Using Culture to Build a Bridge
Whether it’s a M&A integration, brand strategy, or bringing teams together, starting with culture makes results stick.
CultureTalk Certified Partner Susan Radzyminski, CMO of BST Advisors in Albany, New York, built her career leading large marketing and brand initiatives and national teams at professional services firms and financial institutions.
She took some time to share her ideas on how to use culture to drive business outcomes.
Here are some highlights from this episode of ‘Thursdays with CultureTalk:’
- Growth through M&A always drives the evolution of the team and brand
- It’s hard to give up the things you have built to become part of something larger – success ultimately comes down to who’s paying attention to the culture
- Understanding individual personalities and helping teammates get to know one another on a personal level across offices is critical
- CEOs who actually LIVE the values of their organization can speak with authenticity; others feel like they are just reading off a script
- Southwest Airlines provides a great example; values are expressed in expected behaviors, both for the organization and for individuals
- When an organization measures ‘how it’s behaving, it says a lot about what it values
- That gives brands a ‘sticky factor’ and employees a reason to ‘stick around’
- Most companies are just scratching the surface when it comes to culture. To do it right, it must be a lived experience that comes from the top down and employees must be immersed in it.
“In brand, everyone is striving for differentiation – which is difficult to achieve. Authenticity, based on the real stories of your people, is easy to achieve – especially with tools like CultureTalk.”
|Susan Radzyminski, CultureTalk Certified Partner
