267 | Why Culture Matters In Our Hyperconnected World

In this episode of the Lead Culture Podcast, Jenni Catron discusses the critical importance of workplace culture and how leaders can shape it effectively. She introduces her upcoming book, 'Culture Matters,' and outlines the Lead Culture Framework, which consists of five phases to develop a thriving organizational culture. The conversation emphasizes the need for leaders to be proactive in defining and nurturing their culture to achieve their mission and engage their teams. If you haven't already, you can pre-order Culture Matters today and take advantage of some incredible bonuses! Visit culturemattersbook.com

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Transcript

Jenni Catron (00:03.238)
Hey, leaders, welcome to the Lead Culture Podcast, part of the Art of Leadership Network. I'm your host, Jenni Catron, CEO of the 4Sight Group. We're a company dedicated to helping leaders develop thriving teams. Each week, I'll be your guide as we explore practical strategies to equip you with the tools you need to lead with clarity, confidence, and build...

unstoppable momentum in your organization. My mission is to be your trusted coach, empowering you to master the art of self-leadership so that you'll learn to lead yourself well so you can lead others better. Each week we take a deep dive on a leadership or a culture topic. You'll hear stories from amazing guests and leaders like you who are committed to leading well.

So let's dive in and keep learning on this leadership journey together. Friends, before we get to today's episode, I wanna encourage you to check out the Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast. If you're a listener of this podcast, I highly suggest you check out Carey's work if you haven't already. The Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast is a podcast I listen to every week because

Carey always brings insightful conversations with really remarkable leaders from all different fields and roles and responsibilities. And so you just get a unique sense and perspective on a lot of different issues and Carey's just a remarkable interviewer. Later this month, Carey is doing a special seven episode series called, Pastoring in a Partisan Age, with tensions rising and polarization at an all time high.

This series will help you navigate the upcoming election and lead your people through it. So of course for pastors, this is particularly applicable. But for all of us as leaders, there's a shepherding component to our leadership. And I know that this series will be an encouragement to you. So you can listen and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts by searching for the Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast.

Jenni Catron (02:24.088)
It's Carey C-A-R-E-Y Nieuwhof, and be sure to subscribe so you don't miss an episode. All right, friends, well today, I wanna continue our culture conversation. And over the next couple of months, you're gonna be hearing me do a bit of a deep dive on some of the principles that were formed and shaped in the book, Culture Matters, that's releasing in February.

And you might get a little tired of me talking about it. I hope you don't actually, because my goal is to equip you to build a thriving and healthy team. And if there's anything I know, I know that leaders want to work with great teams. And that's what I want to continue to equip you to do. So if you were to skim the cover stories of Harvard Business Review or Forbes Magazine,

you'll quickly find a plethora of articles devoted to the importance of workplace culture and why you as the leader need to be attending to it. Culture has become kind of the corporate buzzword of the day. And honestly, I think it's for good reason. People are what it's all about. People are the point that took a lot of lessons along my leadership journey to come to that conclusion.

But as artificial intelligence and automation contribute to a rapidly changing workplace, the importance of stewarding our human resources is more critical than ever. But the question that haunts those of us who need to lead culture is what is it exactly? Have you ever felt like that? Like you're like, Jenni, you talk about this idea of culture all the time and I get it in concept.

Because in some ways, everything feels like culture, doesn't it? Everything can be pointed back to a culture issue. And to a degree, that's true. Like everything is shaping the culture of our team. Our habits, our behaviors are shaping how our team engages. And that's why it makes this topic so incredibly complex. As we explore what culture is, I want to share just a couple of my favorite definitions just to kind of get your wheels turning little bit, creating a little bit.

Jenni Catron (04:39.432)
of a picture for you. Culture is a set of living relationships working toward a shared goal. This is one of my favorite definitions. This is from Daniel Coyle from his book, The Culture Code. He says, culture is a set of living relationships working toward a shared goal. I love that. A set of living relationships. It's a group of humans working towards a shared goal. That's in a very simple form. That is culture. Another

definition I like a lot is from Dr. Randy Ross in his book, Relationomics. He says, a remarkable culture is a place where people believe the best in one another, want the best for one another, and expect the best from one another. I love those three things. We believe the best in one another, we want the best for one another, and we expect the best from one another. Great kind of

dynamic there between those three things. And then my definition of culture is who we are and how we work together to achieve our mission. Now, that phrase is simple as well, but there's also a lot baked into it. Who we are is our purpose combined with the things that are unique and distinct to our team. And this is one of the things that I hope you start to hear as we dig a little bit deeper into

the Lead Culture Framework and the Culture Matters book is that we have to define our culture. We have to be clear about what it looks like for us. So in my definition of culture, who we are and how we work together, the who we are is understanding our purpose. What's our mission? What's our vision? And then what are the unique and distinct things about our team that make us different from the organization across town that does the same thing, right? Like there's something unique and different about your team.

And it's about some of those distinctions. so understanding that, that who we are is an important starting place. The second part is how we work together. So this is how do we behave? How do we interact? What are the values, the beliefs, the behaviors that guide our team? Like we need to be aligned around what that is. And so that definition of culture, who we are and how we work together to achieve our mission is really important. Who you are is different from another organization across town.

Jenni Catron (07:08.294)
how you work together may be radically different from the business next door. the principles that guide you, the beliefs, the behaviors might be very different from somebody else. And you need to be clear about that. You need to know why you do what you do and why you do it the way you do it. And then finally, your mission is unique to you. So who we are, how we work together to achieve our mission. And that's really critical because we are not just...

you know, here to have fun together, although fun can be part of the equation, knowing who we are, how we work together, ultimately to achieve a mission. There is a goal. This is what we're after. And sometimes when I'm talking to leaders, leaders love a goal. We love making a mission happen. And sometimes when we hear culture, we fear that it's just about making people happy and not actually getting the work done. And frankly, it's both.

understanding who we are, how we work together in a way that is honoring and respectful and draws out the best in people in pursuit of a mission together. They all go hand in hand. And so that definition of culture is really critical because those three pieces have to operate together to help produce a healthy culture. And so that's the beauty of culture. It is distinct and it's unique. The problem is that when culture is left undefined,

Every person on your team creates their own definition and lives it out in a different way, right? Everybody's making their own interpretation. And then more important than a definition is the truth that great culture doesn't happen by accident. Guys, great culture doesn't happen by accident. Culture happens by accident. You have a culture, whether you acknowledge it or not, there is a way that your team works and shows up, but they're all bringing different interpretations to that. And it's probably not what you aspire to.

And that's why I want you to be aware of it. Your culture matters and you as the leader are responsible for it. And here I'm using the word leader. You might lead a team and you're responsible for that culture. You might lead a whole organization and you're responsible for that culture. Whatever sphere of influence you have, you can apply these principles to that. And I'll give this caveat. As long as you're not out of alignment with...

Jenni Catron (09:26.652)
the broader culture or the leadership that you sit under. So if you're leading a team, make sure how you're leading that team isn't grossly misaligned with the broader culture. Now, your broader culture might not have a ton of definition, but you intuitively know some of the things that are important to your leader. So just make sure as you lead your culture, you're not leading them out of alignment. So that's an important little caveat there. Let's think about this a little bit for a minute. Great culture is not hard to spot.

Think of your favorite places to shop, your favorite brands or products, your favorite places to relax and hang out. Odds are that these products and environments have something in common. They engage you. It's as simple as that, right? Like they engage you. There's something about those products or those organizations that you, that attract you. It could be the energy, the atmosphere, the quality, attitudes of the people, or any combination of the

buff, but what that is, is the culture. And so the culture of your organization matters. It matters for the people you're trying to reach. It matters for the people you're trying to lead, whether they're staff or volunteers. And frankly, it matters to you. Your life is too sacred to squander in an organization that drains the life out of you. And you've had those experiences, haven't you? You've been a part of a team that you absolutely loathe.

And then you've been a part of a team that you just enjoyed being with. You loved the engagement, the connection, the camaraderie, the work. You got up excited to do those things. And so there's a distinction, there's a difference between cultures that inspire and engage us and cultures that really truly drain the life out of us. And I think as leaders, we wanna create the former, don't we?

The environment you create in your organization is either attracting or repelling. It's either building or eroding. And as leaders, we set the tone for the culture. So we have to own it, we have to steward it, we have to set it, and we have to maintain it. That is the responsibility that we hold. Culture building is truly some of the most important work you will do as a leader. And obviously you all know this has become my life work. It was unexpected.

Jenni Catron (11:51.228)
kind of snuck up on me out of the blue. But as I began to lead more and more, this is in the earlier days of my leadership, the more leadership that I had, the more responsibility that I had, the more team that I was responsible for, the more I recognized how critical this work was. But it's often the thing we take the most for granted because here's a reality. We've got goals to achieve, staff to manage, programs to run, board members to make happy.

And so the last thing we feel like we have time for is the proverbial fluffy stuff, right? I was talking to a leader that was like, we just need to do the mission. We just need to do the work. But if the people aren't aligned, if they're not engaged, if they're not healthy, if they're not in an environment that brings the best out of them, it's really hard for them to do the work. And so that's the connection we have to make as leaders is that in order to actually achieve that mission, we need to get a team aligned.

and unified in helping understand how we do this work together to achieve that mission. We're entering leaders, we're entering an era of leadership that makes culture more important than ever. I deeply believe that and this is why I'm so committed to this work. Employees are eager to be a part of cultures that align with their values and beliefs like the environment matters more than ever. We're seeing that in the data from younger leaders entering the workforce, like the environment matters.

They don't wanna just work to make a living. They want to work to make a difference. In today's culture, work and life collide like never before. You've all seen it, you've all experienced it. Our entire world is at our fingertips and we are connected and available to one another all the time. It's nearly impossible to separate. While there are certainly some downsides to our hyper connectedness, this is our reality.

And so as such, it stands to reason that if our worlds are so integrated, we better make sure they are worlds that we really want to be a part of. I was joking with a group earlier last week, I was speaking at an event and I said, I remember the days when I had, and this is dating me a little bit, right? This ginormous computer that sat on my desk at work and I came in in the morning and booted it up and I shut it down before I left and I went home.

Jenni Catron (14:13.776)
and I didn't have a little device in my pocket that could get my attention at any hour of the day. When I left work, I literally left work. And then I came in the next day and I picked it back up. We don't have that luxury anymore. Now there's appropriate boundaries and I'm the first one to say, you've got to be smart about how you weave in and out of work and when you do, you've got to be smart about that. You've got to create the right structure in your life to make sure it's not integrated all the time. But

It is more integrated and it's part of our reality. And so we as leaders want to create environments that aren't so draining that people don't want to be a part of them. Culture matters. In strong cultures, you're motivated, energized, engaged, and fully committed. In bad cultures, you lack motivation, you're drained of energy, you're disengaged, and you're always kind of looking for the escape hatch, right? Like you're always looking for what might be better.

And the reason I believe this so deeply is I have lived it, I have seen it, I've seen it done well, I've seen it done poorly, I've done it well, and I've done it poorly. And for the better part of the last 25 years, I've been studying great teams seeking to understand what makes them great. Like what's going on? What are the ingredients? What is making that an environment that attracts people? What's making that an environment that repels people? I've experimented with the teams I've led trying to figure out what works. And so for those of you that have been on the journey with me,

my apologies for the missteps and the mistakes and my gratefulness for your willingness to keep learning and growing together. And those learnings have really become the lead culture framework that I use now to help leaders of organizations of all sizes develop a thriving team so they can accelerate growth and build unstoppable momentum. That's what we want, right? We all want to be a part of

a meaningful mission, but we've got to help build a team that can make that possible. I want you to imagine for a minute, imagine a world where your mission and your vision are clear and you have a team of employees who are energized to come to work, enjoy working together, and have clarity for how to achieve their goals. I suspect that's the culture you aspire to as well. But let's talk about reality for a minute.

Jenni Catron (16:36.1)
Most days, the whirlwind of busy work distracts us from our mission. If we have values, they rarely get our time or attention. And we wonder how we actually get anything done, but we have this sinking feeling that we could be doing more or better. In the whirlwind of activity that demands our time as leaders, one of the things that rarely gets our attention is the intentional development of...

our culture. It's always an afterthought or it's a reaction to a problem. It's not a question of whether you have a culture. I've told you that you do. It's there. It's a question of whether you're creating the culture you want. You don't simply drift towards extraordinary culture. It takes time, attention and commitment. But the momentum created by intentional culture shaping catapults you to achieving your mission with greater joy, clarity.

and effectiveness. have seen this time and time again. I've seen really small, lean teams that were aligned, understood their culture, were unified in that, able to accomplish extraordinarily more than another team that was twice their size. And it was simply because of the health of their culture. So in this journey and culture matters specifically,

I walk you through a process that I've developed over the last 25 years. Like in my journey to understand what does great culture look like, I've been tinkering, I've been experimenting and had the privilege of, especially now for the last eight years leading the foresight group of actually facilitating this work with other leaders and with other teams. And so what I want to, in brief today, I'm going to give you a quick overview of the five phases.

of the lead culture framework. Cause I want to get your wheels turning. Like you can listen to this and you can start taking action. I want to get your wheels turning because leaders, here's the thing. This is probably the greatest frustration my team and I talk about frequently is that typically people come to us for culture work when it is unhealthy, when it is toxic, when it is going off the rails. And I actually believe culture work needs to be preventative work. Like culture is an outcome.

Jenni Catron (18:49.008)
Right? The culture you have is an outcome of whatever behaviors, whatever inputs you've been putting into your culture or into your organization is creating the culture that you have. It's an outcome of whatever you've been doing. It's how you work together. That is what is happening. And so I want to challenge you, especially as we move into a new year, I want to challenge you.

to be more proactive about your culture, to not see culture as something that you fix when it's broken, but it's something you protect and you define and protect so that the outcome is actually what you hope for. So let's look at these five phases of the framework because again, this will get your wheels turning. We're gonna keep talking about it. Interst first with some interviews of some people that are gonna give some layers and insight to it as well. So the first phase of the framework is just assess.

And in this phase of the framework, you're answering the question, where are we now? Just like, what's our reality? Because in order to build a pathway for a culture you aspire to, you need to have a clear understanding of what's true about your culture now. This is just getting real honest about what is really true. So first phase is assessment. Second is define. The definition phase is about dreaming. I love this one. It's about answering the question, who are we?

and how do we work together to achieve our mission? Who are we and how do we work together to achieve our mission? So in this phase, you'll paint the picture of the preferred future for your team, right? Like what do we aspire to? Because there's always a Delta between that, right? There's the actual and in the assessment phase, you're just saying what's really true. And in the definition phase, you're saying what do we aspire to? And then the third phase is build.

In the build phase, you'll answer the question, what will it take? Now that you've defined where you are and you've clarified where you want to be, it's time to build a plan to close the gap between your actual and aspirational culture. So in this phase, you'll define the values that will guide you, the systems to support you, and the rhythms that reinforce your culture every day. The fourth phase is equip. It's about identifying your immediate and long-term commitment

Jenni Catron (21:10.102)
developing leaders at all levels of the organization to ensure they are equipped to effectively lead your culture. Guys, this one is the game changer. This is why I call it the lead culture framework. This is why I feel like leadership and culture go hand in hand. So when people say, Jenni, you're talking a lot about culture these days. What about leadership development? Well, they go together because great leaders lead great cultures or can. And so

We have to really double down on making sure our leaders are equipped to actually lead the culture we want. And then the fifth phase is commit. It's about instilling your commitment to the plan you've designed. Because here's the thing, how many of you have built a plan, maybe it's a strategic plan for something, now it's your culture plan, but you build it and then you put it on a shelf and you never come back to it, right? There's a graveyard.

of binders from strategic planning and a lot of organizations aren't there. And so we want to make sure that doesn't happen. So we answer the question, how do we maintain momentum? How do we keep building towards a culture we want? Because it's always changing. Culture is building and eroding every day. You've got a group of messy people who you are trying to align around who we are and how we work together to achieve our mission. That takes energy. It takes effort. It takes commitment. And so we want to make sure we stay committed to that as leaders.

So friends, I want you to be thinking about where your culture is now, kind of even just that assessment part of it, of where are we now? And how could we be more proactive about our culture? My goal is to equip you with the perspective you need and a framework that'll help you intentionally design a thriving, growing, and un-

stoppable culture. I want to help you build a scalable system. Culture really needs an operating system and that is what I've designed. I want you to build a scalable system in which your defined organizational culture can flourish. Because I believe that attending to the culture of your team is the greatest priority as a leader, right? People are the point. It's what it's all about. And most importantly, I want you to experience the absolute joy of building a team

Jenni Catron (23:37.468)
that you love working with. That is the joy of culture. Research tells us that strong and healthy culture leads to greater employee engagement and more growth for your organization. And yet, while 90 % of leaders believe that an engagement strategy will have an impact on their success, 90 % of you say, yes, this matters. Only 25 % of you actually have.

a plan. And so my commitment as we move towards the Culture Matters book launch is to help you build that plan. That's the goal of this Lead Culture Framework that we're releasing in the Culture Matters book. And so friends, I want you to be thinking about that. Do we have a plan? Do we have a plan for our culture? And if you don't, I want you to keep listening to the podcast. I want you to share it with somebody else on the team. I want you to talk about

What's good about our culture? What's not great about our culture? And then I would love for you to go pre-order the book. Friends, I have shared this with you before, and you'll hear me say it a lot. Pre-orders matter. It has been one of the hardest things for me to learn as an author is just to be unashamed of asking for you to help pre-order the book, not help, to actually pre-order the book, help by pre-ordering the book, because it communicates to publishers that...

this book is needed, it's wanted, that there's people that are interested in it. It helps them know to create placement and how many books to print. So the pre-orders really help set a book up for success. And so if you're on the journey and you're saying, you know what, I know we need a plan. We believe in the importance of culture. I know we need a plan. The Culture Matters book gives you the plan. So go pre-order, you go to culturemattersbook.com and you can pre-order the book beginning right now.

Actually, it's on all of the retailers, but if you go to culturemattersbook.com, it's gonna give you also where you can get all of the bonuses. So I've got lots of bonuses for you. So if you pre-order it now, it doesn't release until February 11th, 2025, which feels like a long way away, but then you realize we're already like almost into November. So it's right around the corner. So if you go pre-order and then go to culturemattersbook.com,

Jenni Catron (25:59.416)
You can enter just your order information and you will get the first three chapters of the book in PDF form. So you can get a jumpstart, particularly on phase one and guys phase one takes some work. So it's like if you go preorder, you get those first three chapters, you're going to be off to the races. You also get a culture matters workbook that's going to help guide you and give you extra insights. I do a master class that you have exclusive access to where I'm helping walk you through that first phase of the framework.

you're going to be a part of our culture champion network where you can connect with other leaders who are equally committed to building great culture. And then you're going to get the Summit, the recording from our Culture Matters Summit that's happening in January. You're going to, that's, you're going to get live access to that. And then you're going to have the recording for access afterwards. And so lots of extra resources just to equip you to keep leading well. So friends go to culture matters book.com. That would be just.

If this podcast is helpful to you, going and pre-ordering the book would be just the greatest gift to me. And I promise you, the framework is going to help you build a healthy and thriving culture. So thanks for joining me today. Thanks for being on the journey to build healthy leaders and thriving teams. I know that's what I want to be. And I know that's what you want to do as well. And I would love to know what you thought of this episode. You can connect with me on Instagram and Facebook at get4sight or at Jenni Catron.

and share this with somebody on your team. Be a great conversation starter for you to keep investing in the health of your culture. And if we can provide more resources, if you're not on our weekly insights list, this is my weekly email. This is where I give you all kinds of details. We're going to have all kinds of bonus offers as well leading up to the book launch if you want us to come in, support your team in some way.

being on our weekly newsletter is the way to find all that information. So go to get4sight.com, G-E-T, the number four, S-I-G-H-T, and just sign up for the newsletter there. And that's gonna keep you in the know on everything that's coming up as we keep working towards building thriving and healthy cultures. Because friends, people are the point. Culture matters. Let's do good work. Thanks for listening and we will see you next week.