In HRchat episode 279, we consider ways to create and maintain a company culture that rocks. My guest is Jim Knight, keynote speaker, facilitator, Founder at Knight Speaker, and influencer in the culture space.
A training and development veteran of 30+ years, Jim facilitates a variety of topics, including amping up organizational culture, world-class differentiated service, building rock star teams, and leadership. Jim is also the author of Culture that Rocks: How to Revolutionize Your Company’s Culture, which is listed in Entrepreneur Magazine as one of the “5 Books That Will Help You Transform How You Do Business”.
Questions for Jim include:
- How do you define ‘company culture’ and why is it important to build a strong culture in one’s organization?
- You’ve previously said that people often confuse the idea of ‘culture’ with the term ‘heritage’. What do you mean by that and why are leaders and founders more fixated on heritage versus newer employees who you suggest are more interested in ‘culture’?
- You’ve claimed that culture is “really a collection of individuals, each with unique behaviors”. Can you explain what you mean by that and perhaps you can also respond to the assertion that, in the context of a company, culture is actually led by its overarching mandate and mission and employees are able to shape a culture but not able to redefine the ‘why’ (mission and legacy) that a firm is built upon?
- How can HR and hiring managers maximize their chances of identifying and recruiting candidates that genuinely share the same core values?
- What are some organizational focal points leaders should be addressing to amp up, maintain or even revolutionize their company’s culture? How have those tenants changed in the past year as a result of the Covid turmoil and socio-political changes we’ve been going through?
More about Jim Knight
Along with his business partner, Brant Menswar, Jim hosts a weekly leadership podcast called Thoughts That Rock, which includes a rock star guest and presents 2 life-changing pieces of advice in 30 minutes. Jim and Brant offer a leadership training program called, Certified Rock Star, as an ‘edu-taining’, Rock ‘n Roll inspired experience for leaders looking to amp up their business in a variety of areas.