Some of the participants share their thoughts and reflections on the day:

“We learnt that Organisational Culture is often the product of what has worked well in an organisation in the past and is often assumed as the best way of doing things, summarised by the saying: ‘this is the way we do things around here’. However, it isn’t until we dig down into the underlying values, beliefs and assumptions of the people in an organisation that we begin to truly understand what Organisational Culture really is. As leaders we need to better understand the culture in our workplaces by looking past the norms of policies, procedures and processes and starting to understand the core values that people desire in their work environments.”

"The timing of this session really resonated with me. We are going through some big changes in my organisation in the moment and it showed that change really needs to come from the bottom and staff at every level need to be invested in that change. It made me think about how I can influence the culture in my organisation as a future leader and that traditional ‘change from the top and expect people to tag along’ isn’t always the best way to get the results that you need."

"Personally the main things I took away from the session with Josie and Sam was that we can only truly expect to change ourselves. Without taking this first (HUGE) step we cannot expect support from other members of the team or upper management when it comes to change in our work environment. Also I found the wolf pack example an interesting one… Taught me that we can often be surprised by the positive effects of change in our environment so do not be afraid… Finally Sam made an interesting comment about nature and our bodies… Change is happening all the time, naturally. In fact if certain things don’t change as they should we become worried. Change is normal, embrace it, go with it, make it happen to yourself and hope others will follow…"

"Change can bring about a sense of fear for many people, leaders need to deal with this and create a space for staff to have conversations about what is important to them. We need to engage staff and involve them allowing them to be able to make sense of what is going on around them, 'listen to the song under the words'. Find new ways to communicate, celebrate success and learn from the mistakes. Take the opportunities and be a role model for those around you. You can be a leader and inspire others from wherever you are in an organisation."