In this Culture First episode, Damon Klotz sits down with the iconic Simon Sinek in a conversation wholly shaped around Simon’s concept of the Infinite Mindset of company culture. Inside, you’ll get a sneak peek into Simon’s background and how it shaped his perspective on life and work. You’ll also hear about the massive role that storytelling plays in Simon’s work and how you can use it to help people connect with ideas on a deeper level.

Simon’s passion for shaping leaders with an Infinite Mindset shines throughout this chat, and he mentions Walmart, Microsoft, and Patagonia, organizations that have embraced the Infinite Mindset as he walks us through the tools and leadership skills that are required to build it. This interview was recorded in 2019, just moments before Simon stepped on stage to address an audience of more than 1,000 people and culture professionals at a Culture First event, which makes Simon’s concerns about the power and influence of big tech companies and the need for balancing their role in society even more relevant today.

Simon Sinek is an unshakable optimist who works to inspire people to do what inspires them so that we can change our world for the better. Simon and his team work with leaders and organizations in nearly every industry to help transform company culture and create a better working world. He is fascinated by the people and organizations that make the greatest, lasting impact on the world. He has devoted his life to sharing his thinking, and leading a movement to inspire people to do the things that inspire them and may be best known for popularizing the concept of WHY in his first Ted Talk in 2009. It has since become one of the most watched talks of all time on TED.com, with 37+ million views. Simon is a bestselling author and shares his ideas in the books Start With Why, Leaders Eat Last, Together Is Better, Find Your Why, and The Infinite Game.

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Learn more about Simon at simonsinek.com

Show notes:  

Simon recommends two books in this interview. He actually says they belong on the national curriculum: Man's Search For Meaning by Viktor Frankl and How to Talk to Kids So Kids Will Listen by Adele Faber & Elaine Mazlish.

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Have you ever caught yourself saying “Once I’ve achieved this, I’ll have time for that” or “I would love to, but I’m just too busy’?

Yes? Same!

Our relationship with time and the perpetual quest for control can lead us to feeling incredibly overwhelmed. 

Enter Oliver Burkeman, the author of "4000 Weeks: Time Management for Mortals." In his book, Burkeman delves into the profound concept of our mortality and how it shapes our perspective on time. 

The conversation Damon and Oliver have in this episode will, without a doubt, help you make better decisions with your time not only at work, but in your personal life, too.

We're passionate about creating a space for discussions that straddle both realms as our work and our lives continnue to overlap more than ever.

Five key concepts to listen out for are:

• Embracing your limitations. 
• The idea of waiting for perfect control. 
• How to be aware of the productivity trap. 
• The joy of seeking novelty in the mundane.
• And did the term ‘strategic underachievement’, as coined by Oliver, lay the foundations for the quiet quitting trend? 

As usual, this episode is packed full of actionable takeaways for everyone looking to build a culture first workplace.

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SHOW NOTES:

At the top of the episode, you’ll hear Damon reference one of Oliver’s latest New York Times articles, as he sets a challenge for every listener: Opinion | Stop Multitasking. No, Really — Just Stop It. - The New York Times.

Damon also mentions the work of Alain de Botton.

You’ll also hear Oliver reference the work of Cal Newport, an MIT-trained computer science professor at Georgetown University who also writes about technology, work, and finding depth despite distraction.

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This episode contains the never heard before full interview from our very first episode with Esther Perel. 

It was this sit down conversation that sparked a friendship between Esther and Damon that continues to this day. We believe in the magic that real conversations can create, so we want to take you back to that moment in time, back to the start and give you access to the first time Esther and Damon sat down together.

For the first time ever, we’re releasing the full interview from start to finish. This conversation offers a great opportunity to be reminded of the foundational elements of relational intelligence, and gives you tangible takeaways to help you build a better world of work. 

Psychotherapist Esther Perel is the New York Times bestselling author of The State of Affairs and Mating in Captivity. Fluent in nine languages, she helms a therapy practice in New York City and serves as an organizational consultant for Fortune 500 companies around the world. Esther’s TED talks have garnered more than 20 million views and she is the host of the podcast Where Should We Begin?

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Learn more about Esther at www.estherperel.com or @EstherPerelOfficial on Instagram.

Show notes: 

In this episode Esther mentions: John Gottman’s metaphor of the The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The four communication styles, according to his research, that can predict the end of a relationship are criticism, defensiveness, contempt, and stonewalling.

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Interviews with a curated list of workplace culture experts and thought leaders full of actionable insights to help all of us create a better world of work.

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‘Pop’ Culture First is a new style of episode and one that we’d love to do more of if you, our audience, agree!

In this episode, you’ll hear Damon and his guests unpack the leadership styles of Ted Lasso and Logan Roy, both lead characters in smash hit shows that take us to the edge of what typical leadership is often confined to. When we say smash hit, we mean it! In 2023, Ted Lasso received 21 Emmy nominations, while Succession received 27!

Priya Parker, author of the best selling book 'The Art of Gathering', compares the two starkly different management styles of the main characters in each show and breaks down for us what we can learn from how they gather and how they use or abuse power. 

Gary is a Culture First Chapter Lead Volunteer for Culture Amp in San Diego, a facilitator and a master improv teacher, and dives deep into what Ted Lasso, as a leader, taught us across the three seasons. 

Our guest’s thoughts on why The Lasso Way works, and why the cruel manoeuvres of Logan Roy don’t, are well worth the listen!

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Learn more about Culture Amp at www.cultureamp.com

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What can 200,000 employees tell us about the relationship between engagement and performance? 

It turns out quite a lot. 

On the latest episode of the Culture First Podcast, we are returning to the data to bring you the latest in employee experience research. 

In the first part of our data and research series, I sat down with Culture Amp's Lead Researcher Fresia Jackson to lay the foundations for the scope and size of the data lake that Culture Amp has. You can listen to that episode here: https://www.cultureamp.com/podcast/diving-into-data 

In part two of our data exploration, we are looking at a specific study just completed by our data and research team. 

In this episode, you'll learn: 

• How we standardized the data to get the most robust engagement and performance research set in the world. 

• The different types of performance rating systems organizations have implemented, and we find out if there is a sweet spot when it comes to how often you should measure performance. 

• What type of feedback do your high performers need? 

• The external reasons that may be causing underperformance for some of your employees and what you can do about it. 

If you've enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, follow and leave a review.

Learn more about Culture Amp at www.cultureamp.com 

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While we all know that the world has changed significantly, what you might not know is that the state of mental health in the workplace has also been adjusting to respond to it. 

One of those changes was that in June of this year, the world's first International Standard (ISO) to address Psychological health and safety at work were published.

To better understand what is happening with mental well-being and the workplace, Damon sat down with the Co-Founder of Unmind, Dr Nick Taylor. 

In this episode, you'll learn: 

- The macro trends and policies impacting mental health in the workplace

- Why disclosure is such a complex subject when it comes to mental health 

- How to focus on your mental wellness before supporting others on your team

- Tips for anyone who's managing a team of humans in this complex environment 

Links referenced in the episode: 

ISO Standard 45003

Culture Amp & Unmind Partnership

Culture First Global On Demand Content

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In this bonus episode of the Culture First Podcast, our host Damon Klotz announces the four keynote speakers for Culture First Americas. 

Join him at Culture First on Wednesday, the 26th of October, to hear from Susan Cain, Valerie Jarrett, Oliver Burkeman and David Whyte. 

Click this link to get your free ticket.

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For the first time on the Culture First Podcast, we are doing a mini-series where we go behind the scenes of a company to learn how they put Culture First at all levels of the company.

The first company that we will be exploring is Wilson Sporting Goods. While many people would know Wilson for its products, you probably don’t know that they’ve been around for over 100 years, and it was only in the last few years that it launched retail stores.

In the third episode of this series, we will be speaking with the Wilson Director of Retail for North America, Erin Pelton.

In this episode, you’ll hear Erin share her experience building a career in the retail industry, why Wilson was her dream opportunity and the importance of diversity, inclusion and belonging when you launch a new initiative within an established organization. 

If you’d like to hear more from Wilson Sporting Goods, register to attend Culture First Virtual Americas, where their VP of HR, Geoff Watts, will be joined live on stage with Damon Klotz.

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For the first time on the Culture First Podcast, we are doing a mini-series where we go behind the scenes of a company to learn how they put Culture First at all levels of the company. 

The first company that we will be exploring is Wilson Sporting Goods. While many people would know Wilson for its products, you probably don’t know that they’ve been around for over 100 years, and it was only in the last few years that it launched retail stores. 

In the second episode of this series, we will be speaking with the Wilson VP of HR, Geoff Watts.

In this episode, you’ll hear how Geoff thinks about company culture, measuring employee experience and what he’s excited about as the company moves into retail. 

If you’d like to hear more from Geoff, register to attend Culture First Virtual Americas, where Geoff will be joined live on stage with Damon Klotz.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.