70. The 5 Key Elements of a Strong Culture

Today I’m speaking with Cassandra Gordon, founder of Growth Culture. Cassandra shares her vision of what leaders, companies, and workplaces need to do to evolve into thriving businesses with safe, happy employees. It’s not complicated, but the hierarchical old-school thinking that persists in our society is blocking these transformations.

Cassandra really walks the walk and talks the talk. Her own personal mantra of “respect, integrity, and justice” informs her leadership and everything she does in her day-to-day life. She shares her reliable, repeatable system for building a thriving culture that has five cornerstone elements: Creativity, Freedom, Purpose, Safety, and Diversity.

The sad thing is, “organization design” that continues to utilize those outdated hierarchies has not changed much in nearly 300 years. It takes courage, humility, and an open mind for leaders to change their organizations. Do you have what it takes to overhaul your business and start thriving?

Discussion Points

Tell us about your exciting work inside the PM &C?
Can you share one thing you loved, and one thing you did not, about working there?
When have your personal standards been compromised at work?
Why is it important for leaders to know exactly ‘what they stand for?’
Do you think enough change is happening today in Australia’s workforce?
You often use the word “thrive” – can you share what that looks like to you
Your tenets sound fantastic, why wouldn’t leaders choose to adopt them?
When determining a company culture, is it easier to work with founders/startups?
When a founder’s purpose is driven by financial goals, its extremely unhealthy for company culture
What does “Freedom” look like within a company’s culture?
Departments like HR, Compliance, Internal Affairs, should have no place in a culture based on trust
How should companies recruit talent to propagate their good culture?
Cassandra’s five elements fit into an “equation” that is Freedom + Creativity + Purpose, divided by Safety, multiplied by Diversity
How Cassandra applied her five-point system in one of her teams and the amazing reaction people had
What’s the best place for a company to start when looking for an overhaul of their culture?
Three key takeaways:
- Leaders are pro-active
- Leaders don’t play politics
- Leaders build reliable, repeatable systems