When I transitioned my decades of experience in IT and service delivery into a consulting career, the first company I took on brought me face-to-face with the most significant business challenge I encountered before or since. My objectives were simple and success seemed largely inevitable, but then catastrophe struck. The young Owner and CEO died in a diving accident.

Only when faced with this crisis were the perceived simple flaws in the company culture revealed for the massive structural cracks they, in fact, were. I wanted to give up on consulting! I feared I’d never be able to protect an organization from the toxic people in the world.

But instead, I dove in.

The repercussions of that experience crystallized my already strong belief – culture is everything in an organization, even above strategy! It’s what sets you up for success, and it can absolutely make or break you.

From that moment on, I vowed I would never again let any client suffer this kind of destruction because of a poorly seeded, undernourished, or simply undefined culture.

Addressing organizational culture would always be the first initiative tackled at the onset of any engagement.

Only after taking this stance was I able to see the extraordinary strength and cohesiveness that results from aligning your people with a clearly defined and well-nurtured culture. It becomes a competitive advantage for the organization that is nearly unbeatable.

Culture is at the heart of my first book Getting To The Next Level, and it is the subject of my keynote presentation and second book The Culture Imperative. With these, my aim is to educate and catalyze culture transformation for any organization in my sphere of impact.

Today, I continue to help teams and organizations pull back the curtain to reveal the true nature of the culture they've cultivated, and then guide them to transform it into a positive, cohesive one by simply laying the Cornerstones of Culture™.

Keynote Topics & Takeaways

What’s thriving in your organization?
Culture or Toxiculture?

Every day, organizations of all sizes deal with a toxic culture. But it’s only when faced with significant adversity that the true toxicity is discovered. And by then, it’s too late.

The Culture Conundrum

How do you align your people with your purpose? And how do you get everyone on your team pulling in the same direction and chanting the same chant?

The Culture Perspective

The size of your organization does not determine whether you need your people to be aligned to a strong cohesive culture. ALL organizations need alignment to culture.

The Culture Impasse

If you neglect the culture, or simply allow it to grow from the bottom up, you will inevitably find yourself at an impasse, and you will not get to the next level.

The Culture Imperative

Culture is everything in an organization, even above strategy. It’s what sets you up for success, and it can absolutely make or break the business. Get it right and massive if not stratospheric success is possible. Get it wrong and nothing less than the entire organization is at stake.

The Cornerstones of Culture™

The cornerstones of culture give us the framework to build a solid, strong, and cohesive culture that can propel any organization to stratospheric success.

Shared Vision

Vision is not Mission – It’s a view of how the world could be if we succeed. Vision is what your team couples to, gets passionate about; it’s what makes them feel like what they do in the world matters.

The Mission

Mission is not Vision – It’s the 20-mile march. A clearly defined Mission focuses all efforts and energy like a laser to attain the Vision. It makes the team cohesive and strong.

The Human Element

This is the most valuable resource we have – It is the manifestation of our internal passion, dedication, and drive. Recognize it, nurture it, lean into it, and embrace it!

Core Values

Values matter! – They can’t be bought, sold, bypassed, or compromised. They ultimately determine who gets in, who doesn’t, who gets to stay, and who has to go!