We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sherril Harris a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Sherril thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about the best advice you’ve ever given to a client?

“Don’t leave your culture to create itself.” – this is the advice I gave to Tracey, an executive leader at a business struggling with a revolving door of talent and (no surprise) unhappy customers.

Your company’s culture should not be a haphazard byproduct of operations but a deliberate and strategic element of your business. Company culture is the invisible force that shapes employee behavior, engagement, and ultimately, the success of an organization. When left to develop on its own, culture can become fragmented, misaligned with the company’s goals, and even toxic.

Such was the case in Tracey’s company. While she had done the hard thing, terminating a manager who had gotten results but had long been identified as problematic, the trust gap left in the wake of that decision was creating dysfunction at almost every touchpoint of their customer experience. As kind of a ‘mea culpa’, Tracey had promoted an untested but well-liked team member into the vacancy and was now feeling frustrated and confused by how things seemed to be getting worse instead of better. The problem was the lack of an intentional road map out of the dysfunction.

When companies aren’t intentional about creating, maintaining, and innovating their culture rather than leaving it to spring up organically, more often than not, they end up with something resembling a bunch of people in a lifeboat trying to survive instead of a mission driven team inspired to grow and thrive. In the case of Tracey’s business, while what appeared to be the obvious problem had been removed their team had long ago lost sight of their “why” and no one had risked innovating anything in quite a while for fear of failure and its perceived consequences. They were mentally locked in Survival Mode.

One of the optimal times for a cultural reboot is in the wake of a big change or when anticipating one. Here are four steps we implemented at Tracey’s business to rebuild their culture and how these steps might look at your business.

Redefine and Communicate Your Company’s Core Values

The first step in creating a deliberate culture is defining your core values. These values should reflect what your company stands for and guide the behavior of your employees. Once defined, these values need to be communicated clearly and consistently across all levels of the organization.

When Tracey’s business opened 20 years ago core values had been defined but somewhere along the way, they became just words on a plaque in the customer lounge. We gathered Tracey’s new leadership team for a day to redefine their core values, which included innovation, collaboration, heart-centered service, and work-life balance, through the lens of today’s mission. The team believed these values would not only differentiate them in the market but also create an environment where employees could thrive. Then we turned these values into a roadmap that would take them where they wanted to go and keep them from driving into ditches again.

An example of how you might integrate a core value of ‘innovation’ in your business might be to highlight it in your mission statement. Celebrating innovation (problem-solving) through daily practices like huddles and recognition programs can help rewire current teams while reinforcing this value during onboarding can ensure the seamless integration of new team members. This is exactly what we implemented at Tracey’s company.

Create Systems and Rituals that Reinforce Your Culture

Establishing systems and rituals that align with your core values helps to embed these values into the fabric of the organization. These can include regular team-building activities, recognition programs, and performance reviews that emphasize cultural alignment as much as technical skills.

If your company values ‘teamwork’ you might implement monthly cross-departmental projects to encourage collaboration. Similarly, a firm that prioritizes continuous learning could offer regular training sessions and workshops, fostering a culture of growth and development.

At Tracey’s company, we established a revolving committee with representatives from all touchpoints along the customer journey. Once a month they would come together over breakfast an hour before the business opened to troubleshoot and innovate. Then each was rewarded with 2 hours back to use at their discretion thus honoring the company’s new value of work-life balance.

Lead by Example

As Tracey’s company had learned the hard way, leadership plays a pivotal role in shaping and sustaining company culture. Leaders must embody the values and behaviors they wish to see in their employees. When leaders consistently demonstrate commitment to the company’s values, it sets a powerful example and establishes a standard for others to follow.

If ‘transparency’ is a core value at your company, leaders should practice open communication, share relevant information with their teams, and encourage meaningful feedback. This behavior creates a culture of trust and openness, where employees feel valued and heard.

Learning from the past, psychological safety was to be a priority moving forward at Tracey’s company so we leveraged their value of heart-centered service to create feedback loops that would give team members a way to safely flag potential leadership issues early while not taking any one leader on directly.

Invite Emotions into the Culture Change Process

One often overlooked yet powerful component of deliberate culture creation is inviting teams to use their emotions in the process. Emotions play a crucial role in driving engagement and commitment. When employees are encouraged to express their feelings, it leads to a deeper connection with the company’s values and goals.

Leaders who demonstrate empathy and emotional intelligence can better understand and address the concerns and aspirations of their team members. This approach fosters a sense of belonging and psychological safety, which are critical for a healthy culture.

At Tracey’s business, I introduced them to a simple card deck I love which helps people develop their emotional literacy. We used it in the day-long gathering of leaders when we redefined their culture and again with their employees to allow them to contribute their thoughts and ideas for how we would hold their new value palette in place.

At your business, it might be something as simple as asking ‘feelings questions’ at your daily huddle or weekly meeting. How do we want our customers to feel today/ this week? How are we going to make them feel that?

I believe that every company can create a “love to work here” culture. The key lies in intentionality. Don’t leave your culture to create itself. Take advantage of change to redefine it and strengthen it. Consciously define and share your core values, lead by example, establish systems and rituals that reinforce these values, and invite emotions into the process. Commit to this and you will not only build a culture that supports your business goals but also creates a thriving workplace where employees are motivated, engaged, and eager to contribute to the company’s success.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I grew up listening to my dad and his friends complain about how much they hated their jobs. Then I entered the workforce in the era of Drew Carey and his riff on work, “Oh, you hate your job? Why didn’t you say so? There’s a support group for that. It’s called EVERYBODY, and they meet at the bar.”

As you might imagine this did not make the prospect of adulthood very inviting. Which was a shame because I fell in love with earning money the first time I exchanged that magical green paper for a professional haircut that liberated me from the crooked bangs and eyebrow nicks served up monthly by my mother’s kitchen scissoring.

Entrepreneurial by nature, I started my first business at age 11 – a subscription model that offered services for all seasons: Dog walking (Summer), leaf raking (Autumn), snow shoveling (Winter), and grass mowing (Spring.) If you are thinking, Sherril, one of these things is not like the others, consider that the dog walking was a daily offering, and I was in school 5 days a week the other three seasons of the year.

For most of the stuff that didn’t involve dogs (because I was determined that work would not suck for me), I subcontracted out to the neighborhood 7- to 10-year-olds. But, little perfectionist, micromanaging mini-me was not fun to work for so I had a turnover problem. First hard lesson in business ~ Moral is a reflection of leadership and underdeveloped leaders can make work suck.

There would be about 30 or so years and a lot of memorable milestones before I would figure out that my calling was Emotional Intelligence and Human Connection but along the way, there would be a lot of hints.

I would build a thriving, multifaceted career in luxury goods and television where I would learn what motivates someone to buy a $15,000 dress, or a $100,000+ automobile, or a canoe at 3 AM. Spoiler alert: It’s how you make them feel.

While living out of a suitcase 100+ days a year, shooting live TV outside in storm season, and dishing up endless smiles while neck deep in frigid sea water, I’d learn that if you love the people you are working with and for, work can feel less like a job and more like a gathering of friends around a shared purpose.

Decades before I would get my CPC (Certified Professional Coach) through IPEC (Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching) or study Cognitive Neuroscience or Emotional Intelligence I would counsel an endless parade of people at a crossroads.

You see, before the Interweb or smartphones or the blue-shirted saviors at the mall, I was your go-to solution for “connection issues.” And within the imaginary walls of my pop-up confessional, I’d discover two important things. There is something about a judgment-free zone that charges the atmosphere with possibility and most people already have what they seek if you know how to ask the right questions.

A lifelong contractor and entrepreneur, I had found the workaround for “work sucks” but it wasn’t until I started training sales professionals and business leaders struggling to stay ahead of change that, you could say, I felt the first heartbeat of a calling.

I was able to treat myself to a lot of expensive haircuts as a corporate trainer helping leaders learn the best ways to cultivate “customer love” but when I tried to explore love in the workplace it was met with contempt or alarmed looks from the HR Department.

And then the most wonderful thing happened. I got bounced off a gig by a client who felt triggered by my methodology.

When it happened, I was contracting for an amazing little gem of a firm that specialized in helping companies elevate their customer experience. Working with them was one of the highlights of my career. They “got” me, and I was lit up by how far ahead of the curve they were for the time.

Among the brilliant leadership at that company was a man who gave me some of the best direction I have ever received. He said, “Sherril, if you don’t get thrown off a contract every once in a while, then you’re not advocating hard enough for your client.”

I made that my mantra and started going rogue with all of my clients.

With fingers crossed behind my back I’d promise, “Yes, I will teach your team how to deliver exceptional customer service and no, I will not touch your culture”…wink. And then I’d find a way to slip in through the back door. of their culture.

And that is when things got really interesting.

It has always been my custom to invite the people I serve to reach out to me with their success stories. And they would but it wasn’t how my workshops had enhanced their bottom line that had them itching to share.

Of course, they were connecting more effectively with customers and co-workers, crushing KPI, and swimming in referrals but at home, it was nothing short of miraculous.

They were tabling topics long avoided, resuscitating relationships, rectifying old wounds, and pulling exciting new possibilities through the cracks we had created in their old realities. They were letting go of the limitations of their recycled pasts and stepping into their highest potential.

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And that’s when I understood…

The problem isn’t work, it’s people. Sometimes people suck, even the most well-meaning among us but when we elevate our emotional intelligence, we gain the skills and confidence to transform any situation.

Healthy relationships bring out the best in ourselves and others. They are the connective tissue of our lives.

Having worked with everyone from C-Suite executives reimagining their customer interface to front-line workers in a bread factory facing downsizing, I can tell you this: Meaningful connections, conscious communication, and coherence between the heart and mind- these are the elements that empower us to show up every day as our best selves, no matter the challenge before us, and thrive in both work and life.

Helping leaders thrive through connection, communication, and coherence – that’s my passion.

And that business that had bounced me out? They invited me back 6 months later. Turns out they had tried some of my suggestions purely out of curiosity, and guess what? They had gotten amazing results.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

The lesson I had to unlearn was “look for who is successful in your field and follow their roadmap for.” Sadly, I had to discover the hard way that there is no one-size-fits-all route to success. As with everything else in life, it’s deeply individual.

When I first started building my speaking business, I joined a wonderful community of professional speakers all of whom were very generous with their time. Drunk on this bounty of tried and true wisdom I went on endless coffee dates, hopeful and eager.

I remember one coffee meeting in particular where a gentleman who had found success leveraging the relationships he already had in an industry he was well acquainted with informed me that I’d be crazy if I didn’t do the same.

He was emphatic in his stance and seemed deeply concerned for me when I told him I wasn’t at all interested in cultivating the industry I was closest to at the time. He impatiently dismissed as ludicrous my declaration that a motivator for pursuing a speaking career had been to liberate myself from that very industry. It ended early and awkwardly with me fleeing the scene and driving home in tears.

Next came the woman who insisted that I pick one topic I wanted to talk about for the rest of my life and stick to it. One of the things I have enjoyed most in my professional life was regular reinvention. I feel called to something, I explore it, master it, and then mutate. The idea of spending the next 30+ years talking about the same thing felt like a fate worse than death.

Next was someone I’ll call “the funnel guy.” He graciously shared his intricate system of sales funnels and social media ad buys that had served him well but left me feeling like a fish out of water with a hangover. There was nothing even remotely appealing to me about this method and yet I lost sleep over whether or not I was leaving money on the table by not giving it a go even as I watched others from my circle try and fail at his system. That not to say his sytem wasn’t awesome. It just wasn’t the right fit for everybody.

Five years and tens of thousands of wasted investment dollars later what worked for me was referrals and relationship building. I now have two signature talks and several workshops that all fit neatly under the umbrella of Emotional Intelligence and Human Connection. While they share a common core the goal and audience for each is different.

What’s been working for me is investing my time and money in developing a superior product that is so effective that my clients can’t help but ask me back and tell others about me.

In marketing any business today there are lots of roads to success but not every road is yours. Don’t be afraid to follow your own path and give yourself space to experiment until you find what works best for you. And if anyone tries to tell you that their way is THE way – remember this: Always order your coffee in a to-go cup so you can run with it.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

While there are so many factors that contribute to keeping morale high in teams the most common disruptors I’m seeing right now are a loss of connection to impact and trust in leadership.

We’ve all been feeling the churn of a lot of change these last few years and there appears to be no off-ramp in sight. Particularly at this moment, it is essential for leaders to be transparent with their teams and keep them connected to their individual contributions.

When team members understand what’s behind a change, how it will ultimately benefit them, and why what they do is important to its success it activates a sense of shared purpose.

All too often I see leaders speak in general terms like – “we need to meet customers where they are now”- which means nothing to me as an individual. But let’s say I am in sales and you, as my leaders, come to the team to explain how a specific competitor(s) is doing something differently that appears to be taking customers away from our company. You show me what the impact of that is and what will happen if nothing changes. Now, I get the urgency and I am not walking around feeling insecure or getting pulled into catastrophizing gossip at the water cooler.

Instead, I feel empowered to explore what I might do differently to retain them or win them back. This is the point where great leaders fully leverage the experience and knowledge of each team member. When team members feel personally invested and truly understand what’s at stake, it brings out a whole different level of commitment, in my experience.

And it isn’t just about the front line of the touchpoints. Everyone who supports that touchpoint needs to be re-energized. For instance, continuing with the example above, how can the person in accounting think differently about their impact on the customer? What might they be able to do differently that will have a measurable impact somewhere in the chain of service that ultimately leads to customer attraction and/or retention?

Leaders need to be specific, transparent, and able to inspire, which is why solid leadership development is one of the most important investments any company can make right now. AI can do a lot of valuable things for business, but it can’t replace that feeling we get when someone makes us feel seen, heard, and valued and there is no greater motivating force than that.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sherrilharris.com
• Instagram: sherrilharris.speaker
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sherril-harris/