Creating a Culture for Transformational Work

I had the privilege of attending an LLB Cannes talk on building cultures, featuring an exceptional panel of senior leaders from Accenture Song, Lego, Mother, and Framestore. They shared invaluable insights that can help you assess your own culture, ensuring it nurtures talent, adapts to new ways of working, and fosters ground breaking work. 

Here are some key takeaways:

Tip One – Understanding What Drives People to the Office

Mother faced the challenge of encouraging employees to return to the office. Guided by their cultural pillar of curiosity, they posed questions to understand why people preferred working from home. They discovered that one reason was the ability to manage household chores, like doing laundry.

In response, Mother designed their new office to include laundry facilities. Although it may have seemed unconventional, they believed in its potential to cultivate the desired culture. This example beautifully illustrates the importance of listening to employee needs and delivering on them, even if it initially appears unusual. It demonstrates that people want to feel valued and heard, and addressing their needs can enhance their sense of belonging.

Tip Two – Embracing Vulnerability

During the panel, one participant courageously shared their experience of panic attacks and ADHD. The room shifted as the audience witnessed their openness and vulnerability. The insight gained was that when leaders are willing to show weakness and acknowledge they don’t have all the answers, it encourages their teams to do the same.

The level of vulnerability displayed by leaders sets the tone for the team’s comfort in expressing themselves authentically. Creating a culture where individuals can be themselves and feel respected for who they are has become increasingly crucial in today’s work environment.

Tip Three – The Power of Play

Listening to how Lego incorporates play into every aspect of their work was truly inspiring. Before starting any meeting, Lego engages in play. This could involve simple brick-based games or full team activities. It creates an atmosphere of curiosity, fostering innovative thinking. Similarly, Accenture Song begins meetings with sharing good news to set a positive tone.

Lego also has a “leadership playground” that exemplifies playfulness as a company-wide value, starting from the top. Additionally, they have an annual “play day” when the entire company takes a day off to reconnect with the company’s purpose and values.

Building on the previous tip, Lego has found that integrating play into the workplace and embracing the freedom to be silly and make mistakes naturally fosters vulnerability among team members.

When asked about managing leaders who don’t align with the company’s values, the panel emphasized that a strong culture swiftly rejects those who disrupt it. The clarity of expectations and standards within the culture ensure that anyone who doesn’t fit is quickly identified and addressed.

Culture is the heart of your business. It represents your people and plays a vital role in determining your success. Investing in your culture is not merely a “fluffy” endeavor; it is what will ultimately shape your future by attracting and retaining the right individuals.

In conclusion, these insights from accomplished companies remind us to prioritize culture as a powerful force that enables transformational work. By understanding and valuing the needs of your people, embracing vulnerability, and incorporating playfulness, you can create a culture that fosters innovation, collaboration, and overall success.

Connect with me on LinkedIn or drop me an email—I would love to hear from you.

If you are are a leader transitioning to a more senior position and want to have support for your first year to create meaningful change and a positive impact, please book a call here. 

Finding strength in your leadership through vulnerability

In leadership, vulnerability has emerged as a powerful catalyst for growth and connection. However, many find themselves grappling with the question of how to strike the right balance between vulnerability and oversharing. What does it truly mean to be vulnerable as a leader? In this article, we explore the transformative power of vulnerability and how it can strengthen both our personal and professional lives.

Discovering the Power of Vulnerability:

For me, embracing vulnerability was a transformative journey—one that required a shift in my beliefs. I had to recognise that vulnerability was not a sign of weakness or inadequacy, but rather a source of strength that allowed me to build genuine connections with others and, most importantly, with my own self.

The Importance of Defining Vulnerability:

To begin on the path of vulnerability, it is crucial to first understand what it looks like in the workplace. Consider the below list and evaluate how they align with your current leadership style. Perhaps there is an area that could benefit from more attention. Personally, I realised that I needed to let go of the fear of intruding by asking about their well-being. Avoiding uncomfortable conversations only hindered genuine connection.

What vulnerability in the workplace looks like: 

• Being open and honest with yourself and others about areas of development you need
• Being your true self with people
• Giving people the opportunity to get to know and understand you
• Asking your team for feedback on your strengths and weaknesses so that you can be a better as a leader
• Calling an employee or colleague whose child is not well, a loss in the family etc..
• Asking someone for help
• Taking responsibility for something that went wrong at work

Exploring the Boundaries of Vulnerability:

While embracing vulnerability is empowering, it is equally important to recognise its boundaries. Here are a few considerations to help navigate the fine line between vulnerability and oversharing:

• It’s not spilling all your dirty laundry to everyone
• Its knowing the appropriate person to tell
• Know the intention of why you are sharing 

At our recent Courageous Leaders LIVE event, Lori Meakin led an inspiring exercise where participants paired up and shared something significant about themselves. The room immediately shifted, and a newfound sense of relaxation and closeness enveloped the atmosphere. One leader, for instance, shared his experience of losing his mother, a deeply personal revelation he had never previously shared in the workplace. This vulnerable moment fostered a profound connection between him and the person he confided in.

The feedback from the room confirmed a powerful truth: as leaders, we establish the level of vulnerability that our teams can comfortably embrace based on our own openness. The act of vulnerability not only strengthens relationships but also cultivates a sense of safety within the team.

Crucial Listening and Action:

The most important factor to remember is if you choose to ask someone if they are okay, it is essential to genuinely listen and potentially take action based on their response. Superficial enquiries or dismissive responses will only shut down vulnerability. To truly empower your team and help them reach their full potential, you must bring your whole self to the workplace, thereby encouraging and enabling them to do the same.

Conclusion:

As leaders, we possess the extraordinary gift of inspiring others to unlock their full potential. To achieve this, we must be willing to embrace vulnerability, allowing it to guide our interactions and shape our leadership style. I invite you to reflect on your own experiences and share your thoughts on this article. 

Connect with me on LinkedIn or drop me an email—I would love to hear from you.

If you are are a leader transitioning to a more senior positions and want to have support for your first year to create meaningful change and a positive impact, please book a call here. 

Building YOUR relationship with YOU 

At our recent Courageous Leaders Event on May 11th, I had the great honour of discussing the vital importance of building a deep and meaningful relationship with yourself. While there are countless leadership trainings available, we often neglect the critical task of truly understanding who we are and how to connect with ourselves on a deeper level. 

As leaders, we have a responsibility to be able to self-lead, as our teams are a reflection of ourselves. Therefore, we must give ourselves permission to truly know who we are. When we take the time to focus on ourselves, we can increase our self-belief, resilience, courage, and compassion – all of which are essential qualities for effective leadership.

To build a relationship with oneself, we must first accept ourselves unconditionally and let go of the need for external approval. We must practice kindness and compassion towards ourselves, just as we do towards others. Often at times, we are kind to others but critical of ourselves, so it’s important to check in with our self-talk and treat ourselves with the same level of kindness and respect that we would give to a friend.

To connect with ourselves, we must delve deep into our internal world, an area that is often neglected. This world includes our purpose, mindset, standards, attitude, values, strengths, and weaknesses. While it can be confronting to examine these aspects of ourselves, it’s a necessary step towards personal growth and understanding. It’s also important to recognize that asking for help in this process is not a weakness, but rather a strength.

When I focused on my internal world this is when life started to change for me, as I felt I could really breathe. I knew who I was and what fulfilled me.  It gave me the courage to start my own business and back myself. I invested in my growth as I truly trusted I would be able to give a return.

Allow me to share 3 ways you can start:

1. Reflect on what your purpose is

We often tend to overcomplicate the pursuit of finding our purpose. Take a moment to identify the activities in your life that naturally bring you joy. Personally, I realised that throughout my career, I spent a significant amount of time bringing my team together and teaching them new skills. This insight led me to understand that my purpose lies in teaching and developing people, helping them believe in themselves. Keep it simple and remember that your purpose can evolve as you do in life. 

2. Become the boss of your mind

I recommend starting by reading Carole Dweck’s book, “Mindset”, which sheds light on the distinction between fixed and growth mindsets. Many individuals believe they possess a growth mindset, but upon closer examination, they realize they tend to adopt a fixed mindset when facing challenges. Cultivate curiosity about the mindset you bring to various situations. Recognize that we have the capacity to be the boss of our minds and take responsibility for how we show up.

3. Elevate your standards

Gain clarity on your personal standards. Identify someone who has achieved the success you desire and inquire about their standards. You can then choose to model those standards. For instance, two standards I adopted were “say yes and figure out how” and “show up 100%.” These standards helped me to go beyond my previous limitations and venture into new territories. Take the time to envision who you aspire to become and establish the standards necessary to reach that level. Then, assess the gap between your current reality and the desired standard. This will enable you to identify the actions required to bridge that gap.

At the event, we concluded with a powerful guided visualization exercise that allowed us to connect with our future selves. This exercise helped us envision the person we want to become and make decisions today that our future selves will be proud of.

Building a relationship with oneself opens up a world of possibilities and creates a solid foundation for the future. As leaders, it’s important to continue growing ourselves so that we can inspire and lead our teams to reach their full potential.

After all, leadership is about growing others, and to do that, we must first grow ourselves.

High Functioning Depression in Leadership

Now, more than ever, it is likely that we know and indeed work with someone who is living with a mental health condition, and so recognising days such as a World Mental Health Day is an important step in starting conversations around mental health and supporting those that need it.

And no, it is not always easy to recognise when someone is struggling, especially as our perception of mental health may not always be accurate.  When we speak about mental health problems, we picture people who are sad and withdrawn, or simply not their usual self and can easily mistake smiles for being ok.

Earlier this year I interviewed Brie Stewart for my podcast, and during the episode she spoke very openly about her journey with High Functioning Depression, a term that I wasn’t previously familiar with.

Brie is an award-winning Creative Director with over 13 years’ experience including working at esteemed Public Relations Agency Edelman, and the advertising agencies Ogilvy, Clemenger BBDO, and most recently Wunderman Thompson.

When you read her bio, it’s certainly impressive and so it was fascinating to hear her experiences about how she was doing publicly; she was going to work and had a successful career, and under the surface she was living with depression.

During the interview Brie explained that she has lived with High Functioning Depression for years and while her introverted side was thriving during the isolation, she was also inspired to share her story. 

I Feel It Too, We’ll Get It Done was Brie’s way of starting the conversation about those mental health issues that are easier to overlook or miss. She wanted to highlight the ‘behind the scenes’ part of HFD: the internal struggles, the severe tiredness and the complete and utter lack of motivation. She was fine. But she wasn’t. Her message was so powerful, it really is ok not to be ok and that we need to create cultures where we all feel comfortable to speak out about it, no matter our level of seniority.

It wasn’t an article that Brie wrote lightly; she acknowledged that it felt risky. Working in an industry that is so competitive and where busyness is worn as a badge of honour, to admit that she was struggling to stay afloat, was a real risk that she would be seen as weak and not resilient.

However, the reality was that the article was met with an outpouring of support both publicly and privately; showing that speaking out and working through our struggles is the strongest and bravest acts we can take.

In fact, Brie actually credits her vulnerability as making her a better and more courageous leader, and I was moved by some of the points she shared as to why, including:

Being comfortable with not being perfect builds trust

When you’ve shared a difficult moment, you demonstrate that we are all human and we all have to move through difficult times.

Having the courage to say “I’m not ok” opens up conversations

These conversations then create an atmosphere of honesty and integrity where people feel comfortable showing their own vulnerability.

Practising what we preach about the importance of rest

This is especially true at times of great pressure. When you show that you prioritise rest it sets the example that you can achieve, but not at the expense of your health.

Understanding that there is a ‘no’ in every ‘yes’

Every new commitment we make takes time and energy away from other things. Getting comfortable with saying ‘no’ demonstrates the importance of setting clear boundaries.

Accepting that you will not always be liked

Being comfortable with the fact that it is more important to speak your truth than to sit in silence encourages your team to speak up too.

It was truly inspiring listening to Brie talk about High-Functioning Depression and how being open about it has freed her up to be a stronger and more effective leader.

To learn more about how our own vulnerability can help us become better leaders listen to the podcast here. 

How to Build a Successful Team

One of the most important things we do as leaders is to build a team, as these are the people who will become responsible for delivering your ideas and projects.

It’s not surprising then that it is also one of the most challenging things we will do as a leader, because the hard truth is that not everyone will be capable of taking your vision into the world and making it happen.

Which brings me to the million-dollar question in leadership – how do you build a successful team and what key elements do you need to keep in mind that mean you can attract the right people in the first place?

Below I’ve delved a little deeper into the three core areas that will help you do this.

1. Prioritise values and mindset as highly as you do skill set

It is often no longer your responsibility to deliver on your ideas and projects, but to inspire and empower others to do so. This means that everyone in your team must be aligned on the vision and be able to take that out into the world and make it their own. 

A key part of your role will involve you needing to be able to bring your ideas and projects to life to create buy-in and momentum; and so, when you build a team, you need to be confident that you can create a vision for them and know how to build alignment to that vision.

After all, there is no vision without alignment, and teamwork will not happen without shared values. 

Before attempting to build a team you, therefore, need to be clear on what it is you need; and you must remember that it’s not just about the skills and experience of your team members, it’s also about mindset, values and connecting the right people. 

By spending the time at this early stage honing in on what it is that you need from your team as a whole and as individuals you are far more likely to bring together those people who can make what we want to happen, happen.

2. Be clear about your expectations

Once you know what you’re looking for, you need to set clear expectations with those you are looking to bring onto your team.

You must give potential new team members the opportunity to understand the type of organisation they would be joining and how they would need to work; and once your team is in place it is your role to provide clarity and set clear expectations.

This is about more than just a job description; it is about being clear about what values and skills you need from your team, what tasks they will be responsible for and how they show up and respond to challenges.

If you need people who can be flexible within the team, work with fluid structures and not need to be told what to do, you need to tell potential team members that. Do not fear scaring people off, instead reframe your mindset to ensure you bring the right person on – not everyone will be suited to your organisation and that is ok.

Recruitment is a collaborative effort between you and the candidate to ensure you find the right fit, but neither of you can do that unless you tell them exactly what you are looking for.

Of course, this may mean that you will reduce the number of candidates and in some cases it may take longer to find the right person or people for your team. But the key is not to panic; not to lower or shape your expectations based on who you meet.

We all know, many of us from personal experience, that it is much more costly in the long run to hire the wrong person than to wait a little longer to hire the right person. The most successful teams often take a little longer to build but the impact they make lasts far longer.

3. Remember building a team is a creative process

It is easy, when building a team, to become bogged down in the challenges and minutiae of the process but creating a team is and should be a creative process.

Just like creativity, building a team is a blank piece of paper and it enables us to move beyond the thinking and into the doing.

Using those creative skills that make you a successful leader when creating and building your team – imagination, vision, originality, inventiveness – you will be able to bring together a group of people that not only succeed as individuals but as a team that is greater than the sum of its parts.

After all, our teams are our most creative tool and the one by which we will present and deliver our ideas to the world, and we should approach the process of creating it as such.

The key to an effective team is trust, and it is your role as a leader to help them get to know and understand each other so that the trust can be built. Be courageous and curious in the questions you ask and the time you give to really know who your team members are and understand their needs, get to know them as individuals and then support them to come together as a collective.

Putting our team together is one of the most challenging aspects of being a leader because we know how important it is to get right, and how easy it is to get wrong!

This means it can be a very daunting process and comes with a lot of pressure – but with my Courageous Leaders Club, it is not something that you need to do by yourself.

By joining my community of leaders from within the creative industries, you will be part of a safe, supportive (and successful) team created just for you. It is a space to learn, share ideas and overcome challenges together, giving you the confidence to go forward and create the team you need to succeed.

To find out more about the Courageous Leaders Club and to apply to join visit https://thechangecreators.com/courageous-leaders-club/Ho