You can't change a tire without touching it: Understand the culture, then influence it

Undercover Culture at Steak and Shake

Dear Leaders, Whether you realize it or not, someone is going undercover in your culture every single day. They walk in, they interact with your people, and they walk out with a story — a story about who you are as a team and what you stand for. The question is: do you like the story they're going to tell?   This episode was born out of an accidental undercover culture experiment at the most unexpected place — Steak 'n Shake. We'll talk about: * What "undercover culture" is and why your customers (and colleagues) are doing it to your team every single day * The two endings every culture story can have, and how to make sure yours is the right one * Why praise is accountability too — and why reinforcing what's working is just as important as correcting what isn't This episode is your reminder: your people are the extension of your culture. What your customers experience in those five minutes with your team IS your culture — whether it matches your mission or not. It's your job to make sure those two things are aligned, and then to keep reinforcing it so it doesn't fade away. You just have to decide if you like the story they're going to tell. Love, Your People Book Brandi to speak! spreecultureco.com/speaking-engagements [http://spreecultureco.com/speaking-engagements] Download the leader guide for this episode here: https://spreecultureco.com/dear-leader-downloadable-leader-guides/ [https://spreecultureco.com/dear-leader-downloadable-leader-guides/]

Your Culture on Ai: The Buzz Lightyear Tool of the Decade

Dear Leaders,  Whether you'd like to believe it or not, AI is already in your culture. Your people are using it — in their personal lives, in their workdays, on your team — and if you haven't defined what that looks like, they're defining it for themselves. All fifteen different versions of it. We'll talk about: * The danger of ambiguity: what happens when your team has no standard to measure AI use against * The three things you can do right now to create your AI culture instead of chasing it: Say It, Build It, Own It * How to model the culture you're asking your team to adopt (and why you can't hold people accountable for something you're not holding yourself to first)   This episode is your reminder: AI is an action. And every action your people take — or don't take — shapes the culture your whole team experiences together. It's time to get clear, get loud, and lead it on purpose. Love, Your People Book Brandi to speak! spreecultureco.com/speaking-engagements [http://spreecultureco.com/speaking-engagements] Download the leader guide for this episode here: https://spreecultureco.com/dear-leader-downloadable-leader-guides/ [https://spreecultureco.com/dear-leader-downloadable-leader-guides/]

The Tale of the Square Mug: Why Your Team's Capacity for Change Matters

Dear Leaders, Whether you’d like to believe it or not, what’s happening in the world right now is impacting how your people show up to work. Expensive groceries, gas shortages, plus everything else your people have going on means they might not be operating on a full tank. They just don’t have the capacity. We’ll talk about: * Why all of us have a change threshold (and how to assess your team’s capacity before rolling out changes) * The three questions you need to ask before implementing any change * How to spot “square mug” changes—changes for change’s sake that don’t actually make anyone’s life better * Death by a thousand paper cuts: why your team sees change cumulatively, not in isolation * What it means to be a steady presence through change (and why “let me know if you have questions” isn’t enough) This episode is your reminder: your team’s capacity for change is not unlimited. Treat it like the finite resource it is. Love, Your People Book Brandi to speak! spreecultureco.com/speaking-engagements [http://spreecultureco.com/speaking-engagements] Download the leader guide for this episode here: https://spreecultureco.com/dear-leader-downloadable-leader-guides/ [https://spreecultureco.com/dear-leader-downloadable-leader-guides/]

The 28-Minute Problem: Creating Space for Deep Work as a Leader

Dear Leaders, Here's a statistic that might make you feel seen: the average CEO only gets 28 minutes of uninterrupted work time per day. Twenty-eight minutes. The rest is emails, questions, meetings, and constant interruptions. And if you're like me, you might have accidentally created this problem for yourself. We'll talk about: * Why loving your people doesn't mean sacrificing what you need as a leader * The adventure value paradox: how giving my team flexibility left me with none * The four steps to creating boundaries that protect your capacity (audit, identify systems you need, communicate clearly, own the boundary) This episode is your reminder: you can't pour from an empty cup. When you take care of yourself, you show up better for your team. Love, Your People Book Brandi to speak! spreecultureco.com/speaking-engagements Download the leader guide for this episode here: https://spreecultureco.com/dear-leader-downloadable-leader-guides/ [https://spreecultureco.com/dear-leader-downloadable-leader-guides/] This episode is brought to you by Leader Spree 2026. Join us for a one-day leadership conference in Columbia, Missouri designed to give you way more than 28 minutes to focus on you. Grab your ticket at spreecultureco.com/leader-spree-2026

The (Re)treat that Keeps on Giving

Dear Leaders, Team retreats aren't just nice to have: they impact trust, bring people closer together, and give you space to solve problems in ways you can't when you're stuck in your normal routine. I'm saying this as someone who facilitates team experiences for a living, and I'll be honest: I was discounting the value of our own team retreat. I was overthinking the time commitment, worrying about whether it was really necessary. But after bringing our fully remote team to Columbia, Missouri for two days, I asked them for their honest reflections. What they shared completely shifted how I think about bringing people together. In this episode, I share their actual feedback I got from my team, and give you your own team retreat agenda you can steal to host your own! We'll talk about: * Why team retreats get a bad rap (looking at you, Michael Scott's beach day) * The three things retreats give you: connection, shared language and purpose, and space to solve problems * How retreats validate your team's importance without requiring direct ROI If you're thinking "I don't have the budget for two days away," here's the truth: the location and duration doesn't matter. What matters is dedicating time to step away from normal work and focus on connection and dreaming together. Love, Your People Book Brandi to speak! spreecultureco.com/speaking-engagements Download the leader guide for this episode here: https://spreecultureco.com/dear-leader-downloadable-leader-guides/ [https://spreecultureco.com/dear-leader-downloadable-leader-guides/] The leader guide includes retreat agendas you can steal: 2-hour, half-day, and full-day options.