Season 9 Episode 19: 5 Strategies for Successful Culture-Shaping

Season 9 Episode 19: 5 Strategies for Successful Culture-Shaping

Creating a thriving corporate culture and strong leadership in teams doesn’t happen by accident. In this episode of The Thermostat Podcast, Jason V. Barger shares five essential strategies for guiding intentional culture change—whether you’re a department head, a C-suite executive, or an emerging team leader. Drawing on his “Six A’s of Leading Change” framework and real-world experience across industries, he outlines how to assess current norms, empower micro-cultures, combat burnout, align leadership communication, and measure progress. Together, these steps form a holistic approach to shaping the organizational environment so it fuels engagement, performance, and long-term growth.

Summary of the Five Strategies

1. Start with an Honest Assessment
   Before you can steer culture in a new direction, you must know where you stand today. Combine quantitative surveys with qualitative interviews and focus groups to uncover the root drivers of existing behaviors and values. This baseline “temperature check” reveals what to reinforce, what to rethink, and where misalignment may be undermining morale.

2. Embrace Micro-Cultures
   Culture is not one-size-fits-all. Sales, marketing, finance, and operations each develop their own subcultures—and that’s healthy when guided by shared core values. Honor these distinct “rooms” in your organizational house, ensuring each has the freedom to innovate while still aligning with a unifying vision.

3. Address Burnout Systematically
   With widespread disengagement and record turnover, tackling burnout is a vital part of culture work. Build trust through transparency, foster psychological safety, and create open channels for conversations about workload. Prioritizing well-being not only protects your people but also strengthens organizational resilience.

4. Align Leadership and Communication
   Culture change thrives when leaders embody the values they promote. Messages about transformation must be backed by visible behaviors—otherwise cynicism takes hold. Engage your leadership team in regular calibration sessions so that their actions breathe “good oxygen” into every room they enter.

5. Measure What Truly Matters
   To sustain momentum, develop metrics tied to strategic goals. Track indicators like decision-making speed, conflict resolution patterns, and the flow of new ideas. Then use this data to anchor culture in processes such as hiring, onboarding, performance reviews, and leadership development—ensuring that desired behaviors become habitual.

Notable Quotes

• “I’ve never been more convinced: the best leaders and team cultures in the world are the ones that make time to step back, breathe in good oxygen, and calibrate their thermostat.”

• “Culture shaping is not a drive-through; it shifts with intentional vision, clarity, action, and equipment.”

• “The kitchen might have a slightly different vibe than the living room, but it’s still part of the main house.”

• “Preventing burnout is not only about being a responsible employer but also about ensuring organizational resilience.”

• “Leaders need to be engaged, growing, and developing themselves—and they must walk the talk.”

• “We are all ambassadors for the culture we want to create in our life and work.”

Questions to Ponder

1. As you reflect on these strategies, consider: What is the single most impactful change you could make today to move your organizational culture forward?

Links and References

For more insights and practical tips, be sure to check out Jason V Barger’s book Breathing Oxygen. This book dives deeper into the concepts discussed in this episode and provides additional strategies for fostering a positive mindset and effective leadership.

Jason references the 6 A’s for Leading Change in this podcast. Listen to them here 

Visit ThermostatCulturesLive.com referenced in this episode

By incorporating these practices into your summer routine, you can breathe new life into your personal and professional endeavors. Remember, as Jason says, “The best leaders, teams, and cultures on the planet stimulate progress by recalibrating their thermostat together.”

Our next episode will feature Culture Lessons from HubSpot. Stay Tuned!