Transforming high-performing individuals into a high-performing team

By Logan Nance, Consultant In the very early hours of the morning on April 3rd, 2012 I was sitting in a conex (a metal shipping container) located on Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan huddled around a small computer monitor watching my alma mater, the University of Kentucky Wildcats, play for a National Championship. The 2012 Kentucky Men’s Basketball team was full of young and promising stars, many of the top recruits in the country who had come to play for Hall of Fame coach, John Calipari. The 2012 team was led by one of the best players in the country, and …

Culture: the “secret ingredient” in your success

By Jake Friedman, Consultant A couple weeks back my family and I were headed out of town for the weekend. On Saturday morning as we started our drive, we stopped at a local fast-food restaurant to get breakfast on-the-go. Because COVID had at first eliminated and then severely restricted any “dine-in” option, there were far more cars in line than usual. But that didn’t mean it took any longer than normal to get our food. As I progressed through the drive-thru line I was stunned at the operation I witnessed. Everywhere I looked, modifications had been made in order to …

Culture: Lost in the Shuffle?

By Bill Kaiser, Vice President Leaders certainly have plenty on their plates these days. So many competing priorities make focusing on one or two, very difficult. I’m sure some of your targets and expectations have been revised and some projects or initiatives have been back-burnered. That being said, we still need to prioritize and deliver results. Far be it from me to tell you what those priorities should be and in what order. That would be misguided, presumptuous, and tad bit arrogant. I don’t know your challenges and certainly can’t decide for you what is most important to focus on …

Building a Culture of Diversity and Inclusion

Written by, Al Curnow, Vice President The movement toward diversity and inclusion in the workplace has been happening for some time. Yet, events of the past few months have brought this issue into greater focus. This past week alone, I’ve had several discussions with my clients on this very topic. This increased level of attention got me thinking about two critical questions. First, why is diversity and inclusion important to an organization?  Secondly, how can we begin to create a culture of diversity and inclusion? Qantas Airlines- A case study in Diversity and Inclusion A 2018 Deloitte Human Capital report …

Getting the Most from Your Team

By, Rob Wolff, Vice President It Takes More than Talent Here’s a news flash – NFL teams hire great players. How great?  Well, only 6.5% of high school players get to play in college.  Out of roughly 25,300 NCAA players, just over 1% get drafted by NFL teams.  Of that number even fewer make the final cut and join the roster of a Pro team. I think we can reasonably conclude that NFL players are truly the best of the best.  Now, if they’re hiring the best of the best, I mean people who have better football skills than anyone …

The Influence of Peers

By David Friedman, Founder/CEO A number of years ago, I was visiting a dear friend of mine who was the longtime Director of Housing and Residence Life at my alma mater, the College of William & Mary.  In the course of our conversation I asked her about the biggest lessons she had learned over her many years working with students.  Her answer has stayed with me for decades, and it actually has a profound bearing on the work we do on culture. This is what she told me: “I’m constantly amazed at the power of peer pressure.  I see good …

The Transformative Power of a Common Language

By Jake Friedman, Consultant I recently conducted my first in-person meeting with a client since early March. It was a “Rollout”, our term for the meeting where we help a client introduce their Fundamentals to the entire company. (For those of you who are new readers of our blog, Fundamentals are the behaviors that an organization uses to define its culture, the things that they say are “fundamental” to their success.) After the rollout, the CEO kindly invited me to join his team for lunch. While we ate, we went around the room and in turn each person gave one …

Listening is a skill.

By Bill Kaiser, Vice President And like any other skill, it requires focus, concentration, and practice to get better. I don’t know if there was ever a more important time for all of us to put in the extra work and get better at how and why we listen. In our practice of The HPC Way, Fundamental #13 is Listen Generously: Listening is more than simply “not speaking.” Be present and engaged. Quiet the noise in your head and let go of the need to agree or disagree. Create space for team members to express themselves without judgment. Listen with …

The Impact of Integration on your Culture

By Al Curnow, Vice President These past several weeks have brought unprecedented levels of disruption to the workplace.   There have been massive layoffs, furloughs, and wide scale redistributions of workforces. Yet, there will come a time, hopefully not too far in the future, where we’ll need to regroup and reorganize.  We’ll need to bring staff back and perhaps hire new team members.   When we do, the manner in which we do so will be critical. This is our one opportunity to create a first impression and prescribe the lens through which we want our new team members to see just …

Culture in Uncertain and Chaotic Times

By Rob Wolff, Vice President For the majority of us, this is definitely NOT business as usual.   In our own ways, most of us are struggling to identify and adapt to a “new normal” and that brings with it numerous challenges. For some, the changes are subtle and low impact, while others are in full “reinvent the wheel” mode.  Where does company culture come in and what role does it play?  I’ve noticed a number of things after working with several of our business owners and CEOs since the start of the pandemic. For Leaders Back in early March, I …