Successful leaders and organisations know that culture is the unseen advantage of world class teams. But can it be influenced? And what role do managers play in building and shaping it? Find out in 'Let's Talk Culture'.
“In Let’s Talk Culture, Shane manages to do what many culture experts cannot. That is to simplify the complexity that is culture. Full of stories and insights, Shane unpacks the 5 conversations about culture that every leader should have with their team. This book is a must-read for anyone who wants to create a culture worth belonging to.” –Gabrielle Dolan, International keynote speaker and best-selling author of six books including Magnetic Stories and Stories for Work.
Successful leaders and organisations know that culture is the unseen advantage of world class teams. But can it be influenced? And what role do managers play in building and shaping it? Find out in 'Let's Talk Culture'.
“In Let’s Talk Culture, Shane manages to do what many culture experts cannot. That is to simplify the complexity that is culture. Full of stories and insights, Shane unpacks the 5 conversations about culture that every leader should have with their team. This book is a must-read for anyone who wants to create a culture worth belonging to.” –Gabrielle Dolan, International keynote speaker and best-selling author of six books including Magnetic Stories and Stories for Work.
Organizational culture's built through words and actions. This book shows you the conversations you need to spark the behaviour you want to create the culture you desire. Michael Bungay Stanier, bestselling author of The Coaching Habit and How to Begin
In Let's Talk Culture, Shane manages to do what many culture experts cannot. That is to simplify the complexity that is culture. Full of stories and insights, Shane unpacks the 5 conversations about culture that every leader should have with their team. This book is a must-read for anyone who wants to create a culture worth belonging to.Gabrielle Dolan, International keynote speaker and best-selling author of six books including Magnetic Stories and Stories for Work.
Although leaders intuitively know that culture is key to the success of their organizations and the well-being of their employees, it is a notoriously slippery construct. Shane helps leaders gain traction by distilling a broad set of research findings and ideas into compelling frameworks, providing concrete examples of practices others have followed, and offering practical advice for putting the ideas into action. I would highly recommend this book to any leader embarking on a large-scale program of culture change. Sameer B. Srivastava; Associate Professor and Ewald T. Grether Chair in Business Administration and Public Policy at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business, University of California & Co-director Berkeley Haas Culture Initiative
Culture is a tricky beast, but one that’s so critical to get right in any organisation who wants to do best for both their teams and their customers. Shane has done a great job in demystifying and making the case for the role of a people leader in defining, building, changing, and strengthening culture. It’s full of practical questions and actions all leaders should be asking themselves and their teams.Steph Clarke; facilitator, and host of Steph’s Business Bookshelf podcast
“It’s true that the best storytelling wins but the leader who knows how to talk about culture helps the entire team win. In this engaging and entertaining book, Shane has crafted the roadmap for exactly how to have those critical conversations that will help you craft the kinds of culture everyone is taking about. I wish I’d had this book when I started my managerial journey 20 years ago. If you’re charged with managing others, this book is the companion you’ve been looking for.” Mike Ganino, Public Speaking and Storytelling Coach; Creator of The Mike Drop Method
'Great stuff from Shane, who not only decodes culture, but also provides the data that senior managers require to fund its investment of time and money and the practical insights necessary to do it well, every time.' Colin D Ellis, International speaker, culture change facilitator and author of Culture Fix
After over 20 years running my recruitment business and with over 30 years in the recruitment industry, speaking to different organisations daily about the highs and lows of leading people, I can’t express enough the impact culture has on the success of an organisation and the overall job satisfaction for people who work there. What I love about Shane’s book is he really gets to the heart of what drives culture and through learning from some of the best places to work in Australia shares with us some of the key actions leaders can take to influence and shape the culture they aspire to. Most of what I have learnt as a leader has been through trial and error and many years of experience, I wish I had read books like this earlier in my career because it gives me some of the greatest joy to know that we now have a wonderful business and culture and my team truly love where they work and what they do. Nikki Beaumont Founder/ CEO of Beaumont People
As a leader, any leader, how do you comprehend something you can see, feel and experience everyday – yet struggle to explain to anyone outside of it? You have a conversation. Many conversations. Let’s Talk Culture is the ‘many conversations’ every leader who wants to be intentional about culture must first have with themselves. Shane skilfully weaves hundreds of impressions together and casually, yet pragmatically offers the blueprint to growing a culture that lives, is inclusive, and wins. James Comer, Head of HR, ANZ + People Partner for Sales Engineering, APJC at Cisco
Shane paints a wonderfully vivid narrative of culture as a language we can all learn to speak, even if our dialects are slightly different. As the leader of an integrated health system, this book will aid me in building a more inclusive team to better care for the increasingly diverse communities we serve.Tracy Michael, Senior Health Care Executive
AboutTheBook
Packed with research-based insights from Australia’s leading workplaces, Let’s Talk Culture is the how-to guide for people leaders who want to shape a world class team culture by design.
Successful leaders and organisations know that culture is the unseen advantage of world class teams. But can it be influenced? And what role do managers play in building and shaping it?
Author and expert in leader communication, Shane Michael Hatton, says the research suggests it can be influenced and that the people leader plays a crucial role – but it all starts with effective communication.
Based on extensive research with people leaders on the ground, Let’s Talk Culture reveals the five practical conversations people leaders need to have to design a world class team culture within their organisation.
An easy-to-understand guide for future culture champions, this book will give you the tools to build a team that attracts and retains your top talent, confidently address cultural inconsistencies in the workplace and meaningfully reward the behaviours that strengthen your team culture.
What's Covered?
Experience has taught me that if you want a book to be helpful and memorable, it needs to be simple. But if you’re going to tackle a book on a huge and complex topic like culture, you want to know that it’s thorough.
I wanted to know what people leaders think about culture. What it means to them. How they define it. How they view their role in building and shaping it. Where they feel confident and where they feel stuck.
Sometimes the most obvious solution is the best. So, I took the time to ask.
In 2021 I engaged McCrindle Research, an Australian research company with specialist skills in collecting and analysing data and demographics, to bring research to life to help me explore the attitudes and experiences around team culture for people leaders.
We set out with a few key research objectives for people leaders, including to:
• explore their understanding of what culture is
• gain insights into their beliefs about their role in shaping culture
• investigate what builds and what detracts from culture
• understand how equipped they feel to influence culture within their organisation.
This book draws on the findings from our quantitative study of 1002 managers from across Australia along with a series of in-depth qualitative interviews with managers at some of Australia’s best places to work.
Table of Contents
Part One: A Conversation about Culture
1. We’re all a little different – celebrate your uniqueness
2. The unseen advantage – get clear on your purpose
3. The problem with culture – remove your roadblocks
4. The conversations before the conversations – start with your foundations
Part Two: Culture Conversations
5. The expectation conversation – make the unspoken spoken
6. The clarification conversation – make the invisible observable
7. The communication conversation – make the words a language
8. Pick three and make it easy to see – focus on what matters most
Part Three: Keeping the Conversation Going
9. The confrontation conversation – make feedback less difficult
10. The celebration conversation – make recognition more meaningful
11. The dark side of culture – don’t accidentally build a cult
Everyone wants your details. I want to help. I write regularly to equip leaders. I'd love to have you in the community. It's also the first place to hear about upcoming events and announcements. If it's not for you, that's ok too, you can still download a sample chapter below. But I do hope to include you in the gang soon!
