Why Culture Matters - Even to Your Customers
What do you picture when someone mentions company culture or values?
If your image includes a mandatory, company-wide softball game or forced kumbaya circle you’re not alone. That would make me want to avoid culture like Covid-19!
And that’s the problem! We can’t fix our workplaces because we don’t understand what culture is and why it matters.
Culture matters because it affects EVERYONE in the organization, including your customers!
Check out this week’s episode to learn more about
How your culture ends up in your product or service
How to find balance between work and home
And why you should say “I don’t know” as a leader
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Eye Opening Insights:
[00:05:13] “So the thing that I have always strived to do, is to recognize that I can be a leader and learn at the same time. Mm-hmm. , uh, it's not always about, you know, being an expert in something. It's about showing up, asking, uh, as many questions as you can, um, to get a more complete understanding. And then, Clearing a path for your team to sort of succeed because they are great at doing what they do.”
[00:07:47] “It can often take, um, being an outsider and going into an organization, um, with fresh eyes and without, you know, you can, you try not to, arrive with pre-constructed assumptions. You kind of see things for how they are, how they're operating, and then don't be afraid to talk about those things. I mean, I have found, um, In the past six, seven years of being in this world is that when we come in kind of as outside consultants, you can, it can be difficult sometimes to get everybody in the same room together to also put aside their egos.”
I loved getting to spend some time with Charlie Ledbetter discussing leadership and company! I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments: What do you think makes a great company culture? What makes a terrible culture?
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ABOUT CHARLIE:
Hello, I'm Charlie. 👋🏻
I am an interdisciplinary creative leader with over eighteen years of experience mining the connections between art, design, fabrication, science, and industry across the cultural landscape. Over the years I've worked for several world-renowned contemporary artists, produced over thirty projects with an award-winning design consultancy, studied and taught materials science, worked as a veterinary assistant, and a lot more.
What does that really mean? It means my interests, background, and knowledge are pretty broad, and I have a skillset that can translate well across a lot of sectors. Leadership, project & product management, strategy, art & design direction...generally I love roles where I can lead, motivate, and interact with clients and teams while tackling big challenges together.
One area where I have found good traction is in the translation between designers, engineering teams, and clients. It's a mix of comfort with building trust with people, understanding complex projects, and adapting communications to meet the language and approach of disciplines where crossover can be difficult.
And when I'm not working on any of those big challenges, I can usually be found painting in my studio, helping to raise my family, or digging for new recipes to make for dinner.