Every great team culture, leader, and organization is created by small, intentional actions and behaviors. Over time, those small actions add up.
SHOW NOTES
Jason introduces Season 9 episode 45 of the podcast, Little By Little, A Little Becomes A Lot. Welcome back to the podcast on corporate culture and leadership and thank you for listening. We engage thought leaders like CEOs, CFOs, managers, VPs, directors, and more for this podcast. We wish to create content that engages your mind and heart and allows you to step back and think and add some positivity to your life. We deep dive into today’s topic.
We can’t control everything but what we can control is our response. Still a lot of work to do but wanted to remind the audience what is within our control is the temperature we create in the organizations and teams we work with.
Please leave a review for the podcast It really helps the podcast to spread these messages out into the world. Please share this podcast with your organization, on your team, or in your life to help spread these messages. Thank you!
If any of these topics are interesting to you please or you want a deep dive on any specific topics, please reach out to us at info@jasonvbarger.com
Season 9 Episode 45: Little By Little, A Little Becomes A Lot
In the journey of personal growth and professional development, it’s easy to hunt for the “big break” or the single action that will change everything. We often overlook the profound power of small, consistent effort. In this episode of The Thermostat Podcast, Jason Barger reminds us of a fundamental truth: Little by little, a little becomes a lot.
This principle is the bedrock of effective leadership in teams and the secret to building a thriving corporate culture.
Summary: Building Culture Through Compounding Actions
This episode explores why meaningful change, whether in our personal habits or our organizations, is the result of compounding, intentional actions. Jason Barger explains that the most effective leaders and teams don’t wait for a compelling culture to “magically happen.” Instead, they understand that a strong team culture is built one small step at a time, every single day.
Barger contrasts this with the common pitfall of paralysis—leaders who wish for a better future but fail to back it up with small, daily actions. Drawing parallels to the concepts in the bestselling book Atomic Habits, he illustrates that small adjustments, when practiced consistently, lead to a massive impact over time.
For leaders wondering how to apply this, Barger outlines a practical framework for intentionally shaping organizational culture:
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Start with Vision: It begins with small conversations about the future culture you want to build together.
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Find the Language: The next step is to articulate that vision, defining the values and, critically, the specific behaviors that bring those values to life.
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Shift the Mindset: Culture is shaped by how we think. This involves moving the team from a reactive “thermometer” mindset (reflecting the environment) to a proactive “thermostat” mindset (setting the environment).
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Commit to Development: Leaders must close the gap between vision and reality through ongoing development for everyone—from new hires to senior management.
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Anchor the Culture: Finally, these values must be anchored in every process. This means embedding the desired culture into hiring, onboarding, performance evaluations, and all company events.
By focusing on these small, deliberate steps, the culture you envision begins to take root. Little by little, those actions build upon one another until the desired culture becomes the daily reality.
Notable Quotes
“Small intentional actions and behaviors stimulate progress that builds up over time.”
“The leaders or organizations who just think it’s going to quote unquote magically happen… are the ones who end up paralyzed and kind of wishing for a future that is created, but yet don’t back it up with action, or at least very little action.”
“Culture first is shaped by the way we think. So they shift their mindset from that reactionary thermometer thinking… to that proactive thermostat thinking.”
“…Anchor that culture that they want in everything they do… And little by little, the culture they said they wanted, they begin to create.”
Questions to Ponder
As you reflect on your own leadership and the culture of your team, Jason leaves us with a few critical questions to consider:
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In what small ways can you live the culture you want for the future today?
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What small, intentional action will move you in that direction today?
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How will you demonstrate to others that future culture that you are hoping to create together?
Links and References
Follow @JasonVBarger on social media for even more insights and new video content.
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.
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.”
Please leave a review for the podcast It really helps the podcast to spread these messages out into the world. Please share this podcast with your organization, on your team, or in your life to help spread these messages. Thank you!
If any of these topics are interesting to you please or you want a deep dive on any specific topics, please reach out to us at info@jasonvbarger.com
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Remember, the best leaders, teams, & cultures stimulate progress by recalibrating their thermostat together.
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ABOUT THE THERMOSTAT
Conversations and micro-thoughts to engage your mind and heart.
A thermostat is proactive. It sets the temperature in a room. Controls the temperature. Regulates the temperature. But in today’s distracted, fast-paced and digital world, it’s easy for individuals and organizations to act more like thermometers, slipping into reactionary thinking, becoming scattered and inconsistent. The most compelling leaders, teams, organizations, families, or collection of humans of any kind operate in thermostat mode. They calibrate their mind and heart to set the temperature for the vision and culture they want to create. Jason Barger, globally celebrated author, keynote speaker, and founder of Step Back Leadership Consulting, is the host of The Thermostat, a podcast journey to discover authentic leadership, create compelling cultures and find clarity of mission, vision, and values.