Hire human beings, not bodies.

Not the most controversial idea, but it is not common in practice. When you "hire human beings, not bodies," you are able to identify candidates who possess the specific skills and experience that are required for the role, as well as the ability to fit in with the company culture.

So, what does it mean to care for your employees as human beings above all else?

I'm commonly asked —

“Can company culture really change?”

My answer is a resounding YES. In fact, it most definitely will change.

Culture is simply shared beliefs, values, and practices. It can be witnessed in almost everything from the intentional, company-wide meetings to the smallest day-to-day conversations.

As the people inside the organization change (both in personal change and personnel change), the culture will change along with it.

If you lead a business with 25-300 employees, this is for you —

You can have an incredible culture without a full time culture, people ops, or even an HR employee.

But, for many organizations your size, it’s tough to make the financial commitment. And if you do, you likely don’t have the strategic expertise to guide them into creating an incredible culture.

This doesn’t make culture any less important.

There are lots of questions that we could ask to better understand the culture of a company, but I suggest that you stop short of asking to see their employee turnover ratio and simplify with just these 3 questions.

Keep reading to find out why you need a culture code before you create a customer service code. 😉

Ever heard the phrase, “If mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy?”

Let me edit this a bit to fit my own style — “If your team ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.”

Harvard Business Review’s article "How to Negotiate Remote and Flexible Work Arrangements with Your Boss" was one of its top-viewed articles in Q4 of 2020.

I'm not surprised — it shows that even if you’re not thinking about remote work arrangements, your employees likely are.

Consider for a moment that you tell me your throat is sore, head feels congested, and you’re aching all over.

“Go to Disney World,” I say. “You can’t feel bad if you’re at Disney World.”

If you could even bring yourself to going to Disney World, maybe you temporarily forgot about your sickness during a particularly exhilarating ride. However, you’d still be left feeling sick because you didn’t solve the root of the issue. The solution wasn’t sustainable.

Disney World is fun, but it doesn’t cure the flu.

Every leader has flaws. Even you. ;)

Some personality flaws have a disproportionately negative impact on the quality and execution of strategic choices. These are far more than just annoyances, as they cast a large shadow across their organizations.

A Conflict-Free Workplace ≠ A Happy Workplace. Here's 3 ways to create a culture that allows people to effectively disagree at work.

Let me tell you about the time I was called a “Wench” on LinkedIn and how the power of mindset came into play.

It was 2020, and it was a troubling time for me on LinkedIn.

I had been receiving a lot of unsolicited advice on my content.

In a period of 6 months or so, the most common themes were that I:

Steal these scripts to set better boundaries at work in the midst of the holiday busy-ness:

If you're like me, cold weather makes you want to curl up with a good book. 📚

This makes it the perfect time for me to share with you 3 of my essential reads for the Nurturing Leader.

Do what you say you will.

It’s a simple concept, but it’s often overlooked in day-to-day leadership.

Failing to meet commitments or follow-through is a very quick way to erode the trust of your employees.

As a Company Culture Consultant, these are the common mistakes that I see leaders making:

Tough love time:

The best leaders are not those that make everyone happy.

Let that sink in — the best leaders are not those that make everybody happy.

If you are a leader, it’s your responsibility to mold the culture, set the boundary, have the uncomfortable conversation.

“What are they doing all day?”

There may be no question that’s more ubiquitous in my conversations with CEOs right now.

But it’s not a new question.

The tech industry would have you believe that tracking (aka virtually looking over someone’s shoulder) is the solution.

Let’s talk boundaries at work. Have you had any of these thoughts recently?

“I’m the responsible one; if I didn’t do it, who would?”

“I struggle telling people ‘no’ at work.”

“I’m not a mean person, but even small things that my co-workers do are driving me nuts.”

Said another way —

A healthy culture covers a multitude of sins.

Ever made a minor communication error and found that it blew up in a major way?

-People assumed the worst.

Leaders - 🛑 Stop with the GRATITUDE PLATITUDES 🛑

“Thanks for everything.”

“Appreciate your hard work.”

“You’re the best.”

Here’s what to do instead. 👇

Use my AFFIRMATION FORMULA.

When it comes to empathy, most of my time is spent teaching leaders how to effectively use it. But in some cases, I find that leaders can fall into the EMPATHY TRAP.

To know if you fall into this trap, first, let’s define empathy - Empathy is feeling WITH someone. For example, I feel your frustration, disappointment, etc. It is stepping into someone else’s shoes.

I love conducting employee focus groups.

🤨 Seeing employees switch from skeptical to trusting.

👯‍♀️ Experiencing the bond when two employees have been same experience, but never knew it.

🧩 Helping employees switch from idle frustration/talk to problem-solving.