Short answer: Everything. This past week, I had a discussion with leadership coach Haley Grayless of Vaxa Collective. We discussed the recently story of Boulevard Brewery’s toxic culture.

Here are some of the highlights >>

✔️ Brands are people. And your word-of-mouth reputation of how you treat your people is greater than any content marketing or lead gen strategy. And that’s why companies need to invest in their people. Employees are walking brand ambassadors. Good or bad, they will share. What do you want them to be saying?

✔️ It’s possible to not be toxic. Haley stressed understanding self-awareness and receiving feedback as key. The Enneagram is a tool to understand your own personality, and how you may be affected in stressful or unknown situations. Understanding yourself helps you be proactive and manage your own behavior.

✔️ Workplace culture work is equity work. Not everyone is afforded the ability to leave their job. Not everyone has margin to job hunt, interview, clean up resumés. It’s all of our responsibilities to play a proactive role in building positive culture, no matter our title. And, if you’re looking to create a more inclusive, equitable brand … investing in your people is a good place to start.

I highly recommend you check out Millennials Advancing Leadership Skills, a private Facebook group facilitated by Haley.