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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
  • Executive Presence Without Losing Yourself

    Executive Presence Without Losing Yourself
    Mar 18 2026

    In this episode of Collaborative Culture, Dr. Kristine Gentry and Monica Smith unpack the complicated topic of executive presence.


    They begin with an important truth: executive presence can be a loaded term. In many workplaces, it has been used to reinforce narrow ideas of leadership tied to gender, race, class, accent, age, and personality. But when approached thoughtfully, it can also describe a practical set of skills that help people communicate clearly, lead effectively, and build trust without losing who they are.


    Monica shares how she helps leaders strengthen executive presence through diagnostics, coaching, practice, and measurable outcomes. Kristine brings in the culture lens, exploring how unwritten rules, bias, and organizational norms shape whose leadership gets recognized and rewarded.


    Together, they discuss how to build executive presence in a way that is authentic, strategic, and culturally aware, while also challenging systems that confuse sameness with leadership.


    Show notes

    What does executive presence actually mean, and who gets to define it?

    In Episode 19 of Collaborative Culture, Kristine and Monica take on a term that gets used constantly in workplaces but is rarely unpacked with enough honesty. They explore how executive presence can function as a gatekeeping tool when it is based on stereotypes, and how it can also be reframed as a set of learnable skills rooted in clarity, trust, adaptability, and self-awareness.


    Monica breaks down her framework for coaching executive presence, including:

    • diagnosing where someone feels less effective or confident
    • identifying patterns in feedback and perception
    • building a practical development plan
    • practicing through simulations, role play, and scenario work
    • measuring success based on real outcomes, not vague impressions


    Kristine adds the anthropological and culture perspective, emphasizing that executive presence does not exist in a vacuum. It is shaped by workplace norms, unwritten rules, bias, and systems that reward certain behaviors while dismissing others.


    This episode also explores:

    • why executive presence should not mean performing a corporate personality
    • how unconscious bias affects perceptions of leadership
    • the difference between meaningful feedback and stereotype-based criticism
    • how to think about authenticity, conformity, and workplace strategy
    • why organizations need to define leadership expectations in behaviors, not vibes
    • how individuals can build range and adaptability without abandoning themselves


    If you have ever been told you need more executive presence, or if you have ever wondered whether that feedback was really about performance or simply about fit, this conversation will give you a more thoughtful way to think about it.


    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@gmail.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
    34 mins
  • The Art and Science of Building Intentional Corporate Culture

    The Art and Science of Building Intentional Corporate Culture
    Mar 4 2026
    Episode Description

    What does it actually look like to build an intentional culture inside a high-stakes organization—especially one navigating constant change?


    In this episode of Collaborative Culture, Kristine Gentry and Monica Smith sit down with Ron Thalheimer, a longtime financial services leader whose career spans banking in Chicago, transformation work in London, and more than two decades at Fidelity. Ron breaks down his practical, leadership-driven approach to culture: setting clear expectations, reinforcing them through consistent behaviors, and addressing misalignment quickly before it spreads.


    Ron also shares a vivid case study from his time leading service operations at National Financial (Fidelity): how a shift from reactive to proactive service—and the rollout of a structured client-service technology—sparked resistance internally, improved outcomes externally, and ultimately changed the organization’s reputation from “vendor” to “partner.”


    Along the way, the conversation explores why culture must start at the top, how leaders learn culture by getting out of their offices, and what gets lost when organizations try to build culture entirely remotely.


    Show NotesKey themes covered
    • Culture starts with clarity + consistency: Ron frames intentional culture as clear goals/expectations paired with consistent actions and behaviors that match the message.
    • Leadership responsibility (not “HR’s job”): Ron emphasizes culture begins at the top and only works when leaders model it and reinforce it—especially when behavior contradicts stated values.
    • Culture fails when misalignment is tolerated: Ron highlights how quickly culture change can be “poisoned” when people hear the right words but see the wrong actions go unaddressed.
    • Leadership development through observation: Ron talks about walking the floor, listening, and engaging people—using real-time observation as a leadership practice (and Kristine connects it to an anthropological lens).
    • Remote work’s culture tradeoffs: The conversation gets specific about what leaders lose when they can’t “walk around” and how that affects younger employees and culture shifts.
    • Measuring cultural progress: Ron points to three feedback loops—employees, customers, business partners—plus tenure/turnover as a signal of whether culture is becoming healthier and more stable.

    Guest

    Ron Thalheimer — Financial services executive and transformation leader with 40+ years of experience across banking, insurance, and investment services.

    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@gmail.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
    37 mins
  • Assessments Aren’t Culture: Stop Looking for a Quick Fix

    Assessments Aren’t Culture: Stop Looking for a Quick Fix
    Feb 18 2026
    Episode overviewIn this episode of Collaborative Culture, Dr. Kristine Gentry and Monica Smith tackle a common misconception in workplace culture efforts: the belief that a single assessment, survey, or workshop can “fix” culture. Together, they break down why popular tools like Myers-Briggs, CliftonStrengths, DISC, Hogan, Enneagram, and Working Genius can be useful, but only as inputs, not solutions.Kristine and Monica unpack what culture really is (how work gets done), why leaders often misdiagnose culture issues as isolated “people problems,” and why real change requires understanding the lived experience of employees across roles, levels, and locations. They share practical examples, from multicultural team dynamics to frontline workflows, and make a clear case for culture work that’s collaborative, ongoing, and designed for sustained behavior change.Show notesWhat we’re unpacking todayWhy “culture work” means wildly different things to different leadersThe difference between tools that build self-awareness and work that changes cultureWhy leaders keep reaching for quick fixes, and why those fixes often failThe assessments everyone loves (and what they’re actually good for)Monica names a few common ones you’ll recognize:Myers-Briggs (MBTI)CliftonStrengthsDISCHoganEnneagramWorking GeniusKey point: These can build shared language, self-awareness, and teamwork, but they’re not culture by themselves.The core distinction: tools vs. cultureKristine defines culture clearly:Culture is how work gets doneIt’s the shared beliefs, values, and behavior patterns that drive results (or block them)So when leaders say “we have a culture problem,” they may actually mean:teamwork breakdownsengagement issuesDEI tensioncross-cultural misunderstandingsperformance or retention problemsThose may relate to culture, but they aren’t solved by a single off-the-shelf assessment.The “culture assessments” problemKristine calls out a major issue: many products labeled “culture assessments” are actually measuring something else, like:employee engagement (important, but not the whole culture)psychological fit for a role (not culture — and can encourage monoculture thinking)Bottom line: If it doesn’t meaningfully engage values, behavior, and how decisions get made, it’s not capturing culture.Monica’s “culture on demand” idea (super practical)Monica introduces “house rules” for projects — especially in global teams — like:defining what “yes” means across communication stylessetting norms for honest timeline updates (“tell me as soon as you know it’ll slip”)designing brainstorming so quieter cultures still contribute (e.g., written ideas submitted first)This is culture work that’s built for the work, not just discussion.Kristine’s reminder: observation mattersKristine shares a powerful example from nurse-shadowing research:leadership assumed nurses used in-room computers for chartingobservation showed nurses rarely used them, creating their own systems insteadleadership was shocked — and it changed what “the problem” even wasTakeaway: you can’t fix what you haven’t actually seen.The “band-aid” trapBoth land the plane here:If a company runs engagement surveys and ignores results, it can hurt trustIf values are created for leaders and stuck on a wall, nothing changesIf workshops don’t lead to new habits, you’re just paying for a moment — not outcomesThe episode takeawayAssessment tools are fine — even great — as step one.But sustainable culture change requires:diagnosis beyond surveys (data + interviews + observation)shared clarity on values and prioritiesbehavior change over timeleaders who stay accountable instead of outsourcing culture to HRThanks for Listening!We’d love to hear from you.Kristine Gentry, PhDkgentry@culturegrove.com🌐 www.culturegrove.com🔗 LinkedIn: Kristine McKenzie GentryMonica M. Smithtradewindscareerconsulting@gmail.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.
    Show More Show Less
    36 mins
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