Invest in Cultivating Team Culture.

Echoing the advice I shared last week from my two mentors, Valerie Jarrett and John Rogers, I’ve often stressed on #hacksthetour and in interviews that investing time and resources in thriving company culture is my top priority as an executive. Whether as a Silicon Valley startup founder, a non-profit board member, or a healthcare CEO, the hacks I’m reprising below have proven time and again to be trusted ways to reboot culture. I hope these can inspire your own journey to strengthening and building the culture you want to be a part of, be it in your office or your community.

Leadership Hack #62: Do whatever you can to fast-track culture.

There’s something to be said for relationships maturing and strengthening over time. But you don’t always have time, and you want to do everything in your power to shore up the culture, especially if it’s been lacking. Hacks I’ve found helpful in this regard include things like scavenger hunts, group workouts, team-building exercises, and retreats. These are ways to forge strong bonds between your team in a relatively short amount of time.

Leadership Hack #60: Invest in your people.

Your team members are people, and people want to be believed in. If formal assessments are economically feasible, you might consider it. If not, you can find more innovative approaches, like I do by bringing in a star athletic coach like Abdul Sillah or The Wellness Executive, Eric Montes.

Leadership Hack #22: Being a good leader doesn’t mean talking all the time.

Sometimes the very best thing you can do as a leader is to not talk. Shut your mouth, keep your eyes and ears open, and let the people around you share their experience and domain expertise. Watch and learn.