COLIN ON CULTURE
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The Middle Management Crisis
Almost under performing culture that I work with has one thing in common, a crisis in middle management. And yet, middle managers themselves, are often not to blame for this situation, despite being an easy target.
The things vibrant cultures do (that you can copy)
Listen and be inspired by what organisations with vibrant cultures do and you can too!
Effective communication
When you have mastered a clear message you have a skill that you will use every day.
Subcultures the catalyst for change
By understanding and nurturing subcultures, organisations can drive culture change and improve overall employee engagement
A case of the Mondays
We all have bad days but your mood is contagious and spreading negativity is a culture killer.
The Five Levels of Management Mastery
Middle managers are the difference between organisation success and failure and yet most managers lack the training to make a real difference every day. I share my experiences to help fast-track your learning.
Agency, the culture secret
When employees are given the opportunity to define their own working conditions — how they connect, behave, work together and be creative — they gain not only a sense of pride in what they’ve built, but also a determination to uphold it.
Winning
Winning is not about crushing the competition or stepping on colleagues; it's about creating an environment where winning becomes a natural outcome of doing things properly.
Cynics and sceptics
What’s the difference and why does it matter for your workplace culture?
Entitled or just badly managed?
There’s a trend for CEOs to blame ‘entitled’ employees for the resistance to returning to the office - but take a look in the mirror and you’ll see a lack of managerial skill reflected.
If you can't stand the heat
The culinary (and corporate) world has long perpetuated the myth that enduring abuse is somehow a badge of honour, a rite of passage that transforms good chefs and leaders into great ones.
Loading luggage in an ice-storm
The most memorable leaders are the ones who aren’t afraid to park strategy in order to get stuck in at the coalface.
Wearing the hat
Have you got a culture people would be proud to champion - as employees or customers?
Culture decay
Dysfunctional workplaces need intervention precisely because they're dysfunctional. Every day you wait the problems become more entrenched, behaviours become more normalised and cynicism grows deeper.
Broken promises
Promises create expectation. When we don’t deliver on that expectation, trust - and more - is lost. Make yours a culture that can keep its promises.
How can we make it easier?
When a workforce grows or a start-up scales, the culture also evolves and more structure is required. But that doesn’t and shouldn’t mean things have to get harder too.
The cost of hovering
Micromanagement is a culture-killer that can unravel even the most productive of teams. Swap hovering for trusting and watch your teams soar
Chumocracy
Chumocracy in your culture creates an echo chamber effect leading to poor decision making and missed opportunities.
Bottling a crisis culture
Organisations need to shift from trying to mandate culture (or simply expecting it to happen!) to instead creating conditions where employees have the agency to shape it themselves.
Busting the silos
We cling to our silos because they're comfortable and familiar but the walls they build up can be hard to tear down without managers who understand the value of subcultures.