Organizational Culture

🗣️“You must be more assertive.” Last year, those five words burned into Amy’s memory. She’d walked out of her 2023 review at XYZ Global determined to “step up.” Speak more in meetings. Push harder on decisions. Stop softening her tone so she wouldn’t intimidate anyone. She did exactly that. Fast forward 12 months. Same conference room. Same 2 VPs across the table. 🔇“You’ve become too intense, need to work on softening your approach.” 😑 Amy stared at them, speechless. Wasn’t that what you asked for last year? Which version of me do you actually want? She thought about the past year: 🤔 The time she challenged a flawed budget forecast in front of the CFO, saving the company $3 million, but earning whispers that she was “abrasive.” 🤔 The time she stepped in to rescue a failing project, praised for her “grit” publicly, yet privately told she “dominated the room.” 🤔 The time she finally got invited to an executive offsite, only to overhear a VP say, “She’s great, but can be… a lot.” This is the tightrope trap senior women walk daily: • Be assertive, but not too assertive. • Be collaborative, but don’t fade into the background. • Be visible, but not “hungry.”    The same behavior praised in men (decisive, strong leader) gets women penalized as abrasive or too much. Until you set the narrative yourself, you’re trapped performing for a moving target. If you’re exhausted from balancing on a wire men don’t even see, here’s how to step off it and still rise. 1. Audit the pattern, not just the feedback • Track every piece of feedback, especially contradiction. Patterns reveal bias. If the goal keeps moving, it's not you! • Phrase to use in review: “Last year I was encouraged to increase my presence; this year I’m told to soften it. Can we clarify what success really looks like?”    2. Control the frame before the room does • Pre‑set the narrative in 1:1s and emails leading up to reviews. I.e., “This year I focused on driving results while bringing the team with me, you’ll see that reflected in project X and Y.” • This primes leadership to view your assertiveness as an intentional strategy, not a personality flaw.    3. Build echo chambers, not just results • Secure 2–3 allies who reinforce your strengths in rooms you’re not in. • Promotions happen in the absence, you need people echoing your narrative, not someone else’s. • Phrase to brief an ally: “If my leadership style comes up in review, can you speak to how I challenge decisions but still align the team?”    Women aren’t just asked to deliver results. They’re asked to perform, decode, and reframe, all while walking a wire men don’t even see. If you’re exhausted from balancing between “too soft” and “too aggressive,” stop walking the wire and start controlling the narrative. Join the waitlist of our next cohort of ⭐ From Hidden Talent to Visible Leaders ⭐ https://lnkd.in/gx7CpGGR 👊 Because leadership shouldn’t feel like an impossible balancing act.

Louder for the people at the back 🎤 Many organisations today seem to have shifted from being institutions that develop great talent to those that primarily seek ready-made talent. This trend overlooks the immense value of individuals who, despite lacking experience, possess a great attitude, commitment, and a team-oriented mindset. These qualities often outweigh the drawbacks of hiring experienced individuals with a fixed and toxic mindset. The best organisations attract talent with their best years ahead of them, focusing on potential rather than past achievements. Let’s be clear this is more about mindset and willingness to learn and unlearn as apposed to age. To realise the incredible potential return, organisations must commit to creating an environment where continuous development is possible. This requires a multi-faceted approach: 1. Robust Training Programmes: Employers should invest in comprehensive training programmes that equip employees with the necessary skills for their roles. This includes on-the-job training, mentorship programmes, online courses, and workshops. 2. Redefining Hiring Criteria: Organisations should revise their hiring criteria to focus more on candidates’ potential and willingness to learn rather than solely on prior experience or formal qualifications. Behavioural interviews, aptitude tests, and probationary periods can help assess a candidate's ability to learn and adapt. 3. Partnerships with Educational Institutions: Companies can collaborate with educational institutions to design curricula that align with industry needs. Apprenticeship programmes, internships, and cooperative education can bridge the gap between academic learning and practical job skills. 4. Lifelong Learning Culture: Encouraging a culture of lifelong learning within organisations is crucial. Employers should provide ongoing education opportunities and support for professional development. This includes continuous skills assessment and access to resources for upskilling and reskilling. 5. Inclusive Recruitment Practices: Employers should implement inclusive recruitment practices that remove biases and barriers. Blind recruitment, diversity quotas, and targeted outreach programmes can help ensure that diverse candidates are given a fair chance. By implementing these measures, organisations can develop a workforce that is adaptable, innovative, and resilient, ensuring sustainable success and growth.

Why so few female professors? 🔹97% of female professors say "barriers within academia" such as "implicit bias in evaluations, male networks and an unwelcoming academic culture" play an important role. 🔹Only 22% of male professors mention such barriers. Instead, male professors are more likely to point to "family factors" and "women's own interests and preferences". 🔹A majority of male professors shows "hesitation, uneasiness or reluctance when asked how the low proportion of female professors can be explained". Only 3% of female professors do so. These are among the key results of a study by sociologists Margaretha Järvinen and Nanna Mik-Meyer, based on 77 qualitative interviews with full professors in economics, political science, and sociology in Denmark. Moreover, the study identifies "a ‘silent standpoint’ among the participating male professors: the idea that women are generally less qualified than men as candidates for full professorships." Read the full study here: Margaretha Järvinen and Nanna Mik-Meyer (2026), The Silent Standpoint: How Professors Explain Gender Disparities in Academia, British Journal of Sociology, forthcoming: https://lnkd.in/eG6UkJ6x (open access) The quotes from the interviews in the "Supporting information" file are also quite illuminating. HT Marie Rosenkrantz Lindegaard

As we edge closer to the 2024 election I want to share what I see in my emergency room. In my emergency room, I often encounter a striking reality: many of my patients, young, lower-income, frequently without a primary care doctor, are not just there for medical emergencies. They need work notes, prescriptions, a place to sleep, a warm meal, basic care – services that unveil a deeper issue in our healthcare system and society. To me, these visits reveal something more – a glaring gap in our democratic process. There are over 60 million eligible but unregistered voters in the U.S., a number equal to the population of Spain. Turns out, they’re the same folks I see in my emergency room. When I ask these patients if they're registered to vote, most often, the answer is no, and the reason? No one ever bothered to ask them. This isn't just a missed opportunity for civic engagement; it's a reflection of a system that often overlooks the most marginalized. That neglect has consequences on the laws that make up our healthcare system. But here lies a unique chance. Our healthcare system, an intersection where various overlooked demographics converge, can be a powerful platform for civic integration. By integrating voter registration into the healthcare setting, we engage with these individuals in a trusted space, through respected figures like doctors and nurses. This is the heart of Vot-ER. In the lead up to the 2024 election, we're not just registering voters; we're inviting them into the democratic fold, a democracy that works for and represents everyone. The progress? 80,000 patients helped to vote and counting across the country. This is more than healthcare; it's about empowering voices, one patient, one voter at a time. #civichealth #2024

Hiring for culture transforms teams. Ask these 6 questions to get it right. "Hiring for culture" isn't just a buzzword: it's a game-changer. A dream team with the right dynamics can skyrocket your productivity and retention. But here's the million-dollar question: How do you find that perfect person? The one who complements and enhances your current team dynamic? I used to struggle with this. Early in my entrepreneurial journey, I hired someone who looked perfect on paper but clashed with our team culture. The tension affected productivity and morale. That experience taught me the importance of looking beyond skills and focusing on cultural fit. Today, I'm fortunate to have an incredible team working with me. Here are my top 5 questions to uncover whether someone aligns with company culture: 1/ Describe a work environment that you've loved. What made it special? ↳ This reveals what they value in a workplace. 2/ Tell me about a time you disagreed with a company decision. How did you handle it? ↳ Their response shows how they navigate conflicts and communicate concerns. 3/ What's the most creative idea you've implemented in one of your previous roles? ↳ This shows how they solve problems and take initiative. 4/ How do you prefer to receive feedback, and how often? ↳ This highlights their openness to growth and communication preferences. 5/ Can you share an example of a mistake you've made at work and how you handled it? ↳ This reveals their accountability, problem-solving approach, and ability to learn from errors. BONUS: A powerhouse question from Simon Sinek: 6/ "I hate surprises. Can you tell me something that might go wrong now so that I'm not surprised in the future?" This question is a game-changer. It: ↳ Tests honesty and self-awareness ↳ Reveals how candidates approach potential challenges ↳ Gives insight into their understanding of the role and industry ↳ Opens up a meaningful dialogue about expectations and problem-solving By asking these questions, you're not just assessing skills: You're evaluating how well a candidate will integrate into your team and contribute to your company culture. What would you add to this list? Let me know below ⬇️ ♻️ These 6 interview questions aren't your typical ones: Share this post to help your network build stronger teams. 🔔 Follow me, Jen Blandos, for daily business tips.

Productivity looks impressive on a dashboard. Responsibility builds something deeper. Over time, I have learnt that hitting targets is not the same as taking ownership. You can have a team that delivers every metric and still misses the mark. Because real growth does not come from doing more. It comes from doing what matters and owning it completely. Responsibility shows up in the quiet moments. When someone stays late to fix a mistake no one else saw. When a client issue is resolved without it ever becoming an escalation. When team members hold themselves accountable without being asked. Productivity asks, “Did we finish the work?” Responsibility asks, “Did we care enough to do it right?” One builds short-term wins. The other builds long-term culture. So yes, I value productivity. But what I build for is responsibility. That is what sustains everything else. #Productivity #Strategy #Culture #Leadership

LinkedIn asks you to post today to celebrate "a woman who's made an impact on your career." But these kinds of posts, even earnestly written, tend to leave us feeling hollow. If we're looking for real progress towards fairness and equality at work, here's what to do instead: 🪴 Did you know that if there's only one woman on a shortlist of qualified candidates, she has a whopping 0% chance of being hired? Simply expanding shortlists to include more than one woman (and for that matter, people from historically marginalized communities) helps counter biased decision-making. 📋 Standardized process can be a surprisingly easy way to mitigate bias. Structured interviewing, standardized skill-based assessments directly related to job tasks, and standardized scoring rubrics can make comparisons across candidates more fair and substantially reduce subtle gender discrimination. 🌻 Incentivize flexibility for ALL workers, not just women. In a vacuum, harmful norms may arise that imply these arrangements are only utilized by those who "don't value their careers as much," penalizing workers of all genders. Celebrate senior leaders, especially men, who model greater flexibility and wellbeing so that all workers are licensed to do the same. 🔍 Conduct a pay equity audit, seeking to examine not only outcomes like total compensation, but also distribution of candidates across roles. If men and women in the same role are getting paid similarly, but women are dramatically overclustered in low-paying roles, you've still got a problem. ❤️🩹 Create an anonymous and/or informal process to report and addressing discrimination and harassment. A lower-stakes way to address harm, in addition to training bystander intervention and modelling respectful communication, accountability, and timely feedback from the top, can mitigate daily harms for all workers. Some folks hesitate to push for these practices because they feel more committing than just posting on social media. They're right — because with more effort comes more impact. So reach out to a few of your colleagues and advocates within your workplace to work together on pushing for these changes. Ten posts in isolation pale in comparison to the impact ten peoples' collective organizing might have on your workplace and everyone in it! Remember: International Women's Day is a chance for us not just to celebrate women, but to sharpen our advocacy alongside women, to build a future that's better, brighter, and more fair for all of us.

Most relationships don’t die from conflict. They die from lack of context. We all know this truth: The quality of your life is deeply tied to the quality of your relationships. But here’s something we don’t talk about enough: The speed with which we build trust in those relationships can be a game-changing advantage. And the not-so-secret key to speeding up trust? Context. When I’ve taken the time to offer context—about what I’m feeling, why I’m acting a certain way, or where I’m coming from—relationships have almost always deepened. When I haven’t? They’ve often faded. Or worse, broken. And it usually happens slowly. Two people talk every day. But over time, the conversations flatten. Not because they care less, but because they stopped sharing context. And when that context fades, connection quietly disappears too. No matter what kind of relationship—friendship, work, family, romantic—when context is missing, connection starts to wither. And when context is shared, even simple moments turn meaningful. Let me show you what I mean. ⸻ Conversation A Alex: Hey, how’s it going? Jordan: All good. You? Alex: Can’t complain. They smile. Maybe chat a bit. But nothing meaningful gets exchanged. It’s polite. Safe. And very forgettable. If this becomes a repeated pattern, the relationship starts to erode. Not because of malice. But because of a lack of shared context. Now flip it. ⸻ Conversation B Alex: Hey, how’s it going? Jordan: Honestly? I’m okay, but a little off today. Alex: Oh? Say more! Jordan: I’ve been juggling too much. Work’s fine, but I feel like I’m constantly reacting instead of thinking deeply. It’s starting to wear on me. Alex: I know exactly what you mean—I felt that way for weeks. Want me to share what helped? … That tiny bit of vulnerability changed everything. The conversation didn’t just pass time. It built trust. It added context. And it strengthened connection. It gave the other person a texture of what you are thinking and feeling. ⸻ We often hold back from sharing what we’re really feeling because we assume it’s “too much” or “too boring.” We say to ourselves, why would that even be interesting to the other person. They are going through so much. But here’s the thing: You’re not oversharing. You’re not burdening them. You’re letting someone in. You’re giving them a map of your life. A deeper understanding. A chance to really know you. If someone cares about you—and wants to build something real with you—context isn’t noise. It’s essential nourishment. One conversation with context might be interesting. But 50 conversations with context? That’s how trust and familiarity is built to create a strong bond. That’s how teams click. That’s how friendships last. So remember this: Don’t deprive people of context. You’re not just talking about your day. You’re building something that will enrich both your lives. Set context. It matters. And it’s one of the most generous—and underrated—gifts we can give each other.

In healthcare, what’s often hailed as new is, in fact, old. More often than not, we’re simply renaming long-standing ideas with fresh terminology. Take social determinants of health, for example. Many in the industry believe we’ve only recently begun to consider social factors in healthcare. Not true. Back in the 1980s, organizations like SCAN participated in the pioneering Social HMO demonstration project, which integrated social services to improve health outcomes. The benefits? Homemaker services, personal care, adult day care, respite care, and medical transportation. Sound familiar? Another example: value-based care. It’s often pitched as a revolutionary approach to healthcare payment. Again—not new. For decades, organizations have operated under full-risk and global capitation models. Think Kaiser Permanente, Atrius Health, Healthcare Partners, CareMore, and Heritage. These groups assumed full financial risk for patient populations long before the term “value-based care” entered the lexicon. The principles haven’t changed—only the branding has. And what about ethnic-focused health plans? Some view them as a recent innovation. But they’re not. Plans like Chinese Community Health Plan, Central Health Plan, and Brand New Day have long catered to specific ethnic communities, designing benefits tailored to their unique needs. These models didn’t just appear—they were built over time with intentionality and cultural insight. The takeaway? History matters. We should study it. Learn from it. Build on it. Understanding the past helps us avoid repeating its mistakes—and helps us build a better, more effective system. Yet in today’s healthcare innovation economy, history is often erased in favor of a shinier narrative. Claims of being “first,” “best,” or “most innovative” drown out the real story. But progress doesn’t come from pretending we’re starting from scratch—it comes from standing on the shoulders of those who came before us. Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it. It’s one reason healthcare can feel like it’s stuck in a loop: too often, what’s marketed as innovation is just a reboot of old ideas. Respecting history isn’t nostalgic. It’s strategic. What truly matters is execution—and a relentless drive to improve on what came before. But that improvement begins with knowing and respecting all that came before us.

How does cultural awareness elevate your leadership impact? Cultural awareness has become a vital skill for effective leadership. As leaders, it's crucial to understand and appreciate the diverse cultures within our teams and organizations. In doing so, we can nurture an inclusive environment, ignite innovation, and propel business success. How can we develop cultural awareness and become more effective leaders in a diverse workplace? Here are some key points to consider: 1️⃣ Embrace curiosity. Cultivate a genuine interest in learning about different cultures, customs, and perspectives. Challenge your assumptions and expand your worldview. 2️⃣ Prioritize active listening. Actively listen to your team members, giving them space to share their experiences and viewpoints. Create a safe environment for open dialogue and encourage diverse voices to be heard. 3️⃣ Educate yourself. Invest in continuous learning about different cultures, beliefs, and practices. Attend workshops, engage in cross-cultural training, and read books/articles to deepen your understanding. 4️⃣ Be adaptable and flexible. Recognize that there are no one-size-fits-all approaches in leadership. Adapt your leadership style to accommodate the needs and preferences of diverse individuals and teams. 5️⃣ Foster cultural intelligence. Develop your cultural intelligence by valuing diversity, being aware of your own biases, and leveraging cultural differences as strengths to fuel creativity and innovation. Incorporating these strategies enables the creation of a workplace culture that celebrates diversity, promotes inclusion, and ultimately drives better business outcomes. Let's embrace the power of cultural awareness in leadership and become the transformative leaders our organizations need in today's global landscape. #Leadership #DiversityandInclusion #FutureOfWork #Humanresources ***************************** 👉 Follow me for more leadership and practical insights on building high-performing teams. 👉 Ring the 🔔 for notifications.