Cultural Impact Academy

All effective leaders must understand how their thoughts, feelings, behaviors, conversations, habits, etc. affect those around them. This is called “emotional intelligence” and it is an important part of leadership effectiveness.

How leaders respond to criticism, challenge, rejection, etc. creates emotions. We feel them as individuals but peers and direct reports can see them.

Emotional responses to situations are dangerous and handled incorrectly, respect can be lost.

All executives, business owners, managers or supervisors get results from their employees.  The good news is, it can be managed.

This session will help you become self-aware to prevent arguments, frustrations, emotional fallout and become a more effective leader.  It starts with you.

The effectiveness of any leader depends on the engagement level of their employees.  The engagement level of employees is dependent on the effective of the leader.

Employee engagement is a direct reflection of the relationship a leader has with their employees. 

It is also a direct reflection of how you deal with non-performers.  Every employee has different needs and drives that translate into workplace behavior. 

Employee drives and needs create workplace behaviors, and they are predictable.  Each employee is different and accordingly, your workplace conversations must pivot to each individual.

Two things happen every day when you are a leader.  You communicate information to influence outcomes, hopefully positive ones. 

Unfortunately, how we communicate is not a “one size fits all”.  Your effectiveness is not always “what you do or say” but “how you say or do it”. 

Once you understand your leadership tendencies, you can have meaningful conversations to coach, correct, commend, congratulate and when necessary, have a difficult crossroads conversation (stay or leave).

In the unfortunate event you have to have a termination conversation, you will be prepared to do it gracefully, legally and humanely. 

Wouldn’t it be great if everyone just got along!  Unfortunately, that is not reality.  

Employees possess a variety of skills, personalities, personal values, backgrounds, behavioral drives and needs that turn into behavior . 

To effectively manage difficult employees, you must first understand the 4 unique categories of engagement to determine the best course of action. 

We will talk and practice each category to prepare you to deal effectively with non-performers and toxic employees. p

Workplace problems never go away by avoidance. Learn to deal with issues head on and do it with grace and truth.

Disciplinary actions, and/or assertive conversations many times do not correct the issues.

Problem employees are hired, and bring bad behavior with them on the first day of work. 

Every hire (regardless of the position) is either a "cultural fit" or a "cultural addition" (for better or for worse). 

We will examine the complete recruiting lifecycle (attraction, interviewing, selection, and onboarding) with a heavy emphasis on legal interviewing without bias and establishing workplace expectations at the point of hire.

You will leave this session with a plan and a process to make better hires….legally!

There are diamonds in the rough that apply to your company that never get an interview.

We share practical lessons learned from our 25 years of recruiting at all levels from entry level to executive positions.

You will also learn candidate sourcing and interview methods to ensure you hire candidates that are cultural fits.

Every business owner or leader in America should have a basic understanding and compliance requirement of State and Federal labor laws. 

Many organizations have a handbook (policies and procedures) to communicate company expectations and work rules.  This is a healthy practice however, consistent administration is imperative and is the best defense against potential legal action. is the key. Nonconsistent administration can be used against you. 

You will learn key HR compliance requirements for Virginia / North Carolinaand how legal complaints get started. 

We will also discuss the legal requirements for each business based on your employer headcount, workers compensation, unemployment claims, legal terminations and unemployment compensation.

Promoting a high performer into a leadership position without "people training" is a significant risk and in many ways, management malpractice.

This session is for high potential employees and/or newly promoted leaders.

The goal of this session is to recognize/understand the root cause of the top 7 employee frustrations and how fundamental leadership, communication and management skills will reduce these frustrations.