Ever wondered how insidious behaviors can creep into a workplace and disrupt the harmony like a silent storm? Join us--Sharon Wilson and Cindy LaCom from Transforming Culture Consultants--to shed light on cultivating a genuinely empowering work environment. Through our expert lens and powerful comparisons to the subtlety of interpersonal violence, we zero in on the importance of recognizing and preemptively addressing these patterns that slowly erode a positive workplace atmosphere. With the help of our external 'Martian' perspective, we identify how workplace assessments can reveal hidden employee perceptions and guide leaders towards fostering a culture brimming with respect and value.
As the conversation unfolds, we share anecdotes and insights that underscore the transformative power of heartfelt appreciation and the often-underestimated impact of employees' views. We pull back the curtain on the critical role of mindset management in nurturing a space where equality, inclusion, and respect are not just buzzwords, but a living reality. Addressing the specters of workplace bullying, harassment, and implicit bias, we equip you with actionable strategies and tools to not only retain your most valuable staff but also to create an environment where every voice is heard and every contribution is valued. Let's navigate this journey together—where unconventional insights pave the way for an extraordinary workplace. Join us for an enlightening discussion that promises to reshape how you think about culture in your own organization.
Ever wondered how insidious behaviors can creep into a workplace and disrupt the harmony like a silent storm? Join us--Sharon Wilson and Cindy LaCom from Transforming Culture Consultants--to shed light on cultivating a genuinely empowering work environment. Through our expert lens and powerful comparisons to the subtlety of interpersonal violence, we zero in on the importance of recognizing and preemptively addressing these patterns that slowly erode a positive workplace atmosphere. With the help of our external 'Martian' perspective, we identify how workplace assessments can reveal hidden employee perceptions and guide leaders towards fostering a culture brimming with respect and value.
As the conversation unfolds, we share anecdotes and insights that underscore the transformative power of heartfelt appreciation and the often-underestimated impact of employees' views. We pull back the curtain on the critical role of mindset management in nurturing a space where equality, inclusion, and respect are not just buzzwords, but a living reality. Addressing the specters of workplace bullying, harassment, and implicit bias, we equip you with actionable strategies and tools to not only retain your most valuable staff but also to create an environment where every voice is heard and every contribution is valued. Let's navigate this journey together—where unconventional insights pave the way for an extraordinary workplace. Join us for an enlightening discussion that promises to reshape how you think about culture in your own organization.
Welcome everyone to Transformation Talks. The intention in our podcast is to provide tips, strategies and inspiration to transform workplaces, communities and lives. I'm Shera Wilson and I'm the co-founder and chief mindset and growth officer of transforming culture consultants, and I have with me today our other Cindy LaCom, who is our chief impact officer. Now we want to imagine you're a Martian and you've landed on earth. I'm carrying you, stumble into a business and observe employees who are smiling and excited and some who seem angry and demoralized. The energy is vastly different. You might well wonder what is going on. Why is the energy so different?
Cindy LaCom:
Yeah, I think this is a really great analogy and I know that in our last podcast we talked about some of the elements of a disempowered culture. It's really easy to get used to situations that are empowering, and we talked a little bit about that. But I want to use a specific example. It's one I've used in workshops and it's one I've used in my classrooms, and it has to deal with interpersonal or domestic violence. The example that I've used is this you go out on a date for the first time with somebody. You have a great time, you laugh, you have a lot in common, the conversation is loads easily. At the end of the night, the other person says I'd love to take you out again. Are you available in a week? You say yes, that would be great. Then that person grabs you by the throat, holds you close and says I'll pick you up at seven and you'd better not dress like that, and then pushes you back against your front door.
Cindy LaCom:
The reality is that most of us would probably say I'm not going on another date with this person, but that's the right. But that's not how interpersonal violence, that's not how the dynamics work. What tends to happen is that you have that great first date. You may have a second and even a third date, at which point the person says you're not going to wear that when we go out again, or I saw you looking at that person in the restaurant, or I don't like that. You're always in touch with your parents. They test a boundary and if it topples, they test another boundary. As each boundary is tested and overturned, what really happens is that a culture of abuse or violence or threats comes to be normalized. You find yourself in a situation or a relationship and trust me when I say I am not victim blaming.
Cindy LaCom:
Dynamics are incredibly complex, but you end up, often claimed, in a relationship. That is abuse. That may seem extreme, but what's really interesting to me is that that's a dynamic, that kind of, I think, of the analogy of water dripping onto a stone. At first start, you think that stone will not ever change, but after 10 or 15 years, in fact, that stone has begun to wear away. It's worn down, but it's so slow that it's hard to see In our workplace.
Cindy LaCom:
If we try to transfer some of this, it may mean that we accept a chronically angry coworker oh, that's just Joe, or that's just Sally. Or maybe we accept a manager who is regularly uncurring, who is demeaning to us. We may walk into work thinking what's going on, what's going to happen today because of ineffective communication something I know I mentioned last week. But today we want to be Martians and really ask the question why would we put up with that? How can we change the dynamics in the culture so that it's better, it's kinder, it's more productive, it's happier? I know that almost sounds straight, but honestly, who doesn't want to work in a place where you and others are happy? So let's reach for the stars.
Sharon Wilson:
Yeah, no pun intended, right, you know and, Cindy, we've talked about this before, but this is really a key element that it's very hard to see a culture when you're in the midst of it. You know, I have background in human resources management and it's very, very difficult to be able to see that People are not open oftentimes about their true perceptions, and that's why an outside perspective can be invaluable and it's one of the services that TCC provides. We're like Martians, you know. We come in without preconceived notions and we come in with an objective lens. That's why we start with a workplace assessment that allows us to see both what's working and what's not and to help then tailor a plan to help you make your culture more empowered. And so often when we are working with people and they're just really surprised at the perceptions that their employees truly have, they've never really would have expected that, but they're not going to share that in an internal kind of way, even if there are assessments internally. We've just seen that it's much more effective when you have a third party, objective person. Come in with this Martian approach, this new set of eyes, this sense of really being inquisitive and really looking at it from an objective perspective. So I'm going to talk today about what some of the elements of an empowered culture include. One of my favorite is mindset management and how that can really help improve a workplace dynamic.
Sharon Wilson:
You send the EU and I were talking some time ago and I was telling you about one time with a client where one of the things I really like to do when we're working in person with clients is to be able to go and sit in on meetings at all levels, from the CEO and the senior managers all the way down, and to really just get a feel, to get a vibe for the kind of ways that people are communicating. You talked more about this last time, about communication, and I remember one time that I had gone to all these different meetings and I sat down with the CEO and I said I want to share with you what my experience was of really just being this objective person sitting in on these meetings, just listening to how people communicate, listening to how people interface with each other and just really kind of getting a sense of that, because when you're in the middle of it, when you're in a meeting, when you're in the middle of it, you don't really even necessarily see it because, as you said, cindy, it becomes kind of normalized. And so I had mentioned to him that I was going to share with him that I was looking specifically for any time anyone said anything positive in a meeting, whether it was about another person, whether that was about a project, any time that there was really more of a positive perspective. That could even be in how we might improve things, just words that people used that were more positive. And, cindy, I remember telling you I opened up my notebook and I showed him that there was nothing, nothing, and any meeting I had been in, not one time had anyone said anything that I could even stretch into something somewhat positive, and I thought the means on his forehead were going to just explode because he just couldn't believe it. He's like they just can't be possible.
Sharon Wilson:
I said see, that's what happens. We don't realize the kind of culture that we're in. We don't really, because it becomes normalized. And this isn't saying that there's anything wrong with you or your people. It's just that we haven't set these kind of expectations and these kinds of intentions and these kinds of ways to really hold meetings.
Sharon Wilson:
And it is one of the first things that we did was really to begin to start using a template for meetings that really was about focusing in on, first of, what was working when we come together, instead of throwing people under the bus of why things aren't on time, why things haven't happened, why sales are down, why all of these things are not working, is to start with appreciation, to start with things that are working, and I can absolutely guarantee you that a culture can make a significant change with just even that one step, and we really do work with people on that as part of our assessment and really understanding what people's perceptions are of their company and their workplace culture. And so I just I want people to really get a sense that you know something so small, something so simple and I would put that under mindset management but something so small and simple like that can make a huge difference in how people feel in communication, how they are received and, overall, what their perception of the culture is.
Cindy LaCom:
Yeah, and I really like your point. The assessment that we go is pretty thorough and I think what's really useful about that is that oftentimes if you're in management, you're not in the trenches, so to speak, and people who are working with you or under you have a vested interest in probably not rocking the boat. I also agree that mindset management and this goes back to what I said who doesn't want to be happier? Who doesn't want to work in a workplace? Who wants to work? People are kinder to each other and I think that mindset management can go a long way to making a difficult situation better.
Cindy LaCom:
I know I've used mindset management to help me in some very difficult relationships, everything from the kinds of cheerleader talks I give to myself to practicing patience, to imagining a future. That's really different. But and I know you and I have talked a lot about this, sharon I think that to some extent mindset management depends on some semblance of equality. This means that if I am chronically unhappy, all the mindset management in the world may not make a difference. What happens, for instance, if I'm being bullied and I don't feel like I have the power to respond, whether that's because I'm worried about the job. I'm a single parent. I need that income, I need to get that promotion. I want to be part of a team. What happens if I make that team and then my team makes jokes and we all know that humor can be weaponized and namely jokes that are sexist or ages, and they may not even intentionally be harming me or intending to hurt me, but they are. So if I work in a workplace culture where people feel very comfortable about making jokes about old people, seniors, elders and I'm one of them the reality is I'm less likely to want to go to that morning and I think it can happen anywhere. But I often think that this kind of a climate is supported, sustained and maintained from the top down. Management has a huge capacity to impact what a workplace culture looks like.
Cindy LaCom:
I'll just offer one example. When we think about inclusion and one of the things our workplace assessment does, you can look at the data or we look at the data and provide you information based on the responses to that. Sometimes there's one or two outliers. You've got a really productive, effective, empowered workplace and maybe one or two who are unhappy. One of the things we think about is okay, is that just a bad egg, or is there in fact, something that might be going on in the workplace that makes that person feel excluded, perhaps even targeted.
Cindy LaCom:
I'll use an example I heard last week from a woman. She was managing a team in the medical field, very successful. I was really shocked to learn that she'd lack her job. When I asked her why, she said I am so tired of having to prove myself and I am so tired of having other people diminish my ideas. What a loss. She was so good at what she was doing and now she is on the market. When our next podcast, we're actually going to talk about how we might create a workplace culture where bullying, harassment and implicit bias aren't tolerated, which often means they first need to be recognized Workplace culture where equity and respect are supported and normalized, and talk a little bit about the question how do we get there? If you're already there, excellent, but how do you stay there?
Sharon Wilson:
Absolutely Well. Is there intention to be a support and resource for you to help navigate these unprecedented challenges in our workplace cultures and create thriving cultures that have a ripple effect that impacts us all in a positive way? We'd love for you to join our community of HR professionals, executive directors and managers that are wanting to create and grow a more empowered workplace and workplaces and organizations. You can get free tips and resources and an opportunity to attend free virtual gatherings where you can engage with industry leaders and innovators, exchange ideas, strategies and best practices. You can go to transformingcultureconsultantscom slash HR and you can sign up, and we will be providing you with some of that information on an ongoing basis. We'll also be able to provide you with a free virtual consultation to explore any challenges or opportunities in your workplace culture, and you can apply for that at transformingcultureconsultantscom slash free application. You can connect with us on LinkedIn and transforming culture consultants. Our vision is a world where employees feel happy, respected, valued and safe, and we want to thank you for being a part of this vision.
Cindy LaCom:
I will only add my thanks to Sharon's and remind you that sometimes what you really need is a Martian perspective.
Sharon Wilson:
Absolutely. What a Martian say. What a Martian say We'll see you next time, everybody.
