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Collaborative-Culture

Collaborative-Culture

By: Kristine Gentry and Monica M. Smith
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Collaborative-Culture: Bridging Perspectives, Building Stronger Teams

Culture shapes how we live, work, and collaborate—yet it remains one of our most misunderstood and underutilized assets. Collaborative Culture explores what culture truly means in our workplaces and across societies, revealing how it powers organizational and community success.

Hosted by cultural intelligence experts Dr. Kristine Gentry (Culture Grove) and Monica Smith (Tradewind Consulting), this podcast creates a forum for transformative conversations about the intersection of culture, leadership, and human connection.

Through candid interviews with thought leaders, revealing case studies, and proven strategies, we examine:

  • Building cultures that ignite collaboration and breakthrough innovation
  • Mastering cross-generational and cross-cultural workplace dynamics
  • Navigating the fine line between cultural appreciation and appropriation
  • Developing global leadership dexterity in our interconnected world
  • Preparing for the evolving future of work and its impact on teams
  • Implementing practical techniques for cultivating inclusive environments


For business leaders, people managers, HR professionals, and culture enthusiasts, this podcast challenges conventional thinking while delivering actionable insights to help you build environments where everyone thrives.

Culture isn't just a concept—it's your competitive advantage. Join us as we explore how to create cultures that work.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Collaborative Culture Economics Management Management & Leadership
Episodes
  • Culture Signals: The 2025 Recap and the 2026 Forecast Leaders Need

    Culture Signals: The 2025 Recap and the 2026 Forecast Leaders Need
    Jan 7 2026
    Episode summaryA text message at 3 a.m. telling employees to check their personal email before work. That’s not just a layoff story. It’s a culture story. In this first episode of 2026, Dr. Kristine Gentry and Monica M. Smith unpack how the way organizations handle “hard moments” (layoffs, RTO mandates, and AI messaging) shapes trust, retention, and long-term brand reputation. They also explore how global tensions, including widening perception gaps between the U.S. and Germany, are showing up inside multinational workplaces. What you’ll hear in this episodeWhy how layoffs happen becomes workplace “folklore” and damages psychological safety for the people who stayThe real issue with RTO mandates framed as “culture” (and what Nick Bloom’s research suggests instead) Why AI is being used as a narrative for workforce reductions even while many enterprise pilots aren’t showing measurable returns yet A global trust gap case study: Germans’ views of the U.S.-Germany relationship shift sharply negative, while Americans remain largely positive 2026 predictions: the “long tail” of 2024–2025 decisions, what talent will remember, and what leaders should do in Q1Chapters (timestamps)00:00 – Cold open: The 3 a.m. text and the trust fallout00:33 – Welcome + what this episode covers02:20 – Layoffs as a culture signal: “hard moments” become folklore09:20 – RTO is back: Why “culture” isn’t solved by proximity13:30 – Women leaving the workforce: the caregiving + flexibility collision15:30 – AI as scapegoat: why the messaging is already reshaping culture 20:05 – Germany + the U.S.: trust perception gaps and global team impact 26:10 – 2026 predictions: what changes, what doesn’t, what lingers41:30 – Practical takeaways for leaders (Q1 action list)45:05 – Closing question: “What story will people tell in 2030?”Key takeaways (your “do this Monday” list)Audit your hard moments. Review how you handled layoffs, restructures, and major change, then ask employees how it landed.Treat AI + RTO as culture decisions. Name the behaviors your policies reinforce and run experiments instead of mandates.Get honest about the global context. If you lead across borders, don’t pretend politics and perception gaps aren’t in the room — build a fair way of working together anyway. Sources & references mentioned Amazon laid off some employees with early-morning text messages Study finds hybrid work benefits companies and employeesMIT report: 95% of generative AI pilots at companies are failingPew Research Center: German views of the U.S.-Germany relationship turning sharply negative in 2025 Thanks for Listening!We’d love to hear from you.Kristine Gentry, PhDkgentry@culturegrove.com🌐 www.culturegrove.com🔗 LinkedIn: Kristine McKenzie GentryMonica M. Smithtradewindscareerconsulting@gmai.com🌐 www.tradewindscareerconsulting.com🔗 LinkedIn: Monica Mary SmithIf you enjoyed the show, please: subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who cares about building better teams. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    38 mins
  • When Engagement Metrics Fail: What to Measure Instead

    When Engagement Metrics Fail: What to Measure Instead
    Dec 17 2025
    Episode Description

    Most organizations are drowning in dashboards—engagement scores, turnover reports, productivity trackers, badge swipes, time in office. But how much of that data actually tells you anything real about your culture?


    In this episode of Collaborative Culture, Monica Smith and Dr. Kristine Gentry kick off Part 2 of their “Metrics That Matter” mini-series by breaking down the difference between numbers that look impressive and metrics that actually help you lead. They explore three levels of data—counting, trending, and driving—and show how each can either stay superficial or become a powerful signal about the health of your culture.


    Monica and Kristine walk through four culture-focused metrics leaders should be watching: purpose alignment, leadership listening/feedback loops, values-driven decision-making, and a cultural diversity index that goes beyond headcount. Along the way, they unpack why culture metrics are not about policing activity (hello, badge tracking) but about gaining clarity, so you can spot issues early, support your people, and improve performance.

    If you’re tired of chasing vanity metrics and ready to design measures that actually reflect how your culture is working, this one’s for you.




    Show Notes – Episode 13

    In this episode, Monica and Kristine cover:

    • 🎧 From “metrics mirage” to metrics that matter
    • 📊 Three types of data: counting, trending, and driving
    • 🚨 Signal vs. noise in culture measurement
    • 🧭 Metric #1: Purpose alignment score
    • 👂 Metric #2: Leadership listening & feedback loops
    • 🧱 Metric #3: Values-driven decision-making
    • 🌍 Metric #4: Cultural diversity index (beyond headcount)
    • 📉 Leading vs. lagging indicators in culture
    • 🧪 Quant + qual: Numbers and narratives
    • 🎯 The real purpose of culture metrics


    If you enjoyed this episode, follow Collaborative Culture and share it with a leader or team who’s ready to move beyond vanity metrics and start measuring what truly matters.


    For more information on the MBL baseball cap fiasco: https://frontofficesports.com/mlb-angels-astros-rangers-tetas-hats/

    Thanks for Listening!

    We’d love to hear from you.


    Kristine Gentry, PhD

    kgentry@culturegrove.com

    🌐 www.culturegrove.com

    🔗 LinkedIn: Kristine McKenzie Gentry


    Monica M. Smith

    tradewindscareerconsulting@gmai.com

    🌐 www.tradewindscareerconsulting.com

    🔗 LinkedIn: Monica Mary Smith


    If you enjoyed the show, please: subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who cares about building better teams.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    Show More Show Less
    40 mins
  • Beyond Dashboards: Rethinking HR Data for Real Culture Insight (Metrics That Matter, Part 2)

    Beyond Dashboards: Rethinking HR Data for Real Culture Insight (Metrics That Matter, Part 2)
    Dec 4 2025

    In Part 2 of our Metrics That Matter series, Kristine and Monica sit down with organizational psychologist Dr. Nicole Eisdorfer, founder of Truer Words, to unpack why so many HR and culture metrics feel useless, and what to do about it.

    Nicole blends HR practitioner experience with IO psychology research to explain why most HR data wasn’t designed to measure culture in the first place. She breaks down how default assumptions, legacy systems, and borrowed templates distort our metrics and offers practical ways to make your data “truer” so it actually supports trust, leadership, and culture.

    If you’ve ever stared at performance ratings, engagement scores, or dashboards and thought, “This doesn’t match reality,” this episode is for you.


    In this episode, we explore:
    • Nicole’s path from HR to “truer” culture work
    • Why most HR data is not “bad,” just mis-designed
    • Performance ratings, normal curves, and pretty dashboards that lie
    • “Treat your data as a mirror, not a measurement”
    • Inside Nicole’s ‘Making HR Data Truer’ worksheet
    • Trust, honesty, and naming flawed metrics out loud
    • The limits of engagement scores and eNPS
    • Template drift and the danger of “lift and shift” HR
    • AI, HR data, and the next generation of work
    • Leadership pipelines and why Gen Z isn’t rushing into management
    • HR’s strategic seat (without the impostor syndrome)


    Resources & Links
    • Making HR Data Truer – Worksheet by Dr. Nicole Eisdorfer
    • Use this practical tool to examine your HR data, spot flawed assumptions, and start building metrics that actually reflect reality.
    • 👉 https://www.culturegrove.com/resources/making-hr-data-truer
    • Connect with Dr. Nicole Eisdorfer
    • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neisdorfer/
    • Substack: Truer Words – essays on culture, defaults, and organizational life


    This is Part 2 of our Metrics That Matter series on Collaborative Culture. If you’re rethinking how you measure culture, trust, and engagement—and how those metrics shape real decisions—this conversation with Nicole is a powerful place to continue the journey.

    Thanks for Listening!

    We’d love to hear from you.


    Kristine Gentry, PhD

    kgentry@culturegrove.com

    🌐 www.culturegrove.com

    🔗 LinkedIn: Kristine McKenzie Gentry


    Monica M. Smith

    tradewindscareerconsulting@gmai.com

    🌐 www.tradewindscareerconsulting.com

    🔗 LinkedIn: Monica Mary Smith


    If you enjoyed the show, please: subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who cares about building better teams.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    Show More Show Less
    38 mins
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