Step 6 of Building a Better Business

Anna Stubbs • August 2, 2023

Be a better leader; build a strong workplace culture

Being a better leader and building a strong workplace culture is crucial to having a better business.



Have you ever considered whether your workplace is toxic? With the average person spending more than 40,000 hours of their life at work, a workplace should be an enjoyable place to be.

We all have bad days, but if the following bells ring… your workplace may be toxic.

1. A lack of trust between owners and the team.
Is there a sense of ‘us’ and ‘them’? Everyone should feel part of the team.

2. No Core Values.
Or, worse still, Core Values which aren’t being lived into.

3. After meeting meetings.
Those chats after a meeting where team members go on to discuss the meeting or criticise decisions made.

4. Highly stressful interactions.
Disagreements will happen from time to time, but these should be the exception, not the norm.

5. Team members and owners mistreating each other.
They may be working in self-serving ways rather than benefiting the team and business.

6. No team buy-in to the core purpose or the business's goals.
Or, an absence of purpose or goals completely.

To create a stronger and happier workplace culture, consider the following points:

  1. Develop your Core Values, with help from your team.
  2. Define your purpose; why you exist for your customers - and make it clear to your team how their roles deliver on your purpose.
  3. Make your Core Values and purpose highly visible so your team know them and hold each other accountable to living into them.
  4. Set annual and 90 day goals for each team member so that the sum of the individuals’ goals can deliver on your overall Business Plan.
  5. Celebrate success and recognise team members for great performance.
  6. Meet regularly with the team and give everyone the chance to be heard.
  7. Avoid being held ransom by toxic employees by showing them the ‘door of opportunity’.


A toxic culture will inhibit the success of your business. Take an honest look at your culture and make changes to help build a strong workplace culture.


Need help developing your Core Values or your purpose? We can help!


“Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” - Peter Drucker

The Man on the Moon Principle

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In 1961, President John F Kennedy famously announced his goal of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth before the decade was out. As we know, in July 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first people to walk on the moon, and were brought back to Earth safely, achieving JFK’s goal.  At a time when most people hadn’t even been on an aeroplane, landing on the moon would’ve felt unachievable and overwhelming. However, such a massive goal united people with a purpose; the story goes that even a cleaner mopping the floor at the space station said his job was to help put a man on the moon. So, how did they make the goal achievable? They broke it down into milestones, with each one taking them closer and closer to achieving their ultimate goal. The first milestone was to achieve lift off. So, they set about resolving this challenge. The next milestone was to reach orbit, so they had a team working on this milestone. Then, they had to reach the moon’s atmosphere, land safely on the moon, take off from the moon, enter Earth’s atmosphere and land safely back down to Earth. You can see how breaking the goal down into milestones gave everyone a more achievable objective to focus on which was less overwhelming. Those milestones were then broken down into the actions which needed to be completed. Each action was essentially a small step towards reaching the ultimate goal.

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By Anna Stubbs • October 22, 2025
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