I posted this survey question in my Inspiring Workplaces newsletter this week:   If you could change just one thing this year about your workplace that you think would make the biggest difference to everyone’s happiness, productivity, and well-being, what would you change?   The top responses thus far (oh yeah, look at me using… The post What ONE Change Would Have the Biggest Impact on Your Workplace Culture? appeared first on Michael Kerr ..read more

Here are some questions to mull over as you ponder how you might define your workplace culture and assess where your culture currently sits on the culture mojo scale. What are your unwritten rules that guide everyone’s behaviors? This is a question that can reveal hidden assumptions and uncomfortable truths. You might have unwritten rules… The post Assessing Your Workplace Culture: Where is Your Workplace Culture on the Culture Mojo Scale? appeared first on Michael Kerr ..read more

I’ve always thought that the sitcom The Office should be mandatory viewing for senior leaders to remind themselves of the importance of character and of how not to lead. After all, as Groucho Marx once said, “We should learn from the mistakes of others. We don’t have time to make them all ourselves.” Speaking of… The post Compassionate and Kind Leadership Drives Results appeared first on Michael Kerr ..read more

The following is an excerpt from my book, “Small Moments, Big Outcomes: How Leaders Create Cultures That Fuel Extraordinary Results.” It’s About People, Not “Stuff!” A study published in Harvard Business Review by Emma Seppala and Kim Cameron delved into the question, “What is the greatest predictor of success for a leader?” The study revealed that it was not their power, charisma, influence, attractiveness, or innovative genius that most predicted future success. It was simply their energy. Now they’re not talking about energy in a “woo-woo” new age way, but rather something they referred to ..read more

Inspiring Culture Leaders are Accountable and They Hold Their Employees Accountable   Several years ago, I had the pleasure of visiting Beryl Health, a 24/7 call center based in Bedford, Texas. Beryl prides itself for embracing a family-first, fun workplace culture that is known for their amazing customer service. They hire for attitude and they engage in a lot of fun workplace rituals and traditions. The human resources manager even had the alternative job title, “The Queen of Fun and Laughter.” Now don’t for a minute equate the idea of a “fun, family-friendly workplace” with having low ..read more

What are these things called values that we all value so much at work? Well, you’ve got values at an individual level, even if you can’t always articulate them, you have values that drive how you make decisions that drive your behaviors in your personal life and your work life values that perhaps you hope to live up to values that you perhaps hope to instill within your children. At an organization level, every organization, every company has values. They’re not always good values, but every organization has values and most organizations, of course, have a list somewhere of those inspiring roc ..read more

Why Workplace Culture Matters As a leader in today’s rapidly changing world you must embrace your role as a culture champion and understand that everything you do and say as a leader either adds to your workplace culture or detracts from your culture. You truly are the orchestra conductor of your workplace who sets the overall tone of your culture. You simply can’t separate your role as a leader from your focus on building a great culture: Great cultures don’t happen without great leaders, and conversely, great cultures produce great leaders. Your culture also just happens to be your #1 compet ..read more

Great cultures don’t happen by accident.   As a leader, you need to be consistently, relentlessly intentional about your culture.   So, what does that look like?   1. You need to promote your culture to the world. If you’re going to attract fabulous employees who are a fit for your organization, then you can’t remain the world’s best kept secret – you need to shout your awesomeness from the rooftops! It’s astounding how most company websites don’t say anything substantial about their culture. Sure, they’ll list their benefits and maybe toss in a casual nod towards their culture ..read more

Let’s start with the end in mind: One day we’re all going to be dead. (How’s that for an uplifting opening?) Hopefully it’s not going to happen for a very long time, but – spoiler alert — it is going to happen. If we’re fortunate, most of us have been allotted, on average, about 4,000 weeks in this rollicking adventure called life. When you put it in those terms, 4,000 weeks doesn’t sound like a lot, does it? Your last week probably sailed by ridiculously fast. And look, here comes another one right after that! Another reality check: You’ve already used up a lot of those weeks. In fact, chance ..read more

When I was researching inspiring workplaces many moons ago in Copenhagen, Denmark, I had the pleasure of interviewing a “Chief Happiness Officer” and the author of Happy Hour is Nine to Five, Alexander Kjerulf. I love the concept of what Kjerulf calls a “Level Five” morning greeting at work. Given how important the start of the day is, and how important first impressions are, his good morning greeting scale serves as a great reminder for everyone to be more intentional about how they’re connecting with one another at work. Kjerulf breaks down the possible greeting levels as follows: Level 0 ..read more