Additional information
by Dan Bredeson (Author)
Culture is grown, not built
Why do so many organizations get culture so wrong?
Because too many leaders think like a carpenter instead of a farmer. Culture is often referred to in construction terms, such as "Let's build our culture," or "We need to lay a solid foundation for culture." Culture doesn't work that way. It's an organic process. Culture is grown, not built.
In Seeds of Culture, author Dan Bredeson discusses
-how an organization's culture affects performance,
-the six traits of successful "culture farmers" (i.e., leaders),
-the seven "seeds" that will grow into a culture of commitment,
-and how leaders should cultivate those seeds throughout their life cycle.
Many organizations have a culture which seeks compliance instead of commitment. Performance improves when members of the organization go the extra mile because they want to, not because they have to. Seeds of Culture outlines how to improve performance by growing a culture of commitment. This leads to a sense of community and an environment in which team members show up, work hard, and care about each other and the organization.
Author Biography
Dan Bredeson is an organizational cultural and leadership consultant with over twenty years of experience. Throughout his career, Dan has garnered a unique perspective on culture by interacting with and observing every level of the organization in hundreds of different businesses and nonprofit organizations. He has firsthand knowledge of how leadership decisions made in the C-suite impact the culture and, ultimately, the performance of an organization. Dan combines his professional experience with academic research, and then looks at it through the lens of his upbringing on a farm to offer a new paradigm for organizational culture.
Dan holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a master's degree in Organizational Leadership and Learning from the George Washington University. He has held various leadership positions for a Fortune 500 company and several nonprofit organizations. Dan is the founder of Lead Front Consulting LLC and lives just outside of Charlotte, North Carolina, with his wife, two kids, and one very energetic English Cream Golden Retriever.
