Unlocking Transformation: Shellye Archambeau on the Crucial Role of Workplace Culture in Driving Change

This first episode, is one I recorded a few years ago with Shellye Archambeau, author of Unapologetically Ambitious. Shellye is an experienced CEO and Board Director with a track record of accomplishments building brands, high performance teams, and organizations. Ms. Archambeau currently serves on the boards of Verizon [NYSE:VZ], Roper Technologies [NYSE: ROP], and Okta [NASDAQ: OKTA]. She is also a strategic advisor to Forbes Ignite and to the President of Arizona State University, and serves on the boards of two national nonprofits, Catalyst and Braven.We spoke a lot about culture in this episode. Whenever we want to change or transform our workplace, whether it is a merger, a new operating model, a digital transformation, or something else, culture must be addressed. Here are just a few of the things Shellye covered:People need to be respected as humans first and foremost, to feel engaged at workSome of the biggest positive impacts at work are minimising siloes, being transparent about business challenges and enabling fairness.Creating healthy cultures can prevent companies from paying over 50% more in healthcare for employeesAs a Board member or leader, it is important to pay attention to the early signs that there is something not right in the culture, it is an active role to play and leaders must be intentional. Regularly view engagement scores, how many people respond and is there a general enthusiasm at work?Boards need to look deeper and understand if management is forthcoming, if not then what is going on at a deeper level?Some of the biggest levers to impact on behaviours to enable positive cultures include: communication, communication, communication. Leadership talks every week, to make sense of the expectations and translate what this looks like in terms of behaviours, not just vague statements.Leaders and managers need their development to be invested in a lot more. During the financial crisis, her leadership team created an optimistic commitment to their teams that "never say die", which meant that no matter what happened, they were committed to the business and figuring out a way forward. When developing a vision, don't do this alone, co-design and involve people all the way, to enable people to contribute the details and data and to be on board when it is ready to be rolled out. Everyone has a role in culture.This podcast is focused on supporting leaders to achieve your transformational efforts, how are you enabling your culture to support your transformation?