Time to Lead

Your Actions Are the Culture Change

Jacqueline Romer-Sensky
The JRS Group, Ltd.
(614) 794-1181
jrsensky@aol.com

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Leadership

To go before and show the way…

…so others share the cause.

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Who thinks this is just the truth?

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Exploring Culture

“Culture creates a team environment.”

Jim Tressel
President, YSU

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What is culture?
Group behavior that individuals tolerate as normal
and accepted. Plays out through…
 Beliefs  Symbols
 Behaviors  Customs
 Actions  Myths & Legends
 Organizations have sub-cultures.

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Why talk about culture?
Organizations are groups of people pulled together
to achieve a mission. It’s about people…
 “Normal” cultural behavior is a powerful force

 Weaves a web of tacit understanding and

boundaries
 Tells us how to perceive and react
 Strength of history and familiarity supports it
 Cultures can be positive or negative.

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Culture and Morale Connection

Definition of Morale
 Morale is the capacity of a group of people to

pull together persistently and consistently in

pursuit of a common purpose.

 Remember culture definition: Group behavior

that individuals tolerate as normal and accepted.

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Sources of Negative Morale
 Spotty Accountability - issue of fairness
 Weak alignment/“line of sight” between daily
role/responsibility and overall purpose/results
 Does what I do matter? Recognition?
 Learning versus Boredom
 Negative or unqualified individuals hold power
 Can foster resentment, fear
 Raises questions of leadership sincerity, smarts
 Grappling with “new world reality”
 Understanding workload, pay schedules, processes

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Consider cultural change…
Does the organization’s culture have you pulling
together persistently and consistently in the
most effective way to achieve the mission?
 Research provides insight into making change

 Remember, you can only change yourself, and,

by example, lead others to consider their own

personal change.

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Rebuilding culture/morale (1)
 Be a good role model
 Connect with your own attitude and adjust; over-deliver
 Admit past mistakes, be self-confident and positive
 Be trustworthy
 Reconnect with your team
 Build relationships; invite people into the process
 Develop emotional intelligence
 Build trust
 Be appreciative; reward your team / colleagues
 Socialize newcomers

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Rebuilding culture/morale (2)

 Help people develop skills

 Establish continuous learning
 Learn by doing; delegate
 Mentor
 Adjust the workspace environment

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Rebuilding culture/morale (3)
 Improve communication
 Sell your mission/organization to employees first
 Leave no voids for rumors
 Listen & promote two-way communication
 Establish formal and informal habits
 Set measurable goals
 Show alignment to mission, vision. Purpose matters
 Inspire toward the value being created
 Address misbehavior, lack of accountability
 Reward production and ownership. Celebrate!

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Now we’re talking about change…

“Culture eats change for breakfast.”

Peter Drucker

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And, we’re talking about trauma
“A traumatic experience impacts the entire person
– the way we think, the way we learn, the way
we remember things, the way we feel about
ourselves, the way we feel about other people,
and the way we make sense of the world.”
Sandra Bloom, M.D.

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Let’s consider…
 Is secondary trauma generating behaviors that
look like negative morale?
 Is exposure to trauma manifesting itself as a
culture of victims?

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Trauma-Informed Care &
Promoting Culture Change
Move from asking / attitude …
 What’s wrong with you?

To inquiring / respecting …
 What happened to you?

 To modeling…

 Here’s the culture I want for you…

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Human Behavior
 All behavior comes from the brain
 The brain is chemical and follows the laws of
mathematics.
 The brain is built to repeat any behavior that
stimulates the “pleasure” part of the brain or
makes us feel “safe.”
“If it feels good, it must be good for me…and it
must be repeated”
“Understanding Addiction: Squirrel Logic
Brad Lander, PhD, Clinical Director/Psychologist

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Addiction
 Addiction is the physical adaptation of the
reward pathways of the brain to the repeated
presence of dopamine-surging chemicals.
(False survival drive)

“Understanding Addiction: Squirrel Logic

Brad Lander, PhD, Clinical Director/Psychologist

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 The
Evolution
of the
Cerebrum

“Understanding Addiction:
Squirrel Logic
Brad Lander, PhD, Clinical
Director/Psychologist

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“Understanding Addiction: Squirrel Logic
Brad Lander, PhD, Clinical Director/Psychologist

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“Understanding Addiction: Squirrel Logic
Brad Lander, PhD, Clinical Director/Psychologist

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 Why is
change
so hard?

“Understanding Addiction: Squirrel Logic

Brad Lander, PhD, Clinical Director/Psychologist

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Apply to cultural behavior…
“If it feels good, it must be good for me…and
it must be repeated.”
Conversely…
“If I don’t feel safe, I cannot move beyond
fight / flight / or freeze.”
 Is the culture – flawed or not – all about maintaining
a sense of belonging?
 If so, what should we do? What should I do?
 How must “rewards” be shifted?

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Motivation Tipping Point

Innovators Early Late

Majority Majority
Early
Adopters Traditionalists

2.5% 13.5% 34% 34% 16%

From E. Rogers, 1995

Change happens because people come to believe it will happen.

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What starts the tip?
Small number of people in a small number of
situations started behaving very differently…
and that behavior spreads to other people in
similar situations.

Trigger and reaction…Trigger and reaction…

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Motivation Tipping Point
This means you can start the tip…
 How do I impact culture?

 What can I do to produce a more positive

culture and morale?

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Circle back your leadership stand…
Most important leader is not the CEO. It’s the
leader we see most often, the one we turn to
when we need guidance and support. You
are the most important leader in your
organization for the people who look to you.

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Do you believe the answer to culture change is
really one person at a time?

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What are you tolerating now that should not
be tolerated?

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Where is the power in your organization?
Who is setting the tone?

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 Are you a bystander?
Are you conforming, managing, or leading?

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On a note card
 Write one behavior change you will undertake for
the next 30 days to impact organizational culture.
 It can be a small step.
 Can you recruit others to join this cause?
 What would happen if a dozen people adopted this
behavior?
 As homework,
 Reflect on your idea. Perhaps journal on the idea.
 Come prepared to discuss your proposal tomorrow.

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“As individuals, our most tragic outcome is to
have been there all the time, and no one
ever to have noticed.”
Anonymous

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Questions to Ponder
 Do you believe the answer to culture change is
really one person at a time? If so, who must you
recruit?
 What are you tolerating now that should not be
tolerated?
 Where is the power in your organization?
 Who is setting the tone?
 Are you a bystander?
 Are you conforming, managing, or leading?

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