Welcome to the Leader’s Lens!

This issue offers a fresh perspective and actionable tips to enhance your leadership this week.

Send me an email and let me know how you plan on implementing this perspective shift in your leadership!

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I used to believe culture took years to change. And in many ways, that’s true.

But I started challenging my thinking, What if I only had ninety days to create meaningful movement in my environment?

That reframe started to change my perspective.

Instead of seeing time as the limitation, I started seeing focus as the lever.

A quarter became my window to:

And that quarter’s focus was to not “fix the culture,” but create some movement.

Let me step back and admit that culture is one of the hardest things to change because it feels intangible.

I would ask questions like:

I love these questions! They are important ones to ask, but do you know how hard it is to act on them as a leader? It was hard! It was even harder for the team to answer it themselves!

And I wasn’t alone. I saw other leaders stuck too.

We were trying to change something abstract without grounding it in behavior.

So I made two shifts:

I started thinking less about “changing culture” and more about shaping the environment people work in every day.

I don’t have a green thumb, but I understand that you can grow almost anything in the right conditions.

That’s what a greenhouse does. It creates a controlled environment where growth becomes possible.

So I started viewing my team as a greenhouse inside the larger organization.

I might not control the entire atmosphere, but I can control the conditions inside my space.

(Shout out to Stephen Covey).

Instead of trying to change how people felt, I focused on what they experienced.

I asked:

Those questions directly influenced the employee experience. I can take immediate action, based on their answers, to shape the outcome.

If you want to change climate, you don’t start with feelings.

You start with conditions.

When I focused on the environment that is within my control, not the abstraction, I saw:

And over time, those shifts influenced:

Which is what I wanted all along.

Ninety days is not enough to fully change culture.

But it is enough to identify what needs to change, act with intention, observe what works, adjust quickly, and, most importantly build momentum.

If you want to start shifting culture, start with your greenhouse climate

Do that for ninety days and watch the team climate change.

Give it a year and you may influence the culture around you.

If you’re trying to figure out how to translate culture into something your team can actually experience day to day, that’s the work I love helping leaders do.

When you’re ready, reach out to learn more about leadership coaching and workshop opportunities!

Let’s build your greenhouse.

— Ray

Whenever you are ready, here are ways you can work with me:

P.S. - Thank you to those who have filled out the survey letting me know more about your leadership journey! I am excited to dive into the results over the next couple of weeks to provide you with resources and content that will support your leadership! If you haven’t filled it out yet, do so by clicking the link here!