Mastering Workplace Culture

In this episode of Mastering Workplace Culture Hosts S. Chris Edmonds and Mark S. Babbitt welcome Tim Daly , an HR leader whose mission is simple: "I build people." Throughout the conversation, Tim shares practical lessons from helping organizations improve retention, develop stronger managers, and create cultures where employees can do their best work. Rather than acting as a workplace referee, T...

Hosts S. Chris Edmonds and Mark S. Babbitt welcome Nathaniel Arana , Founder & CEO of NGA Healthcare . With an employee turnover rate of less than 1%, Nathaniel has built a culture rooted in respect, honesty, accountability, flexibility, and trust. In this conversation, he shares how NGA Healthcare grew from a startup to a nationwide organization while maintaining strong employee engagement, high...

In this episode of Mastering Workplace Culture , hosts S. Chris Edmonds and Mark S. Babbitt welcome Helena Plater-Zyberk , Founder & CEO of Supportiv , an AI and natural language processing-powered platform that helps people find real human support during life's most difficult moments. While many organizations race to replace human interaction with AI, Helena has built a company around a different...

In this episode of Mastering Workplace Culture , hosts S. Chris Edmonds and Mark S. Babbitt welcome Joseph Mancini , Executive Director for Pennsylvania at Abound and incoming President & CEO of The Arc of Morris County . Joe is the first nonprofit executive featured on the podcast, sharing powerful lessons on servant leadership, accountability, recognition, trust, and building cultures where peop...

In this latest episode of  Mastering Workplace Culture , hosts S. Chris Edmonds and Mark S. Babbitt return for the third installment of their Culture Architects series, a deep-dive conversation exploring real workplace culture challenges and leadership lessons from decades of consulting, coaching, and culture transformation. This time, Chris and Mark tackle a question leaders everywhere face: What...

In this new episode of  Mastering Workplace Culture , hosts S. Chris Edmonds and Mark S. Babbitt welcome Tom Milar , Founder & CEO of Eqvista , an equity management and private market valuation platform serving more than 25,000 companies worldwide. Tom's leadership philosophy challenges many modern workplace assumptions. While some organizations become trapped in meetings, bureaucracy, and lengthy...

In this new episode of Mastering Workplace Culture, hosts S. Chris Edmonds and Mark S. Babbitt welcome George Bickerstaff, former Fortune 10 CFO, investment banker, board chairman, healthcare leader, author of more than 40 books, and founder of the Global Leaders Network. Over a remarkable 40-year career, George has served on more than 40 corporate and nonprofit boards, led global organizations, r...

In the newest episode of Mastering Workplace Culture, hosts S. Chris Edmonds and Mark S. Babbitt welcome Dave Brown, a globally recognized brand strategist, entrepreneur, agency founder, and former worldwide FMCG leader at WPP's Brand Union. With more than 35 years of experience helping organizations such as Unilever, Nestlé, Heineken, Reckitt, and SABMiller build iconic brands, Dave shares powerf...

What separates workplace cultures that inspire creativity, trust, and collaboration from cultures that drain energy and limit growth? In this new episode of Mastering Workplace Culture, hosts S. Chris Edmonds and Mark S. Babbitt welcome design leader Demetrius Romanos for a powerful conversation about culture, leadership, feedback, trust, and human connection. Drawing on experience with brands inc...

In this  newest episode of Mastering Workplace Culture, hosts S. Chris Edmonds and Mark S. Babbitt sit down with Coach John Hughes, former SVP, Brand Ambassador, and Coach of Leadership & Culture at Jersey Mike's, for a powerful conversation about leadership, coaching, culture, hiring, core values, and building organizations that prioritize people without sacrificing results. Drawing on more than...

In this episode of Mastering Workplace Culture, hosts S. Chris Edmonds and Mark S. Babbitt welcome Dan Vetras, a three-time CEO, technology executive, advisor, and global business leader with more than 30 years of experience leading organizations through growth, transformation, founder transitions, and investor expectations.   Drawing from leadership roles at IBM, Lotus, Visible Technologies, Tali...

In this new episode of Mastering Workplace Culture, hosts S. Chris Edmonds and Mark S. Babbitt welcome Kevin Moore, Founder of Serac Ventures, venture capital investor, former financial advisor, former Federal Reserve bBank examiner, and lifelong student of leadership and personal growth. Kevin's journey spans engineering, finance, venture capital, entrepreneurship, leadership development, and inv...

In this new episode of Mastering Workplace Culture, hosts S. Chris Edmonds and Mark S. Babbitt have a candid conversation about a topic that impacts every organization, every leader, and every community: Personal accountability. Inspired by themes from "The Odyssey" and reinforced by decades of leadership consulting experience, Chris and Mark explore why personal accountability, integrity, and eth...

In the newest episode of Mastering Workplace Culture, hosts S. Chris Edmonds and Mark S. Babbitt welcome Dr. Jennifer Edic Bryant, an educator, leadership consultant, and culture champion with more than 30 years of experience helping schools and educational systems improve outcomes through collaboration, emotionally intelligent leadership, and intentional culture-building. 
 
 Jennifer's journey f...

In this new episode of the Mastering Workplace Culture podcast, hosts S. Chris Edmonds and Mark S. Babbitt welcome branding expert, design leader, and founder of the Chicago Brand Museum, Fred Richards. The result is a fascinating conversation about the connection between brand experiences, workplace culture, leadership, and human connection.  Drawing on more than 30 years of experience leading gl...

The newest episode of the Mastering Workplace Culture podcast, featuring Nujood Al Khloofi and Rasha Hussain, explores a powerful question:  How do leaders create a workplace culture that employees genuinely believe in, live every day, and help sustain as organizations grow?  Hosts S. Chris Edmonds and Mark S. Babbitt uncover a remarkable culture journey that began at Mohammed Bin Rashid Universit...

The newest episode of the Mastering Workplace Culture podcast, featuring the amazing and insightful Victoria Pelletier, poses a clear challenge: How do business leaders align their actions with defined values so that teams learn to trust leadership fully or at least believe in their intentions? Victoria draws on decades of executive experience to highlight a pattern that shows up across industries...

Some conversations stay with you—not because they're polished, but because they're organically honest. In this Mastering Workplace Culture episode, Julia Gabor brings a deeply human perspective on what it means to build culture in environments that are often under pressure, under‑resourced, and overlooked. From education systems to startup life, her experiences trace a consistent truth: pPeople th...

Sometimes the conversation needs to slow down. In this episode of Mastering Workplace Culture, co‑hosts Chris Edmonds and Mark Babbitt tackle a question many leaders are quietly wrestling with: What's really behind today's leadership crisis—and, during these deeply divisive times, what responsibility do leaders carry to keep our workplaces focused on what matters most? Drawing on decades of experi...

Mastering Workplace Culture continues the conversation on what healthy leadership looks like in a world shaped by AI, constant urgency, and ethical tension. In this episode, Tamara McCleary, CEO of Thulium, shares how calm, clarity, and psychological safety become the foundation for sustainable performance—especially when pressure is high, and decisions carry human consequences. Drawing on her bac...

🎙️ New Mastering Workplace Culture episode! From association leadership to flying cars, Tim Jackson explains why workplace culture is the connective tissue that enables progress. Leaders now understand that they can't confine culture to a single industry—it shows up wherever people must align around a mission, coordinate under pressure, and adapt as change accelerates. In this wide‑ranging convers...

The just-dropped episode of the Mastering Workplace Culture podcast features a deeply human conversation with Sarah Cole , founder and CEO of Cole Forums and a leader who brings ethics, vulnerability, connection, and real‑world courage into every room she creates. Sarah has spent more than 30 years advising boards, general counsel, senior executives, and CEOs—all while building high‑trust peer for...

The newest episode of Mastering Workplace Culture features a rare, open conversation with Joel Anderson, CEO of Petco and longtime culture‑focused retail leader. From Toys "R" Us to Walmart to Five Below to Petco, Joel has spent three decades proving that culture—done intentionally—drives passion, discretionary effort, and performance at massive scale.  Joel shares how his "People → Passion → Perf...

The newest episode of Mastering Workplace Culture offers a candid, human-centered dialogue with Susan Thorn , a healthcare executive whose leadership style blends clear vision, empathy, and a firm grasp of operational needs.  A former registered nurse, Susan now serves as a senior leader at Community Health System, where she oversees the welfare of over 11,500 employees. Her approach is grounded i...

The newest episode of the Mastering Workplace Culture features an honest, compelling conversation with Amber "AJ" Jordan , CEO of Desert Sage Health Centers—a rural healthcare organization that transformed culture, strengthened leadership, and rebuilt trust across multiple sites through values‑driven alignment and measurable accountability. AJ shares how a single team conflict sparked her search f...