The Leader Factor

This episode is part four in our five part series on "What's Causing Demand for Psychological Safety." Tim and Junior dive into the data behind the great resignation and the link between workplace culture and employee retention.  (04:30) Before employee engagement there was employee satisfaction. We learned that employee satisfaction was not the right measurement. You can have satisfied employees...

This weeks episode is part three in our five part series on "What's Driving Demand for Psychological Safety". Tim and Junior discuss why the need for innovation sparking demand for psychological safety and how innovation is just as much cultural as it is technical. (01:11) How do you win in a competitive landscape? In short, you can win one of two ways differentiation (product, market, model, oper...

This weeks episode is part two in our five part series on "What's Driving Demand for Psychological Safety". Tim and Junior sit down to discuss exclusion and social injustice as a driving force for psychological safety and ask each of us to consider our own behavior patterns as it relates to fostering cultures of inclusion.  (01:53) What is social injustice? The basic definition of social injustice...

We're kicking  the new year off with a five part series on "What's Driving Demand for Psychological Safety." Today's episode will kick off the series and give us an overview of where we've been, where we are, and introduce the key drivers. In the following episodes of this series, Tim and Junior discuss exclusion and social injustice, and innovation, engagement and retention, mental health and wel...

In this podcast Tim and Junior discuss the importance of bridging the gap between diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Diversity alone is not enough, and true progress comes from creating a culture of inclusion. To do that we must "cross the lines of natural affinity," or find common ground and build relationships with coworkers who may be different from ourselves. DE&I spending is projec...

In this episode, Tim and Junior discuss the intersection between diversity, inclusion, and innovation. We need diversity but cannot unlock the benefits of our differences without inclusion. When we have a diverse and inclusive environment innovation follows.  Moving from diversity to inclusion is a journey from awareness to action, and many organizations stop at awareness, believing that it will l...

Agile beginnings and the Agile Manifesto (1:00). 20 years ago at Snowbird Mountain Resort, a group of tech industry leaders gathered together to change the bureaucratic waterfall method of software development, which at the time was linear, slow, and extremely rigid. The group wanted to develop a process that was fast, flexible, and dynamic. From there, Agile became a global movement. Agile’s fail...

During this week’s episode of Culture by Design, Tim and Junior dissect the two kinds of leaders who shy away from psychological safety: those who feed on title and status, and those who try to hide their incompetence. They encourage healthy introspection as a tool to avoid becoming one of those leaders yourself. Are you a business leader looking to introduce psychological safety into your organiz...

What's at stake? (0:00) If we do this well, we’ll create sanctuaries of inclusion and incubators of innovation. But if we do this poorly, we’ll be perpetually dissatisfied, we’ll create toxic cultures, and our organizations will suffer. The current state of hiring, firing and promotion (9:00). Do most organizations make these decisions based on technical or cultural criteria? Tim and Junior talk a...

The culture dilemma (00:45). Many organizations tell us that they want to improve their culture, but often don’t know where to start. What does an unhealthy culture look like? What symptoms need to be identified and treated? The definition of culture (02:30). Culture is the way we interact. It exists anywhere where there are humans. Parts of it are visible, while other parts of culture, not so muc...

Vulnerability and interaction are inseparable (03:00). The workplace is vulnerable because it’s full of humans. Why does vulnerability matter? (08:30) There’s a spectrum of vulnerability and a spectrum of responses to vulnerability. You can reward it, punish it, or do something in between. How do we create healthy company cultures? (11:30) If we want healthy cultures where inclusion and innovation...

How do you create a deeply inclusive environment? (1:15) Tim explains that there's a process and a sequence, and it starts with a focus on your values and beliefs. Once you lay the foundation, you can focus on behaviors and skills, then policies and procedures. In essence, you need to advocate for humanity over human characteristics.  What are junk theories of superiority? (8:00) To create deeply...

The definition of psychological safety (2:00). Tim and Junior discuss how vulnerability plays into the definition of psychological safety and what it means to create a culture of rewarded vulnerability. Defining culture is like squeezing Jell-O (6:05). If culture is human interaction, psychological safety gives us the terms of engagement to interact.  It's impossible to not have any culture (11:45...

What is challenger safety? (1:12) Challenger safety is the fourth and final stage of The 4 Stages of Psychological Safety. Do you feel like you can be candid about change? Challenger safety satisfies the basic human need to make things better. What does challenger safety look like across industries? (4:00) Whether you’re an executive at an up-and-coming startup in Silicon Valley, a nurse in a stat...

Tim and Junior define contributor safety (01:00). Contributor safety satisfies our fundamental human need to create value. It's the perfect blend of autonomy and accountability, freedom and guidance. The social exchange of contributor safety (5:00). When we create contributor safety for others, we empower them with autonomy, guidance, and encouragement in exchange for effort and results. Why do we...

Stage 2 Learner Safety is is part two in our four part series based on Timothy R. Clark’s book The 4 Stages of Psychological Safety: Defining the Path to Inclusion and Innovation. In this episode Timothy R. Clark and Junior Clark answer key questions around how to create a culture where there is both encouragement to learn and engagement in the learning process. What is Learner Safety? (2:10) Lear...

This series is based on Timothy R. Clark’s book The 4 Stages of Psychological Safety: Defining the Path to Inclusion and Innovation.  You can purchase your copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Stages-Psychological-Safety-Inclusion-Innovation-ebook/dp/B07Y3ZJ8B2/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=the+four+stages+of+psychological&qid=1585587097&sr=8-1 Or download a free excerpt here: https://www....

Today Tim and Junior sit down to discuss Tim’s recent Harvard Business Review article titled “Don’t Let Hierarchy Stifle Innovation.” There are a lot of concepts that Tim wasn’t able to include in his article that are discussed today, including how to improve our interactions, how to unleash bottom-up innovation and the role that hierarchy plays in innovation and execution.  You can read the HBR a...

Welcome to The Leader Factor, version 2.0 of Culture by Design. We appreciate your listenership and are excited about what’s new. Let's introduce you to our hosts: Tim As founder and CEO of LeaderFactor, an Oxford-trained social scientist, and a five-time published author in the leadership space, Dr. Timothy R. Clark has coached hundreds of executives and dozens of high-profile CEOs and has worked...