The Culture Builders

The Culture Builders – A deep dive into 2023

Another year tucked under our belts, and a whole heap of challenges, successes and growth. Like most people, we’ve forgotten most of it… and it took some time to recall enough to pull our last 2023 podcast together! Chris and Jane muse on the ups and downs for the company, and the big learnings that the year has produced.
Late trains, difficult conversations, bees, workloads and collaboration (lack thereof) are all topics, along with a dose of personal reflection on what the year has meant. We loved doing it, we think it’s important for other to do the same, and would urge you all to find time before the year ends to remind yourselves of just how much you have done.

The Culture Builders – Honey to the Bee and Bank of Me

Jane managed to fulfil a personal objective for 2023 – just under the wire as the year ends. Ever since meeting Paula Carnell - Environmental Consultant of the Year - at a ‘honey tasting’ event, she has wanted to find an opportunity to interview her on our podcast channel. Why? Because her experiences and views on the importance of bees and honey for the health and wellbeing of humans is becoming a huge topic.
At the very forefront of this is Paula. She came to beekeeping later in her life, following a period of prolonged illness. Through her own experiences she came to understand the vital role that honey plays in our healthy lives. Jane and her talk through this fascinating area, exploring the history of honey and bees, and the clear benefits that they bring to us. It directly connects to our Bank of Me concept, and the need to nurture our physiological wellbeing.
More broadly, Paula talks about the analogy of the ‘health hive’ and the need to cultivate a healthy culture within the bees. There’s some lovely parallels between bee culture and our own work/life culture.
The guidance and lessons in this podcast will have you dashing out for honey, giving our little furry, buzzy friends, more respect and looking at your workplace in a whole new way

The Culture Builders - Closing the Gap for Black Women in Business

A fortuitous review of Leanne Mair’s new book: Closing the Gap, led to not one, but two podcasts with the author. The book is an in-depth look at the disparity that black women face in the working world - despite being a group identified as some of the most hard-working, professional and well educated people we have the opportunity to recruit.
Leanne has a wealth of experience and insight (more than a book’s worth) to share, and does it in a way that, without diminishing the issue, makes it feel like a positive and action focused content. She chatted to Chris Preston about the topic, and brought to the conversation a blend of stories, views and statements that bring the situation to life. 
If you are committed to building an equitable organisation, then Leanne’s wisdom is compulsory for you. We need to hear what’s being said, and recognise that it’s not the challenge for the person, it’s the imperative of the organisation. If we are to help black women gain equity, then we need to stop making it their problem.

The Culture Builders - Harnessing the Power of ADHD

As part of our support for ADHD awareness month, Jane Sparrow interviewed Samantha Hiew, PhD – an acknowledged expert on the subject, and someone who has a wealth of experience and advice for people with ADHD and those working and living alongside them.
 
The podcast is full of practical examples of how a person with ADHD navigates the world, how they best operate and the ideal ways that leaders can engage with them and harness what is, in many ways, a super power.
 
Compulsive listening if you are working in a team that has a broad neuro-spread.

The Culture Builders - Bright Sparks and The World Service

Regular listeners will recognise the name - John Tusa has previously appeared on our podcast, talking about his book 'On Board' - a rich insight into the Boards of many public institutions. At the time, we didn't get a chance to talk about his role in the BBC World Service. 
However, a chance comment from a colleague, concerning the famous 'Tusa-grams' sent us right back to John, with a plea to talk more about his role leading the World Service, and how he curated the organisation during a time of significant change. We also got a chance to hear about his latest book - Bright Sparks, which features seven stories of innovation, bravery, tenacity and audacity. Pop on a pair of headphones and be ready to sit back and listen to John sharing some of those stories. The book is out soon. We advise you pre-order it.

The Culture Builders Deep Dive - Nectar for Leaders

When a book lands on your desk titled: "The Eagle That Drank Hummingbird Nectar" you know it's going to be something different from the norm. Aneace Haddad is a coach and advisor to a range of C-level leaders, who draws on his own journey to a senior role to help others to articulate and overcome the challenges they face 'at the top'. 
 
Chris got a chance to interview Aneace, and had a broad-ranging, stimulating conversation about what it means to be the one that 'the buck stops at'. He talks candidly about how lonely it can be in a senior role, and the need for leaders to make people the number one priority. They also discussed the need for empowerment, and how many leaders are unaware of the 'gaps' that exist in their assumptions.
Aneace has taken all of this experience and knowledge and crafted the book - its an allegorical tale that's part business book, part novel and spiced with a good dose of coaching and mentoring for those in similar roles. Listen to the podcast, read the book... take part in the nectar.

The Culture Builders – The Three Big Fixes For Leaders

Sun, sand and strategic thinking? At the time of recording, many leaders are turning on the out-of-office note and heading for a well-earned holiday. But they are departing from professional lives that are busier, more complex and stressful than ever. With a myriad of new factors to contend with, the question ‘who would want to be a boss?’ rings truer than ever.
Jane and Chris dip their toe into the waters of leadership life on this podcast – taking a short look at the three big challenges that leaders face – empowerment, strategic thinking and burn out. All three are linked, and they each bring with them a specific set of needs and mindful actions to ensure you enable, achieve or avoid each one.
Plenty of practical tips, as you would expect, with some sound advice on what to do to make the space and build the trust. If you are about to turn off, tune in and get some holiday inspiration to mull over as you take your well-earned R&R.

The Culture Builders - The Warmth of a Cold Culture

Want to be part of a really strong, positive and supportive culture? It’s going to cost you – the price of a swim in freezing cold water… But it’s worth it, as that action buys you entry into a rapidly growing network of people, mainly women, who are part of the Bluetits Chill Swimmers club.
Sounds extreme, but for the 80,000+ people in the network, it’s a way to build courage and overcome their fears & self-assumptions. Founded by Sian Richardson, the Bluetits encourages people to safely swim in open water in the UK – all year round. It’s freezing cold, it’s scary and asks people to uncover their bodies with a mix of people. But it’s also a celebratory, supportive culture within which people bring their true, vulnerable selves to the swims.
The ethos, as Sian explains to Jane Sparrow, is to simply say well done to those that turn up. Even if they never get wet (remaining dry tits) they are part of the club, and valued for their contribution. It’s a powerful, shared experience – the magical moments of post-swim celebration and connection, powered by adrenalin, help to connect and fuel people’s sense of inclusion.
It doesn’t take much imagination to think how the principles that Sian shares could easily be extended to a professional world.

The Culture Builders Deep Dive - Bringing Values to Life

What can beer theft (or lack of) teach us about how to bring values to life in an organisation? Or what does it mean to be Daring at 4am in the loading bay of a warehouse? Listen in as Owen and Chris talk about their experience with values and the ways in which organisations bring them to life. 
You'll be asking tough questions of your own organisational values - are they static, active or progressive? Do they encourage action, or simply make people feel good? 
Values live or die based on how people bring them into their day to day work. Chris and Owen talk about examples of where this happens, and the pitfalls of the opposite being the case... prison for some. If you are about to craft a new set then listen carefully, and value every word. Then, take your values for a spin
 
* It was Keats BTW, not Byron or Shelley

The Culture Builders Burst - Talking Psychological Safety

Psychological Safety is a phrase we all bandy about, and more - it's big business and a major focus for many organisations that genuinely want to ensure it exists in strength within their teams. But, as most people to define it and we stumble - it's not a simple thing to grasp (or indeed create) and many of us end up talking about trust and safety to speak up.
 
Which, yes, it is both. But it's also so much more. Jane took time with one of our team members - Janine Roberts - to bring the subject to life, and open up what it means, the power it brings to us all, and some simple starting points on how to ensure it's a key factor in your team. If you want to better articulate the concept, then listen no further, as the two bounce around ideas on how to do this and ways in which you can engage people in this critical topic.