Most business leaders see their job as managing results. Results are important, but they’re only half the leaders’ job. The other half? Managing respect. Our experience and research lead us to this core truth of business leadership: Employes of all generations desire and deserve a work culture where they are respected and validated for their aligne…

We’re not yet over the “Great Resignation.” The latest job report indicates that another 4.2 million US workers voluntarily quit in August 2022. LinkedIn’s 2022 Workforce Confidence Index found that nearly 25 percent of Gen-Z respondents and Millennials plan to change jobs in the next six months. This study found that Gen-Zs and Millennials deliber…

A month ago, the term “quiet quitting” hadn’t made much of a mark. A social media post on the concept went viral – and now everyone is talking about it. I was delighted to join BBC News’ The Context broadcast and speak to host Nuala McGovern about quiet quitting – and how business leaders can address it. This podcast includes the audio from the liv…

Companies around the globe are short-staffed. Leaders have tried to boost hiring through higher wages and even bonuses, but staffing shortages continue. The problem? Many business leaders want to return to the “old normal” but employees and candidates don’t want “old normal.” A new Deloitte study found the top four things Gen-Y and Gen-Z workers wa…

About that title? We’ll get to Bruno in a minute. The foundational principle of our book, Good Comes First, is that today’s leaders must make RESPECT as important as RESULTS, every day. My colleague and co-author, Mark Babbitt, and I were keynoting a conference. In our presentation, we share this fundamental model - the Performance-Values Matrix. O…

Most of you know me as a speaker, writer, and consultant. Some of you know that I’m a working musician on the side. I grew up in California in the ’50’s and ’60’s. I watched great artists playing cool guitars - and I fell in love with stringed instruments. I’ve been collecting them since college. To stay healthy, stringed instruments need one thing…

In our new book, Good Comes First, co-author Mark Babbitt and I propose four culture cornerstones that are the foundation of an uncompromising work culture. These cornerstones help align people and practices to your ideal work culture. Our first cornerstone, “Live Our Servant Purpose,” enables leaders, employees, contractors, and even customers to …

Business leaders today have a lot on their minds – and on their plates. They juggle hiring challenges. Mask mandates. Retaining talented players. Vaccine guidelines. Supply chain issues. Generating revenue. All these tasks are demanding, requiring attention and intention every minute. Yes, these are important considerations in today’s business envi…

I’m old. Over the years, back and neck pain caused me to hold my neck & shoulders & back very tightly – so moving wouldn’t hurt. Those tight muscles learned to be inflexible and immovable – so I wouldn’t hurt. Muscles are incredibly powerful. If they learn to be inflexible and immovable, they act like bones – firm and solid. That firmness causes mu…

I’m reflecting on an anniversary this month. Twenty-eight years ago this month I had a heart attack. It was not how I planned to spend the day. Thanks to exceptional health professionals, dedicated family, and the grace of God, I survived. Like many others who have experienced a significant health issue, my heart attack caused me to reflect on my l…

If you’re trying to hire staff right now, you’re not having fun. The US Federal Reserve Bank in September estimated that the average time required to fill an open job rose from 20 days to 50 days over the previous four months. And a new global McKinsey study found that 40% of respondents are somewhat likely to quit in the next three to six months. …

Years ago, a friend received some brilliant leadership advice from a mentor. The mentor said, “How you treat people today becomes conversation around their dinner table tonight.” Today, it’s not just dinner table conversations that leaders need to be aware of. It’s Glassdoor.com and social media platforms where examples of great or lousy leadership…

Today’s video features Good Comes First book co-authors Mark Babbitt and yours truly discussing a core foundation of a purposeful, positive, productive work culture. Here’s an excerpt. Mark: “I often say, Chris, that most of what I learned about leadership was on the baseball field as a coach for three decades now. On the diamond, I learned that if…

Today’s podcast features Good Comes First book co-authors Mark Babbitt and Chris Edmonds discussing a core foundation of uncompromising work cultures - making values measurable AND socially relevant. Here’s an excerpt. Chris: “What I find when I, you and I both experienced that as we work with leaders to help them define what values mean, what does…

Today’s video features Good Comes First book co-authors Mark Babbitt and yours truly discussing what it takes to build and sustain an uncompromising work culture. Here’s an excerpt. Chris: Once leaders get to a stage where they realize “This is not sustainable. We’re not going to be able to attract the kind of talent we need. We’re not going to be …

Today’s video features Good Comes First book co-authors Mark Babbitt and Chris Edmonds discussing what it takes to build and sustain an uncompromising work culture. Here’s an excerpt. Mark: Chris, in the book we talk about not just what it takes for leaders to become change champions, but how to build a team that will support, live, model a good co…

Today’s video features Good Comes First book co-authors Mark Babbitt and Chris Edmonds (yours truly) discussing what it takes to build and sustain an uncompromising work culture. Here’s an excerpt. Mark: “Let’s talk about this ‘old normal, new normal.’ What we’re doing with Good Comes First is creating a new normal or creating a means by which to g…

Today’s video features Good Comes First book co-authors Mark Babbitt and me discussing what it takes to build and sustain an uncompromising work culture. Here’s an excerpt. Mark: Chris, a question I get often is not so much why this book, but why now? We’re coming out of this strange phase of business with a pandemic. And so, what does why now mean…

I’m grateful to tell you about my upcoming book, Good Comes First. Written with the amazing Mark Babbitt, Good Comes First is a practical, step-by-step guide to creating a work culture that’s better for morale and for your bottom line. For decades, business leaders around the globe have spent billions of dollars and countless hours attempting to im…

If you’ve been following my thinking over the past 20+ years, you know I coach senior leaders to define their desired culture, align their desired culture, and refine their desired culture. Defining your desired culture is the easy part. Aligning and refining demands that leaders lean on the accountability lever, holding leaders and team members th…

For decades, talented people have tolerated old-school leaders that put results before respect. Now is the time for leaders to create a work culture where good comes first for every employee—in every interaction – and where the doing of good leads directly to improved productivity, better customer service, increased retention rates, passionate empl…

What is your stress level? What are your employees’ stress levels? The pandemic has placed tremendous burdens on every human—and every company – on the planet. Closed businesses and lost jobs have taken a significant toll on the economy and human wellbeing. Stress is at an all-time high. A 2020 Harris Poll found that US adults’ average stress level…

You measure results religiously. How often do you measure how well you and your company’s formal leaders treat others in your work culture? Just as you measure progress towards desired results regularly, you must measure progress towards desired respect regularly. You must gather objective feedback through regular assessments – at least twice annua…

The 2020 election presents a constitutional opportunity for the USA. Voter turnout - about 65% as of today's counts - is the highest it's been here in over 100 years! And - that high mark here falls short of the voter participation in other developed countries like Belgium (87% in 2014), Sweden (82% in 2014), and Denmark (80% in 2015). Our states h…

Us Westerners have the unfortunate tendency to link our identity to what we do for a living. “I’m a plumber,” one says, or “I’m a teacher,” another says. When someone asks me what I do – often on an airplane – I might answer, “I’m a speaker,” or “I’m an author,” or “I’m an executive consultant.” I’m answering truthfully; those are things I do. Ofte…

The pandemic has caused immeasurable harm to the economy. Some businesses are operating at 50% capacity while others are closing – or are on the verge. Some employees are able to work from home while many have been laid off. And social injustice and racial inequity are at the forefront. These issues can no longer be ignored – in our society, in our…

In July 2020, results of an investigation reveal multiple current and former employees of The Ellen Degeneres Show reporting racism, bullying, sexual harassment, and intimidation by executive producers and other senior staff. Her show is deep in a crisis of culture. Ellen herself was not the cause of the toxic environment – but she was insulated fr…

How often do you receive praise or recognition at work? We’ve had bosses that expressed gratitude well and bosses that never did it. To understand the impact of expressed gratitude, let’s look at three common types: praise, recognition, and validation. By praise, I mean the communication of appreciation for a person’s ideas, efforts, or contributio…

This is an important point in time for our country’s republic. Society is bent, if not broken. George Floyd’s death has generated international protests - most of them peaceful, calling for an end to racial bias and discrimination from police. Society has a bigger problem, I believe - and the time has come to address the broader implications of dis…

We’re living in unprecedented times. With non-essential businesses closed and many people working from home, the world of work looks very different than it did three months ago. The demands on folks working from home are extensive. Besides experiencing anxiety about the well-being of their family, friends, and community, team members are juggling m…

New data coming out of Wuhan is showing that Covid-19 may be far deadlier than originally thought. Moreover, none of us knows what our economy will look like after the virus has run its course (or, more optimistically, after a vaccine is implemented.) The big, glaring takeaway? As leaders, we can no longer arrange our thinking and actions around cr…

Does your work culture amp up stress – or does it purge stress? Stress is an emotion that’s created by limbo. If team members don’t know answers to questions like, “What should I do?” or “What if x, y, or z happens?“, they experience greater stress. Greater stress means they can’t act. They can’t move forward. And they worry about every single bad …

To what degree does your organization demonstrate service to others? As part of my consulting work with senior leadership teams, I help them define their company’s servant purpose - a concise statement of what their company does, for whom, and “to what end.” The “to what end” piece is critical because it describes how what their company does improv…

To what degree might rudeness impact team performance - and team member performance - in your workplace? Rudeness and incivility is rampant in our organizations. A 2013 study featured in the Harvard Business Review found that 98% of employees reported experiencing incivility at work by bosses and peers. Individual reactions to incivility include: 4…

Here’s a hypothetical situation. One of your good friend’s oldest child is looking for a new job. This friend tells you that his daughter is considering applying to a number of organizations, including your company. The friend asks you a vital question: “Is your company a great place to work?” For many of us, we’d have a tough time giving our compa…

Does your workplace treat men differently than women? Your initial reaction might be, “My company pays women less than men.” Pay inequity is an issue that is gaining attention, though too few organizations are taking aggressive steps to solve that gap. Our challenge is that women experience greater workplace gaps than just salary. TINYpulse’s new G…

Are you a great partner, at work and in life, to those around you? Relationships with our work peers, friends, family, neighbors, or even strangers are not always healthy. Yet numerous research studies provide indisputable evidence that positive relationships lead to greater well-being and longer life. Most of us humans realize that we could serve …

I am often asked about my three-phase culture refinement process. Today I’ll share how the third phase – “refine” – ensures the effective evolution of your purposeful, positive, productive work culture. My approach is founded on this hard fact – senior leaders must drive and champion their organization’s culture. They are ultimately responsible for…

I am often asked about my three-phase culture refinement process. Today I’ll share how the second phase – “align” – creates commitment for your purposeful, positive, productive work culture. My approach is founded on this hard fact – senior leaders must drive and champion their organization’s culture. They are ultimately responsible for clarity of …

I am often asked about my three-phase culture refinement process. Today I’ll share how the first phase – the “define” stage – creates a foundation for your purposeful, positive, productive work culture. My approach is founded on this hard fact – senior leaders must drive and champion their organization’s culture. They are ultimately responsible for…

When leaders find undeniable data that their work culture is bent or broken, they must address the problem immediately. In recent days, two highly-regarded work cultures have been faced with such undeniable data. In one case, 16 US Marines were arrested on their Southern California base, on suspicion of drug offenses and smuggling of undocumented m…

How healthy is your work culture? The reality is that senior leaders can’t improve their work culture unless they understand the real condition of their current work culture. Here are three ways to solve that problem. First, ask. This is an informal way of gathering information about cultural health. One of my clients spends three hours a week to “…

Creating an inclusive culture requires shifts in thinking, recruiting, hiring, and operating. Our biases are not obvious to us – yet these biases inhibit the creation of truly diverse and productive work cultures. I’m always looking for unique, healthy work cultures. I learned about Five Points Academy through an insightful TechCrunch article by Ke…

The leader’s most powerful tool boils down to two compelling words: “Thank you.” Before you dismiss this idea, let’s look at the science behind the expression of gratitude – in our homes, schools, communities, and workplaces. Author, professor, and scientist Robert Emmons shares research that found people that practice gratitude enjoy significant p…

How do leaders in your organization keep their “fingers on the pulse” of the employee experience? To stay in tune with employee perceptions and with the employee experience, leaders must make “being attuned” a priority. They must invest time and energy regularly to ask, learn, and modify. First, ask. There are a number of effective ways to gain rel…

I am working on my next book, which I’m writing with the brilliant Mark Babbitt. It’s in the proposal stage and you’ll hear much more about our book in the months to come. In our research and interviews, two consistent themes are apparent: * first, the failure of leaders to improve employee engagement or the employee experience over the past 30 yea…

How many of you have done team building activities with work groups? We’ve all done events like bowling or tower building or trust falls. How often, though, have those activities translated into sustained healthier work relationships? Not very often. Does that mean team building is a worthless endeavor? Not at all. Effective teamwork lies at the he…

I’m fascinated to learn how companies with purposeful, positive, productive work cultures make that happen – and make sure it keeps happening every day. We got a wonderful “behind the scenes” look recently at one of Glassdoor’s 2019 Employee’s Choice Best Places to Work – Trader Joe’s. Last month, a Trader Joe’s employee opened a discussion on Redd…

There are no small lies. Every lie erodes your integrity. In this episode, Chris shares a story about being asked to lie – by his boss – and how he handled that challenging scenario. This is episode sixty-three of Chris' Culture Leadership Charge video & podcast series. In these concise episodes, Chris presents the best practices for creating and m…