115. Decoding Your Culture Part 1: What is Culture?

<p>When I talk about school culture, I'm not talking about Secret Santa gift exchanges, karaoke night, or the pingpong table in the breakroom.</p><p>Instead, culture is about the conversation that happens <em>around</em> the ping pong table. It's the set of shared core values and practices that define the day-to-day interactions and decisions in your center.</p><p>A healthy culture is essential to building a school of excellence, so keeping a finger on the pulse of your center's culture is something you should prioritize.</p><p>But how can you evaluate the state of your current culture if it's not about the gift cards and the pizza parties? How do you actually identify whether your team and staff are united under a set of shared core values and practices?</p><p>The best way to determine the health of your culture is by looking at the emotional behaviors happening in your center each and every day—and more specifically—<em>your</em> emotional behaviors.</p><p>Where's the focus of your stress? Your frustration? Your anger?</p><p>Emotions are data points that help you understand where there's tension and a mismatch of values. With that information in hand, you can evaluate the state of your culture and decide what you can do to pivot in the right direction.</p><p>Because starting with you is how you create the ripple effect that will inspire change in everyone else.</p><p>In this week's podcast episode, I'm diving into a new series called Decoding Your Culture. In the first episode, I'm looking at what culture is and how to evaluate what's going on in your own center.</p><p>Join me for a conversation about:</p><ul><li>What school culture is (and isn't)</li><li>The easiest way to evaluate your center's culture</li><li>How to understand the emotional behaviors involved in your school culture right now</li><li>The importance of staying connected to the people you serve</li></ul><br/><p><strong>Learn more and apply for the Director’s Inner&nbsp;Circle &amp; Owner’s HQ:&nbsp;</strong><a href="http://chanie.me/jointhedic"