Culture Bites

Teams working with synergy will often achieve more as a group than would be possible on their own, but not all teams work. We share the models that build effective teams and create effective problem solving and decision making in teams; and discuss the concept behind effective solutions = quality x acceptance.

The Approval style reflects a need to be accepted and a tendency to tie one's self-worth to being liked by others. People high in this style try very hard to please others, make good impressions and be agreeable and obedient, but at what cost. Dominic Gourley and Ian Crothers discuss the Approval Style in relation to the LSI, how the style might come across and some tips and tricks.

Need short sharp descriptions for each of the Circumplex Styles? Culture Bites Podcast host Dominic Gourley and fellow consultant Ian Crothers have you covered.

Should you prepare for debriefing the LSI? How do you best use the Satisfaction Items? And what are bow ties? If you’ve recently completed your Life Styles Inventory™ Accreditation, these may be some of the questions you are wanting to ask .Dominic Gourley and fellow consultant Ian Crothers answer all the most commonly ask questions around debriefing the LSI.

When we think about culture we think it’s usually run by the People and Culture team, but an organisations culture can either build momentum and performance, or hinder the organisation. So how does an organisations culture affect performance and why is it so important? Head of Consulting Corinne Canter and Dominic Gourley discuss in this weeks episode of Culture Bites.

Culture can sometimes feel intangible or like an abstract idea, and people may use “building a culture for … (safety, risk, innovation or diversity)” concept to give creating a constructive culture a specific reason. But can you build culture for X,Y and Z? Corinne Canter and Dominic Gourley discuss on this week’s episode of Culture Bites. The “How Culture Works” model and other materials presente...

As we know culture and leadership are tied at the hip; and with leaders having a lot on their plate already, how can you give them some simple guidance to be a part of building a constructive culture. Head of Consulting Corinne Canter and host Dominic Gourley, give you 5 things leaders can role model to build a constructive culture. 1 - Clarity - What does good look like? Where is my effort going...

Practical and pragmatic guide to how we measure culture using the OCI and OEI diagnostics. Listen to this if you're thinking about measuring culture and want to have an overview of how it works. The “How Culture Works” model and other materials presented in this podcast are from the Organizational Culture Inventory®/Organizational Effectiveness Inventory™ Feedback Report by Robert A. Cooke, Janet...

One question that we get often is how to increase the effectiveness of leaders. Organisations are usually working on developing the effectiveness of their leaders to increase engagement with people within their organisation for better results, but does this isolated approach work?! Dominic Gourley and Head of Consulting Corinne Canter discuss our integrated approach to development, focusing on mor...

Do you have culture confusion? There’s still a lot of confusion when it comes to culture, like what is it and can you actually measure it? In this episode of Culture Bites, Dominic Gourley and Head of Consulting Corinne Canter answer all your questions around culture confusion, helping to sort through all the myths. The “How Culture Works” model and other materials presented in this podcast are fr...

Continuing to explore the Aggressive/Defensive cluster, this week Dominic Gourley and Head of Consulting Corinne Canter discuss the Power Style. This style reflects needs for prestige and influence, and the tendency to equate self-worth with controlling others. People high in this style tend to dictate (rather than guide) others' actions, try to run everything themselves and treat others in aggres...

Though people high in the Oppositional style may ask the tough questions that can lead to better ideas, they may also use criticism to gain attention and blame other for their own mistakes. So how can you work with the Oppositional style? In this episode of Culture Bites, Dominic Gourley and Head of Consulting, Corinne Canter discuss the Oppositional style in detail – What is the style about, what...

Finding a balance between giving feedback but not alienating people can be tricky, even more so when it’s the CEO and you are wanting to share results or keep them on board for a culture change program. How do you not dilute the message but still give it to them straight? Head of Consulting Corinne Canter and Dominic Gourley discuss how to balance giving feedback and give you tips on sharing LSI a...

How we think about ourselves, the world, people and the events around us, has a profound impact on our ability to be effective in the choices we make around our health and our well-being. RISE is an acronym for a 4 step technique and practice created by Head of Consulting Corinne Canter, that provides you with an effective and structured approach to helping clients move from defensive to construct...

This week on the Culture Bites Podcast, Head of Consulting Corinne Canter and Dominic Gourley answer a question from a listener; about the pros and cons for centralising or decentralising the ownership of culture within the organisation. Who should own culture and where should it sit?

If you’ve found some groups are more challenging to work with – whether they’re a leadership group or not quite on board with a program; Dominic Gourley and Liana Sangster shares some tips for what you can do to set up a program for success on this episode of Culture Bites.

At our Virtual Culture and Leadership Conference this year, we shared a range of client culture stories and one thing the audience wanted more of was tips for working on their own culture change. Head of Consulting Corinne Canter shares her tips for Accredited Practitioners working on culture and what thing to keep in mind. The “How Culture Works” model and other materials presented in this podcas...

Head of Consulting Corinne Canter and Dominic Gourley answer a letter from a listener in this week’s Culture Bites Podcast Episode. “I’ve been an AP both internal as a HR Director and now external to companies as a consultant for over 10 years, I use the LSI and OCI as often as I can with my clients… sometimes I hear “I had a bad experience with the LSI/OCI etc. and I am not sure that I want to us...

We often talk about the Circumplex, and how we use it measure thinking and behaviour – It isn’t about good, bad, right or wrong; but it is about effectiveness, whether it’s at an individual, teams or organisational level. On this week’s episode of Culture Bites, Dominic Gourley and Liana Sangster discuss effectiveness and what we really mean when we talk about it.

Leaders and managers have a significant impact on those around them and on the culture and performance of their organisation. Their development is critical to employee engagement and organisational performance. So what can you expect by doing your own Leadership/Impact® (L/I) or Management/Impact™ (M/I)? Dominic Gourley and Liana Sangster discuss the L/I and M/I diagnostic: What it is, how it work...

In last week’s episode of Culture Bites, Dominic Gourley and Liana Sangster touched on the Triple A Model – Awareness, Acceptance, Action; and how people move through the different stages, as part of framing up an LSI debrief. You might find some people want to skip the acceptance stage and move straight into action planning, only accepting on surface level. Dominic and Liana explore the model fur...

Everyone will have their own approach to a debriefing the Life Styles Inventory™ (LSI), but there are some key elements you should discuss prior to debriefing the report. Consultants Dominic Gourley and Liana Sangster answer a question from a listener about how you frame up an LSI debrief; How do you come into the session and set the scene before going through the report, and what are the key elem...

Mental health is a big topic right now, with lots of articles in the media and the current situation taking a toll on people’s mental health potentially due to added stress financially and a huge change in our lifestyles. Dominic Gourley and Sam Mead take this opportunity to talk specifically about men’s mental health and that the more we talk about it, the more it's accepted into society; How it’...

This week on Culture Bites, Corinne Canter and Dominic Gourley answer a letter from a listener. “Our organisation has a very passive/defensive culture and a recent staff survey demonstrated an alarming absence of trust, some key themes include a feeling that decisions aren’t transparent or fair, people wanting to maintain the status quo and not rock the boat, people feeling scared to ask for help,...

At our Culture and Leadership Conference this year, one of the topics we covered was the Future of Work, which started a lot of conversations and thoughts around the subject. Dominic Gourley and fellow consultant Sam Mead talk about past predictions of what the future of work would look like and now that we’ve been forced into it due to COVID-19 what the differences are – the future of work has ar...