It feels strange to say that I am the cofounder and “former Chief Culture Officer” of the Best Place to Work in America.

When I heard the news that 5, the energy advisory firm that I co-founded in 2011 with the smartest people in the deregulated electricity industry, had just been named the NUMBER ONE BEST PLACE TO WORK FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM WORKPLACES in Fortune Magazine, I had a flood of excitement and no one to share it with directly.  A target that I had set for myself and the team when we started 14 years ago was now a reality and I was on the outside of the action.  

My longing to be back on the inside of 5 for the celebration was quickly overcome by my absolute love and support for the team that continued to build a thriving company culture as I started my exit three years ago. The more I reflected on this milestone, one of the numerous awards that 5 has received for culture, growth, innovation, and leadership, I realized that the team’s ongoing success and growth without me is the greatest testament to everything I preach. This honor perfectly frames the importance of building an intentional culture architecture that is synonymous with strategy.

So how did it happen? How did 5 become the Number One best place to work in America?

I’ll respond by offering the playbook for promoting human flourishing that leads to the business growth and mission impact that matters by sharing previous posts for your review.

• Higher Purpose – You and your organization must exist to serve a purpose larger than money and more important that power.
• A Culture of Coaching – Coaches invest in the performance and effectiveness of those around them and when you have a culture of coaching, then a foundation of growth exists throughout the enterprise. This link goes to the leadership development courses from Undivided Life, including Creating a Culture of Coaching.
• Shared Experiences – Creating hallmark moments and setting new themes in motion can serve as a rally cry for next level connectivity and leadership.
• Deep Personal Investment – When you care about another person’s growth and well-being more than you care about their productivity and results, their productivity and results are often much better than they would have otherwise been.
• Celebrating Failures – We have to take appropriate risks and cheer for the excellence of the effort, not the results.
• Humanize Everything – Recognize that you are working alongside human beings and not human “doings.” Everyone you meet is a who, not a what – a someone, not a something – an individual, not an asset on the balance sheet.  
• Forget the Competition, Compete with What’s Possible – This transcendent mindset opens a team up to a world of possibilities that were not previously available.
• Rest on the Seventh – Sabbath like you mean it.

Creating a thriving company culture while growing in the metrics that matter to your business is so simple yet so difficult, and profound.

As an advisor on strategy and culture, we often find that clients want immediate results and miss the big picture. When we create a stable foundation for sustainable growth AND we become hyper-focused on human flourishing, our businesses thrive while we make the world a better place.  The Undivided Life model is a shift towards meaningful work and breakthrough results that were not previously believed to be possible.

Reach out to learn more, get started with our online courses, or build your own plan to have your cake and eat it too (growth + culture). Regardless of what path you choose, pick a direction and then make it right.