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.
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    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.
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    38 mins
  • Metrics that Matter, Part 1: The Culture Metrics Mirage

    Metrics that Matter, Part 1: The Culture Metrics Mirage
    Nov 19 2025
    Episode SummaryIn this first episode of our three-part Metrics that Matter series, Kristine and Monica pull back the curtain on how organizations are trying (and often failing) to measure culture. They walk through the real business case for culture, revenue growth, turnover savings, and performance, and then dig into why most “culture metrics” are actually measuring something else entirely. From employee engagement scores and eNPS to “culture surveys” that only test role fit, they unpack how well-intended tools turn into a metrics mirage that leaders game rather than learn from. You’ll walk away with a sharper lens on which numbers to question, what’s missing from your dashboards, and why purpose and behavior—not feel-good scores—belong at the center of how you measure culture.Show Notes0:00 – Welcome & Series SetupMonica and Kristine kick off Part 1 of a three-part series on Metrics that Matter.Why this series: every company says culture is important, but when it comes to measurement, most are either guessing or gaming.Today’s focus: naming the problem and the “metrics mirage” so future episodes can dive into better solutions.2:30 – Why Culture Actually Matters (Beyond the Buzzwords)Kristine lays out the business case for culture:Studies showing companies with strong, values-aligned cultures significantly outperform peers on revenue and stock performance.Cost savings in recruitment, onboarding, training, and preserved institutional knowledge.5:45 – Why Culture Is So Hard to MeasureMonica contrasts culture with finance and operations:In finance, the drivers are clearer: a couple of questions can tell you what’s going on.With culture, leaders face nuance, ambiguity, and multiple overlapping human factors.17:10 – When “Culture Surveys” Aren’t Actually About CultureKristine describes tools marketed as “culture surveys” that:Are really measuring psychological fit to a specific job.Or are primarily engagement, safety, or satisfaction tools dressed up with the word “culture.”23:00 – AI, Talent, and the Skills Culture Needs NextMonica and Kristine connect culture metrics to the future of work and AI:Organizations will need people who can think critically, structure problems, write clearly, and challenge assumptions, often from liberal arts and social science backgrounds.Anthropology and other non-STEM disciplines bring nuance, research skills, and bias-awareness that are crucial for using AI well.26:15 – So… What Do You Do with All This?What are you currently measuring and what does it actually tell you?Is the data actionable, or just “interesting”?Are you incentivizing scores or real behavior change?Are you building culture for a list—or for your people and purpose?Preview of Parts 2 and 3:In upcoming episodes, Kristine and Monica will dig into metrics that truly matter for culture and performance and offer more concrete approaches for leaders who want better dashboards, not bigger mirages.Call to ActionReflection prompt for listeners:This week, pull up the “culture” or “people” metrics your organization is tracking.Which ones are truly about values, beliefs, and behaviors?Which ones can be easily gamed?Which ones actually change the decisions you make?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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    28 mins
  • From Resistance to Resilience: Leading AI Adoption Through Culture — with Madhuri Kumar

    From Resistance to Resilience: Leading AI Adoption Through Culture — with Madhuri Kumar
    Nov 5 2025

    It’s our 10th episode and our first guest! Dr. Kristine Gentry (cultural anthropologist and founder of Culture Grove) and co-host Monica M. Smith (intercultural leadership expert and founder of Tradewinds Career Consulting) sit down with Madhuri Kumar, a global talent executive who has led culture, change, and people strategies across Fortune 500s (GE, Halliburton), tech and health tech, nonprofits, and higher ed (UT Austin, University of Houston). With a Wharton Global CXO certification and doctoral work in leadership of change, Madhuri helps enterprises architect human-centered AI adoption that fuels growth, resilience, and innovation.


    What we cover
    • Why this AI wave is different: GenAI is employee-led and pervasive. Policy, trust, and enablement must catch up.
    • Culture as the multiplier: High-trust, resilient cultures experiment, learn fast, and adapt together.
    • Leaders’ playbook for AI change: Transparent comms, clear timelines, shared language, safe experimentation, and real feedback loops.
    • Resilience over fear: Treat AI as a people and trust challenge, not only a tech rollout.
    • A practical model in the wild: How broad AI fluency and employee autonomy (e.g., weekly share-outs, hackathon rituals) accelerate adoption.
    • Jobs & skills are shifting: Entry-level tasks are automating; upskilling and role redesign can move people into higher-value work.
    • Quality & ethics: Prompt engineering, bias checks, and data validation are new must-have capabilities.
    • HR tech reality check: Messy, bolt-on data stacks meet a moment where AI can finally help clean and personalize (e.g., adaptive L&D).
    • ROI truth: Many orgs use AI; far fewer see returns. Culture and clarity of use-cases make the difference.

    Chapter guide
    • 00:00 Welcome, milestone 🎉 & intro to our first guest
    • 03:20 Madhuri’s origin story: learning the “math of change” across cultures
    • 08:17 How AI differs from past transformations (employee-led, faster, broader)
    • 14:00 Resilience & trust as the real adoption currency
    • 17:30 Building shared language & autonomy (AI fluency programs, show-and-tell rituals)
    • 28:28 Prompting as power; where humans stay superior (for now)
    • 31:32 Bias, ethics, and responsible AI in people practices
    • 38:37 Rituals that scale learning: demos, hackathons, open houses
    • 42:12 Adoption ≠ ROI (yet): why culture bridges the gap

    Join the Collaborative Culture community

    New episodes every other Wednesday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you listen. If today’s conversation sparked ideas for your team’s AI journey, connect with Kristine at Culture Grove to explore an AI-ready culture audit or leadership session. Or connect with Monica at Tradewinds Career Coaching to obtain training, guidance, and coaching for global leaders and their culturally diverse teams

    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.
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    45 mins
  • RTO Won’t Save You: Why Culture Can’t Be Mandated

    RTO Won’t Save You: Why Culture Can’t Be Mandated
    Oct 22 2025

    Show description

    RTO isn’t a culture strategy. It’s a seating chart. In this episode, Monica M. Smith (Tradewinds Career Consulting) and Dr. Kristine Gentry (Culture Grove) unpack why so many “back to the office for culture” mandates fall flat and what actually builds connection, trust, and performance. We explore the post-pandemic “great realignment,” the comfort vs. culture trap, and how leaders can replace visibility theater with systems that drive clarity, accountability, and belonging, wherever people work.

    If you’re a CEO, CHRO, or people leader wrestling with hybrid/remote decisions, this conversation gives you a practical lens: treat culture as an operating system based on values that impact beliefs, behaviors, and structures.

    Show notes & timestamps

    01:10 — Why RTO now?

    Real estate pressures, investor optics, and nostalgia meet employee agency and flexible norms forged during COVID.

    02:30 — “Culture” vs. comfort

    Leaders often conflate seeing people with leading people. Visibility ≠ value. Proximity ≠ performance.

    08:55 — Performative culture in action

    From shutting off Slack comments to perks as distraction—the difference between branding and behavior.

    22:40 — What employees actually feel

    Why authenticity beats slogans—and why perks can’t paper over weak systems.

    26:45 — What’s working now

    Trust, outcome clarity, conflict skills, manager coaching, reasonable workload boundaries, and belonging across locations.

    33:30 — From perks to infrastructure

    “Don’t smoothie-bar your way to trust.” Build processes, rituals, and decision rules people can rely on.

    40:50 — RTO + the DEI rollback

    Two control moves dressed in “culture” language; why uniformity undercuts belonging and results.

    43:40 — The bottom line

    If you lack trust, communication, and alignment, being in the same room just magnifies dysfunction.

    If you build systems that reinforce values, culture spreads—regardless of location.


    Key takeaways

    • Policy isn’t culture. Returning bodies to buildings won’t fix misaligned beliefs, behaviors, and structures.
    • Clarity beats proximity. Define outcomes and operating norms; stop using attendance as a performance proxy.
    • Model > mandate. Executives must live the values; managers can’t carry what leaders won’t model.
    • Build systems, not perks. Trust grows from consistent processes (decision rights, conflict norms, workload boundaries), not smoothie bars.
    • Flexibility is strategy. Treat hybrid/remote as a talent and performance advantage—not a concession.
    • Belonging ≠ sameness. Design for contribution across locations and life stages; uniformity erodes inclusion and innovation.

    Call to action

    If this sparked ideas or debate, share the episode with a colleague and bring one prompt to your next leadership meeting:


    “What system, if we improved it this month, would most increase trust across our team?”


    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.
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    45 mins
  • AI Meets Culture: How Smart Leaders Build for Growth, Not Fear

    AI Meets Culture: How Smart Leaders Build for Growth, Not Fear
    Oct 8 2025

    AI doesn’t have to be a layoff story. it can be a growth story. In this episode of Collaborative Culture, hosts Dr. Kristine McKenzie Gentry and Monica M. Smith explore what it means to lead AI adoption with your culture front and center.


    They discuss how leaders can turn the AI revolution into a moment for innovation, inclusion, and trust — not fear.


    You’ll learn how to:

    • Build a culture-first AI strategy that aligns with your company’s values and long-term goals
    • Engage employees as co-creators in AI transformation
    • Avoid “spreadsheet-style” leadership that undermines innovation
    • Recognize and reward the human expertise that drives technological success


    Whether you’re an executive, HR leader, or entrepreneur, this episode offers a roadmap to integrating AI without losing the heart of your culture.


    Episode Highlights:

    • (01:31) What it means to lead with a culture-first AI strategy
    • (04:45) Why innovation and culture are inseparable in the AI era
    • (06:37) How leaders can anchor AI transformation in company purpose
    • (09:24) Change management pitfalls — and why 70% of initiatives fail
    • (15:20) Retaining talent in the age of automation
    • (18:19) Lessons from Chevron’s Hess acquisition and culture’s impact on performance
    • (20:22) Practical steps for leaders: assess readiness, foster dialogue, build innovation teams

    Referenced Resources:

    • Ranjay Gulati on Deep Purpose (Harvard Business Review Press)
    • Charles O’Reilly on Innovation Culture (Stanford Graduate School of Business)
    • MIT Sloan Management Review Podcast (Episode link in show notes)


    Subscribe:

    Follow Collaborative Culture on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen — and leave a review to help others find the show!

    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.
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    23 mins
  • Cutting Costs vs. Killing Culture

    Cutting Costs vs. Killing Culture
    Sep 24 2025

    In this episode, Dr. Kristine Gentry (Culture Grove) and co-host Monica M. Smith (Tradewinds Career Consulting) unpack the surge in layoffs tied to AI ambitions and what “managing to a spreadsheet” misses about people, risk, and long-term performance. We discuss the ripple effects of rapid RIFs on engagement, institutional knowledge, and resilience; the CEO messaging that’s eroding loyalty; and why culture must sit alongside cost models and AI roadmaps. We also zoom out globally—how regulators, talent markets, and high- vs. low-context cultures are reacting to AI and close with practical ways leaders can reduce risk while modernizing responsibly.


    Show Notes

    What we cover

    • (00:51) Layoff trends: what Q2 cuts signal—and what the numbers don’t show
    • (04:55) “Managing to a spreadsheet”: the pitfalls of percent-cut targets
    • (10:45) Culture risk 101: institutional knowledge, cross-functional glue & resiliency
    • (15:37) AI realism: skills, QA, bias—and why smart people still matter
    • (22:33) Research nuance: what AI misses
    • (24:31) Global lens: regulators, talent pathways, and cultural expectations


    Key takeaways

    • Layoffs before readiness raise operational risk. If AI isn’t production-ready across daily/weekly/monthly/quarterly cycles, you’re swapping labor cost for failure risk.
    • Percent targets ≠ strategy. Spreadsheet cuts ignore institutional knowledge, cross-team collaboration, and decision-quality—core drivers of resilience and innovation.
    • Messaging matters. Publicly downplaying loyalty depresses engagement and accelerates top-talent exits, just when change absorption is most needed.
    • AI amplifies what exists. Without people who can frame problems, check bias, and QA outputs, AI can scale errors (and inequities) faster.
    • Culture is a control. Treat culture like a set of operating controls (KRIs + KPIs) to govern transformation risk, not an afterthought.


    Resources mentioned

    • Labor-market reports on job cuts (Challenger, Gray & Christmas)
    • AT&T Just Made it Official: Workplace Loyalty is Dead (Business Insider)
    • CEO Pride in Shrinking Workforce (CEO Daily Brief)


    Next up

    • Episode 8: Culture as Your Secret Weapon in the AI Revolution — how to design teams, rituals, and decision systems that make AI work for people and performance.

    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.
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    33 mins