Note: This article on Workplace Culture is an excerpt from Chapter 2 of our book, Courageous Culture: How to Build Teams of Micro-Innovators, Problem Solvers, and Customer Advocates. And, for grins and remarkably accurate insights, ChatGPT weighs in with commentary at the end.

Thoughts on AI and Workplace Culture

If your business includes work that is repetitive, routine, or structured in a predictable setting, you face competitive pressure to automate that work—if you haven’t already. Technology is commoditizing many products and services, and “easy” jobs are going away.  According to a Pew Research study experts predict robots and digital agents powered by artificial intelligence will significantly displace blue-collar and white-collar jobs by 2025.

More restaurants are moving toward tablet-based ordering; banks are closing branches as consumers prefer to do easy transactions online; and even healthcare visits are being reduced by remote monitoring. In some circumstances, your customers may be delighted at the efficiency while you’re also saving time and money. With so much being automated and quality service and products becoming the default price of admission, how do you differentiate your business from your competition?

The secret to surviving and thriving in the automation revolution is in what computers can’t replace: human creativity, empathy, and critical thinking—especially in unpredictable environments. Leading in the automation revolution isn’t about what you can control; it’s about what you can create and contribute. How often are your employees speaking up with creativity, empathy, and problem-solving? In too many businesses, the answer is “not nearly enough.” If you want a competitive edge, you’ve got to tap into your team’s human potential to do what humans do best—connect and create.

Connect

Computers may be able to “think,” but we’ve never met one who can feel. Empathy can’t be outsourced to computers.

It’s the humans who can pay close attention to the frustration points and figure out how to make it better.

What ticks off your customers?

What’s annoying your team?

Why are your peers so demoralized?

And what really needs to be done to fix all that?

The impact of AI isn’t limited to employees. AI is changing how workers trust and engage with their managers—and connection is at the heart of these changes.

Some workers prefer AI (think voice-assistant chatbots) to get information on topics like company policies, health insurance, and their remaining vacation days. These are areas where machines excel: providing accurate information quickly. But people still turn to human managers who can understand how they feel, coach them in their careers, and build culture.

When connection matters, there’s no substitute for a human being.

Create

Let’s say your AI system tells you thirty-seven thousand of your customers used profanity to describe a recent transaction.

Ouch. That’s really important data, but what do you do next? It’s the humans who can understand what’s going on from a human perspective and work to solve the problem. Do your teams have the skills they need to contribute at that level?

When the easy work is automated, will your managers know how to draw out the best solutions from their teams? Do your front-line employees feel encouraged to speak up and share solutions? Do employees at all levels have the critical thinking skills to get to the root cause? If you’re not sure, you’re not alone. According to a recent Price Waterhouse Cooper CEO survey, 77 percent of CEOs say they struggle to find the creativity and innovation they need.

When you build a dynamic culture that leverages humanity to solve problems, respond to customers, and adapt to change, you build a strong foundation to survive—and thrive—in the automation revolution.

ChatGPT’s Thoughts on AI, Empathy, and Innovation in Workplace Culture

So here’s what we asked ChatGPT about AI, empathy, and innovation when building a workplace culture.

We asked:

“One challenge we see with an over-reliance on AI in the workplace is that it can’t replace the uniquely human qualities of empathy and innovation. What’s your perspective on that?”

As an AI language model, I can certainly understand the potential limitations of over-reliance on AI in the workplace. While AI can be incredibly useful for automating repetitive or routine tasks, it can’t replace the uniquely human qualities of empathy and innovation.

Empathy is a fundamental human quality that allows us to connect with and understand others’ emotions and perspectives. It enables us to build relationships, solve problems collaboratively, and create meaningful work. While AI can analyze data and provide insights, it can’t replicate the emotional intelligence required to truly empathize with others.

Similarly, innovation is driven by human creativity, imagination, and the ability to think outside the box. While AI can be programmed to identify patterns and generate new ideas based on existing data, it can’t replicate the unique human ability to see possibilities that don’t yet exist.

That said, I don’t believe that AI is inherently in conflict with empathy and innovation. In fact, AI can be a powerful tool to augment these qualities by providing insights and freeing up time for humans to focus on more creative and empathetic work. It’s all about finding the right balance between the strengths of AI and the strengths of human workers.

Ultimately, the best approach is likely to be a collaborative one, where AI and humans work together to achieve shared goals. By combining the strengths of both, we can create a more effective and efficient workplace that values both empathy and innovation.

Your Perspective?

We would love to hear from you. What are the vital human qualities AI can’t replace? What are your best practices for building a human-centered workplace culture?

The post Workplace Culture: How to Leverage Innovation No AI Bot Can Replace appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

In this episode, Ralf Specht shares his unique framework, The Soul System™, that aligns value-creating employee behaviors with corporate strategy through shared understanding and shared purpose and how every leader, no matter the industry, can ignite (or re-ignite) the corporate soul in their firm. Based on the latest research and real-life cases, this actionable framework shows how to build a culture at the workplace that is both human centric and success driven.

Building Corporate Soul

08:25
Shared purpose means finding out the clarity about why you’re here and why the company is here. Sharing it is critical in two ways.

09:12
Shared understanding is about the vision, the mission, the values, and, something that often gets overlooked, the spirit of your organization.

14:42
Is human-centered leadership the right thing to do, is it a business case, or both?

17:12
If I take all these studies and put them next to each other and blend them into a statistic, that puts the weight on employee satisfaction, employee engagement, and CEO approval. Marry that with business success and brand success and let’s see what happens.

29:36
The guiding principles in terms of leadership for successful corporations like LinkedIn, Southwest, Lego, and Hilton.

36:56
You’re building culture either way, so it’s “Which builder are you?” and “Which culture are you building?”

37:52
Powering culture and success with the soul system.

38:43
How to promote the right people and manage the announcement in a way that you link the qualification that is culturally aligned to the soul of the organization to the heart skills of that person so that everybody will recognize why they were promoted.

46:22
How do you structure every different aspect of organization life and all the systems to support corporate soul?

47:12
What are some specific examples of soulful behavior or leadership that stood out for you while working with top corporations?

Connect with Ralf

LinkedIn

Website

Get the Book

The post Building Corporate Soul with Ralf Specht appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

Thanks to Joy and Tom Guthrie of Vizwerx Group for the great pic and to all our contributors.

 Dr. Artika Tyner of Planting People Growing Justice Leadership shares Five Leadership Strategies for Building a More Inclusive Workplace. Many people that want to build an inclusive workplace have no idea where to begin or what it actually means. They often think that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) simply means hiring people of multiple ethnic or racial groups – or hiring more women. My “Leadership Framework for Action™” provides a comprehensive approach for building the essential leadership competencies rooted in the principles of DEI, which manifests in healthy workplace relations, peak optimized performance, positive morale, and betterment of society. Follow Artika.

Chip R. Bell of the Chip Bell Group asks Are You Leading in the Lost City of Atlantis? Smart organizations that thrive are those bold enough to be innovative; courageous enough to change. “The way we have always done it” only works if you are successful in getting time to stand still! Follow Chip.

Ken Downer of Rapid Start Leadership gives us Lighthouse Leadership: How to Lead Your Team When the Storm Hits. Lighthouse leadership is about knowing what direction to steer your team when the storm hits. Here’s a captivating short story about heroism in a storm and four ways to help you lead in the dark. Follow Ken.

S. Chris Edmonds of Driving Results through Culture shares his video Culture Leadership Charge: Good Comes First. Moving forward, employees expect companies to make morally just decisions. They expect respect. They expect to have a voice. They expect companies and their leaders to be a force for good in the world. That’s a high standard. It requires leaders to shift their organization to be a great place to work – by ensuring that Good Comes First: good people doing good work in a good organization.  Follow Chris.

For many companies, people are often discouraged for saying the wrong thing and rewarded for saying the right thing, so they say nothing. #courageouscultures

Sean Glaze of Great Results Teambuilding gives us The Only Three Options to Cure a Toxic Team Culture.  Yes, there are thousands of consultants and coaches giving hundreds (if not thousands) of different opinions about what contributes to and affects a workplace environment – but even that plethora of wisdom can be simplified by boiling it all down to three possible cures. I learned this when I shared some advice with my daughter. Follow Sean.

David Grossman of The Grossman Group gives us Reset Company Culture: 4 Steps to Take as You Define Your Organization’s ‘New Normal.’ With so many changes happening in a short time stemming from the pandemic and social crises, employers face important decisions on how to go forward in managing their teams and adapting for today’s realities. It’s a good time to look at where your business is now and apply what you’ve learned over the past several months. It’s also important to look at ways you are listening to and connecting with employees as well as opportunities for a greater focus on diversity and inclusion. Get started with this how-to guide (featuring 2 free tools/templates and a tip sheet) to help set your organization’s culture change up for success. Follow David.

John Hunter of Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog provides Creating a Culture of Continual Management Improvement in Your Organization. Favor efforts that will help you build organizational capacity to do more of what you want going forward (creating a culture favoring those practices.) Some of this is about building expertise in the organization. It is also about building your circle of influence. Growing your ability to influence how the organization grows will help you encourage the improvements you believe in. Follow John.

Lisa Kohn from Chatsworth Consulting Group gives us Ways to Build Compassion Into Your Culture and Lead Your Team Now, When It’s Getting Even Tougher where she shares key steps leaders can take now to strengthen their work culture and break down old ways of doing things to allow for needed change. Follow Lisa.

Until you build a courageous culture, “people at work are vulnerable to a kind of implicit logic in which safe is simply better than sorry.” – Amy Edmondson

 

Paul LaRue of The Upwards Leader gives us Five Actions to Keep Culture Alive and Thriving. Culture is not a “set it and forget it” program. It’s a living organism that needs to be attended to. Paul offers five ways to keep your culture thriving.  Follow Paul.

Eileen McDargh of The Resiliency Group gives us Seven Tips for Managers in a Burnout Prone World to seek to keep a team focused and engaged. Follow Eileen.

Nate Regier of Next Element Consulting gives us How to Correct Three Leadership Habits that Destroy Culture. Conflict is normal and frequent in the workplace. How leaders respond to conflict can make or break culture. Learn about three common drama-based responses that ruin culture, and what leaders can do to replace that drama with compassionate accountability. Follow Nate.

 Shelley Row of Shelley Row Associates asks, What’s Your Leadership Philosophy?  The culture of an organization will tend to follow the philosophy of its leader(s.) Determine now what kind of leader you will be, and you’ll find you will also influence the culture of your company. Follow Shelley

Courage doesn’t always feel like courage … it often shows up in moments when you choose to live according to your values. #courageouscultures

 

Maria Tanski-Phillips of Patriot Software provides Six Ideas for Improving Company Culture and Bettering Your Workplace.  Having a strong workplace culture can do a whole lot of good for your small business. If your culture could use a boost, take advantage of these six tips. Follow Maria.

Jon Verbeck of Verbeck Associates gives us Discretion or Open-Book: Is there a Better Approach to Culture? Some companies push for a culture of transparency, while others do well with some discretion by leadership.  Is one better than the other?  Follow Jon.

Julie Winkle Giulioni of JulieWinkleGiulioni.com shares Want to Institutionalize Career Development? Look for (or Cultivate) these Cultural Markers. Culture affects nearly every aspect of work-life, including career development. This article explores the cultural characteristics that support the growth employees want and need. Follow Julie.

Are you a leadership writer? We’d love to have you join us with your articles, videos, podcast episodes, or simply your best thinking on the topic (even if you don’t have additional content to link.) Our topic for November is executive development. Click here to submit your thoughts and content!

The post Frontline Festival: Leaders Share about Culture appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

Despite living only a few miles apart for several years, I (David) only knew Chris online. We first met in person when he was sharing tips from his fantastic book The Culture Engine with a group of tech leaders committed to building healthy business cultures. The three of us finally met in person at a gathering of the Colorado Chapter of the National Speakers Association. Chris offers one of the clearest, practical guides to creating a positive corporate culture that you will ever find. If you’ve never built an organizational constitution that transforms values to daily behaviors, give Chris’ book a close look.

Here is Chris Edmonds’ Culture Leadership Charge video episode made exclusively for the 2017 Winning Well Symposium. In this concise video, Chris shares how his culture clients leverage two of the Winning Well principles, results, and relationships, to craft purposeful, positive, productive work cultures.

Winning Well Reflection

“Trust, respect, and dignity in every interaction…” – that sounds like Winning Well to us (not to mention the foundation for a phenomenal culture that achieves lasting transformational results). Well said, Chris!

The post An Exclusive Culture Leadership Charge for Symposium Readers (S. Chris Edmonds) appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

Trust the Trenches

Our 8th Winning Well Principle: Trust the Trenches has so many nuances, all of which I learned the hard way. For me, it wasn’t the delegating, or asking for input, that was the hardest… it was trusting my team enough to be vulnerable. To trust them enough to admit that I’m far from perfect, and having the confidence to know that was okay. I still had vision. And a plan. And we could still win well.

“Because when people see leaders who are real and have real life challenges,
they look at those leaders and say,
“Wow, she’s not perfect.
And I’m not perfect.
And we can still win well together.”

How Do I Get My Team to Trust Me- Lessons Learned the Hard Way

I had just been promoted to my first executive job in human resources at Verizon. All the players were new. I had a new boss and an entire new C-level suite to impress. And because sometimes life throws you curve balls, I was also going through a divorce and was trying to navigate an unexpected life as a single mom.

I hadn’t told a soul. My best friends at work didn’t know. And my boss certainly had no idea.

So here’s what I imagined would be said about me. 

Well, we know we can’t talk about this, but…

“This is probably not the right time for her. Yes she’s high-potential, but with all this personal stuff on her plate…”

“I’m not sure she’ll be able to manage the travel of this high-profile role as a single mom.”

“She’s young. Let’s skip this round with her, and wait to see how she handles her new life circumstances.”

So I did what I thought was best and ignored the unspeakable.

Which might not have been a terrible approach. Except…

My First Project in the New Role

My first assignment in my new role was to build a diversity strategy. I was to gather a “max mix” of managers (think race, age, sexual orientation) from across disciplines and cultures to talk about the very real challenges that were limiting our ability to have an inclusive culture.

And it was working.

We had an amazing team. And great dialogue. Scott, the gay man, came out to us for the first time at work–and that informed our strategy.

Sherika shared a few horrible examples of being overlooked as a woman of color–and that informed our strategy.

John, who weighed 400 lbs., opened our eyes to discrimination we hadn’t even considered–and that informed our strategy.

We were on the cusp of presenting our recommendations to senior leadership, when Sherika burst into my office, and shared her truth from the trenches.

“Karin you are a fraud.”

“All this time we’ve been talking about diversity, and what really matters. Scott came out to you and you applauded. I shared my story, and you raised an enthusiastic, ‘Game on… let’s address that.” And John was close to tears in sharing his deal, and you wrote the travel policy into the plan. And there you sat, TOTALLY QUIET, as we discussed the challenges for single moms.

Our single mother strategy is incomplete. And you know it.

Yeah, we talked about schedules and daycare. But what about the fact that executives like you have to hide who they are for fear of being discounted?”

Sherika was right.

Imagine the Difference

Sherika shared, “Karin, trust goes both ways.”

“Can you imagine what would have happened if you had told us the truth?”

“Hey guys, this discussion of single moms is only half the battle. Yeah, we need daycare, and flexible schedules. But we also need to make it safe for people to show up how they really are at work. Without judgement.  I’m a single mom too. I don’t meet the profile we’ve been discussing. AND I’m scared as hell that the minute people find out that I don’t have a husband, all bets are off.”

THAT would inform our diversity strategy.

Trusting the trenches starts with–trusting the trenches to be who you are.

Sherika’s message changed my approach to leadership forever.

To win the trust of your team, you have to trust them to trust you.

Trust the trenches to accept (and even embrace) that you are a human being too.

And lead from there.

This story was also featured in SHRM’s HR Storytellers Series.

The post How Do I Get My Team to Trust Me? appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

Practical Engagement Practices

Jesse Lyn Stoner, of the Seapoint Center, offers her guest post on switch and shift, First Engage Yourself. It’s difficult to engage your employees if you yourself are not engaged. Here are 7 questions to assess your own engagement and suggestions for what you can do. Follow Jesse @JesseLynStoner.

Wally Bock, of Wally Bock’s Three Star Leadership, shares 10 Engagement Building Behaviors For The Boss. Study after study has shown us that if you’re the boss, you are the person with the biggest impact on the productivity, morale and engagement of your team. Here are ten things you can do to improve all three. Follow Wally @WallyBock.

Tune it to Tanveer Naseer Leadership to find out what 3 critical steps leaders should be employing to boost employee engagement levels in their organization. Read Tanveer Naseer‘s post Learning To Connect To Boost Employee Engagement. Follow Tanveer @TanveerNaseer.

Alli Polin, Break the Frame, brings us practical advice in her post  Are You A Negativity Carrier Or The Antidote?. There will always be negative people at work who like to create a crisis. Discover how you can transform their negativity and invite engagement. Follow Alli @AlliPolin.

“When people are financially invested, they want a return. When people are emotionally invested, they want to contribute.”

~ Simon Sinek

In her post, Please, Thank You, and I’m Sorry – Words For Kindergarten & Leadership, Robyn McLeod from The Thoughtful Leaders Blog shares how these three phrases that we learned in kindergarten can pave the way for better relationships and communication at work as well as engender trust, respect, and a higher level of engagement from your staff. Follow Robyn @ThoughtfulLdrs.

“Dispirited, unmotivated, unappreciated workers cannot compete in a highly competitive world.”

~ Francis Hesselbein

Matt McWilliams, author of Life. Leadership. Love. Learned the Hard Way, offers Two Scientifically Proven Techniques To Be A Better Leader, Spouse & More. In this post, he shares two incredible techniques that will increase employee engagement and so much more. Follow Matt @MattMcWilliams2.

Chantal Bechervaise, Take it Personel-ly shares specific ways to offer support in her post, Help Employees To Believe In Themselves. Employees need to know that you have faith in their ability to do their jobs well. It also requires commitment to help support employees when times are tough. Follow Chantal @CBechervaise.

Employee Engagement Starts With Leadership

Julie Winkle Giulioni, of juliewinklegiulioni.com shares a sentiment I often feel. It’s not always about doing more to drive engagement, but by what we need to stop. In her post, Stop Driving Employees Nuts, Julie reminds us that employee engagement, motivation, and results are less about introducing new leadership behaviors and more about just stopping the stuff that makes employees crazy. Follow Julie @juliewg.

Building Engaging Cultures

Chip Bell, of ChipBell.com, brings us The Leadership Echo. Leadership is an echo sounded through the actions of those under the leader’s influence. Customers get a peep-hole into the organization’s culture their experience created and delivered by the front line. Follow Chip @ChipRBell.

“On what high-performing companies should be striving to create: A great place for great people to do great work.”

~ Marilyn Carlson, former CEO of Carlson Companies

What are you engaging employees to do? Kate Nasser, of Smart SenseAbilities offers Engaging Employees to Succeed At What – Integrity. When leaders approach me to help them with employee engagement, I immediately ask them: “engage employees to do what?” If you want company-wide success, engage them to engage each other. This is how to build accountability and integrity throughout the company. Follow Kate @KateNasser.

Jennifer Miller, of The People Equation, shares the7 Moods Of Employee Engagement. Leaders need to learn to coax the troublesome types out of their moods in order to create the most productive and engaged work environment. Follow Jennifer @JenniferVMiller.

Michelle Pallas, at Fireside Chat For Leaders, shares a post on a life strategy I believe in deeply. Care Enough To Take The Time To Know People. Go first, get engaged. Show you care, make connections. It doesn’t cost anything to care. It requires energy and focus. Listening with heart and mind. Engage your workforce by taking the time to know them. Follow Michelle @MichellePallas.

Chery Gegelman, of the Simply Understanding Blog offers, Banging Pans & Throwing Fish In Corporate America. An under-performing, under-supported team that was feeling victimized, changed leadership, changed their focus, learned how to play together, built trust, began meeting and then exceeding their goals and a VIP customer said, “I don’t know what you’ve done with the place, it was a tomb, and now it is alive.” Follow Chery @GianaConsulting.

A powerful personal story that shows the impact we can make, when we invest in one person at a time. David Dye, of Trailblaze, shares The Leadership Question I Couldn’t Answer. How do you motivate a former gang member to succeed in school? David shares his surprising answer to that question and how it will help you lead motivated, energized teams. Follow David @davidmdye.

“Always treat your employees exactly as you want them to treat your best customers.”

~ Stephen R. Covey

In this case study, Overwhelmed, Linda Fisher Thornton, of Leading In Context explains how a a caring manager is one of the key elements that drives employee engagement. So managers, let’s remove “It’s all important. I’m sure you’ll figure it out” from our vocabularies.

DATIS Delivers, Thought Leadership For Human Services Organizations, shares Employee Engagement: A Time To Give. Does your company have an employee engagement program? Empower your employees by using technology as a tool for success while building a foundation for solid communication in your organization. Follw Datis @DATISe3.

Michelle Cubas, of Business Influences, brings us Employee Engagement Is About Purpose. Why do people want to work—employee engagement is about purposeful action. Follow Michelle @CoachCubas.

Subha Balagopal, From the Principal’s Pen offers For An Organization With People. This post is about how I engage with my organization and how I think employees might engage in a healthy organization that invites their voices. Follow Subha @PrincipalsPen2.

Call For Submissions

May’s Festival is all about Careers and Career Development. Please submit your posts using this link. New participants welcome.

The post 27 Experts On Employee Engagement: April Frontline Festival appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.