Culture Leaders

We believe that compassion is mandatory in the building of a Culture First organization. If like us, you’re passionate about people, there’s a good chance you also have high levels of compassion. However, compassion does come with a risk of secondary trauma exposure, or “compassion fatigue”. In this episode, Damon meets with Taryn Hughes, CEO of Forest Hughes & Associates, somatic trauma recov...

Intuitively, you might get the sense that empathy and compassion play a key part in the making of a Culture First organization. Yet their definitions, inherent differences, and potential downfalls remain somewhat of a blur, especially in the context of the workplace. The next two episodes of the Culture First podcast are dedicated to bringing clarity and applicable knowledge around these skills. P...

The death and rebirth of soft skills, with Claude Silver They’ve been called fluffy, vital, old school, new age… While few people in the world of work disagree about their benefits, many still argue over what to call them, and how to define them. In this episode, Damon meets with Claude Silver, Chief Heart Officer at VaynerMedia and executive coach, to discuss whether soft skills need rebranding,...

Simon Sinek identifies two different kinds of games: finite and infinite. Finite games, such as football or chess, have known players, fixed rules, and an agreed-upon objective that often ends the game with a winner and a loser. Infinite games, on the other hand, can be played by known and unknown players, have no exact rules and an infinite length of play.  An unshakable optimist, Simon beli...

How do we foster love and magic within our organizations? This is the question on which architect Pamela Oshoke Abalu and serial entrepreneur Chinedu Echuero founded the Love & Magic Company. Their job is to help change-makers develop enthused and powerful business solutions. In this episode of the Culture First Podcast, Damon explores with them what it means for work to be “love made visible”...

Scaling Culture, with Ambrosia Vertesi Numerous organizations face a common dilemma: how to maintain their foundational culture and values while experiencing tremendous growth. In this episode, Damon Klotz sits down with Ambrosia Vertesi, co-founder of HR Open Source and former Vice President of People at Duo Security, to discuss the why and the how of scaling culture. Ambrosia shares many of the...

In this episode, Culture Amp’s Work Culture Evangelist Damon Klotz sits down with psychotherapist and best selling author Esther Perel to explore what makes up the fabric of work culture: relationships. Esther shares ways to develop relational intelligence in the workplace, explains where trust originates and how to cultivate it, and gives us insight into how cultures of innovation can be fostered...

Culture First: Stories for a better world of work is a podcast about work culture by Culture Amp, the People & Culture platform. Join host Damon Klotz as he dives into heart-to-heart conversations with well-known and underground culture experts, and hear stories of trials and triumphs by people who are leading the culture first revolution . Guests will include Esther Perel, DeRay McKesson, Chi...