Top questions I get asked about team and work culture
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Power dynamics based on a quest for control
Human responses to threat, uncertainty and fear
Learned beliefs about power, who has it and how to use it
Conditioned behaviours that trap people into tense, troubled or toxic work relationships
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Culture change in teams happens when you and colleagues put into practice new ways to use power, communicate, relate to each other and get things done on a day-to-day basis.
Whether you’re a leader, team member or both, this means change for you as well as for “them”!
Use the H.U.M.A.N. approach to:
recognise when and where harmful behaviour patterns show up
understand why people behave as they do
apply practical skills in how to embed healthy, effective relationships in and across teams
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Although many leaders and managers have found it transforms their effectiveness, the H.U.M.A.N approach doesn’t rely on the engagement or involvement of “the boss” to have a huge impact.
The H.U.M.A.N. approach has been successfully implemented in many types of teams and across sectors, even if managers or leaders don’t choose to engage.It works because power dynamics are interdependent. As soon as someone changes the part they play in a pattern of power dynamics, it has a ripple effect on others, including the “boss”.
Click here for examples.
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The H.U.M.A.N. Culture Change framework helps leaders and teams understand and shift power dynamics in a practical, human-centred way.
It’s packed full of tangible actions anyone can use in their everyday working relationships.
It creates healthier dynamics and better outcomes among colleagues, leaders and teams.
So, what’s H.U.M.A.N. about it?
H - Honest: acknowledging how human behaviour at work becomes so harmful despite people's best intentions. And what to do differently to prevent or repair this.
U - Uncomfortable: practical ways to discuss uncomfortable truths considerately, rather than retreating into arguments, conformity or silence.
M - Messy: How teams can practically get beyond interpersonal friction into relationships of mutual understanding, trust and collaboration.
A - Amazing: Practical ways to influence through human connection and using your unique power rather than relying on formal forms of authority.
N - New: Tangible new ways to embed healthy boundaries and clear expectations, by using power less over others and more with others.
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We all co-create the culture at work, by perpetuating or interrupting existing patterns of power.
I urge you to stop waiting for “them” (someone else) to change work culture!
How long are you going to wait?
And do you really believe “they” know what needs to change?
The H.U.M.A.N approach puts culture change skills, energy, confidence and know-how in the hands of you, your teams and your colleagues.
This is your chance to lead the way!
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Culture change typically starts with:
Leaders or managers struggling with conflict or tension
Teams experiencing burnout, high turnover or disengagement
Organisations under pressure for sustainable improvement
People who feel “something is off” in relationships at work and decide to learn how to improve it
Dr Jeanne Hardacre, Founder, BeTheCultureChange™
Hello! I’m Dr Jeanne Hardacre: Founder of BeTheCultureChange™ and author of The Culture Trap.
I help leaders and teams understand how and why they unintentionally find themselves in troubled, tense or toxic power dynamics and how to create healthier, more innovative, fulfilling relationships and culture at work.
Through three decades of experience, research and specialist consulting, I have supported tens of thousands of leaders, managers and team members, from executive boardrooms to community prefabs. I have personal experience of the devastating consequences when whistle-blowing becomes the only ethical option in the workplace. Combined with high-profile tragedies and injustices linked to harmful misuses of power, this energised me to develop the H.U.M.A.N. culture change, leadership and team coaching approach and to write The Culture Trap.
My approach is unconventional, refreshing and has deep, lasting positive impact. It emboldens you to
enhance your influence, shift ingrained power dynamics and discover radical new ways to lead change. With liberating effect.
I work independently, as a partner - alongside yet not entangled by - established “systems” and organisational norms. This provides me with the freedom and autonomy to offer refreshingly candid, independent insights, while emboldening people at work to speak their truth.
My interest in leadership, power and culture at work began in the UK NHS, Siemens in Germany and a health promotion and social marketing agency in Brussels. I later moved to an academic role at the University of Birmingham, heading up leadership and management development nationally and internationally. I combined this with consultancy and post-graduate teaching, then completed a PhD at The University of Warwick.
Based in Sheffield, I have run a specialist consultancy business since 2004. Over the years, I’ve been a visiting specialist faculty member with several universities and have a network of valued associates. I work with companies and organisations of all sizes, from small businesses and not-for-profit teams, to public sector organisations employing 1000s of people.
I have 3 grown-up children, 1 spaniel, 4 bikes, 1 well-worn pair of hiking boots and several pairs of shoes for the dancefloor. I’m a volunteer and supporter of MumsUnited Sheffield charity - a multi-cultural and socio-economically diverse group of people tackling youth violence and child drug and gang exploitation. I love learning and practising Improv, and have recently started performing Improv in front of live audiences!
Recent bucket-list?
2023: performed a charity stand-up comedy gig at iconic venue The Leadmill in Sheffield, celebrating the power of being a 52-year-old woman.
2024: wrote The Culture Trap, to share what leaders and managers want to know, but what MBAs, leadership programmes and business school courses don’t tend to teach you.
2025: as an “empty-nester”, to discover what’s possible in teams, organisations and society when we release even more of our power to be H.U.M.A.N.
2026: deeper training in Restorative Justice and Restorative Practice, intending to work on a voluntary basis, supporting people affected by conflict and crime.
Join me in this discovery!
Also find me on BeTheCultureChange YouTube Channel and LinkedIn
