Latitude – Navigating Business Culture

Rod and Brian interview Al Lucia and recap a number of key takeaways from the last six months of Latitude episodes using Al's technique of harmogenizing – using music as a memory anchor.

Episode Summary:

Research has concluded, as a general rule, a human's forgetting curve is that in about 1 day, you forget about 70% of the information you have read or heard. However, music can have a significantly longer lasting period. This episode illustrates the use of harmogenizing on some key elements in creating an engaged, high-performance culture.

Whiteboard Notes:

Reflection Questions:

1. What memory anchors does your organization use to reinforce key messages?
2. Where could you use music as a memory anchor in your communication efforts?
3. What key songs might you use?

Rod and Brian conclude this two-part series by discussing three additional ways executives can embed quality or non-quality elements into their organization's culture.

Episode Summary:

Three additional ways executives embed culture are discussed, and examples of each are given. These include:

• What executives model, coach, and teach
• Perceived way employees believe they can get recognition and reward
• Perceived criteria to get hired, promoted, or removed

Four key steps are also offered to help assess if the frequency of behavioral exceptions is creating boundary-busting, excuse-making, and unnecessary use of resources. In other words – waste and non-quality.

Whiteboard Notes:

Reflection Questions:

1. Does your organization have a good handle on the consistency of employees' mindsets and behaviors in successfully doing:
   1. Right thing – aligned to your mission and strategy?
   2. Right time – supporting your standards?
   3. Right way – reflecting your policies, processes, and core values?

Rod and Brian start a two-part series on the cost of cultural non-quality on overall performance.

Episode Summary:

The cost of cultural non-quality is defined as the costs and performance waste that would disappear in an organization if employees' mindsets and behaviors were consistently:

· Aligned to the organization's 'common' goals and objectives

· Accountable for results; and

· Desired norms (common habits) of everyone – not just simply compliance and/or inconsistent commitment

Three major ways Executives can embed quality or non-quality elements in their culture are discussed: how and what Executives pay attention to and measure; react to crisis; and allocate time, money, and talent. These cultural embedding factors come from Edgar Schein and his research at MIT. Numerous real-life examples from their careers are shared by Rod and Brian.

Whiteboard Notes:

Reflection Questions:

1. Is your organization inadvertently overlooking negative feedback or truths about their culture that are eroding better performance and outcomes?
2. Is it time to consider a new playbook for higher performance and eliminate some cultural non-quality actions and behaviors?

Rod and Brian conclude their two-part series on communication by reminding listeners of some key 'basics' that all leaders need to be brilliant in modeling, coaching, and teaching their employees.

Episode Summary:

How much is LOST between communication intent, delivery, and understanding? How can you illustrate the importance of nonverbal communication? How well does your organization balance high-tech and high-touch communication? These are a few questions explored and suggested solutions offered in this episode.

Whiteboard Notes:

Reflection Questions:

1. As you think about and review our key communication reminders to model, coach, and teach employees about communication in your culture, what do you personally need to:
   1. Start doing more of or improve the quality of?
   2. Stop doing or minimize?

Rod and Brian start a two-part series on the importance of communication in a high-performance culture.

Episode Summary:

This first episode focuses on some common challenges in business communication and five key actions an executive must ensure to drive clarity and understanding in their culture.

Whiteboard Notes:

Reflection Questions:

1. Would your employees say there is too much, too little, or just enough communication to create and sustain high performance? How do you know?
2. What are your organization's biggest communication wastes?
3. What percentage of your employees would say they are bombarded by information but still starving for understanding?

In this episode, Rod and Brian interview the Founder and President of Creekmur Wealth Advisors. This highly successful business has grown since its inception to now serving over 1700 client households, managing over $420M of assets, and advising on $1B.

Episode Summary:

John shares how better understanding, acting on, and actively managing their culture like an investment has created differentiation and much success. He describes his organization's culture with this simple formula.

Culture = The sum of all the decisions all of his employees make to serve people

Join us for this real-life success story of an organization deciding the best way forward was to chart a different course than others.

Whiteboard Notes:

Reflection Questions:

• What concept or idea that John shared:

o Reinforces something you are currently doing to navigate business culture effectively?

o Presents a new/different perspective that is worthy of further discussion for possible execution?

In this episode, Rod and Brian discuss leadership – expectations of, support for, and consistency when leading others in your organization.

Episode Summary:

Research has found up to 35% of the variability in employee discretionary effort is the direct result of managerial styles and behaviors. This episode discusses a critical continuum in high performance – setting leadership expectations then gaining agreement, and finally taking ownership. Structure, process discipline, and accountability help make it stick.

Join us as we discuss foundational questions such as when is it fair and unfair to expect something from a leader?

Remember – high-performance organizations are respectfully relentless and relentlessly respectful of leadership expectations!

Whiteboard Notes:

Reflection Questions:

1. Do business and employees' expectations of leaders align in your organization? If not, then where?
2. Does your culture need to make any changes to stay on course and better support individuals leading others?

In this episode, Rod and Brian discuss four major components to help align new behaviors and norms necessary to maximize strategy execution.

Episode Summary:

Research has found that 9 out of 10 top barriers to change are people-related. This episode explores leadership tendencies in aligning new behaviors and common shortcomings. A new High-Performance Model is then discussed that focuses on cultural processes, accountability, and employee engagement in order to maximize strategy execution.

Join us as we discuss inspecting your cultural bridge for higher performance!

Remember – while all changes do not lead to improvement, all improvement requires change.

Whiteboard Notes:

Reflection Questions:

1. Does your organization need to do a more thorough inspection of key structural elements of its culture to achieve higher performance?
2. Do you know your business culture's strengths, and are you leveraging them? Weaknesses that are creating waste and lost potential?

In this episode, Rod and Brian discuss formal and informal ways to measure, see, and hear an organization's culture every day.

Episode Summary:

"So, how healthy is your business culture?" A common reply - "I think it's okay." But when the follow-up question is asked – "How do you know?", many Executives have a hard time coming up with anything concrete. Important patterns and trends are all around us at work.

Join us as we discuss ways to recognize the signs of a positive and negative work culture.

Remember - In this fast-paced world of business today, it is increasingly important to take the time to seek the BIG picture about your workplace culture's strengths and weaknesses.

Whiteboard Notes:

Reflection Questions:

1. Does your perception of, and intuition about, your organization's culture match reality?
2. Could you make better decisions about where to allocate scarce resources (time, money, talent) if you continually kept your finger on your culture's pulse – formally & informally?

In this episode, Rod and Brian discuss four major challenges in maximizing the value of values in an organization. Seven practical best practices will be shared.

Episode Summary:

High performing business cultures use their core values as a key reference point for behaviors both internally and externally. Values are mission-critical principles that are given priority, authority, and power. But many organizations, unfortunately, underutilize their core values potential.

Join us as we discuss turning good intentions into great actions!

Remember – core values can influence results, engagement, image, reputation, and brand, as well as lower organizational risk.

Whiteboard Notes:

Reflection Questions:

1. Is your organization maximizing the value of its' core values? How do you know?
2. If you had a continuum with GREAT INTENTIONS on the left side and GREAT ACTIONS on the opposite end, then where would most employees say your organization is on its' values journey? How do you know?