Change Course

A Rolls Royce, a Lake House in Muskoka, the newest iPhone, Air Jordans what do all of these things have in common? They are all status markers. We humans have always used status markers to show others how much relative status, and therefore how much power we have relative to the group we are engaged with. Status and power are related. So when you’re a leader trying to bring about change, you need to be able to identify quickly, who has power because they are well positioned to help you. Status markers are a way – but sometimes they are hidden in plain sight. Listen to this episode of the Change Course podcast to find out more about how you can use status markers to identify power in your organization.

show notes: www.connectedchange.com

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One of my favourite references when talking about ingroups, outgroups and toxic culture is the movie mean girls. Not only was it filmed in my hometown with a lead actress from Toronto (shoutout to Rachel McAdams!) but also because it is a great illustration of how toxic cultures can start. In this episode of the Change Course podcast, I get into how ingroups and outgroups form and drive toxic culture, and the role of leadership in identifying and changing toxic cultures.

show notes: www.connectedchange.com

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There is an intersection between power, influence and culture, two key elements of Connected Change ™. This relationship drives how effective leaders are at bringing about changes in their organizations, and what drives us, as humans, to behave in certain ways around powerful and influential people. Human nature, social structures and relationships are driven by our need to seek status and affiliation among the groups that we are a part of. Listen to this week’s episode to find out more about the intricacies of power and influence and how these play a role in reinforcing culture and bringing about change.

show notes: www.connectedchange.com

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How do you become an organization that does CHANGE well? The truth is that our world has entered a period of rapid, sustained, and relentless change. Change that happens to us is exhausting and drains our energy. Multiple successive big changes can run an organization and its culture into the ground. One of the ways to build change resilience is to make change a part of the organization and its culture. So how do we build an organization that does change well?  Listen in to find out more!

show notes: www.connectedchange.com

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I got this song stuck in my head recently "Back to Life, Back to Reality" by the amazing 90's pop culture phenomenon Soul II Soul. I think it accurately describes how we are all feeling right now.  While many organizations started their "back to the office" campaigns earlier this year,  it kind of felt a bit like everyone had escaped to the lake this summer... and now, after the final long weekend of the summer, we are back at it.  September always feels like "back to school" and in organizations we still follow that rhythm, September means "back to business".  

If you're feeling at all apprehensive about what September means for your work, life and routine, this episode is for you. I'm breaking down the weird feelings, how to navigate and help yourself adjust and where you need to be kind to yourself from the perspective of a change manager.  

Good luck, and stay safe out there!

Show notes: www.charthouse.ca/change-course-podcast

After all of the discussions of culture and change -- what do you do if you're starting a new team or organization,  how can you build an amazing culture?  Culture is fast becoming a competitive advantage.  Employees are seeking out cultural fit for themselves and are choosing organizations with strong cultures more frequently.  Defining culture is just as important as defining strategy, but how can we go about planning culture? There aren't as many tools and templates for this. I talk through a pitfall that can happen in building and defining culture and why you need to define your culture by what you are, vs. what you are not.

So, once you know how to build the behaviours and interactions that you desire, how do you know if you've accomplished your goal?  I talk through ways to measure culture and to know if you're doing a good job of making your desired culture come alive.

Show notes: www.connectedchange.com

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Culture has a gravitational pull on the organization and its people. So what causes this?  In this episode we dive into the realm of social psychology to understand group dynamics, and how viewing organizations with this lens helps us to define and understand culture.  We meet some old friends along the way, and talk about why working organizations are not families.  Group and social dynamics is the second key organizational system that we talk about here, and viewing this as a system helps illuminate this.  I use some fancy math to explain how relationships multiply and create webs of social networks that make changing cultures difficult. This starts to quantify the intangible and make it easier to understand the how and why of relationships in groups.  Humans sure do love their group dynamics, after all, we are social animals!

show notes: www.connectedchange.com

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When we are trying to change an organization's culture it is hard! This change takes the longest and requires incredible leadership and persistence.

Building upon the last three episodes, I talk about breaking down the current behaviours and interactions and defining the desired interactions and behaviours that we want to see in the change. 

My belief based on my experience in cultural change is that culture is driven top-down in the organization and driven by the business model. If you want to change culture, don't make the mistake of trying to adjust culture from grassroots or bottom-up initiatives. 

I talk about the requirements for cultural leadership including: demonstrating and leading cultural change, holding people accountable (including ourselves) and how to handle mistakes and build trust. I also talk about the hardest part of cultural change that leaders will have to do to make cultural change successful.

Show notes: www.connectedchange.com

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Have you ever walked into a place, caught the "vibes" and thought: "This is not for me".  Well that's culture!  The first step to changing our organization's culture is fully understanding what it is. 

With a clear definition of what our culture is, we can identify what we want to change, and start planning out how we will do that.  I break down cultural change objectives in interactions and behaviours and show why cultural change must be led by leadership from the top down. I also help you identify the difference and relationships between the culture in the organization, and culture "at large" or within larger groups or society.

Show notes: www.connectedchange.com

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It's culture month at the change course podcast! Tune in all month as we bring you amazing content on organizational culture and culture change.  

Culture is one of my favourite subjects to discuss and one of the 5 elements in Connected Change (TM) for a reason!  One of the central tenets of organizational culture is that it is stable. It has a gravitational center that remains the same over long periods of time and is difficult to shift! That's why our theme for this month is "plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose" or: "the more things change, the more they stay the same".

Tune in to this foundational episode to learn about organizational culture, and change in the context of culture. Imagine you're sitting by the Seine in a French Café!  We bring the philosophers and thinkers by our table to discuss culture and change and walk through examples, case studies and how to define culture, and ultimately, change it.

Show notes: www.connectedchange.com

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