:

2.00 - A bit about Orlaith – 4.00 – How people feel during transformation is key – 5.40 - What makes a great leader – 'emotional intelligence and authenticity – 7.05 – The impact of leaders of customer experience – 10.20 – Defining mission, vision, values and purpose isn't enough – 13.15 – Some thoughts on culture – 16.40 – Leader as a coach (not commander) to engage millennials and GenZ – 19.30 – Practical thoughts on coaching leadership – 22.00 – Getting buy-in to culture change - 28.30 – Authenticity and self-awareness – 42.20 – Orlaith's advice for himself – 'You're capable of so much more that you'll ever imagine – believe in yourself!'

"Don't fall in love with your wins – positively seek out what might kill you next"

​If you want to hear from someone with a varied, wide-ranging and interesting career, you need to look no further than Gavin Bate. He's travelled thousands of miles around the world, summited the seven highest summits on the planet, walked across the Sahara (solo!), driven aid trucks in Africa and taught in Kenya's slum schools. And that's only the half of it!

Today, Gavin is an International Mountain Leader, runs Adventure Alternative, which he started in 1991, and is the founder of Moving Mountains Trust, an international charity working with disadvantaged children and communities primarily in Kenya, Tanzania and Nepal. He is also an experienced speaker and lecturer on leadership and leadership psychology, much of the context for which he takes from his experiences in the mountains.

Show Notes:

2.40 - A bit about Gavin – 6.30 – Leadership through climbing – 8.45 - Mindfulness, mental health and getting off the grid – 11.50 – What makes a great leader – 'know thyself' – 15.10 – The changing focus on Mountain Guide training – 17.40 – Managing the psychology of men and women and optimal compromise – 19.05 – Transformational leadership and leading from the middle – 21.20 – Hierarchy kills progress – 24.40 – The danger of generational stereotypes – 26.50 – A leader's role in change – IQ vs EQ vs AQ (adaptability) - 29.00 – Adaptability – 'What if' scenario planning - 31.20 – The power of unlearning and heuristic traps – 35.35 – Exploration vs exploitation 38.50 – Silos get in the way of transparency and communication. – 42.20 – Gavin's advice for himself – 'Get off your high horse!'

"If you don't continually learn how can you grow as a leader?" ​

Joyce is a career banker with over 20 years of experience in the sector. Deciding that college wasn't for her, she took a role in the Bank of Ireland from school and spent 14 years there before moving to Ulster Bank in 2003. Within a year she became an Area Manager, a role she held for four years before she was asked to set up an Academy for retail staff, her first foray into L&D. A role as Head of Learning for the bank followed in 2009.

In 2018, having spent 10 years evolving the learning offer in Ulster Bank, Joyce became Head of Leadership & Talent. In 2019 she won the Irish Institute of Training and Development's award for Outstanding Individual Contribution.

Show Notes:

2.20 - A bit about Joyce – 7.50 – What makes a leader a great leader – 12.15 - Are leaders born or made – 18.50 – Career playgrounds and lateral moves – 19.50 – The role of L&D in creating great cultures – 20.45 – Culture is a big focus in Irish Financial Services – 22.46 – L&D as a strategic enabler – 23.45 – Chief Meaning Officers and translating strategy – 25.40 – Role of leaders in creating engaging workplaces – 28.00 – A leader's role in change - 30.00 – How can organisations create strong L&D strategies? FOCUS! 32.30 – Partnership with the business is key to success – 34.00 – You need to ask, 'How are we building capability? 36.05 – Joyce's advice for herself – 'Get up, dress up, show up and never give up.'

"Anything is possible but not everything is possible" ​

Straight out of college, Josh fell into accounting (because that's what you did, right?). However, very quickly, he realised that it wasn't for him and it was during those two years that he realised, for many people, work was just not enjoyable. But, having seen and experienced a few moments when people were in their element (or what he refers to as 'having that 'tingly feeling''), he knew there was more that companies and individuals could be doing to get the most from each other.

​So his career took a major turn and, today, Josh is an author (with three books under his belt), a speaker and a coach. In this episode, I talked to him about his most recent book, '5 days to your best work yet, a very practical guide and workbook designed to help readers identify what they can do to get more out of work.

Show Notes:

3.20 - A bit about Josh and his background – 8.57 – Josh's consulting and speaking roles – 10.37 – A bit on the book – 14.30 – Step 1 – 'What are you best at?' – 16.40 – We have lots of negative thoughts – 19.25 – 'Step 2 – What's your tingly feeling' – 22.10 – Purpose, engagement and meaningful work – 25.00 – Good work releases good chemicals – 31.00 – Step 3 – 'Who are you becoming?' – focus on your efforts – 34.10 – Using the book to take a step back – 36.05 – Josh's advice for himself – 'Anything is possible but not everything is possible.'

Having been exposed to the hospitality sector from a young age (her mother worked in a local Co Limerick hotel), Margot trained initially as a chef before taking a sideways step into hotel and catering management. She spent a number of years working for a contract catering company which was acquired by Sodexo. ​

She has been at Sodexo ever since, during which time she's held a number of positions across the company from Operations Manager to Account Director. In 2015 she became Country President, responsible for Sodexo's 4,000 employees in Ireland and NI. She's a passionate advocate of the diversity and inclusion agenda, is a member of Sodexo's global LGBT network leadership team, and was the founding chair of Sodexo's Women Work network.

Show Notes:

2.10 - A bit about Margot and her background – 4.50 – What makes a leader a great leader? – 6.40 – Bringing your whole self to work – 7.40 – The role of diversity in the workplace – 10.30 – Creating conditions for D&I success – 12.40 – Things leaders can do to create inclusive cultures – 15.00 – The importance of defending company values – 18.40 – Diversity is more than just gender – 23.00 – How do leaders keep the plates spinning? – 25.00 – The power of self-awareness – 27.30 – Diversity on boards - 34.30 – Practical advice for building more diverse teams – 36.10 – Margot's advice for herself – be brave.