Ep. 004 Creating a Positive Work Culture

Welcome back to Bread to Lead, the podcast where we dive deep into the principles and practices of people first leadership. I'm your host, Dr.
Jake Taylor Jacobs, and I'm thrilled to have you join me for another exploration of how we can bring out the best in our teams and organizations. And if you have not went and received or got a copy of our People First Results Second Book, it is available on Amazon.
For those of you that are listening to this podcast right now, prior to June 21st, 2024, guess what? If you listen to this podcast before we do a full out launch on all of our platforms, on our email list, you can go ahead and get a copy right now on Amazon. It is available.
And for those of you that are listening post June 21st, 2024, it's available everywhere.

OK, so I really want you to get that book. It's that book is really going to give you actionable steps.
If you think that, you know, this podcast is valuable and it's amazing. Just imagine what the book is going to be about, because this podcast is based on the book People First Results Second, Especially talking about people first leadership and pushing the initiative of developing leadership and growth amongst industries, amongst departments all over the country and all over the world.
And for those of you that have been reaching out, I do appreciate it. I love all the reach out nuggets that you guys are sharing with us as a leader of the show.
And come find me on LinkedIn, Dr. Jake Taylor Jacobs on LinkedIn.
I would love for you to be my friend. I would love for you to reach out and let me know that you're a leader of the show and give me some things that you want me to break down, maybe talk about, maybe things that you're dealing with, with trying to get the most out of your team, or maybe you're dealing with the difficult, or you're trying to break through to the leader that you're subordinate to, that you're just trying to build a better relationship.
I would love to be able to do real life breakdowns after every show to give you more value and to give you more things to kind of, to look at. We're going to add a lot of cool stuff into the show as we continue to move forward.
But I just want to be this constant voice in your ear, letting you know that you can be the leader that God called you to be. And even though if you don't feel like you have all the skillsets and the tools right now, let me tell you something.
There is a greater calling for you. You just have to believe it and do the work.
It doesn't matter where you are. It doesn't matter if you're not running a company or if you're not over a department.
If you're a leader where you are, in your house, with your children, with your family, with your spouse, everything will begin to spew over in ways that you can't imagine. And eventually it will start to echo in other areas of your life.
And I want you to remember something. The highest paid position in the world is not CEO.
It's not COO. It's not all these other OOs and EEs and C-suites.
It's leader. The highest paid position in the world is a leader.
Remember, scripture says that the greatest among us will be a servant of all. So the goal is to figure out how you can serve, how you can add value to people's lives, because true leadership is not leading from the back.
It's not leading from the front. It is guiding from the back, but being willing to take the hits in the front if needed.
These are the things that we want to do. You're back there getting better and developing your skills and never, ever, ever allowing anyone to make you feel like you are less than, like you can't be all that you can be because you are something special.
There is a reason why you're here. And I want you to think about and take a look at your world right now and ask yourself, am I the best leader that I can be in this world that I'm in? Whatever that meta world that you're in right now, whatever that space that you're in, ask yourself, am I being the best leader that I can be? Am I skating by? If you're in sales and commissions, do you have commission, bro? Are you just teaching and training people, but not leading them to become better human beings? Because at the end of the day, the best organizations are not the people that are most technically sound.

The best organizations are not the people that just looks like they're having the most fun or the most relaxed.

The best organization is an organization that is cultivating the holistic version of you, the leader inside of you, that's pushing you to be the greatest human being that you can become. And let me tell you something about human beings that are really great and that are leaders.
Human beings that are really great and that are leaders, can I tell you something? They never want to let another person down. And imagine an entire organization or a department that thinks like a leader, that wants to be the best at what they do because they don't want to let another human down.
They don't want to let their partner down. And this is why bred to lead is important because I believe that anyone can be bred to lead.
You just have to have the right voice in your ear and get the right trainings and tools, a set of tools that you need to become the greatest human being that you can become. Okay.
I'm off my soap opera, my soapbox. In our last episode, we talked about the foundational importance of building trust and cultivating strong relationships as a leader.
We explored how vulnerability and radical candor and consistency in words and actions can create psychological safety needed for people to thrive. Today, we're building on that foundation and zooming out to look at the bigger picture, creating a positive work culture.
Culture is one of those words that can get thrown around a lot in the business world. But what does it really mean? In simple terms, culture is the sum total of how people behave and interact within organizations.
It's the unwritten rules, the shared values, the way things get done. It's what people do when no one is looking.
And make no mistake, culture is always being created. Whether we are intentional about it, every action and every interaction, every decision, every priority communicated shapes the culture in ways big and small.
As leaders, we have a outsized impact on culture through what we reward, what we tolerate and how we show up every day. So what does a positive work culture look like? In my experience, partnering with and learning from hundreds of organizations over the years, I found that positive cultures all share some common traits.
One, you know I like my numbers. Take your notes down, take your notes, get your pen and your pad.
One, they prioritize people and relationships. They prioritize people and relationships in a positive culture.
People feel seen, valued, and connected. There's a sense of warmth, belonging and genuine care care.
People know they matter as human beings, not just a means to an end or this result machine that's just going to produce and produce and produce and produce without actually connecting. See, that's the piece that completely changes the way an organization can thrive

And I'm telling you this

I'm telling you this

If you're a leader going into a new department

Going to a new company

Going to a new organization

Don't changes the way an organization can thrive. And I'm telling you this, I'm telling you this, if you're a leader going into a new department, going to a new company, going to a new organization, don't try to get in there and change systems and structures and technology and automation and policies too soon.
The very first thing that you need to be doing as a leader going into an organization is prioritizing the people that are within the relationships, are prioritizing the people that are in the spaces, trying to build real relationships with the people that have been there. There are so many leaders that go into new organizations.
Can I tell you something? And the first thing that they do is crap on everyone that's been there. Imagine someone coming into your organization and you feel like based on all the information that you have, based on all the success that you've had thus far, you felt like you've done great.
And then some big shot comes into the organization and it just makes you feel like crap. Everything that y'all done just doesn't work.
Everybody sucks. Everyone's bad.
It doesn't make you actually want to care for the new leader there. And it also doesn't make you want to actually want to bring value in and to partner and collaborate with the new leader.
Why? Because since you have all the answers, Sway, go ahead and do it yourself. When you're going into a new organization, the very first thing you need to do is connect with the people.
So if you're going into an organization with a company and they're telling you you need to drive results fast, you need to let them know, hey, listen, my first 90 days is going to be connecting with the people. I want to hear their concerns.
I want to hear what's going on. I want to hear how we're seeing things and let me work on small things at a time.
Matter of fact, one of the things that we did here at Sips when I first came on board, we siloed the first thing I will focus on, which was in the sales department, cleaning up our sales department and truly systematizing that. And in building the sales department, the first thing I did was I stripped all the extra responsibilities of everyone and I had them master one thing.
Why? Jake, they got it. Yes, there's a lot of stuff they could be doing, but I want them to learn that mastering the one thing, showing up every day, and then we implement it daily meetings, not weekly meetings, not every two weeks, daily meetings.
Those touch points and connecting with people and then getting on the calls and asking them how grateful, you know, what are you grateful for? And then in the call with something inspirational, something training, everything doesn't have to be training on technical skills. You can have training on things just of how to be a better spouse, better human, better, better human, a better human being, a better spiritual guy, whatever, whatever it is, you want to cultivate the things that matter to them most.
Because guess what? When they leave your organization, they leave that office. The world is what they go and see.
And you want to know that as a leader that you're impacting the world that they are in on a daily basis. Number two, they foster psychological safety.
Y'all know we're talking about this. You're going to hear me echoing the same thing over and over and over again.
In a positive culture, people feel safe to speak up, take risks, and be vulnerable. There's a foundation of trust and an understanding that failure is a necessary part of growth.
People bring their full selves to work. When I know that I can be in an environment where change, mistakes.
We're oopsies.

Well, I'm allowed to experiment and explore and be a scientist in my craft, because can I tell you something? True professionals and true people that love what they do, they think of themselves like artists and they sensitive about this. That's Erykah Badu.
You don't know about that. They're artists.
They're scientists. They want to explore.
They want to find new things. But if I feel like my job will be at risk, if I step over the line to see and take risk of innovation, I'm never going to want to be innovative.
I'm never going to want to be creative. I'm just going to do what's been normally done.
And can I tell you, change never happens that way. Number three, they orient around purpose and impact.
In a positive culture, people have a shared sense of meaning and direction. They understand how their work connects to something bigger and feels pride in their collective impact.
They're motivated more than just by a paycheck. Can I tell you something? What would motivate someone to go all over the world, create bombs, run through bullets for a purple heart ribbon? What would make somebody want to join a church and give all of their free time, all of their free resources, all of their skill sets, all of their impact to a church without getting paid? The Red Cross.
What would make people want to join the Red Cross and never get paid but be a part of the organization 50, 60, 70 years? What you're going to realize is that the bigger the purpose and the impact, the more that people actually show up, the more that people want to be there, the more that they want to actually add value to the mission moving forward. Scripture says, without vision, the people shall perish.
The scripture says, without vision, the people shall perish. And the biggest thing that you want, you got to understand is that vision, the etymology of vision, I know it's going to sound like rudimentary, is to see.
If people don't know what they're looking for, what you're seeing, where they're going. If people don't know who they're becoming, if people don't know where this where's the direction of you as a leader or the department, what will make them want to actually show up when they're not getting paid as much as they want? What you got to understand is that when you connect to human beings, paychecks matter.
Yeah, but they're not the number one thing on their mind. They'll find other things to be able to make extra money, but they will want to dedicate their real talent to what you have going on there.
Number four, they empower autonomy and ownership and a positive culture. People have the freedom and resources to do their best work.
micromanagement is minimal and people are trusted to make decisions and drive results in their own way. Accountability is high, but so is support.
What good is it to hold people accountable to something if you also don't want to dedicate support to them? Think about that. So if you do chastise me and I don't do my job the right way, how do I know you're going to give me the support I need so I can do it better? Or are you just going to chastise me, beat me up about what I did not do, and then offer no other support or no other references or no other supplemental things that you can put me in that can actually make me better? That's what you got to think about when we're talking about these things.
Number five, they celebrate and appreciate. Celebrate good time.
Come on. Let's celebrate now.
In a positive culture, wins are recognized. Milestones are commemorated and people feel valued for their contribution, big and small.
Gratitude is given freely and often. Joy and laughter are common sounds.
Matter of fact, if you're in your organization and nobody's smiling and laughing and nudging each other and ragging on each other, you don't have no culture. You don't have a winning organization.
You don't have a place where people feel free, but you hear laughter and joy and people just love to come to work. They're looking forward to being in that space because it's just so amazing, invigorating.
These are the things. Let me tell you something.
You know, this is what I want you to do right now. If you're a leader and you have the power to do it, I want you to go get a bell or horn.
And any time somebody does something that's positive, moving toward the vision, let them go ring that bell. You would be surprised how many people start off like, I am not ringing the bell.
I am not. That's childish.
And then when they see a bunch of people ringing that bell and having a good time, can I tell you something? Joy is contagious. Laughter is contagious.
Matter of fact, have you ever just seen somebody laughing so hard? Have you ever seen someone laughing so hard that you start laughing with them, that you start laughing with them? Have you ever seen someone laugh so hard that you started laughing with them? Like you just trying to catch the laugh and they laughing. Now you got tears in your eyes and you don't even know what they laughing for.
Joy is that contagious, but you know what's faster, that's more contagious and faster. Anger, envy, hate, frustration.
All of these things are the reasons why you have to prioritize joy and happiness and fulfillment within your organization. Number six, they prioritize learning and growth.
In a positive culture, people are encouraged to stretch, take on new challenges, and develop their skills. Feedback is given generously, and failures are mining for lessons.
There is an understanding that everyone always has room to learn and improve. Number seven, they embrace diversity and inclusion.
In a positive culture, differences are welcomed and celebrated as a source of strength. People feel they can bring their authentic selves to work and their perspective matters.
Equity is commitment,

not just a buzzword. Matter of fact, I did a post on LinkedIn.
I'm going off my little script right now because I really want y'all to listen to this post I did on LinkedIn and I'm pulling it up right now. And then this post on LinkedIn that I wish that you guys would follow me on, I need more friends on LinkedIn.
In this post, it says, I say, inauthentic professionalism is not true professionalism. It's fake.
Real relationships cannot be built with the mindset that has been adopted in corporate America. Many leaders and professionals often feel like they have to adopt a fake personality or a different version of themselves that's not authentic.

The moment I stop code switching, which means I'm going in and out, I'm going in and out of talking proper, talking less, talking black, talking white. hey my boy talking game when i got rid of all of that it began to just be who i thought and i and i was being who i thought was acceptable depending on the environment

i began to connect with people more quickly. See, there is a difference between fake professionalism and polishing your rough edges.
When I'm in the boardroom at healthcare facilities, talking to my students or my small business client, I am 100% Dr. Freaking Jake Taylor Jacobs.
My country slang, my charismatic self, sometimes good grammar. Sometimes I'm polished.
You will know I have that doctor. And other times you'll be like, how did he get that? I got sense of cursing.
I curse sometimes. I'm Bible thumping.
I'm humorous. I'm goofy, but I am me.
And can I tell you something? It works partly because I do what I say I'm going to do and we bring real results. The other part is that most people actually want permission to be themselves, too.
So when you're a leader and people look up to you and you are your authentic self, it allows for other people to authentically be themselves, too.

This is what true leadership is. Now, I'm not saying to be unprofessional.

I'm not saying not to be polished. What I am saying is to die of yourself will be dying of the thing that separates you,

that can make clear change in your organization. Number seven, these organizations that have great culture, they embrace diversity.

They embrace it.

And I said that already, but I'm going to say it again.

In a positive culture, differences are welcomed.

They're celebrated as a source of strength.

Why are you reading seven again, Jake?

Because this brings everything home.

People feel their authentic selves when you are your authentic self.

If everyone looks like you, talks like you, acts like you, come from where you come from, have the same background, played in the same sport, what type of diversity is that? There's no spread. There's no range.
You need creativity. You need shrewd people that are like the Scrooge.
You need people that, why? Because this is the melting pot. These are all the things and attributes that make us different.
Imagine if we went into a world and all the fruit were the same. All the vegetables were the same.
All the trees were the same. All the animals were the same.
We would hate to be in a world like that. We would hate to be involved and not look at the diversity and the beauty in all things and shapes and sizes.
When you walk into an organization with this kind of thriving positive culture, you can feel the difference immediately. There's an energy, a buzz, a sense of shared purpose and joy.
People smile at each other in the hallways. Laughter rings out in the cafeteria.
Winds are celebrated with gusto and failures are met with what did we learn instead of finger pointing and anger. This kind of culture doesn't happen by accident.
It takes intentionality. It takes consistent effort from leaders at all levels.
So how do we actually go from creating and sustaining a positive work culture? Here are a few key practices I've seen make meaningful differences. Y'all know

I like my numbers. Write it down.
Number one, here are a few key practices. Number one, define and

live your core values. Core values are the heart of any strong culture.
They're the guiding

principles that dictate how you show up as an organization, how you treat each other, how you

serve your customers, how you make tough decisions. When clearly defined and continuously reinforced, core values create a common language and North Star for behavior.
The key word here is live. It's not enough to just have the nice sounding set of values plastered on the walls like we typically see.
We are an organization

of integrity and fun. But when I'm going in the organization, it's opposite of what's plastered

on the wall. Leaders need to be living, breathing embodiments of these values every single day.

When I think about my faith and I look at that Bible, the question that I ask myself is when

somebody looks at me, do they see the Bible? If they never read the Bible and they just read my

Thank you. my faith and I look at that Bible, the question that I ask myself is when somebody looks at me, do they see the Bible? If they never read the Bible and they just read my actions, do they see the God I serve? That's what the living word is.
Are you the living word? Are you the living example of what your organization wants to exude? And can I tell you something? You being a leader, a culture changer, an environment shifter, your environment, your feelings, your culture, you are the thermostat. You are not the thermometer.
You create the temperature. You create the environment.
You don't let any person stop you from letting that light shine so bright through you that it can't help but make the person that wants to hate you love you like okay i guess i'd want to laugh they need they need to hire for them you need to promote for them make decisions by your values and most importantly call out and correct when they're violated see see you meet you meet when you have the core values that you're creating in a culture, you sniff that out hard. Not when they make mistakes, when they break the core value that keeps the culture strong.
That's when you operate like a swift army knife. Everything else, you just allow it to grow.
The minute a leader allows a core value to be compromised, it sends a signal that they're just empty words. For an example, let's say one of your core values is embrace feedback.
And as a leader, that means that you need to be proactively soliciting input from your team, even and especially when it's challenging to hear. It means highlighting and rewarding people who give constructive feedback up the chain.
And it means swiftly addressing situations where people are punished or retaliated against for speaking up. You got to address that.
You got to nip that in the bud. When you're clear on your core values and you live them consistently, it creates a massive ripple effect on culture.
People understand what was expected and feel proud to be a part of a place that stands for something meaningful. And they often go out of their way to uphold and enforce the values themselves, creating a positive cycle of culture building.
Let me tell you something. It takes 90 days to set the temperature of a new culture.
It takes a year for people to feel comfortable in the new culture. It takes 16 to 18 months for people to be efficient in that culture.
And it takes 24 months for people to fully adopt that culture. So don't think there's something overnight.
It's a 90, 12, 16, 18, 24 month run. But these But this is what it takes to turn that tide around and connect with humans.

Number two, make space for authentic human connection.

Positive cultures are built on a foundation of strong, trusting relationships.

But in our always on hyper busy world, it's easy for work to become purely transactional. Listen to what I said.
Make space for authentic human connection because in our hyper busy world, it's easy for work to become purely transactional. We jump from meeting to meeting, firing off emails and slacks and barely pausing to take a breath and connect on a human level.
We literally operate like AI. Leaders need to be intentional about carving out time and space for people to truly see and know each other beyond their job titles.
This can look like building and buffer time at the start of a meeting for personal check-ins like we do, organizing social events and team building activities, encouraging and modeling healthy work-life balance and boundaries, celebrating milestones like birthdays and work anniversaries, making people take vacation. Sometimes you have to force your top people to take a vacation.
Please, for me, take a vacation. If we burn down when you go, I guess you're going to come back and we'll have to build it up together.
The key is to make relationship building a priority, not an afterthought. One practice I love is hosting regular, like what we call huddles, like timeouts with team members.
Informal 30-minute conversations with no agenda other than to get to know each other better. We might chat about weekend plans, swap book recommendations, or dig into big picture life goals.
Sometimes important work topics surface organically, but the primary focus is human connection. That's it.
These interactions may seem small and nuanced, but they add up to create a culture of warmth, belonging, and genuine care. And that becomes a huge competitive edge in a world where so many people are craving deeper meaning and connection in their work lives.
Number three, y'all, communicate, communicate, communicate. Positive cultures thrive in open, frequent communication.
People feel engaged and invested when they understand the big picture and how their work fits in. They feel valued when they're kept in the loop and invited to weigh in on decisions that affect them.
Conversely, cultures turn toxic quickly when communication is sparse, inconsistent, or reserved only for the privileged few or when problems arise. Leaders need to err on the side of over-communicating, especially during times of change and uncertainty.
This means regularly sharing updates on company goals and priorities and performances, being transparent about challenges and setbacks, reiterating the why behind key decisions, and creating plenty of opportunities for two-way dialogue and feedback. Communication is one area where the medium can be as impactful as the message.
Relying solely on email or formal presentations can feel cold and detached. Leaders need to mix it up with informal face-to-face touch points like town halls, picking up the phone and actually calling somebody,

the more we can put a human face and a voice to our communications,

the more they'll resonate

and create the sense of warmth and connection.

And can I tell y'all something?

Meeting day-to-day and talking about problems

isn't about being one up on somebody.

You know what it's about?

It's about saying, hey, listen,

we're going to argue about three to four

to maybe five points, three to four to five points a day so let's do the math three let's say four points a day times 300 days in a work year we're going to argue 1200 times about what's right and what's wrong think about that so do i want to spend time out of200 times a year arguing about what's right or what's wrong? Or am I going to say, sometimes I'm going to be right, sometimes I'm going to be wrong, but who gives a damn? Who cares? The only thing I care about is, can we get it right? As a leader, I also challenge myself to regularly ask, what aren't I sharing that I could be? It's easy to just get focused on a day-to-day execution that we forget to zoom out and communicate the bigger picture. But taking that bird's eye view and inviting others into it is so critical for engagement and alignment.
Number four, we want to magnify, magnify and multiply, multiply what's working.

So often in leadership and management, our default is to focus on just problems and gaps. We put our energy into fixing things that will forever be wrong.
Have you not noticed there's always something to fix versus focusing on what is working? And if the gap from what is working over over extends or by a landslide,

overcomes a little small, little nuanced thing that's not working. If we just pay attention to

the positive culture, what's working? Maybe just maybe if you think about it, you can actually

grow your organization and then and then grow it so much that you can hire people that can actually

deal with the holes that you can't fix right now. Positive cultures take different approaches.
They intentionally look for and magnify what's going wrong. They put the spotlight on people who are living their values, making a difference for customers or going the extra mile to support their colleagues.
They celebrate wins. They cheer each other on.

When it's somebody else's turn for promotion, you clap them up. You celebrate them because wouldn't you want somebody to celebrate you? One powerful way to do this is through peer to peer recognition programs.
Empower your teams to call out and celebrate each other's great work and culture moments in real time. maybe it's through your slack or team channel where people can give each other public kudos

or a trophy that gets passed around to a different culture champion each week. Go and get you a little wrestler's belt and the person on your team that killed it that week, give them the wrestler's belt.
I know it sounds corny and chowders, but all of us got that kid in us. Think about when you with your girlfriends or with your girlfriends.
Think about when you with your partners or with your homies. Y'all some kids,

and we all are big kids with mustaches and makeup. Let's be clear.
We all child. Y'all,

I am two every day. Y'all hear Dr.
Jake only hear all professionals and talk. Y'all, I am two years

old, and I beg everyone that worked to me to come down to their age, four, five, six, seven, and eight. I can't hang out with 12-year-olds because two-year-olds and 12-year-olds can't hang out.
We want to bring out that childlike, not childish. Childish has no off button.
They have no professionalism. They have no exit point.
They have no killing. but child like are people who actually can change things in a major way.
As a leader, you can do regular call outs, culture call outs, call outs, of course, at team meetings, sharing specific examples of how people are living the values or making the culture stronger. Or host lunch and Learns, where high performers teach their

secrets and successes to others. The key is to make amplifying positive culture a regular, expected part of how you operate.
Of course, this doesn't mean ignoring problems or being crazy about real issues or not addressing real issues that need to be addressed, but it is about intentionally shifting the balance so that people feel seen and appreciated for what they're doing well, not just constantly reminded of where they're falling short. Five, now this is the last one, y'all, so pay attention.
Embrace and embody servant leadership. At the heart of every thriving positive culture, you'll find leaders who see their primary role as serving and empowering their teams.
They don't just talk about people being their most important asset. They show it through their everyday actions and interactions.
Servant leaders put their people's needs ahead of their own. They remove obstacles and provide resources

to help their team succeed.

They invest heavily in growth and development

and look for every opportunity

to give people stretch opportunities and visibility.

They build people up, they nurture their potential,

even if it means they outgrow their current role or team

or the leader loses them.

Servant leadership, true people first leadership,

Thank you. If it means they outgrow their current role or team or the leader loses them.

Servant leadership, true people first leadership is about more than what you do. It's about how you show up as a human being.
It's about embodying empathy, compassion, humility and generosity in all of your dealings, big and small. It's about leading with both heart and backbone, caring deeply for your people while also challenging them directly to be their best.
When you have servant leaders at every level of the organization, it creates an incredibly magnetic and energizing culture. People feel supported to excel, not just in their work, but in their lives.
They feel inspired to pay that service forward to their colleagues and customers. And a positive, uplifting flywheel gets put into motion that builds on itself over time.
Of course, servant leadership is easier said than done, especially in the organizations that have historically been very hierarchical or command and control. Do as I say, it requires a significant mindset shift in a willingness to let go of ego and empower others to lead.
But in today's increasing complex and interconnected world, it's becoming a necessity, not just a nice nice to have. The organizations that will thrive in the future are those that harness the full energy and the talent of their people by creating an environment where everyone has the context and freedom to lead from where they are.
So as a leader looking to build a positive culture, I encourage you to get curious about how you can make fully, you can make more

fully embrace, you can make and fully embrace a model of servant leadership in your context.

What would it look like to truly put your people first and how you show up each day? How can you

empower and inspire them to be leaders in their own right? How will you know you're making progress?

We'll be right back. How you show up each day.
How can you empower and inspire them to be leaders in their own right? How will you know you're making progress? Remember, culture building is not a one time event or initiative. It's a daily practice and a way of being.
It requires consistency, self-awareness and deep commitment to growth, both your own and your teams. There will be missteps, failures along the way.
The key is to own them, learn from them and keep putting one foot in front of the other. The payoff of investing in a positive culture is immense for your people, your customers, your organizations and society as a whole.
When people feel fulfilled and energized by their work, they bring their best selves, not just to the office, but to every area of their lives. They have more to give to their families and communities, and they become a force for positive change in the world.
So keep showing up as a beacon of the culture you wish to create. Keep shining a light on what's working and nudging your organization to be a little bit better each day.
Keep empowering your people to lead and make a more meaningful difference because at the end of the day, a positive culture is one of the greatest legacies we can leave. Thank you so much for being a part of this journey with me, exploring how we can create thriving workplaces where everyone has the opportunity to grow and do their best work.
I hope this conversation has sparked some new ideas and inspirations for you for how you'll lead your culture moving forward. I love to hear your stories on positive culture building in action.
What's working in your organization? What challenges are you facing and how are you navigating them? Let's keep the conversation going on social media. Find me on LinkedIn or through the comment section or anywhere.
If you haven't already, go and get the book, People First Resort Second on Amazon. Go and get that book.
Get the book for you and your colleague and your team. Y'all go through the book together.
Listen to this podcast. Embrace, start the conversation about how we can actually change.
And I promise you, your life won't be the same. Until next time, keep leading with your heart and putting people first.
Remember, your leadership matters more than you know. Let's go create a little more positive change in the world today.

And don't forget, I love you.

There's absolutely nothing you can do about it.

Peace.