15 Growth Tips for Founder-Run Businesses

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Visit our website The Real Learning Experience

Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

Change doesn’t fail because of the plan — it fails because of how people are led through it.

In this episode, Simon explores why leading change isn’t just about managing logistics — it’s about leading emotions, expectations, and resistance with purpose and clarity.

You’ll learn:

• Why “evolution or revolution” isn’t just a clever phrase — it’s a choice every organisation must make
• The difference between change management and change leadership (and why the latter matters most)
• What makes the “valley of despair” so dangerous — and how to help your team move through it
• 10 straight-talking tips to lead people through discomfort, resistance, and real transformation
• Why honesty, visibility, and relentless communication are your most powerful change tools

Whether you’re facing a major transformation or trying to embed small but meaningful shifts, this episode will challenge your mindset and sharpen your approach to leading change that sticks.

0:00 - Introduction and Monthly Resources

9:31 - Embracing Change as a Leader

16:47 - Leadership vs. Management in Change

22:31 - Leading Yourself Through Change First

27:55 - Ten Tips for Successful Change Leadership

35:49 - Effective Change Communication Strategies

Resources mentioned:

• 10 Mistakes Leaders make during Change (infographic)
• Leading Change (eBook)
• Lead through Change with Confidence (leaders guide)
• Why Most Change Fails...And What Great Leaders Do Differently (blog)

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Visit our website The Real Learning Experience

Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

Unresolved conflict isn’t just uncomfortable - it’s corrosive. It impacts trust, performance, and team culture more than most leaders realise.

In this episode, Simon explores why managers can’t afford to act as mere conduits for problems, waiting until issues spiral out of control or outsourcing them as a “quick fix.” Instead, he walks through a practical, step-by-step approach to tackling conflict early, setting boundaries, and building team accountability.

You’ll learn:

• Why unresolved conflict multiplies its impact across every relationship in a team
• The two biggest mistakes organisations make when dealing with conflict
• A five-phase process every leader can use to manage disputes effectively
• Practical tips to turn uncomfortable conversations into constructive outcomes

It’s a straight-talking, practical episode for leaders who want to create stronger, healthier team cultures by leaning into conflict instead of avoiding it.

Summary of Episode:
0:00 - Introduction to Mediation for Managers
4:45 - Common Mistakes in Handling Conflict
10:12 - Why Unresolved Conflict Is Corrosive
13:24 - Real-World Conflict Examples
20:26 - Five Steps to Effective Conflict Resolution
27:04 - Nine Practical Tips for Facilitation
35:54 - Final Thoughts and Resources

Links and resources mentioned in the show

Leaders Guide to Mediation - 5 Phases of Conflict

The Managers Mediation Conversation Map

Do You need a Mediator?

7 Mistakes Leaders Make When Handling Conflict

Plenty in 20: When Managers Need to Mediate

The Culture Nerds Monthly Newsletter: 

Authentic Leadership

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Visit our website The Real Learning Experience

Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

Good decisions when replacing managers are critical because their actions flow through to the performance and morale of their team. Having Emerging Leaders ready to step into management roles is essential for every organisation, big or small.

Ready-made successors

A robust Emerging Leaders process fosters ready-made leaders within the organisation. They already know the organisation and sector and they have lived the workplace culture. Presumably they represent your ideal culture. If not, take them of the list of candidates. This means they can focus on the biggest challenges for new managers– developing leadership skills and strategies to deal with the people they lead. If you have created a robust Emerging Leaders process, they will have been developing these skills before they need them, so they are ready when the opportunity comes.

Mistake or choice?

Recruiting leaders from outside the organisation isn’t a bad thing. They can bring fresh perspectives, promote positive change and enhance innovation. It just shouldn’t be your only option because of a lack of emerging leaders within your organisation.If you need to replace a manager and you have no option but to look externally, that’s a mistake. Learn from it. If it happens again, that’s a choice and it suggests you didn’t learn.

Our guests today are from R&J Batteries, Australia’s fastest growing battery company. Each played a pivotal role in implementing an Emerging Leaders program. Two participants took on management positions within less than 12 months & most others showed significant growth.

• Jo Preece, National Training Manager
• Glenn Kennedy, Beresfield Branch Manager
• Dylan Smith, Team Member at Beresfield & participant in the Emerging Leaders program
  
  Links and resources mentioned in the show
  
  Case Study on Emerging Leaders Program
  
  Emerging Leaders Program Product Page
  
  Emerging Leaders Free Resources
  
  Re-Released Podcast Episode
  
  Plenty in 20:
  The Culture Nerds Monthly Newsletter:
  Authentic Leadership
  
  What's next?
  Talk to one of our culture and leadership experts - a free 30 minute consultation to problem solve any issue you are facing.

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Visit our website The Real Learning Experience

Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

What do great organisations do to grow their next generation of leaders — instead of watching potential die on the vine?

In this episode, Simon unpacks the three biggest barriers new leaders face and how developing talent from within solves them all. Plus, hear why some internal candidates get overlooked and how to change that.

It’s a sharp, practical listen for any leader serious about growing other leaders.

Summary of Episode: 

• Introduction to Emerging Leaders Theme 0:00
• Three Barriers for New Leaders 4:07
• Retention: Growing to Keep Talent 8:10
• Creating Opportunities for Leaders to Emerge 12:42
• Culture That Fosters Leadership Growth 17:07
• Key Takeaways and Resources 21:45

Links and resources mentioned in the show

Case Study on Emerging Leaders Program

Emerging Leaders Program Product Page

Emerging Leaders Free Resources

Re-Released Podcast Episode  

Plenty in 20:

The Culture Nerds Monthly Newsletter: 

Authentic Leadership

What's next?
Talk to one of our culture and leadership experts - a free 30 minute consultation to problem solve any issue you are facing.

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Visit our website The Real Learning Experience

Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

Still throwing new leaders in the deep end and hoping they’ll swim?

In this episode, Simon unpacks the dangerous cliché of “sink or swim” leadership — and why it’s damaging your culture, your results, and your people. Learn how to replace lazy leadership defaults with intentional development strategies that actually work.

You’ll walk away with a new lens on leader development — and a few clichés worth retiring forever.

Monthly Theme: Developing Leaders 0:00

The Danger of Leadership Clichés 3:25

Throwing Leaders in the Deep End 8:54

The Ripple Effects of Poor Development 13:49

Better Solutions for Leader Growth 18:32

Proactive Leadership Development Strategies 22:52

Links and resources mentioned in the show

The 5 Shifts Authentic Leaders Make - PDF

Are you Leading or just Managing - Blog Post

Pulse Check for Authentic Leaders - PDF

Plenty in 20:  Elevating your Leadership Through Coaching Conversations

The Culture Nerds Newsletter: a free monthly summary of subscriber resources

Authentic Leadership – a product page for those who want to explore the services we offer

What's next?
Talk to one of our culture and leadership experts - a free 30 minute consultation to problem solve any issue you are facing.

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Visit our website The Real Learning Experience

Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

Summary
Does your team actually look forward to performance appraisals? Or do they brace themselves for an awkward, box-ticking exercise that feels like a waste of time?

If you’re in the second camp—you’re not alone. For many leaders and teams, performance reviews are uncomfortable, ineffective, and do little to drive real improvement.

But they should be one of the most valuable conversations you have.

In this episode, we’re breaking down 15 reasons why appraisals fail to deliver and, more importantly, what you can do to fix them. Whether you’re a leader or a team member, you’ll walk away with practical ideas to turn dreaded reviews into genuine growth conversations.

Let’s dive in.

Links and resources mentioned in the show
The Real Cost of Poor Performance (downloadable infographic)

5 Conversations Every Manager Must Master (downloadabale PDF)

Is Your Leadership Style Enabling Accountability - or Making Underperformance Comfortable? (self-assessment questionnaire)

Plenty in 20: Managing Poor Performance (free, on-demand webinar with actionable strategies and tips)

The Culture Nerds Newsletter, a free monthly summary of subscriber resouces

Managing Poor Performance & Inspiring High Performance – a product page for those who want to explore the services we offer

What's next?
Talk to one of our culture and leadership experts - a free 30 minute consultation to problem solve any issue you are facing.

Detailed show description
Performance appraisals can feel like a futile pain in the backside. Many leaders view them as administrative burdens rather than developmental opportunities. When conducted effectively, performance reviews are transformative tools for growth, alignment, and improved team dynamics. 

The fundamental problem with many appraisals is they're approached as tick-and-flick exercises rather than meaningful conversations. The opportunity to build connection, provide direction, and foster growth is missed. The most effective appraisals balance reflection on past performance with planning for future development. This pairing is essential – looking back without planning forward leaves team members without direction, while planning development without addressing current performance issues ignores potential barriers to growth.

Some key topics from this episode:

• The real value: reflecting on past performance and planning future development
• Customising frequency based on individual needs
• Creating two-way feedback conversations 
• Selecting the appropriate time and location
• Providing micro-feedback throughout the year 
• Planning effectively by sending questions in advance to encourage reflection
• Balancing technical performance with team/cultural fit

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Visit our website The Real Learning Experience

Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

Summary

Does your organisation have values that should make a difference - but don't? That people think are bullshit or tokenistic or lip service?

Do they look great on the poster but mean nothing in the way people behave, work, and treat each other?

If that's your organisation, your missing a HUGE opportunity to create a workplace culture where both morale and performance are high. Fortunately, this episode is packed with tips to make your values real.

Links and resources mentioned in the show

The Authentimeter (free culture survey with option for detailed analysis of results)

Plenty in 20: Holding People Accountable when you Can't Afford to Lose Them (free, on-demand webinar with actionable strategies and tips)

The Culture Nerds Newsletter, a free monthly summary of subscriber resouces

Organisational Culture Surveys for those who want to explore our services

What's next?

Talk to one of our culture and leadership experts - a free 30 minute consultation to problem solve any issue you are facing.

Detailed show description

Workplace values should be the most powerful tool for shaping your organisation's culture, but that is rarely the reality. Often, values are reduced to meaningless phrases on coffee mugs and posters that no one can remember or explain.

In this episode, Simon Thiessen discusses the disconnect between proclaimed values and actual workplace behaviors. He unpacks ten critical reasons why organisational values fail to drive meaningful change. From values that no one can name to those that create cynicism because they're never enforced, this practical guide exposes the common pitfalls that make values ineffective.

Drawing from real-world examples, Simon explains why overcomplicated processes, values dictated from above, and attempts to replace human judgment with rigid rules all undermine cultural alignment. The most damaging practice? Allowing certain people to be exempt from living the values while holding others accountable—creating a culture where 'that's just how they are' becomes a way to validate unacceptable behavior.

You'll discover how to transform your values from tokens into genuine drivers of great workplace culture by ensuring they're behavior-focused, universally applied, and reinforced through peer-to-peer accountability rather than top-down enforcement. The episode concludes with an immediate, actionable strategy you can implement today: consistently celebrating when people embody your values.

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Visit our website The Real Learning Experience

Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

Summary

Have you ever thrown your hands in the air, frustrated, and said, 'the monkeys are running the zoo!' If you haven't, I bet one of your co-leaders has.

What does that mean, though? And why does it happen? In this episode we talk about how leaders should respond when they feel the monkeys are running the zoo and discuss another type of 'zoo' that should be avoided at all costs!

Links and resources mentioned in the show

The Authentimeter (free culture survey with option for detailed analysis of results)

Plenty in 20: Holding People Accountable when you Can't Afford to Lose Them (free, on-demand webinar with actionable strategies and tips)

The Culture Nerds Newsletter, a free monthly summary of subscriber resouces

Organisational Culture Surveys for those who want to explore our services

What's next?

Talk to one of our culture and leadership experts - a free 30 minute consultation to problem solve any issue you are facing.

Detailed show description

The culture of your workplace doesn't just happens—it's shaped by leadership choices and team behaviours. In this episode, Simon Thiessen use the 'monkeys running the zoo' metaphor to discuss 'three zoos' that perfectly capture different workplace cultures and the leadership approaches that create them.

What happens when the monkeys are running the zoo? This environment emerges when leaders fail to set clear standards or hold people accountable. Mediocrity becomes normalised, high performers grow frustrated, and when leaders try to raise standards, resistance is fierce. Simon unpacks the affiliative or absent leadership styles that create these situations.

The second zoo represents workplaces ruled by fear, where people avoid taking risks, hide problems, and dread coming to work. These environments stem from directive, demanding, and critical leadership that breaks trust and stifles initiative. Simon shares real-world examples of this fear becoming embedded, requiring consistent positive experiences to rebuild confidence.

But there's a third option. The ideal workplace where people operate with freedom within clear, agreed-upon standards. Here, people understand their purpose, collaborate naturally, and hold each other accountable. Research consistently shows these environments produce happier employees, better customer experiences, and superior results across all metrics.

Creating this culture requires conscious leadership rather than defaulting to comfortable habits, clarity of vision about what excellence looks like, willingness to change (starting with leaders), and a tolerance for the uncomfortable. The journey isn't easy, but the rewards are transformative.

Workplace culture is shaped by leadership choice. We each have a best self and a worst self, and workplace environments can bring out either. Which environment are you creating?

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Visit our website The Real Learning Experience

Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

The Rules of the Pool
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This episode focuses on the role of accountability in shaping workplace culture and emphasises the impact of individual contributions. We discuss how open communication, courageous conversations, and shared responsibility lead to a healthier work environment.

Key points from the pod:

• Our new approach to the content we create for you – monthly themes. Each month will developed pods, blogs, free 20 minute webinars, and resources around a specific theme (this month is Creating a Culture of Accountability) – along with a specific product offering for those who need more support
• The connection between individual actions and choices, and workplace culture
• Using metaphors to foster discussions on accountability 
• The importance of courageous conversations in addressing issues
• Encouraging teams to create their own shared understandings around standards of performance and interpersonal communication
• The role of leadership in modelling positive culture
• Recognising conflict as a constructive aspect of team dynamics
• Strategies for fostering ownership of workplace culture
• Rules of the Pool download  = resource download for managers

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Visit our website The Real Learning Experience

Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

This week’s podcast features an interview with Tim Davenport, the Director of Fundraising & Sponsorship at OzFish Unlimited.

Tim spent a significant part of his career as a senior executive in the media. After a period of stability, the organisation changed constantly and rapidly. That involved a succession of mergers, acquisitions and takeovers - each coming with change and a clash of workplace culture. His insights for leaders dealing with change (so all leaders!) are invaluable.

Interview Summary
Our interviews are conversational, and not always linear. These are the main points, roughly in order.

• Sitting in a boardroom making decisions that affected other people’s lives
• Helping people get comfortable being uncomfortable
• Communicating to team members about change
• Conveying clinical decisions in humanistic ways
• Being the guy who has to deliver decisions that were imposed on you
• Stay mentally healthy as the leader delivering challenging messages
• Taking time out in a busy leadership routine to reflect and learn
• A strategy to have your partner be a sounding board without making home a place where the stresses of work derail the rest of your life
• A story of delivering bad news with incredible humanity
• When people thank you for taking away their jobs
• How visionary leadership transformed the outcomes of a basket case
• Taking a year off (paid work) and growing as a leader and as a human
• Leaving the party when it’s still fun
• The greatest success as a leader - growing others
• The importance of an excellent mentor

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Visit our website The Real Learning Experience

Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

The Role Values Play in your Organisation. 

How often do you revisit and refine your company's core values? In this milestone episode, we promise you'll discover the transformative power of regularly reassessing your organisational values to bridge the gap between current and desired cultural states. Learn why reevaluating your values every 18 months to two years is critical to maintaining alignment with your evolving organisational aspirations.

Join us as we explore the role of company values in fostering accountability within teams. Hear the inspiring story of a young Practice Manager who united her team around the principles of respect and dignity, demonstrating the tangible impact of clear, shared values on guiding behaviour and resolving underlying issues. Discover why promoting open, honest conversations and ensuring values apply equally to everyone, regardless of their position, can create an environment where team members feel empowered to speak up. This episode is packed with practical insights and real-world examples that showcase the power of values in cultivating a thriving workplace culture. Tune in and be inspired to transform your organisation!

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Visit our website The Real Learning Experience

Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

In today's episode, we spoke with the incredibly insightful (and entertaining) John Hardy, CEO of RSL Tasmania.

John is the ultimate story teller, and takes us on his own leadership journey which started in the UK Military and has led him to now being CEO of RSL Tasmania, and living in his own slice of paradise near Hobart. His ability to always remember where he began and the challenges he has had throughout life leads him to be an incredibly grounded and insightful leader - and a bit of a character that we just loved listening to. There was very little interviewing in today's episode because John just told his story, and we listened and learned. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

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Visit our website The Real Learning Experience

Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

Discover how to foster an exceptional workplace culture and drive organizational success with insights from Catherine Keenahan, Executive Manager for People and Culture at Junction Australia. Catherine reveals the secrets behind her organization’s mission to help people thrive, emphasizing the importance of a purpose-driven, values-oriented approach. Listen as she shares personal anecdotes about inspiring leaders who valued individuals and provided clear direction, revealing how authentic leadership can profoundly impact culture. Catherine also provides an insider look at Junction Australia's Culture Shaping Initiative and the pivotal role leadership plays in creating a unified organizational culture.

In this episode, we highlight the essential role of senior and middle managers in nurturing a strong organizational culture. Catherine uses compelling analogies like marriage and nutritional lifestyles to illustrate the long-term commitment needed for cultural transformation, setting it apart from short-term fixes. The conversation touches on the significance of gaining managerial buy-in and equipping them with the tools they need to succeed, especially when involving remote and shift workers. We focus on embedding positive behaviors and expectations into daily operations, ensuring that culture becomes an integral part of business as usual. This is a must-listen for anyone passionate about leadership and organizational culture.

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Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

https://reallearning.com.au/
No one does it as well as you do, right? Have you ever had that feeling that if you want a job done properly, you'll have to do it yourself? Have you ever asked the question why aren't my people as committed as me? Both questions are indicators that Employee Engagement may not be as high as you would like it to be. But are your expectations too high or is engagement actually low? There's a simple test that managers can use to gain some insight into the engagement levels in their teams. 

There are four indicators that will help you get a feel for the truth on-the-ground when it comes to Employee Engagement in your organisation, 

1. Look at any slippage in habits when you return. It's often hard for your team to immediately raise their standards again when you come back, especially if you've been gone for a longer period. 
2.  Pay attention to the metrics. Do they indicate that intensity, quality etc. Have dropped off? 
3. Listen to feedback from other team members, from other departments and from external clients.
4. Take time out from clearing the backlog on your desk and make your own observations. Have deadlines been met? Has expected progress been made? Have quotas been achieved? Were the team's values upheld? 

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Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

Why does your organisation exist? In fact, why does any organisation exist? 

It really comes down to meeting needs. At a superficial level, it is obvious that we need to meet the needs of the people we serve. But, in reality, for organisations to succeed long term and to be sustainable, they need to meet needs on three different levels. 

When organisations ignore any of the three needs, the culture skews and both morale and results become unsustainable

The first level is the obvious one: meeting the needs of the people your organisation serves – customers, patients, users, whatever they are called in your organisation. Those needs must be effective and at a high standard. If you operate in a competitive environment, you need to meet them better than your competitors do. 

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Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

In this episode we have an Authentic Conversation, a raw and honest conversation about men's violence against women. 

To say it's a massive problem in Australia is an understatement. Violence and aggression can take many forms that span from small micro-aggressions all the way through to rape and murder. It effects ALL women, with the most vulnerable and marginalised in our community, at the greatest risk. We don’t have the answers to solve it. But we don’t want to remain silent. 

If you are a man concerned about your behaviour please contact No To Violence: https://bit.ly/3UlyiA5

If you feel like you are in immediate danger please call 000. If you need someone to talk to we recommend the national 24-hour sexual assault, family and domestic violence counselling line 1800 RESPECT on 1800 732 732.Or, you can call SafeSteps, Victoria's 24/7 family violence crisis service, on 1800 015 188, or visit this link: https://bit.ly/4b1SlsQ. They can provide financial and material aid, pet safety support and court advocacy, as well as support to people with a disability. Or, for further support, contact The Orange Door, who can link you with family violence and parental support services: https://bit.ly/3Q8efTb

If you need support now, use Ask Izzy: a free website and service that connects people in need with housing, a meal, money help, family violence support & counselling: https://bit.ly/3xAVnG4

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Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

A few years ago, one of my sons and I completed a four-day bush walk,  lugging an enormous backpack along the extraordinary Tasman Coastal Trail in Tasmania’s southeast. Along with magnificent memories, aching knees and sore shoulders, I returned with a new insight into leadership style and performance.

Each day of the walk we encountered numerous snakes on the track. Most of them slowly made their way into the scrub and we were able to pass safely. A few lingered, making us wait until they were ready to move or find an alternative path. Knowing that every snake in Tasmania is poisonous, we were mindful of their presence and always on the look out.

On the third day, we walked out onto Cape Pillar, which has the highest sea cliffs in the southern hemisphere. We met a number of trail workers developing a new track to minimise the environmental impact of walkers. Chatting with one of them, I asked if they had many problems with snakes – he responded by holding up his gloved hands. ‘They are everywhere. We have to work on the assumption that there is a snake under every rock, every bag and around every corner’, he replied, before going on, ‘and it slows us down. If we didn’t have to worry about snakes, we would make twice the progress.’

 As I walked, and perhaps in a desperate attempt to focus on something other than the weight of my pack, I reflected on the impact of a potential snake under every rock. How different was the experience of these track workers from that of many people working in ‘safer’ indoor environments every day?

For many workplaces the snakes under the rocks are metaphorical – but the impact on productivity and mindset is just as real. When people worry about ‘being bitten’ they hold back. When they are worried about consequences rather than performance they commit less.

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Visit our website The Real Learning Experience

Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

In todays episode we delve into the often overlooked aspect of career progression: leadership obligations and the unconscious journey many individuals embark on when they accept promotions solely for career advancement without fully considering the responsibilities that come with leadership roles.

Drawing from experiences with various senior leaders, we explore how individuals are propelled into leadership positions driven by ambitions for career growth and financial gain. Yet, they shed light on the common scenario where these individuals find themselves ill-prepared for the complexities of managing people and relationships, realising too late the weight of leadership expectations.

Throughout the discussion, we continue to ask the question around the adequacy of organisational processes in preparing individuals for leadership roles. Do organisations do enough to explicitly outline the leadership obligations that accompany promotions? Are there alternative career progression paths that don't necessarily lead to leadership roles?

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Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

Do you have a poor performer in your team? No someone who is doing well but could do better, which describes most people in most workplaces. We're talking about someone whose performance or behaviour is below a threshold of acceptability.

As uncomfortable as it may be, it is your responsibility as a leader (and not just a manager) to address this. The way to do that is by recognising there are only three outcomes when managing poor performance - and then eliminating one of them. Before we dive into those outcomes, let’s look at the consequences of unaddressed performance issues and a case study.

When you fail to eliminate one outcome, you allow several things to happen:

• The overall performance of the team suffers
• Morale in the team takes a hit and won’t recover until there are genuine efforts to address the performance
• Standards decline across the team. When you hear someone say, ‘what’s the point?’ you know they are about to make a conscious choice to reduce their own performance because their efforts aren’t making a difference
• The people your team exists to serve - internal or external - are going to get compromised outcomes
• People within your team, peers and senior leadership perceive you as an ineffective leader
• You develop or perpetuate habits that compromise your capacity as a leader

It’s a grim list, isn’t it? And it all comes back to not being prepared to eliminate one of the three outcomes. 

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Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

I finished my presentation and the CEO beamed at me.

‘That’s brilliant,’ he said. ‘It’s great to have confirmation that we are doing all the right things.’

He smiled around at the rest of the assembled executive team, stopping only just short of reaching up to pat himself on the back. Meanwhile, one executive rolled their eyes at another, while three more stared down at the table.

The presentation was called Demystifying and Transforming Workplace Culture. I had offered to do it for the executive team after meeting the People & Culture manager, who was now staring fixedly at the table, at an event the previous month. She had confided in me that the organisation was having significant issues with accountability, performance, morale and retention. This toxic workplace culture was flowing through to bottom line performance. Yet here was the CEO proudly proclaiming that their culture was remarkably good.

Everyone else sitting at that table wanted to call ‘bullshit’. But they either didn’t dare or knew it would be pointless, so they sat in silence which the CEO assumed to signify agreement.

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Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

If we want high performance from team members, we have to set them up for success.

There are two critical things that you, as the leader, can provide make that high performance significantly more likely. They are both free and abundantly available to leaders. 

Both of these ingredients - the bookends of high performance - are misread by most leaders. They believe they are providing much more of them than their teams believe they receive - and that is flowing through to performance and engagement.

What are these mystery ingredients? Surely some sparkling new concept or revolutionary new leadership theory? 

Nope. Clarity and feedback. What is missing isn't leaders knowing about these concepts - it's being able to apply them, regularly, in busy workplaces.

Listen in to hear what clarity and feedback look like when done exceptionally - and for strategies to make them part of your leadership routine.

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Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

Every leader has done it - 'thrown someone in at the deep end.'

But is it the right thing to do? Does it help people grow, sort those who can cope from those who can't, or make them stronger?

Or are those just comforting cliches we use to make us feel better about lazy leadership? Would it be better to work out how well someone can swim and throw them in at the appropriate depth? Perhaps get people wet at the shallow end, teach them to swim and nudge them into deeper waters equipped with the skills and confidence they need to thrive there?
 

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Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

The line between flexible work arrangements and some emerging employee trends is becoming blurred.

On one had, too many employers refuse to offer flexibility because of outdated systems and beliefs - leading to employees being dissatisfied and pushing the boundaries.

On the other hand, insidious trends like quit quitting and being over employed are being used by a small number of employees - leading to cynicism and caution about flexibility from employers.

Who is right? And should flexible working arrangements be a right or a privilege? Listen in to hear what The Culture Nerds think.

Resources referred to in this episode:

The ABC News Article

Business Insider article

The Overemployed website

Previous podcast episodes where we discussed flexible working arrangements:
Truth & Trust
Just to be clear - from Elon Musk

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Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

This epsiode is an audio blog

A theme has emerged in several workplaces we are currently working with to help them shape their culture. Each of these workplaces have solid workplace cultures but are striving to create excellent ones. In each of them, we have been asked the same pair of questions.

The question from the leaders. How much impact do the decisions we make have? Decisions are only intentions, but culture comes down to what everyone does and the choices they make. 

The question from team members. Do our choices actually make a difference? Leaders have all the influence.

In one workplace, a team member described this with an analogy. What’s the point of the separating my recycling if the oil companies don’t change their practices?

Starting with the assumption that everyone wants to work in the best workplace culture possible, both perspectives are valid.

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Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

“If you treat an individual as they are, they will remain how they are. But if you treat them as if they were what they ought to be and could be, they will become what they ought to be and could be.”

Quote by Goethe (with slight modifications to ensure the language is inclusive)

Does the way a leader thinks about a team member impact the way they treat them? Absolutely.
 
And does the way they treat them change the way the team member performs and develops? Again, absolutely.

If we apply Goethe's logic, by thinking about a team member in terms of their potential, we help them fulfil that potential.  Sounds simple, but the reality is that leaders often think about people in terms of first impressions, hearsay, personal compatibility, and a whole raft of other, often superficial, factors.

In this episode we discuss some fascinating research on the Pygmalion Effect, share some examples and observations from our work with organisations, and discuss how leaders can use this understanding to help people become what they are capable of becoming.

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Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

https://reallearning.com.au/podcast/

Have you done an engagement survey in your workplace that suggests that you should find it easy to retain and attract excellent people, everyone should be happy at work, and results should be both excellent and sustained?

Yet, that doesn’t seem to translate to real world outcomes?

That’s because you are expecting the engagement survey to do something it can’t.

Let’s be clear. There is nothing wrong with engagement surveys. What they measure is useful. When they are well designed and credibly tested, they really do measure engagement. 

The problem is that engagement surveys are often (we would even suggest usually) used to measure something they don’t. And can’t. 

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Visit our website The Real Learning Experience

Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

Most people want to work in the best workplace culture possible. Assuming that you don't already have a perfect culture (spoiler alert: you don't) that means change.

The problem many organisations have is that they make knee jerk changes based on what they THINK will be effective. Wouldn't it be better to do things that you KNOW would be effective?  That's why you should measure your workplace culture (and it doesn't have to cost you much - or even anything).

By the way, if you're thinking - we already measure our culture with an engagement survey  - bad news. You aren't measuring your culture which is why some of the things you thought would help, don't.

Listen in for the full story!

Looking to use our free culture measurement tool?

This questionnaire will give you an insight into how aligned your organisation is.

If you answer the questions honestly, it will provide a strong measure of your organisation's culture - and allow us to identify specific areas you could work on.

After completing this questionnaire, you'll receive an overview of how Authentic your workplace culture is and the main challenges you face based on your responses.

You can access the tool here - Is your Organisation Authentic? - The Real Learning Experience

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Visit our website The Real Learning Experience

Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

When people return to work after a break, there are two, and sometimes three, reasons that are driving them to come back.

 1.      They are compelled to because their approved period of leave has ended, and simply not turning up for work is just not an OK thing to do (for most people)

2.      They need to because they don’t have the financial independence to pay the mortgage or rent, put food on the table, and fund their lifestyle without the income

 These two reasons apply in every workplace. From a leadership perspective, they are terrible reasons for people to be coming to work. They add nothing to the workplace experience of team members, the cohesiveness and productivity of the team, or the overall results.

They are about attendance rather than performance. Which brings us to the third reason.

 3.      They want to

 This absolutely does not apply to every workplace. Many managers can’t understand why they only get adequate levels of performance, engagement, and motivation. After all, people are being paid, aren’t they?

 If you are one of those managers, there is a direct link between that thinking and the fact that people don’t really want to be in your workplace. 

 If you want your people to produce exceptional results in the coming year, you need to create an environment in which they WANT TO come to work. Before you decide I am delusional and stop reading, let me be clear. I love my work, but if you offered me a week on a tropical island with my family, I’m going to take. Just because I love doing other things doesn’t mean I don’t also like work. In fact, if your people resent work because it stops them doing the things they love, it’s because they hate work. In what universe can we realistically expect that to lead to high performance?

This audio blog outlines eight tips that will help you, the leader, ensure work is one of the things people like in their lives.

You can read the full blog post here.

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Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

There is a strange dynamic about the end of one year and the start of the next. A disproportionate number of people spend time reflecting on where they are, and how that compares to where they want to be.

That's a great thing - and an opportunity for leaders - except that ... this often translates to new year's resolutions which have a deservedly bad reputation. 

91% of news resolutions don't even survive until mid January - which creates disillusionment and disappointment. 

So what's the opportunity in this for leaders? Whether you are thinking about your own growth for the coming year, or focusing on growing your people (you're doing both, right?) you know something critical. People, including you and your team, are in a reflective and growth oriented mindset - all you need to do is harness with these steps outlined by Kirralea. She uses them as a professional leadership coach - and you can apply them when you decide to add some coaching to your leadership style.

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Visit our website The Real Learning Experience

Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

Welcome to the podcast formerly known as Authenticity, Transforming Workplace Culture.

We decided we need a freshen up and let's face it. The old name was a bit stiff and starchy. So we looked for something fun, something that described the pod, and something suitable for the hosts.

We totally nerd out on leadership and culture - which is why we are good at them. And Simon is obviously a nerd. Kirralea, less so at least according to her.

You'll still get the same mix of strategies, tips, tools and anecdotes, all based on the lived executive experience and lessons learned from working with thousands of clients around the globe. And, we'll have some fun while we do it.

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Visit our website The Real Learning Experience

Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

Workplace culture is how your people feel on Sunday evening about going to work on Monday morning.

That's not a 100% accurate description of culture - but let's not let being pedantic get in the way of a critical message for leaders. The reality is that most people want to do contribute and something meaningful with their lives. The second reality is that some workplaces give them that opportunity, while others kill the buzz!

How your people feel on Sunday evening is an excellent measure of the impact your workplace culture and your leadership has on morale and engagement - which flows through to results and productivity.

In this episode we unpack the key drivers that determine how you and your team arrive at work after a weekend or a holiday. Do you drag in miserable at the reality of another week of grind, just hoping to endure for another pay period? Or do you bounce in excited at the prospect of working with a team that energises and achieving something meaningful?

Whether it is the way you feel about returning to work, or the way the team you lead feels, there are four things to address:
1. Whether the work is still meaningful - has it become stale or stopped being a challenge?
2. Gratitude - have you, or your team, stopped appreciating the opportunities? Have you started taking them for granted? 
3. The leadership style that you - or your team - are exposed to
4. The team dynamics that you and your teamwork amongst

In the pod, we look at practical actions you can take for each of these factors.

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Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

What if the path to a more inclusive, diverse, and fulfilling workplace culture was just a conversation away?

Archie Beetle (they/them) is the Founder and Director at Queer Town (IG: @queertown.workshops), a queer-led business delivering educational workshops and training in workplaces and schools across Australia, with a focus on LGBTIQA+ inclusion and allyship. 

We talk to Archie about how leaders can approach a topic that many of them have no lived experience of, that they are confused by, and that often makes them outright nervous about getting it wrong.

Some of Queer Town’s clients include: The Australian Ballet, Cotton On Group, Federation Square and GMHBA.  

During their career, Archie has led the establishment of LGBTIQA+ advisory boards and working groups at a number of Victorian institutions, including: Melbourne Museum, The Immigration Museum and Scienceworks, and has served as a board member at Proud2Play, a not-for-profit increasing LGBTIQA+ engagement in sport and exercise.  

Archie's mission is to ensure all workplaces and schools in Australia provide safe environments for LGBTIQA+ people to live and work authentically.

If you would like to connect with Archie: 

Website: Queer Town | LGBTIQA+ Allyship Training and Educational Workshops

Instagram: @queertown.workshops

Linked In here

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Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

Sarah Horton, a senior leader at Mars, is an inspiring leader, a culture shaper, and a natural story teller. Her leadership journey has spanned continents, cultures, and challenges. Sarah shares insightful leadership lessons and her reflections on the dynamics of workplace culture in a riveting conversation that fosters learning and sparks self-reflection. 

Sarah's enchanting experiences from training in Switzerland to leading a team in Korea, and her current role at Mars, all contribute to the rich tapestry of her leadership journey. Her story underscores the value of investing in training, embracing the challenges of leadership, and the critical role of adaptability in varying cultural environments. We discuss the importance of including quiet voices in decision-making, creating a psychologically safe environment, and the family-like culture within Mars Petcare. 

We also highlight how understanding the intricate data behind an organisation's culture can paint a comprehensive picture of the work environment. And for those eager to further hone their leadership skills, we chat about Real Learning's smorgasbord of events and programs that promise intellectual stimulation and growth. Join us in this enriching journey that explores leadership, workplace culture, and so much more!

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Visit our website The Real Learning Experience

Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

Most leaders want to create a workplace where each individual feels empowered to take on more responsibility, challenge themselves, and step into leadership roles. In our latest episode of Authenticity, Transforming Workplace Culture, we look at the potential barriers that hinder team members from stepping up and discuss strategies to overcome these hurdles. We discuss insights from a recent leadership development program, and consider how fostering a supportive environment and creating safe spaces can accelerate an individual's growth and align the workplace culture effectively with the team's goals.

Our conversation further evolves as we examine the significance of providing opportunities for practicing leadership skills and shaping a feedback-oriented atmosphere. We give you an inside look into the dynamics of leadership development, the essence of creating opportunities, and the impact it has on team members and workplace culture. What stands out is our emphasis on the need for leaders to step back, to create a vacuum that drives team members to step up and fill. The episode is a genuine conversation that challenges the conventional norms of leadership and work culture, and encourages leaders to create opportunities, foster growth, and prepare their team for future leadership roles. This episode is a must-listen for leaders, aspiring leaders, and anyone invested in creating a healthy, growth-oriented work culture.

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Visit our website The Real Learning Experience

Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

Is it possible to lead with vulnerability and authenticity while maintaining a strong, commercial approach? Our guest, Alison Geale, CEO of Bravehearts, says "Yes." Transitioning from the media sector to a non-profit organisation dedicated to preventing and treating child sexual abuse, Alison takes us through her remarkable journey. From discussing her initial caution approaching such a sensitive subject to how the words of her daughter sparked her determination, Alison's story is as inspiring as it is insightful.

Navigating the for-purpose space entails a different energy and dynamic compared to the corporate world. Alison opens up about the unique challenges and rewards of working in this sector. She sheds light on the implementation of KPIs and scorecards to evaluate performance based on skill rather than just devotion. 

Leadership, at its core, is about collaboration and authenticity. There's no room for silos when your mission is to make a difference. We discuss the importance of active listening, managing a remote workforce, and the art of balancing a commercial head with a people heart. Alison’s experiences and insights remind us that it’s not just about being acknowledged for our work, but recognizing that when we partner with others, we can achieve more. Tune in for an episode filled with valuable leadership lessons, and discover how vulnerability and authenticity can transform the way we lead.

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Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

In this episode we chat to Miguel Diaz, CEO of Parkinsons Australia.

Join us as we uncover the secrets to creating a thriving workplace culture in the age of remote work, and unlock the potential of purpose-driven organisations. Our insightful discussion will leave you with valuable insights on how to balance financial sustainability with mission-driven success, and how to navigate the challenges and opportunities that come with working for a greater cause.

Change is inevitable, and it's never been more important to master the art of change management. Miguel shares his experiences on how to bring people on board with new initiatives, create buy-in, and leverage purpose-driven motivations to power your team through uncertain times. Discover the resilience he gained from the pandemic and how striving for positive change can make a lasting impact.

Miguel talks us through how we  shift, rather than pivot. He talks us through the  power of planting your foot and changing direction without losing sight of your goals.

We are so grateful for Miguel's time, and listeners can connect with him on Linked In here

For more resources, check out our website, and find inspiration to fuel your journey towards a high performing culture of Authenticity.

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Visit our website The Real Learning Experience

Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

Are you ready to revolutionize your work-life balance? Discover how Bunnings' landmark agreement to trial a four-day work week is shaking up the corporate world and potentially benefiting employees and employers alike. We dive into the research behind this agreement and explore the myriad of advantages it brings, such as reduced absenteeism, improved work-life balance, and enhanced overall well-being.

But what about striking the perfect balance in our daily lives? Join us as we tackle the concept of life balance and how it differs from work-life balance, along with discussing the importance of trust and faith in the workplace. We also highlight a fascinating study conducted by the University of Reading, revealing a 71% productivity boost after reducing meetings by 40% - and how this small change can have significant impacts on employee stress levels and overall happiness.

Finally, we take a deep look into the implications of inflexible workplace structures and how challenging traditional norms can lead to a more inclusive and authentic environment. Offering a variety of working styles not only benefits employees, but also ensures organizations don't miss out on the very best talent. Don't miss out on this eye-opening conversation as we explore the future of work and the incredible potential of flexibility in the workplace.

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Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

How do you navigate difficult conversations as a leader while maintaining your integrity and character? This episode of Front Page Leadership shines a light on the personal toll leadership can take, as we discuss the recent resignation of Hawthorn Football Club CEO Justin Reeves and the challenges leaders face when making tough decisions. We emphasise the importance of being a leader with integrity, good intentions, strong values, and a focus on caring for people, all while understanding that not everyone will agree with your decisions.

Through personal anecdotes and stories, we explore the necessity of having a respectful relationship between managers and team members, and how crucial it is to separate the decision from the character of the leader who made it. We share strategies and skills needed to make difficult decisions and take a stand without feeling the need to please everyone. Join us for this insightful conversation about the challenges leaders face and how to navigate them with courage and integrity, and learn how to communicate your decisions in a way you can be proud of.

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Visit our website The Real Learning Experience

Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

The first of our Authentic Conversations podcast episodes - this format is a shortened version of our normal episodes where we discuss leadership topics that have arisen be that in conversations with clients or in our general lives.

The "fishing in a shallow pond" problem refers to the challenge organisations face in attracting and keeping top talent because of a limited pool of qualified candidates. This problem is exacerbated by accepting poor performance and neglecting employee development.

Polluting the pond
Many organisations fear losing employees, leading them to tolerate under-performance. This acceptance creates a toxic work environment, dampening motivation and preventing top talent from joining. When poor performance is accepted, there is no motivation for improvement, and it becomes the norm.
The lack of investment in employee development limits the potential of the workforce and makes it difficult to attract new talent.

Attracting the big fish
Top candidates look for organisations that invest in their staff, offer growth prospects, and cultivate a culture of growth. Invest in employee development, create a positive work environment, and hold employees accountable to address the shallow pond problem.. Tough decisions may be necessary to maintain a high-performing workforce.

Consequences
Consequences can be a powerful motivator. Holding employees accountable encourages them to take ownership of their actions.. The goal is to manage employees up, making them better through honesty and integrity.
Organisations should not fear accountability but embrace it. Establishing a high-performance culture requires clear expectations and support for employees to improve. Establish clear expectations and support employees to improve or replace them with the best to build a deep and diverse talent pool.. Offering attractive incentives and benefits helps attract the top performers.

Thriving in a shallow pond
By taking these actions, organisations can thrive in the competitive business landscape. Embracing accountability, investing in employee development, and creating a high-performance culture will enable them to overcome the shallow pond problem and attract and keep top talent. 

You can read an expanded blog on the topic here  Fishing in a Shallow Pond.

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Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

This week’s podcast features an interview with David Schwarz, the CEO of Board Direction. 

David is Australia’s leading board recruitment expert and the author of the internationally selling book  Board Appointments: The Definitive Guide to Gaining a Non-Executive Directorship. 

He passionately believes that every leader benefits from a board role. In our interview, he addresses some mindsets that prevent people from exploring the opportunity

The Good, The Bad or The What-The?

Last week, Simon facilitated an activity for some young, emerging leaders. One team had varied views about how to approach a situation and had the courage to sit with uncomfortable, discuss their differences, and arrive at a conclusion - instead of just 'making nice.' The result? An exceptional decision, which produced an outstanding result. More importantly, they saw the value of a workplace behaviour that will make them outstanding leaders. We loved seeing people grow through the power of experiential learning to create real world outcomes.

Words of Authenticity

It’s not our job to make it comfortable, it’s our job to make it respectful - Kirralea’s advice for leaders as they coach their people

Worth The Time

The Discomfort Zone: How Leaders Turn Difficult Conversations into Breakthroughs by Marcia Reynolds.

Interview Summary

Our interviews aim to be conversational, so they aren’t always linear. These are the main points, roughly in order.

• Not even the no 1 David Schwarz!
• What a board appointment will do for EVERY leader’s career
• The risks versus rewards of board appointments 
• Developing strategic capability
• Relationships that pay off for a lifetime
• Enhance promotion and consulting prospects
• What is the right board for me?
• Ensuring you and the board are a cultural fit
• Governance versus operational
• The time commitment to be on a board
• Dealing with impostor syndrome
• Aspiration, Articulation & Application
• Identifying and articulating the value you offer a board
• The great news about how 80% of board appointments are made
• Building connections who will help you gain the right board appointment
• The power of loose ties

The debrief–what we learned from David

The messages we loved were that everyone has something to offer a board - it’s about finding the right fit - and that every leader will be a better leader for their board experience

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Visit our website The Real Learning Experience

Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

This week’s podcast features an interview with Tim Davenport, the Director of Fundraising & Sponsorship at OzFish Unlimited.

Tim spent a significant part of his career as a senior executive in the media. After a period of stability, the organisation changed constantly and rapidly. That involved a succession of mergers, acquisitions and takeovers - each coming with change and a clash of workplace culture. His insights for leaders dealing with change (so all leaders!) are invaluable.

The Good, The Bad or The What-The?
Really Elon? When Space -X blew up their own rocket shortly after take-off last week (another Elon inspired act of self destruction), the company described it as a Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly. Leaders everywhere - please just say what you mean, don’t hide behind slippery talk.. No-one trusts language like that, nor do they trust the people who use it.

Words of Authenticity
Rules prevent poor performance, values inspire high performance (Simon Thiessen)

Worth The Time
The Lion Tracker’s Guide to Life - Boyd Varty

Interview Summary
Our interviews are conversational, and not always linear. These are the main points, roughly in order.

• Sitting in a boardroom making decisions that affected other people’s lives
• Helping people get comfortable being uncomfortable
• Communicating to team members about change
• Conveying clinical decisions in humanistic ways
• Being the guy who has to deliver decisions that were imposed on you
• Stay mentally healthy as the leader delivering challenging messages
• Taking time out in a busy leadership routine to reflect and learn
• A strategy to have your partner be a sounding board without making home a place where the stresses of work derail the rest of your life
• A story of delivering bad news with incredible humanity
• When people thank you for taking away their jobs
• How visionary leadership transformed the outcomes of a basket case
• Taking a year off (paid work) and growing as a leader and as a human
• Leaving the party when it’s still fun
• The greatest success as a leader - growing others
• The importance of an excellent mentor

The debrief–what we learned from Tim
For Kirralea, Tim's willingness to sit in the uncomfortable while he worked out his next moves was the standout.

Simon enjoyed the humanity Tim brings to uncomfortable situations - he doesn’t avoid the difficult things but he approaches them with compassion, empathy and a concern for people’s dignity.

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Visit our website The Real Learning Experience

Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

This week’s podcast features an interview with Bruce McFarlane, the CEO of BDC Partners.

Bruce comes from a world where improving culture can be challenging - the Franchising Sector. The approaches Bruce and his team implement to support their clients contain some great insights for all organisations.

You can read the full blog based on the podcast here (insert link)

The Good, The Bad or The What-The?
Lessons from Donald Trump: Does a toxic CEO ever truly leave?

Words of Authenticity
Equality is everyone getting a pair of shoes
Diversity is everyone getting a different type of shoe
Equity is everyone getting a pair of shoes that fit
Acceptance if understanding we all wear different shoes
Belonging is wearing the shoes you want without fear of judgement

Worth The Time
Margot Morrell and Stephanie Capparell are the authors of a book called Shackleton’s Way, Leadership Lessons from the Great Antarctic Explorer

Interview Summary
A lot of managers are working on improving culture in the workplace with geographically spread team members who they don't see as much because of flexible working arrangements. 

A franchise system involves a balance between creating a culture in which we're asking people to comply with certain principles and processes but also to be driven and show initiative.

• COVID confirmed or challenged perceptions about leaders and organisations
• Invest in your people in the tough times, thrive together in the good times
• People want a leader they believe in more than they want one they like
• Matching people against what good looks like
• The Dirty Dozen
• Sometimes people just need a new challenge
• Intrinsic motivation is a key influence on success
• Do we really want people with initiative?

The debrief
The dirty dozen can apply to organisations across the spectrum and leaders need to support people to evolve and be prepared to have challenging conversations with those who won’t.

The temptation to fill an empty seat-or avoid creating one-comes at a cost. When the pool of recruits is shallow , do we make that better by making our workplace less attractive to work in? That is what we do when we recruit the wrong person - or retain someone who no longer fits - for fear of the empty seat.

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Visit our website The Real Learning Experience

Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

This week’s pod features an interview with Nathan Krieger, co-head of Client Group Australia for Dimensional Fund Advisors. Nathan shares many insights into enhancing workplace culture through well-defined principles and authentic leadership.

You can read the full blog based on the podcast here.

The Good, The Bad or The What-The?

At a recent event, a group of managers stepped out of their comfort zone to teach their peers a new (and non-work related) skill. Among the many great examples, one stood out for Kirralea.

Words of Authenticity

None of us are a finished product (Dave Butler, Co-CEO of Dimensional worldwide and ex pro basketball player)

Worth The Time (resource):
 Shoe Dog - Phil Knight 

Interview Summary

·       Enhancing workplace culture with Guiding Principles

·   Doing the right thing number, doing it the right way number, and doing it right now. If it's worth doing, let's go ahead and get it done.

·       The treatment of ideas - allowing the best idea to stand the test of time

·       Creating a culture that lets new people know what is expected

·   Identifying behaviours that represent the ideal culture - cultural statements and value statements can sound a little nebulous at times unless they are brought to life.

·       Fostering attitudes that support the attributes and that mean cultural excellence is not reliant on any one leader - we are all the custodians of them.

·       Enhancing culture and building leadership with coaching

·       Keeping everyone on board in fast paced, ever-changing climates

·       The (surf) board meeting

·   A final piece of advice for leaders in fast paced environments - be OK being uncomfortable.

The debrief – what we learned from Nathan

The combination of an Authentic Leader (Nathan) and a clear framework (the Dimensional Guiding Principles, Attributes and Attitudes) is the ideal platform for enhancing workplace culture.

Nathan is ‘real’ – what you see is what you get, and he isn’t frightened about being authentic and vulnerable. He is also a humble leader, striving to be his best self while accepting that he is imperfect.

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Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

Encouraging Emerging Leaders to Charge into Leadership 

Good decisions when replacing managers are critical because their actions flow through to the performance and morale of their team. Having Emerging Leaders ready to step into management roles is essential for every organisation, big or small.

Ready-made successors

A robust Emerging Leaders process fosters ready-made leaders within the organisation. They already know the organisation and sector and they have lived the workplace culture. Presumably they represent your ideal culture. If not, take them of the list of candidates. This means they can focus on the biggest challenges for new managers– developing leadership skills and strategies to deal with the people they lead. If you have created a robust Emerging Leaders process, they will have been developing these skills before they need them, so they are ready when the opportunity comes.

Mistake or choice?

Recruiting leaders from outside the organisation isn’t a bad thing. They can bring fresh perspectives, promote positive change and enhance innovation. It just shouldn’t be your only option because of a lack of emerging leaders within your organisation.If you need to replace a manager and you have no option but to look externally, that’s a mistake. Learn from it. If it happens again, that’s a choice and it suggests you didn’t learn.

The Good, The Bad or The What-The!: The Tosser from Tesla was at it again, abusing a worker with a disability, who may or may not have been sacked. Musk was eventually forced to concede he may have mis-read the situation. There’s hope for you yet, Elon!

The Resource: Simon spotted a poem called Talking to The Wild by Becky Hemsley. It’s a reminder to be true to yourself as a leader instead of trying to fit the image that others may have of you.

Words of Authenticity: A great observation by Kirralea. It can be the moments when we feel we may be being less of a manager that we actually become more of a manager.

Our guests today are from R&J Batteries, Australia’s fastest growing battery company. Each played a pivotal role in implementing an Emerging Leaders program. Two participants took on management positions within less than 12 months & most others showed significant growth.

• Jo Preece, National Training Manager
• Glenn Kennedy, Beresfield Branch Manager
• Dylan Smith, Team Member at Beresfield & participant in the Emerging Leaders program

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Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

This week’s show is all about our guest, Brett Miller. The discussion with Brett is packed with inspiration, strategies and tips to help leader’s create exceptional workplace cultures and to promote high performance – to the extent that we shortened our other segments to bring you the interview in full.

Flaunting conventional wisdom, we will start with the punchline. At the end of the interview, after hearing Brett’s journey, challenges and insights, we asked him what today’s version of himself would say to the 2000 version. The answer: it’s worth it. Keep that in mind as you listen to his story.

Let’s start with some background information on Brett to highlight how well founded his insights are. Then we will dive into his eight-point framework for Leadership – including the stories, examples and quotes he shared with our listeners.

If you want something done, ask a busy person!

You can check out Brett’s LinkedIn profilehttps://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-miller-95905120/ to see the full details, but here is the executive summary.

Brett is the Group CEO for Miller Dental Services, an organisation he founded with his brother, Greg (who is a dentist), and transformed from a single site service with a great reputation into a business with 16 sites, 180 team members, and who provides around 4% of all dental services in South Australia.

Brett is also a member of several boards and committees.

It’s all about the teeth but not always about the money.

Alongside their business, Brett and Greg established Australian Dental Foundation, Australia’s leading dental charity, after seeing firsthand the consequences of a system unable to deal with the dental needs of some of our most vulnerable citizens.

When Greg visited his grandmother, in her 90s, in an aged care facility, he realised that she wasn’t receiving the dental care she needed. Soon, Greg was providing care to his grandmother and other residents of the facility. When that grew to encompass multiple locations and most of Greg’s Sundays, Brett became involved, and the foundation was born.

The Wisdom Tooth

This is either a Dad joke or a Dental joke – probably both. Either way, Brett loves it and we have shamelessly stolen it. It’s all about the wisdom he has accrued along the way and that he shared with our listeners in the pod.

1.       Authentic

2.       Engaging

3.       Innovative

4.       Transformative

5.       Self-reflective

6.       Courageous

7.       Balanced

8.       Long-termism

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Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

After our series of episodes with tech leaders from the Silicon Valley, this week we hear from Peter Whalley -  entrepreneur, visionary and leader from the thriving IT sector right here in our own backyard.

The Good, the Bad, or the ‘What-the!’

Simon shares two experiences of receiving feedback and mentoring around something he feels vulnerable about – and how one experience paralysed future performance while the other validated, challenged and empowered him. 

Worth the Time

An oldie but a goodie. We discuss one of the first business books that Simon ever read – Maverick by Riccardo Semmler, who inherited a struggling manufacturing business in Brazil. 

Words of Authenticity: 

This week we have pulled an extract from an e-book we wrote (and will publish soon) on Leading Change.
During change, people tend to overestimate what they are leaving behind and underestimate what they are gaining

Simon and Kirralea discuss why change efforts tend to struggle (and often fail) and provide a few tips on how to approach change better.

 Our Guest 

Our guest is Peter Whalley, Managing Director of Plus Software and VisionAI Head of APAC of Computer Vision.

Peter has a great story to tell and he shares it in an engaging and captivating way. We discuss the roller coaster journey he embarked on, starting as a young and uncertain adult in South Africa. That journey brought him to Australia, initially on behalf of head office, to bring a struggling IT business into line.

After beginning a transformational change process with two of the senior leaders in Australia, they bought the organisation from the South African owners and took it to new levels of success.

Peter discusses:

• The personal changes he needed to make when he discovered his default leadership styles didn’t always land as intended in an Australian context
• His approach to engaging people, inside and outside the company, in a change to the fundamental way the business operated – a change that was essential to the ongoing survival of the organisation but that was also a radical departure from the traditional model
• The imposter syndrome he struggled with as young leader in his first board room environment

You can connect to Peter via LinkedIn here (https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterbwhalley/)

Unpacking the interview

Simon and Kirralea discuss the key messages that emerged from the discussion with Peter and share some of their experiences working with those dynamics in organisations. They focus on helping listeners apply Peter’s wisdom to their own work lives.

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Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

**CONTENT WARNING - in todays episode we discuss trauma associated with sickness but also the sudden loss of our guests son, which we know can be distressing. It might be a lot to take in, so if you need a breather— take a break, come back later or skip this episode if it is too much. There is a strong leadership message in our discussion, and we haven’t delved into the underlying grief and trauma (because we aren’t qualified to), but understand this may be a lot for people to hear **

Gail Lloyd has experienced significant grief and trauma but she refuses to let it define who she is, or how she leads her life.  After losing both her parents within 12 months of each other, her 26 year old son suddenly and unexpectedly passed away due to a reaction to the medication he had been put on whilst on the waiting list for psychological help.  You would think this would be enough for the family to endure, but then, early last year, Gail received a breast cancer diagnosis.

Gail shares her story, what she has learned and how she has applied that in her role as a leader.  She is vulnerable and willing to share what she has learned as she showed up for some of the toughest days anyone could ever imagine, let alone live through. Gail shares her story with us to help Matthew’s legacy live on. While her story is confronting, Gail tells it with breath taking honesty and vulnerability and is even some humour. 

"I have learnt so much through these experiences, but my greatest wish is no one else has to go through the extremes I have been through to find similar life and work lessons . . ."

Some key messages Gail shares:

• I have learnt I'm not indispensable, other people can do things that I was doing, even if they sometimes do them differently or if things sometimes need adjusting afterwards. 
• If you aren't at work and your team continues to function in a strong manner, you've done your job properly.  
• I have learnt that delegation is really good and really important, if you keep waiting till you think you've got time to teach someone something properly it will never happen.
• Find the right professional help that is right for you if you need it. 
• Don't wait till something goes wrong to address succession planning, it is so important
• Have a no blame culture, make it safe for people to admit they made a mistake, then work as a team to fix and learn from it. Don't make them feel like they will get into trouble.
• Work on your negotiating skills, if you know something is important, have the difficult conversations and find a solution. 

**During this episode we discuss the challenges of mental health  which we know may be distressing for some. So if you need resources or support please visit beyondblue.org or for 24 hour free counselling in Australia, the number for Lifeline is 13 11 14.

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Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

Three weeks ago we asked our network if we had any leaders that would like to join us on the podcast - we have been blown away by the response! We are so excited to bring you the next few episodes where we speak to these leaders.

 The Good: Simon talks about a recent experience of Leadership he had in a local sporting environment he is a part of

The Bad: (8:00) This week we celebrated 30 years since Simon started The Real Learning Experience. Simon gives  us an insight into how The Real Learning Experience came about being created back in 1993.

The What: Kirralea shares a funny example she saw during the week where a council in Melbourne, Victoria Aus resurfaced a road that had a car parked on it - so went around the parked car.

Worth the Time: Simon has gone back for another episode on the Netflix series Live to Lead - Gloria Steinham.  

Words of Authenticity:   The conditions for growth. It is not possible for growth unless two things exists:
1. They must know that a gap exists and
2. They have to care about the gap
We discuss and unpack this quote that we often use in our workshops. 

Our Guest:  
Todays episode, we spoke with John Hardy, CEO RSL Tasmania was kindly nominated by his Ops Manager Jo.
John is the ultimate story teller, and takes us on his own leadership journey which started in the UK Military and has led him to now being CEO of RSL Tasmania, and living in his own slice of paradise near Hobart. His ability to always remember where he began and the challenges he has had throughout life leads him to be an incredibly grounded and insightful leader - and a bit of a character that we just loved listening to. There was very little interviewing in todays episode because John just told his story, and we listened and learned. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

You can connect to John via Linked In here

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Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

Leadership Silicon Valley Style - Aaron Sarnoff @ Next Door. 

Our first episode for 2023, its great to be back recording! 

Todays episode:

• The Good - The Cycling Podcast - "The Team of the Year" Podcast episode.  You can listen to this episode here. Topics discussed in this episode: 
  - Disruptive v Destructive 
  - Creating change and innovation 
  - "The Dennis Rodman" of the team
  -  Honest but not personal discussions
  - the road to team success at times travels through discomfort 
• The Bad - The Three Leadership Qualities that Elon Musk replacement at Tesla should have. Simon discusses how there could be some other aspects that have been forgotten about in this article. 
• The ‘What The’ -  Elon Musk breaks world record for largest loss of personal fortune in history

Worth the Time: Live to Lead on Netflix - Jacinda Ardern

Words of Authenticity:  "The golden bookends of high performance are clear expectations and feedback"  - Simon Thiessen.

The Guest:
27:30
Aaron Sarnoff left Facebook to join Next Door as the had of Engineering and Growth. Nextdoor is where you connect to the neighborhoods that matter to you so you can belong. By bringing neighbors and organizations together, we can cultivate a kinder world where everyone has a neighborhood they can rely on.
 
Their goal is to bring Next Door to every single neighbourhood, in every single country. 

 Aaron leads a team of around 70 engineering managers. He has been at Next Door for the past 3 years, and prior to that worked on the Facebook messenger team for 8 years. He was the 2nd Android engineer on the messenger team and saw their team grow to around 800 people. 

In this episode Aaron talks about the different between cultures at Facebook compared to Next Door, but also what makes him so passionate about his leadership role at Next Door. Specifically he talks about culture and expectations, the way people behave within the organisation and reinforcing the behaviours that support the culture they are building at Next Door. 

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Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

As the close of 2022 approaches, we encourage leaders to ask - Will you be a better leader in 2023 than you were in 2022? Great leaders are constantly improving through a process of reflection and planning. 
In this episode, we share a simple framework – and unpack the reflection and planning process of four exceptional leaders we work with, as well as discussing our own plans to grow as leaders in 2023.

Episode outline: 

• At the end of a year, people often make New Year’s resolutions – and the majority fail to stick to those resolutions for any meaningful time
• That happens for a few reasons – they are made on a whim and often over a few too many drinks – but there are a couple of critical lessons for leaders who want to be an even better leader in 2022
• The first is that many resolutions are made without doing any real reflection. Before looking forward, it is useful to look back and identify the connection between actions and outcomes
• The second is that most resolutions are just statements of intent with no specific actions to support them
• In this episode, we will be using a simple framework for reflecting on 2021 and setting some targets for 2022. It is called STOP-START-CONTINUE
• We will hear submissions from four leaders we work with – and will unpack their reflection and planning with some specific tips
• We will also share our own STOP-START-CONTINUE 
• The aim is that we will inspire you to undertake a similar reflection and give you some tips to do it effectively
• An overview of the framework
  • STOP – what did you do in 2021 that wasn’t helpful in achieving the leadership outcomes you wanted  (and that you will stop doing in 2022)
  • START – what new habit or action could you commence in 2022 that will help you become an even better leader
  • CONTINUE – what worked well for you as a leader in 2021, and that you will continue in 202
• As you identify actions, ask the question, ‘how will I do that?’ When that feels like a redundant question, you have probably been specific enough – you are looking for simple, repeatable actions

Our guests for todays episode that share their own Stop, Start and Continue are:

1. David Osman - a facilitation partner and team member of TRLE
2. Rashelle Leahy - our TRLE Marketing Manager - The Social Beaver
3. Kathryn Keenihan -  Executive Manager People & Culture - Junction
4. Jo Preece - National Training Manager, R & J Batteries
5. Brett Baillie - Chief Operations Officer, Resvu

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Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

Todays episode:

• The Good - Simon shares a story about a recent happening that made him realise the strong link to leadership and trust and what a privelage it is when you have it. 
• The Bad - The Tossa from Tesla continues... we discuss recent reports that the Twitter takeover is starting to take its effect on Tesla branding
• The ‘What The’ -  Last week in South Korea, country leaders decided to change the laws around the way a persons age is calculated, we discuss how this relates to leadership and some organisations need to make rules, and more rules whilst forgetting about intention. You can read about this here.  

Words of Authenticity: Simon recently said this in one of our sessions, and we chat about how this plays out in the workplace - ”There are very few remarkably good or poor people in the workplace. There are just people responding to the workplace culture and the leadership they are exposed to”.

Worth the Time: This weeks resource is a book Kirralea often refers to in facilitation with our clients, written by Tim Gallway called The Inner Game of Tennis. Not just for tennis lovers, in fact you dont have to understand tennis at all. In this book Tim talks about how everything in life is a game and although the outer game may change (the players, rules, objectives) the Inner Game (the struggle against things like anxiety, loss of focus and self doubt) is common to just about every new challenge we face.

“The key to better tennis, or better anything - lies in improving the relationship between the conscious teller (Self 1) and the unconscious automatic doer (Self 2).”

The Guest:
Jack Wanderman is an experienced product manager with a history in consumer electronics hardware, autonomous technology, and user experience development. Extremely enthusiastic about robots and generally excited to turn new technology into tangible products that people can actually use - as described by him on his Linked in profile.

Having worked in Silicon Valley at tech giant Apple, and now Waymo we have a great discussion about what culture looks like at each of these organisations.

For those of you who have not heard of Waymo - it is an autonomous driving technology company with a mission to make it safe and easy for people and things to move around.

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Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

In this episode we discuss Elon Musk and the recent middle of the night email he has sent all Twitter staff.

At 2 a.m. on Wednesday November 16th, Musk sent an email to all Twitter employees telling them to be “extremely hardcore” and work “long hours at high intensity,” the Washington Post reported.

All employees have to agree to this new workflow by 5pm Thursday – around 40 hours after the email was sent – or they will be fired and given three months of severance. Musks message said, his subject line was “a fork in the road”. 

While it is unclear how many employees had chosen to stay, the numbers certainly highlight reluctance of most to stay at a company where its owner has ruthlessly changed the culture to emphasise long hours at such an intense pace.

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Nick Reynolds is a Director of Engineering for Core Experiences @ Discord, a runner, a dog parent and a party animal (as described by him on his Discord profile!) 

Having worked throughout Silicon Valley (Facebook, Air BNB) giving him the experience to know about the culture within Silicon Valley tech giants as well as what good leadership looks like. 

In this episode we talk about: 

• Podcast rebrand
• 3:30 - The Good, The Bad and the WHAT THE
  • The Good – Facebook redundancys
  • The Bad – Elon Musk and his middle-of-the-night email to all staff
  • What The? – Australian Netball and Gina Rinehart
• 14:10 - Words of Authenticity
• 17:10 - Resource recommendation: Podcast - Max Gawn - The Comment That Changed Everything
• 25:00 - Guest Introduction
• 28:00 - Interview with Nick Reynolds
  • A little bit about Discord, who they are and what they do
  • His journey from Australia to Silicon Valley
  • The fork in the road - Individual Contributor and Leadership
  • Choosing leadership because you align with the role
  • Empowering people to make decisions and have ownership
  • Perceived Authority 
  • "Is this a one way decision"?
  • Remotely hired, and working during Covid
  • The culture differences in Silicon Valley
  • The way Discord articulate and live their values
• 1:07:00 - Simon and Kirralea debrief interview
  • Discord and the first 60 days for employees
  • Leadership & Management structure @ Discord
  • Horizontal shifts from technical leader to people leader
  • Perceived Authority creating barriers for people to make decisions
  • "Is this a one way decision"
  • Framing a difficult conversation - the goal, the gap and the reality. 

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Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

We're back from our podcasting hiatus - so much has happened. Simon represented Australia at the World Triathlon Championships in Montreal, and then went on to San Francisco to finally (after the past two years of no international travel) got to spend some time with his son Nick (stay tuned for an upcoming podcast with Nick as a guest!).
Simon returned and Kirralea headed off on the "Voyage of Abandonment" (Simon's words, not hers!) which was a ten week trip with her family to finally do the Western Australian caravan trip they had been planning for two years.

Now we are back and ready to produce some of the epic content we have recorded during this period of hiatus!

Two weeks ago we spent some time on the Gold Coast at the Australian Association of Practice Managers National Conference. Simon was a keynote speaker for their 650 delegates and his keynote Demystify and Transform Your Workplace Culture  was a hit! 
As a result we had some really great conversations with delegates with some really common themes which we thought would make a good podcast topic for all leaders, not just those in the medical field. We invited one of our Accredited Authenticity Partners, David Osman to join us as he was with us on the Gold Coast and has extensive experience in this field. 

Topics discussed in this episode: 

• Addressing issues with your culture caused by staff v loosing staff when recruitment is so hard
• Manager v Leader - if you aren't leading, who is?
• Normalising Authentic conversations in the workplace
• Two Way feedback
• Bringing everyone back together in a post covid world

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Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

In this episode we discuss the recent email sent out to all Tesla staff from Elon Musk
where he was very blunt in expressing his expectation of people needing to return to work. 

Tesla chief executive Elon Musk has told employees they can no longer work from home, warning they must return to the office or leave the company, according to an email sent to employees and seen by the Reuters news agency.

"Everyone at Tesla is required to spend a minimum of 40 hours in the office per week," Mr Musk wrote in the email sent on Tuesday night.

"If you don't show up, we will assume you have resigned.

One of Mr Musk's Twitter followers posted another email that Mr Musk apparently sent to executives asking them to work in the office for at least 40 hours per week or "depart Tesla".

In response to this tweet, the billionaire said: "They should pretend to work somewhere else."

Topics covered in this episode:

• Editing note
• The email from Elon
• The position of privilege and power
• Go somewhere else and pretend to be a leader
• Placing unrealistic expectation on employees
• If I cant see you working, you must be bludging
• Trust v Attendance 
• Returning to the workplace post covid
  • What do we want the people back in the office for?
• The outdated 9-5 attitude 
• Life balance, with work being a part of that
• 
  

The Bloomberg article discussed (Shanghai Tesla factory isolation) can be read here

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Todays guest is Ken Wood, Exectuive General Manager Queensland, Southern Cross Austereo. 

Ken is an extremely passionate senior leader with experience across a number of different media organisations. His insights into the organisations current leadership journey is an amazing example of creating the ideal workplace culture you want, and their commitment to the journey towards it. You can connect with Ken via Linked in here

Episode outline:

• 0.50 - Editing note
• 2.15 – “The Good, The Bad and the WHAT THE” 
  • Good - The Ukraine President
  • The Bad: Issues within Melbourne Football Club (AFL)  
  • "WHAT THE"? - Elon Musk and his letter to all staff at Tesla
• 10:40 - Quote 
• 12:15 - Resource recommendation - The Five Dysfunctions Of A Team
• 15:00 - Interview with Ken Wood
• 20:30 - Purpose & Values 
• 22:00 - Having a clear purpose
• 24:00 - Bring your purpose to life 
• 25:00 - Purpose, Values and Behavior across all markets 
• 27:00 - Being fit for Purpose
• 28:00 - Belief in Purpose
• 30:50 - When values are your problem solving framework
• 31:30 - Using values to drive decision making 
• 32:00 - Shout Out to living the values 
• 33:50 - Asking questions when the values are not lived
• 35:00 - Creating common languages around behaviour with a feedback framework
• 36:40 - Normalising conversations
• 39:30 - Calling it out regardless of position or hierarchy  
• 43:00 - Leaders being Vulnerable, intent with honor
• 45:30 - Simon and Kirralea debrief interview
  • Values & Behaviour
  • Living their purpose with commitment and dedication
  • Normalising conversations because of the framework values provides
  • Values are the driving tool for decision making throughout organisation 

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Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

In this episode we discuss what was reported as an on field verbal class between two AFL (Australian Football League) players for Essendon Football Club. This was later dismissed by the club coach who advised this was "healthy verbal exchange". 

Topics covered in this episode: 

• The facts 
• Conversations are "Problem Solving" live
• Conflict does not have to end negatively
• What happens when there is a lack of clarity
• The respectful framework for honest conversations
• High performance mindsets that support a robust discussion
• When conflict is handled well
• Authentic (Courageous) Conversations
• Leaders who embrace and encourage healthy conflict
• The supportive culture required for these conversations
• The downside of not having these conversations
• Finding the upside

The article discussed here is can be found here: https://7news.com.au/sport/afl/verbal-exchange-healthy-essendon-coach-c-6981224

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Todays guest is Jane Thiessen, People and Culture expert from Tasmania (and yes for those who are thinking the surname is familiar...  Simon is Jane's husband!) 

Jane is an extremely knowledgeable P&C leader with over nearly 30 years experience across the range of human resources functions. Her role now sees her both leading a team and sitting on the senior executive team, steering the People & Culture aspect of the organisation. 

Janes insight into recruitment and the content she provides will be valuable for any organisation and their recruitment process:

• 1:43 – “The Good, The Bad and the WHAT THE” 
• 2:55 – How do children describe a leader – Australian Study
• 9:06 – “My Manager doesn’t care until it’s a problem” 
• 11:30 – The power of human connection – 
• 17:25 – Grounding with great Principles – Simon shares a quote
• 19:25 – Worth the time – Ted Lasso 
• 22.20 – Our Guest – Jane Thiessen – People & Culture expert
• 24.38 – Jane walks us through her career and her current role 
• 26:35 – People and Culture having a seat at the Senior Management Team
• 27:48 – Jane talks about her passion for recruitment and the three key areas that are important to any recruitment process
• 29.25 – Jane walks us through the process of recruiting not only for technical competence but also culture fit 
• 32:40 – The important of calling it out during the recruitment process 
• 33:40 – Maintaining the full range of behaviours throughout the employment process (and what you can do to do this) 
• 35:30 – Jane talks about retention strategies that can often assist organisations to retain staff and make the employment life valuable – and the role culture plays in this. Also looking at ways to be creative in the retention process.
• 40:00 – Recruitment strategies used to take organisations towards the culture they want to achieve 
• 43:00 – Kirralea and Simon debrief the interview:
  • If you want a strong culture you need to start with getting the right people into it 
  • Empty seats v the wrong person being recruited – very critical question
  • Calling it out – culture is a fast spinning wheel 
  • Values and the role they play in recruitment and the culture cycle 
  • Values based questions during recruitment 
  • Culture and values aligned v technical skilled
  • Obligation as a leader during probation period

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Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

In this episode we discuss the recent retirement of Australian Tennis Champion and three time Grand Slam winner Ash Barty who shocked the world when she retired in in March 2022 whilst ranked #1 in the world. 

Topics covered in this episode:

• Separating the person from the persona
• The motivation of a leader
• "Achievement without fulfillment is the ultimate failure" - Ben Crowe 
• Connection, Purpose and Performance
• Live who you want to be before what you want to be
• Letting go of the fear of other peoples opinions
• The importance of self reflection in leadership
• Know who you are and write your own story

For more information on Ben Crowe head to his website  https://mojocrowe.com/

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In this episode we discuss recent workplace issues within the workplace that is Australian Parliament. This is not a political debate, this is discussing Parliament the workplace and the culture that exists within the organisation.

Topics covered in this episode:

• The tragic passing of Kimberley Kitching and the subsequent allegations around the workplace culture she was experiencing prior to her passing 
• Do we find aggressive behavior harder to accept when its a woman?
• The behavior you walk past is the behavior you accept 
• The 'in groups' within organisations
• Calling toxic culture exactly what it is 
• What standard do you hold yourself accountable to

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Todays guest is Kirstan Wilding, Leader of Corporate Social Responsibility at TasNetworks. We first met Kirstan when she delivered a keynote at a conference we attended and we knew after listening to her we wanted to have her as a guest on the podcast as soon as we could make it happen. 

 Kirstan is an extremely grounded and emotionally intelligent leader who shares with us some incredible insights she has learnt along her leadership journey. 

• 07:20 - The daily focus of being a leader of corporate social responsibility 
• 10:40 - What has helped Kirsten understand and define her purpose 
• 15:00 - The times of adversity that has shaped Kirsten into understanding and defining her purpose 
  • How adversity shaped her leadership journey
  • Holding true to Authenticity and purpose during adversity 
• 20:00 - Learning to show up as your whole self in leadership, and therefore opening the door to trust within your teams 
  • showing vulnerability in both challenging times but also success and achievement
  • Modelling vulnerability as a leader 
• 23:30 - Self Awareness and Self Reflection as a leader 
• 25:50 - By modelling vulnerability as a leader you open up the safe space for others to do so 
• 28:00  - Being comfortable with sitting in the uncomfortable 
• 32:15 - Working through change within the organisation  with resilience and excitement 
• 33:18 - Actively listening as a leader. Kirsten discusses the importance of listening to understand, not listening to solve a problem.  Kirsten also shares a simple yet effective tip on how we can all implement actively listening in our own roles. 
• 44:00 - Bringing everyone within the organisation along on the evolving culture journey
• 49:00 - Holding Yourself with Authenticity 
   

Thank you again to our guest in this episode Kirsten Wilding  - Leader of Corporate Social Responsibility at TasNetworks. You can connect with Kirstan via Linked In here.

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In this episode we discuss the recent ABC news article - "As the Covid pandemic rolls on, there's never been a better time for Australia to move to a four-day week.

The ABC news article we refer to can be accessed here

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This format addresses topical subjects within the media that have a strong underlying and leadership message within. We take the headlines in the stories and we discuss and extract the leadership lessons to be learned for our listeners.
 
So this episode topic is again around cricket, and was recorded in early Feb 2022 when Justin Langer, Australian cricket coach resigned. Now, we don't want to sound like these episodes are going to be always concentrating on cricket it is just that Cricket Australia has given us some great leadership lessons to be learnt over the summer, so we will take advantage of that where we can to to take it and discuss the leadership topics that arise.

We have three key underlying topics we discussed in this episode: 

1. Change is never going to be bruise free – and its important for a leader to know they will be supported when people are upset by being held appropriately accountable. Boards and senior leadership can’t have it both ways  - we want change but you can’t upset anyone. If you can’t cope with broken eggs, don’t order omelettes.
   
   
2. Middle managers are often caught in a bind of not agreeing with decisions but having to ‘toe the party line.’  As long as they are willing, and given the opportunity, to express those perspectives, robustly and honestly, being closed doors, that is the reality of not being the ultimate decision maker. You don’t always get your own way – it is not hypocritical to implement or support something you don’t agree with, especially where you were able to contribute to the decision process
   
   
3. Lack of Courage in owning your decisions – don’t hide behind corporate speak or, worse, team members who weren’t responsible for the decisions. When you own the decision and the reason you made it, people might criticise you for your rationale but they can’t criticise your integrity, honesty and courage.

For those that are not cricket fans and wish to read articles that relate to this topic here are a couple:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-05/justin-langer-resigns-as-australian-mens-head-coach/100807496
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-09/cummins-breaks-his-silence-on-langer-s-resignation/100816138

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 Want to check out how Authentic your organisation is? Take our free online Authentimeter Assessment tool here

For our Peeing In The Pool Download - head to http://www.reallearning.com.au/peeing-in-the-pool

Full shownotes for all episodes can be found at https://www.reallearning.com.au/blogs/

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Organisational values are one of the most under-utilised leadership and culture shaping tools. They can be meaningless ‘corporate speak – a ‘tick the box’ exercise. Or they can be the key tool in defining the ideal workplace culture, building accountability, and coaching team members.

In this episode we are joined by Stuart Hamilton (CEO) and Shelley Williams (Ops Manager) of R & J Batteries and we chat about how the creation of their values "The R&J Way"  has helped shaped the organisational culture within R & J Batteries. You can view the "The R & J Way" Values video here.

• Values are critical in your ideal culture for two reasons
• First, they help define it – if you have values, and whether you are living those values or not, at some stage they represented an aspiration of the organisation – the way you wanted to conduct yourselves
• A great question to ask is whether they are still relevant? Do they represent the ideal culture you want to have now – or one that is outdated?
• The second role they have is in bridging the gap between your ideal culture and the one you want to have
• The gap exists because what the organisation actually does is aligned with the actual culture not the desired one
• A challenge is for organisations to communicate to its members exactly what the ideal culture looks like – the bigger the organisation, the harder that can be. An even bigger challenge is explaining what that might look like in the day to day choices and decisions that people make
• Values are a way of decoding the ideal culture and stating it in plain expectations about the way people interact in the workplace

Some tips for establishing or refining the values

• Values work best when they are set by all team members and not imposed top down
• Values are both a right and an obligation – everyone has a right to be treated in these ways but everyone has an obligation to treat others in that way
• Values must be lived – if they are going to adorn a pretty plaque, make the annual report look impressive, and then gather dust – forget it. They are a waste of time
• By lived, we mean they must show up in the everyday behaviours and systems of an organisation. For example, if one of your values is Inclusivity, but you have policies or processes that are unreasonable barriers to flexible work arrangements, the value is not authentic
• This doesn’t mean there will never be inconsistencies – it is about the way we respond to those inconsistencies – either, oh that’s just the way it is OR that isn’t consistent, so we need to address it

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Every organisation would like to improve their workplace culture – but defining what their ideal culture is can be challenging. In fact, most organisations are better at describing the current culture – and the one they want to move away from – than the one they want to create. Defining the ideal culture is the first step in creating it.

This episode we welcome our guest Kathryn Keenihan,  Executive Manager - People and Culture at Junction in Adelaide, to have a fantastic chat about the following:

•  Leaders can succeed in shaping workplace culture without defining what it is they want to create
• If the culture you have isn’t the one you want, what does the one you want to have look like? How would it feel to work there? What would the expectations be? 
• Business planning processes define the logistical aspects of the organisation – what you will achieve and the processes that will support that – processes like sales and marketing, financial, distribution, etc 
• The business plan rarely defines the cultural aspects. And it is the culture that determines how the results are achieved – and ultimately whether they are achieved and how sustainable they are 
• A good indicator of the culture you would like to have is your values – even if they are in drawer gathering dust, they still represent what your organisation aspired to be at one time 
• Strategies to quantify ideal culture include psychometric tools, discussions with staff and executives, observation, analysis of values, mission and purpose, etc – you can do some of these yourselves 
• Once you define the ideal culture, you need to assess the actual culture – what is it really like to work in your organisation?  How do people actually act? What is really expected of people? 
• Staff engagement and customer satisfaction surveys are useful, but they measure the outcomes of your culture – not the culture itself. They can be useful indicators in the absence of other tools or measures, but they don’t help with identifying the WHY
• Once you have an understanding of the culture you would like to have and the culture you actually have, you can start to assess the gap 
• There are many ways to assess the gap – and it’s causes – including psychometric tools and some other processes organisations can do themselves. More on these in future episodes 
• A danger for organisations as they assess their culture is trying to boil the ocean – we have worked with countless managers whose reaction to seeing a list of things they could do to improve their culture is to try to do them all. This is understandable but usually destructive. 
• Pick a maximum of three – usually the ones that will have the biggest impact, or that can be implemented most quickly and easily. A combination of high impact and quick wins is great – because it creates momentum and increases buy-in from others 
• Once you have your priorities, put a plan behind them – including how you will get traction with your teams and how you will manage resistance  

Thanks again to our guest in this episode Kathryn Keenihan (Executive Manager - People and Culture at Junction). You can connect with Kathryn via Linked In here.

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Visit our website The Real Learning Experience

Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

Will you be a better leader in 2022 than you were in 2021? Great leaders are constantly improving through a process of reflection and planning. In this episode, we share a simple framework – and unpack the reflection and planning process of four exceptional leaders we work with, as well as discussing our own plans to grow as leaders in 2022.

• At the end of a year, people often make New Year’s resolutions – and the majority fail to stick to those resolutions for any meaningful time
• That happens for a few reasons – they are made on a whim and often over a few too many drinks – but there are a couple of critical lessons for leaders who want to be an even better leader in 2022
• The first is that many resolutions are made without doing any real reflection. Before looking forward, it is useful to look back and identify the connection between actions and outcomes
• The second is that most resolutions are just statements of intent with no specific actions to support them
• In this episode, we will be using a simple framework for reflecting on 2021 and setting some targets for 2022. It is called STOP-START-CONTINUE
• We will hear submissions from four leaders we work with – and will unpack their reflection and planning with some specific tips
• We will also share our own STOP-START-CONTINUE 
• The aim is that we will inspire you to undertake a similar reflection and give you some tips to do it effectively
• An overview of the framework
  • STOP – what did you do in 2021 that wasn’t helpful in achieving the leadership outcomes you wanted  (and that you will stop doing in 2022)
  • START – what new habit or action could you commence in 2022 that will help you become an even better leader
  • CONTINUE – what worked well for you as a leader in 2021, and that you will continue in 2022
• As you identify actions, ask the question, ‘how will I do that?’ When that feels like a redundant question, you have probably been specific enough – you are looking for simple, repeatable actions

If you would like to submit to us your Stop, Start, Continue - you can do so here: https://www.reallearning.com.au/authenticity-podcast 

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Visit our website The Real Learning Experience

Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

In sporting teams, should leadership and captaincy be synonymous? Is it OK for the best player to be the captain even if they don’t demonstrate leadership qualities and behaviours?

This bonus episode looks at the recent appointment of Steven Smith as vice captain  of the Australian cricket team – despite his chequered past. Look out for a controversial take on why the question of ‘second chances’ isn’t relevant

Grandstand Cricket Podcast link for those interested, the episode referred to here is "The Battle For No. 5"
https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/the-grandstand-cricket-podcast/episodes/

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Visit our website The Real Learning Experience

Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

Workplace culture is something we all create – and something we all have to live with. When people do things that are bad for that culture, everyone arounds them suffer. So why do we tolerate actions that hurt the workplace culture? Perhaps the metaphor we use will make the cost of inaction clear! 

This episode we welcome our guest Pete Jensen, Director of Larsen Jensen and have a fantastic chat about the following:

• Workplace culture is not a spectator sport – it is not something that you watch, it is something you do. But a lot of people have a belief that someone else is responsible for the culture they work in
• Workplace culture is like a swimming pool – and not one we sit beside in our deck chair. We come to work and get in the pool. That is our working environment – sometimes called climate
• We all want to swim in a clean pool, fresh and clear water, but people do things in the water that isn’t good for it. That negatively impacts the quality
• Now we have gone this far, might as well go all the way – sometimes people pee in the pool. But they still have to swim in it
• Often the people with the biggest bladders are the ones who complain most about the water. Now they are swimming in lower quality water and not enjoying it. But who is responsible?
• Everyone in that pool has the opportunity to make good choices and good decisions and keep the water pristine
• why doesn’t everyone just do the things that keep it clean
• The choices that define the culture are micro choices – and those that have a negative impact are often just lazy, easy or habitual choices – not being accountable, getting involved in petty differences, being too tired to go the extra step to help a co-worker or customer, engaging in gossip, being passive aggressive, complaining about management, not giving feedback or showing appreciation to a team member, not having an honest and courageous conversation, putting own needs above the teams, etc
• Bottom line (no pun intended) – if you aren’t swimming in the water you want, how are you contributing to that? Once you have examined your own actions, it’s a great discussion to have with your team
• Senior leaders have a disproportionate impact on the culture. Whatever you put in the water, the drops are bigger. 
• Through modelling you set the benchmark and make it clear what is really expected
• You also have no right to ask others to make choices you don’t make for yourself. You don’t have to be perfect and you will make mistakes, but your credibility as a leader and a shaper of culture depends on you holding yourself to a high standard 

Thanks again to our guest in this episode Pete Jensen - Director of Larsen Jensen. You can connect with Pete via Linked In here. 

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For our Peeing In The Pool Download - head to http://www.reallearning.com.au/peeing-in-the-pool

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Visit our website The Real Learning Experience

Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

What does a great (an Authentic) workplace culture look like? In this episode we welcome our guest Rick Lenarcic, Chief Operating Officer of Grant Broadcasters to discuss the critical things that an organisation needs to focus on in order to achievable sustainable excellence. Spoiler: the bottom line is critical but, on it’s own, not enough. 

• Recap from previous show: Authenticity is about aligning the things we do, say, think and decide with the workplace culture we claim we want to have. Anything else is inauthentic 
• Change isn’t easy – and organisations often compromise on the culture they want to create instead of doing the hard yards
• If you do what you want to become consistently enough, change occurs
• When organisations get too singular in their definition of outcomes and success, people or results – usually both – suffer
• Organisations need to prioritise three sets of outcomes
  1. Outstanding employee experiences: team members have the opportunity to come to work, do their best and make a difference. They feel valued, included and motivated
  2. Exceptional customer or user experience: they have their actual and emotional needs satisfied, they are likely to do business with us again and recommend us to others
  3. Bottom line effectiveness: whatever it means in your organisation. For some organisations this is making a profit. For others it is achieving maximum efficiency within a defined budget. For a not for profit (not for loss either), it might be delivering the service they exist to provide while operating in a way that makes them sustainable into the future. For a sporting team it could be winning or achieving a specific ranking 
• When results are achieved at all costs, people suffer – internally and externally
• When people are prioritised over results, we see mediocrity and lack of accountability
• The only sustainable approach is to make all three outcomes a priority
• The reality is you don’t often have to compromise between results and people. You can prioritise both by achieving results with and through people. Team members who have a great work experience produce better results and work harder for customers. Customers who have great experiences buy more and more often 

Thanks again to our guest in this episode Rick Lenarcic - Chief Operating Officer of Grant Broadcasters. You can connect with Rick via Linked In here. 

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Visit our website The Real Learning Experience

Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

Every effective leader is striving to create the best workplace culture they can – because that is the key to exceptional and sustainable results. Authenticity is all about defining you’re your ideal workplace culture looks like and then aligning the things that an organisation, and its people, do, say, think and decide with that ideal.

We very rarely have the opportunity to create a workplace culture from the ground up. We usually inherit a culture and then go about a process of shaping it to make it fit with the ideal culture we want for the organisation

What is workplace culture?

• Theoretical models talk about culture as being shared beliefs, norms and expectations that govern the way people act – the way they go about their work, the way they conduct themselves, the way they interact with each other
• At a practical level, we consider culture to be the sum of every decision made in your organisation by everyone, every day
• These are not the big leadership and board decisions – these are the micro decisions that each person makes dozens of times each day
• Those micro choices are shaped by the norms and expectations – so the theoretical and practical models are connected
• If we want to shape culture, we have to help people make different choices or decisions – and we do that by working on the shared norms and expectations 

How does culture work?

• Authenticity is about aligning the ‘things you do’ with the culture you want to have 
• In reality, they are aligned with the culture you actually have – which is how that culture was created
• One mistake organisations make is to look at the outcomes (through customer satisfaction or staff engagement surveys) and work on those – when really they are the result not the cause

What can you do about workplace culture?

• Start working on realigning the things people do, say, think and decide to make the consistent with the workplace culture you are striving to create
• That should occur at four levels
• Authentic Organisations have systems, processes and rules that are consistent with the workplace culture you are trying to create’
• Authentic Leaders have the ability to grow people and use effective leadership styles and strategies that promote accountability and value people
• Authentic Teams are robust and engage in honest conversations. They deal with issues, collaborate and commit to common goals
• Authentic Contributors are engaged, motivated, self-reflect and hold themselves to high standards on their tasks and in their interactions </p>

Thanks to our guest on this episode Kirralea Walkerden - Director of Operations at The Real Learning Experience, and in future episodes co-host of this show. You can connect with Kirralea via Linked In here

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******************************************************
Visit our website The Real Learning Experience

Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org

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Visit our website The Real Learning Experience

Thanks to our producer, Josh at JCALdigital.org