Dr. Katie Ervin's Blueprint For Building Profitable Organizational Cultures

Can a thriving culture revolutionize your workplace and skyrocket profits?

Dr. Katie Ervin, CEO of Catalyst Development, is our guest as we unearth the secrets to creating a robust foundation that can transform your organization's culture.

Dr. Ervin, equipped with experience from corporate HR and higher ed administration, provides a compelling narrative on how a healthy culture is comparable to the foundation of a house....without it, everything can topple.

Don't miss her surprising financial figures and cultural research about the positive impact of investing in culture, as well as a discussion about the challenge of cultural change - particularly leaders' struggles with self-awareness and vulnerability.

In any cultural scenario, leaders must adapt and evolve like never before. Dr. Ervin offers practical advice on embracing feedback and fostering a growth mindset, guiding leaders through these challenges.

Our conversation showcases the importance of collaboration, team building, and ensuring everyone, even the most disagreeable employee, has a voice at the table.

This episode is a goldmine of advice for building a strong and healthy culture that boosts morale and profits.

Connect with Dr. Katie Ervin on LI

Music Credit: True North Kansas

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Transcript

Cultural Change in Leadership Challenges

William Gladhart 0:00

Welcome to the Leadership Levers podcast . I'm your host , Will Gladhart , ceo of Connect2Metrics . At Connect2Metrics , we help organizations strengthen their culture , one action at a time . We're here today to learn about the actions leaders have taken to address cultural change . Our guest today is Dr Katie Irvin , the CEO of Catalyst Development . Thanks so much for making time to join us today .

Dr. Katie Ervin 0:28

Thanks for having me . I'm excited for this .

William Gladhart 0:30

Excellent . I thought we would start by having you share with our audience a bit about yourself and your background .

Dr. Katie Ervin 0:36

I always like to tell people it's been a windy , interesting road . So I spent 14 years in corporate HR . S my undergrad is Sociology and Psychology , and my master's is Human Resources Development . And did 14 years of corporate HR and was like I don't want to do this . I don't care about all of the minutiae that HR has and I love HR people like they're my heart than where I started my company , the reason why but it's just HR .

Dr. Katie Ervin 1:09

People know you're wearing 80 hats and doing so much , so left HR and went into higher ed administration . It's been another 12 years in higher ed administration and during that time finished my doctorate in adult education leadership . And while I was in higher ed the world just kept pulling me over to leadership skill development . And over the last five or six years I've served on a lot of committees in Kansas City where people talk about the skill gap in Kansas City and there's a workforce skills gap and I knew I had tools to fill that gap and so about 16 months ago I started Catalyst Development , which is a leadership skill building company . So I tell people we're not consultants , you're business partners . If you want someone to come in and tell you why you should be a leader , buy a book , but if you want someone to come in and really do impactful leadership skill building , then Catalyst is your company .

William Gladhart 2:06

That's really cool . Thank you so much for sharing that . You definitely sit in an interesting role because you're the partner to leaders , but also you and you are a leader of a team of people as well , and I think you'll have some very interesting insights to share with us . Today we'll We'll be discussing three questions . So , as a warm up to start our conversation , would you share while you believe a healthy culture is critical ?

Dr. Katie Ervin 2:29

Yeah , I mean to me . I always talk about the workplace as a house and healthy culture . Culture in general is the foundation of the house , and so if you don't have a strong foundation to build on , then everything else will eventually crumble . And there's so much research out there that tells you the importance of culture , and the one I always go back to with my clients is Deloitte did a research study that if you invest in your culture , your profits will go up over three years 587% , Like . If that's not .

William Gladhart 3:02

It's shocking , it's amazing .

Dr. Katie Ervin 3:04

I know it's like I love when clients say we don't have a budget or time for that and I'm like , oh , let's talk about some numbers , but more importantly , like , forget the numbers of it all , just from the human value point of view , like to have a healthy culture . People will want to be there . So my doctoral research is workplace motivation , employee satisfaction . So how do we create an environment where people will be more productive and more happier and more loyal and get more done ? And it's rooted in having a strong culture . If you have a strong culture , people will want to be there and they will invest in your organization .

William Gladhart 3:41

So let's begin with question one . What do you see as the biggest challenge leadership faces for cultural change within any organization , or maybe even specifically your own ?

Dr. Katie Ervin 3:51

I think the biggest challenge is self-awareness and the fear of being vulnerable . When we talk about culture in the workplace , it's really everybody's responsibility and everybody's job , but I feel sometimes those in the executive chairs or other leadership roles they take it personally when there is a culture problem in the organization . I used to work for a higher-end institution and I would say look , I wish this was hyperbole , but we are in a culture crisis . Here's the quotes that people are saying each day about this organization . The president of the university is like that's not true , that's not true , that's not true . And it's like look , I'm not saying this about you . I'm not telling you you're about later . I'm just saying that the organization is in crisis and we need to come together to pull it together . I think too often , leaders will take it personally when we talk about an unhealthy culture . As leaders , what we really need to do is say , okay , why is it unhealthy ? And let's move forward to fix it and not take it so personally .

William Gladhart 4:59

Thank you for sharing that . I love that you highlight self-awareness and being open and vulnerable to those critiques and criticisms that may come from staff , because they're ultimately the voice of the organization . Leaders can't be blind and or unaware to that , and helping people feel that they've been understood , heard and listened to , which is absolutely critical . I'm glad you identified those challenges . What do you think leaders can do to address the challenges in this capacity that they're facing ?

Dr. Katie Ervin 5:31

Leaders need to celebrate when your people complain , when your people say , hey , here's the problems , instead of shutting it down , instead of denying it , leaders should really celebrate , because it's when they get quiet that we really should worry . Leaning into the struggles , leaning into the feedback , leaning into the willingness to share , I think is so important , really shifting to a growth mindset . When they give you that feedback , okay , that is fantastic . How can we grow ? How can we get better ? Then , building strong teams around that . Leaders in title don't have to do all of the work . When we really empower our people , when we support them to help make change and to bring about culture or strong culture in the organization , they're going to buy in more . When we allow them to be a part of the conversation , they're going to be more vocal .

Dr. Katie Ervin 6:31

I tell people all the time I love going i next to the grouchiest person in the room , the person that is the biggest complainer , the person that is the most negative to me . I love that person because once we get them on board , you're looking at everyone else . You're like what's a safe name ? Mildred's on board , why aren't you on board ? She complains about everything , figuring out that loudest voice , that grouchiest person and getting them on board , hearing their problems . It's such a gift . But so often I've seen leaders say we don't want that person on this committee because they'll derail things . Well , you better have them on the committee , you better have the voice in there , because they're going to derail it afterwards if they're not a part of the solution .

William Gladhart 7:18

Absolutely . Well , yeah , why go to all the work and then have the one employee that has the loudest voice who's not bought in , that the leader doesn't feel is worthy of having a voice , and then it continues that underrunning current of dissension within the organization and changes hard . Cultural change is even harder because it's a process . It's over time . I love that you point out that it's important to collaborate to build that team , that the leader doesn't have to do it alone and it's not personal . So what really cool insights . Is there anything else you'd like to share or add to a culture or leadership challenge , or any advice you'd have for leaders ?

Dr. Katie Ervin 7:57

I love this question because , as leaders , we think we have to know it all , be it all , do it all when we don't . And first of all , what does even it all mean ? I just did a keynote recently and it was like you remember back when we were young in our career and we're like we want it all , and then it's like , what's that even mean ? And then what do we have to sacrifice to have it all ? But I would say to leaders don't stop growing , don't stop learning , don't stop that process .

Dr. Katie Ervin 8:25

And so too often we get comfortable in our leadership seats and think that that we're there , and so we stop our own personal growth , we stop remembering what it was like to be in those chairs , and so we start then unintentionally doing the things that we hated when people did to us , and it's just we lose sight and we lose touch . And so stay in touch , be involved , keep people involved . You know , if you work in a brick and mortar situation , walk the floor , see your people , be engaged , find out what they want , because if not , they're going to leave you . They're going to leave you for a healthier culture , and I just think that's I think that's the most important is to just keep growing .

William Gladhart 9:09

And I love you point that out because at this point in time at least , juncture in the workforce , we hear it from everywhere workforce , workforce talent , workforce skills , workforce leadership . What's lacking in the environment presently , today ? And it all stems from communication and culture and deficit of leadership or not understanding how to lead . You know , I have a feeling you're going to be very busy and continue to be busy at Catalyst . So any other parting final thoughts , or else we can just wrap up .

Dr. Katie Ervin 9:38

I will say it , exactly what you said

Leadership During the Pandemic

Dr. Katie Ervin 9:41

. There is just such an opportunity from my research that I did five years ago , the desire to belong , the desire to have the skills , the desire to have the autonomy that I found in my research is actually more powerful now since the pandemic . And so , as leaders , lean into that , give into that , don't shy away from that , because it's just really going to make you a force to be reckoned with as an organization and increase it raises your profits when you pay attention to all those other things .

William Gladhart 10:13

Dr Irvin , I've enjoyed having you on today . Thank you so much for your insights .

Dr. Katie Ervin 10:18

Thank you .

William Gladhart 10:18

Thank you for joining the leadership levers podcast . You may find all our leadership levers episodes on our website at connect , the number two metricscom forward slash podcast . Tune in weekly as we invite leaders to share their experiences in strengthening culture , one action at a time .