ACHIEVE Workplace Culture

Hosted by ACHIEVE Centre for Leadership

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Jun 2026

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About the show

Looking for inspiration about how to create a healthy workplace culture? Listen to Wendy Loewen, Chris Downey, and Eric Stutzman share their insights about leadership and workplace culture. Their conversations are based on experiences from their workplace, articles and books they’ve read, current events, and the clients they serve. Together they are leaders at ACHIEVE Centre for Leadership and have co-authored several books including: The Culture Question and Don’t Blame the Lettuce.

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60 recent

June 11, 202619 min

The Manager’s Field Guide – Episode 2: Start with You

In episode 2 of The Manager’s Field Guide, Wendy Loewen continues the conversation with Daniel Anthony Doerksen and Chris Downey as they continue their series on You Can Manage: A Practical Guide to Becoming the Manager Everyone Wants, focusing on Essential 1: “Start with You”. They discuss how strongly managers shape people’s workplace experience, citing research that 70% of engagement variance links to the direct manager and that a direct manager influences mental health and wellbeing as much as a spouse. The conversation emphasizes grounding management in “ways of being” before “ways of doing,” clarifying personal purpose and values, and creating a leadership charter to define the kind of manager you want to be. They highlight the intentions–impact gap, the need for feedback to reduce blind spots, and recommend self-care as an ethical responsibility. Ready to make your workplace somewhere people actually want to be? ACHIEVE has everything you need to get there. Try our free Culture Transformation Starter Kit!

May 28, 202625 min

The Manager’s Field Guide – Episode 1: The Essential 5 Framework

Wendy Loewen introduces The Manager’s Field Guide, an ACHIEVE Workplace Culture podcast mini-series based on the new book “You Can Manage” by Daniel Anthony Doerksen and Chris Downey. The series is designed to support people moving into management roles without formal training, helping them understand what to focus on and how to measure success. The authors argue that work is essential to a meaningful life, yet it has too often been accepted as a negative experience. Managers, they suggest, are the key to closing the gap between what work can be and what many people experience. In this first episode, they distinguish leadership as a human dynamic from management as a defined organizational role, and preview the book’s “Essential Five”: start with yourself, invest in people, build the team, advance the work, and strengthen the organization. Ready to make your workplace somewhere people actually want to be? ACHIEVE has everything you need to get there. Try our free Culture Transformation Starter Kit!

May 14, 202616 min

Celebrate What You Want More Of

In episode 66 of the ACHIEVE Workplace Culture Podcast, Eric, Chris and Wendy discuss shifting attention from what you don’t want to what you do want by celebrating and reinforcing positive behaviours. Wendy shares the “two wolves” parable to illustrate that what you feed grows, and the team recounts times specific positive feedback changed their actions, relationships, and even career trajectory. They argue that strengths-based recognition is a powerful motivator, that strengths are everywhere if you look for them, and that naming what’s going right helps create more of it. While constructive feedback is still necessary, they suggest rooting it in a strengths perspective rather than using a “sandwich” approach. Their key advice: spot it, say it, be specific, and note the impact. Try our free Culture Transformation Starter Kit!

April 30, 202618 min

Disengagement: Re-Engage or Exit?

In episode 65 of the ACHIEVE Workplace Culture Podcast, Eric, Chris and Wendy explore workplace disengagement, when it can shift back to engagement and when it may be healthier to move toward a dignified separation. They share personal and workplace examples of how confidence, personal circumstances, and clear supports or accommodations can affect performance. The hosts emphasize avoiding blame or assumptions, creating safety for honest dialogue, and seeking to understand the true sources of motivation beyond specific tasks, including alignment with organizational values. They discuss handling misalignment with kindness while maintaining accountability, and offer practical keys: start with curiosity, ask what someone needs to be successful, clarify what the workplace can and cannot provide, and support next steps in a way that preserves relationships. Try our free Culture Transformation Starter Kit!

April 16, 202616 min

Clarity Versus Niceness

In episode 64 of the ACHIEVE Workplace Culture Podcast, Eric, Chris and Wendy discuss the difference between being “nice” and being “kind” at work, arguing that niceness can become people-pleasing driven by insecurity while kindness prioritizes others through clear, helpful conversations. They emphasize Brené Brown’s idea that “clear is kind,” noting leaders often avoid feedback even though everyone wants to know when they’re not meeting expectations. The hosts explore how clarity helps people perform and prevents them from feeling “lost,” and they distinguish kind clarity from unkind bluntness by focusing on observable behaviour and impact rather than assumptions about motives. They advise leaders to pay attention, have the conversation despite discomfort, assume people want to know and do good work, and approach feedback as a two-way dialogue. Try our free Culture Transformation Starter Kit!

April 2, 202619 min

Fair isn’t Always Equal

In Episode 63 of the ACHIEVE Workplace Culture Podcast, Eric, Wendy and Chris explore why treating people equally doesn’t always produce fair or effective results at work. They discuss how different employees need different levels of direction, autonomy, and support to perform well. They also address how fairness concerns can arise when one person receives additional supports, recommending leaders ask what the concerned person needs rather than defending another employee’s accommodations. The episode emphasizes noticing differences, leveraging strengths, avoiding over-reliance on policies, and creating workplaces where people’s talents are seen and supported. Try our free Culture Transformation Starter Kit!

March 19, 202621 min

Episode 62: Bridging the Gap: Transforming Your Leadership Approach

In episode 62 of the ACHIEVE Workplace Culture Podcast, Wendy and Chris discuss why leadership is central to workplace culture. Chris shares being pushed into leadership too early, initially copying flawed models that misused power, and later being challenged with the question, “What kind of leader do you want to be?” He describes leadership as an ongoing practice, notes his continued challenge with providing clarity, and emphasizes that leaders affect people beyond work, encouraging leaders to take responsibility, grow incrementally, and go easy on themselves. Try our free Culture Transformation Starter Kit!

March 5, 202615 min

Leadership Insights: When to Solve and When to Support

In episode 61 of the ACHIEVE Workplace Culture Podcast, Eric, Chris, and Wendy discuss a leader’s role when someone brings them a workplace problem. While leaders may ultimately help problems get solved, they warn against jumping in with immediate solutions except in crises or ethical situations. Instead, they recommend making time to listen, clarifying what the real issue is, asking what the person wants from the conversation, and exploring what they have already tried and what options exist. When sharing wisdom, they emphasize the order of operations, asking permission, and offering experience rather than prescriptive advice, keeping the focus on the other person’s situation. Try our free Culture Transformation Starter Kit!

February 26, 202619 min

Rebuilding Trust in the Workplace

In episode 60 of the ACHIEVE Workplace Culture Podcast, Eric, Wendy and Chris explore trust, specifically how it gets broken and what leaders can do to rebuild it. They share practical approaches for repair, such as acknowledging impact, checking in with others, listening without excuses, apologizing when appropriate, and committing to changed behaviour. Listen along to learn how you can rebuild trust in your workplace. Try our free Culture Transformation Starter Kit!

February 4, 202615 min

Are Leaders too Vulnerable?

Is vulnerability an actual leadership skill? In this episode of The Achieve Workplace Culture Podcast, Eric, Wendy, and Chris break down what healthy vulnerability actually looks like at work. What’s inside: The difference between real vulnerability vs. unhelpful oversharing How to be authentic without offloading your anxiety Why trust isn’t just predictability—it’s showing up in uncertainty How power and privilege shape who can be vulnerable Concrete ways to lead with honesty and emotional boundaries If you care about trust, psychological safety, and leading with positive impact, this episode is for you. Try our free Culture Transformation Starter Kit!