Building Courageous Cultures: Unlocking Ideas and Innovation in Your Organization

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Recorded30 Apr 2025

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Where are all the good ideas? And why don't the good ideas ever seem to get implemented? The disconnect between leaders and employees is holding back innovation and an environment of psychological safety is key to cultivating a courageous culture that fosters innovation. This episode of the Forward Thinking Podcast features FCCS VP of Marketing and Communications Stephanie Barton and Karin Hurt, Founder and CEO of Let's Grow Leaders and instructor in the FCCS Leading Leaders program. Together, they explore ways leaders can build courageous cultures that encourage innovation, create psychological safety, and empower employees to speak up. Episode Insights Include: Establishing a courageous culture In a courageous culture, people feel confident and capable of sharing their ideas. "How can we?", "What if?", and "Can we try?" are some of the commonly heard phrases in a courageous culture. The open-door policy still requires the employee's courage to walk in and start a conversation. Employees often feel that the feedback loop is never closed after they share ideas. Giving credit where due is an essential part of establishing a courageous culture. How not to respond to new ideas Leaders need to respond with gratitude, information and an invitation. Each of these steps is essential when responding to ideas, no matter how off-base they may be. Intentional responses will encourage future ideas to be shared. Tactical, practical strategies can make a real difference in creating a safe culture. Seven steps to building a courageous culture No matter where you are in your company's leadership organization, you can do the first four steps. Navigate the narrative to lay a foundation of psychological safety. Create clarity about your interest in others' ideas and where exactly you want ideas and input. Cultivate curiosity by deliberately asking questions of your team. Essential leadership and management skills A courageous culture is implemented by leaders who set clear expectations and understand their strategic direction. 5x5 communication needs to be communicated five times, five different ways – town hall, follow up with leaders, in one-on-ones, emails, and more. Check for understanding to ensure information is both sent and received. Enhance curiosity by asking people for techniques for soliciting ideas. Own the UGLY – ask these four strategic questions to get great feedback. Manage up – check for understanding about what you are asking your employees to do. Is it working? Are you getting ideas that you can actually use? Consider the cycle of input and output of good ideas that are presented in a psychologically safe environment. Ensure that your efforts are supporting your strategic initiatives. Celebrate your successes! Build a cultural oasis where one clear idea is the focus of all efforts. This podcast is powered by FCCS. Resources Connect with Karin Hurt — Karin Hurt Get in touch [email protected] "If you are a human-centered leader working to create an environment where people want to speak up, pay attention to the experiences that people have had in the past." — Karin Hurt "Having practical, tactical strategies will really make a difference." — Karin Hurt "A courageous culture is implemented by leaders who set clear expectations and understand their strategic direction." — Karin Hurt

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