Behaviours ARE your culture
The 10 Behaviours of Effective Employees is a hiring, people management and career management framework I developed while scaling teams at 100% year-on-year growth.
I didn’t want to rely on chance when bringing people in.
It wasn’t just about filling seats—it was about protecting and enriching the culture that made our team thrive. I wanted to keep that sense of progress, respect, and improvement while still building a team that could deliver at pace.
I realised our culture wasn’t an accident—it was the result of what our people did every day.
So I studied those people closely, paying attention to behaviours: how they worked, what they said, and how they contributed. From that, I identified 10 core behaviours that made the difference.
These behaviours became the backbone of how we recruited, how we managed performance, and—most importantly—how I shaped my own career.
Handily, I have condensed these into a free eBook that you can download and get started learning about the 10 behaviours.
Alternatively, read on to explore them in more detail, watch the video, and learn about my 10 Behaviours Workshop.
The 10 Behaviours
Here are the 10 behaviours of effective employees. Read the book to explore each in depth.
- They are visibly passionate
- They are open minded
- They are not constrained by their job title
- They become company smart
- They focus on the customer
- They relentlessly improve the process
- They do what they say they will
- They are good communicators
- They add skills and skills and skills
- They are brave
Video and Podcast
Check out the YouTube video where I chat about the 10 Behaviours of Effective Employees.
Or the podcast if that's your thing.
The 10 Behaviours Workshop
The 10 Behaviours Workshop is a highly interactive session designed for leaders and their teams to define, shape, and bring workplace culture to life.
Rather than talking abstractly about “values,” we use a creative, hands-on format to turn behaviours into something tangible—posters, videos, podcasts, even mock products—that clearly express what each behaviour looks like in your context.
By the end of the day, you’ll walk away with practical tools that your team has created together, ready to share and embed across your organisation.
This isn’t about creating for the sake of it. It’s about:
- Clarity – defining what effective behaviours look like for your team.
- Engagement – giving everyone a voice in shaping culture, not just leaders.
- Momentum – leaving with real artefacts you can use to communicate and reinforce behaviours.
Because every organisation is different, we start by tailoring the 10 behaviours to your team. From there, we co-create outputs that make sense for your workplace.
Afterwards, you’ll receive a compiled set of everything produced—ready for sharing, printing, or integrating into your culture work.
At its heart, this workshop helps leaders and managers answer a critical question:
“What does it look like when our culture is alive in everyday behaviours?”
And then, it gives you the tangible materials to communicate and reinforce that answer across your organisation.
Downloads – Slides, Outputs and Career guides
- The Slides for the workshop (in PDF format) are available to download here.
- Some posters from a workshop are available here as a ZINE.
- Of course, if you haven’t already, you can download the free eBook too.
Schedule and Location
Space is needed for this. I provide the materials, you provide the brains. Ideally a suitable room with plenty of workspaces (floors, desks etc).
- 08:30 – 09:00 – Set up work space
- 09:00–09:30 — Introductions
- 09:30–10:45 — Building products for the 10
- 11:00–12:30 — Building products for the 10
- 13:30 – 15:00 — Shaping the culture of the team / department
- 15:30 – 17:00 – Showing our artwork - discuss next steps to bring them to life in work.
Location is up to you – your office, a local hotel, factory – somewhere with parking, coffee and space to create.
Instructions
- Before the workshop begins, please do some pre-thinking about the kind of culture you have, and/or wish to have.
- Ensure your team have no meetings or tasks scheduled – it’s important everyone is engaged.
- Turn up, leave politics at the door and put your creative hat on. This is a behavioural workshop and individual opinions and ideas matter a lot. “Disagree and Commit” is a useful mantra to come prepped with.
After the workshop
- I will write up the day’s notes and send this over to you within 2-3 working days.
- I will compile the outputs for you to print / distribute
- Any actions, parking lot ideas or next steps will be captured ready for your work management tool.
Recommended Reading to aid behaviour change
Affiliate Links - All {book} links are affiliate links to book I have personally read and got value from.
Positivity and Passion
Positivity by Barbara Fredrickson {book}
The Obstacle Is The Way – Ryan Holiday {book}
Authentic Happiness – Martin Seligman {book}
The Art Of Being Brilliant – Andy Cope and Andy Whittaker {book}
7 Simple Tips for dealing with negative people – Zen Habits
– Mind Body Green
8 Steps for strengthening self-esteem when you have depression – Psych Central
8 Ways to a positive day – Pick The Brain
– Switch And Shift
6 Simple Rules For Life – John C Maxwell
Perma Model of Happiness – Mind Tools
10 Ways To Instantly Build Confidence – Pick The Brain
10 Hard Ways To Make Your Life Better – Life Hack
10 Stress Busters – NHS
6 Things Happy People Never Do – Marc and Angel Life Hack
Top 10 Reasons Managers Become Great – Scott Berkun
Strategies for Apprehension Management – The Communication Blog
Change and Open-Mindedness
Switch – Chip and Dan Heath {book}
Who – A Method – Geoff Smart and Randy Street {book}
How Successful People Think – John C Maxwell {book}
Growing A Business – Paul Hawken {book}
Knowing What To Leave Alone – Jerry Weinberg
Deming’s 14 Key Principles For Management – Deming
How To Be An Expert In A Changing World – Paul Graham
How To Become Open Minded – Forbes
Is It Important To Be Open Minded In The Workplace – Chron
How To Be Open Minded To New Ideas – Evan Carmichael
5 Characteristics of Open Minded Leader – People Development Magazine
Breaking The Code – Attracting Tech In The UK – Talent Culture
The Resume Is Dead – The Bio Is King – 99U
Get Rid Of Job Descriptions And You’ll Hire Better People – Ere Media
6 Ways To Enhance Your Problem Solving Skills – Life Hack
Hiring Purple Squirrels – Ere Media
Process Improvement and Personal Development
The Vanguard Method – John Seddon
Reinventing Leadership – Paul Thomas {Book}
How To Fail At Almost Everything And Still Win Big – Scott Adams {Book}
The Toyota Way – Jeffrey Liker {book}
The Toyota Kata – Mike Rother {book}
The Slight Edge – Jeff Olson {book}
The Compound Effect – Darren Hardy {book}
The Miracle Morning – Hal Elrod {Book}
James Clear Blog on Habits – James Clear
Communication
Key Person Of Influence {book}
Bareknuckle Presenter {book}
What Every Body Is Saying {book}
I Want You To Cheat {book}
How to anyone {book}
Louder Than Words {book}
How To Win Friends And Influence People {book}
Steal the show {book}
Tools for boosting communication effectiveness – INC
Characteristics of good communication – Iowa State University
Contexts of communication – Oregan State University
Communication models – SH Kaminski
Effective organisational communication – Your Article Library
Entropy and Redundancy in communication – SLT Info
A crash course in communication – INC
Purposes of communication – Indiana University
Communication Models – SH Kaminski
Getting the most out of Meetings – Business 2 Community
Effective Organisational Communication – Diana Femi Adjei
Do As I Say – INC
– Citrinitas.com
How To Communicate Like A Pro – Nido Oqubein
Get Your Point Across without Being Rude – INC
Social Leaders: The New Frontier for CEOs – Talent Culture
– The Guardian
10 Secrets Of A Master Networker – INC
You may already have a copy of my free eBook called “10 Behaviours Of Effective Employees”, if not grab a copy here – it’s free!