Dr. Marcus Collins

The greatest determinant of an organization’s success is its culture–not talent, skill, or know-how, but the environment in which that talent is planted: the organization’s cultural soil. This is the backstage of an organization that allows its front stage to flourish when engaging customers, employees, and other audiences.

Ever wonder why impressive new hires fail to thrive within an organization despite their past successes? Or why corporate mission statements often have little impact on a company’s bottom line? It’s because our misunderstanding of what organizational culture actually is–and how it works–prevents us from leveraging its power to influence behavior at scale and help our organizations grow.

It’s a challenge that affects leaders at every level, from interns to CEOs, and organizations of every kind, from corporations to sports teams.

Drawing on years of research and decades of corporate experience, Marcus demystifies conventional business management wisdom to reveal how culture really works. Through the principles of his forthcoming book, Good Soil, he shows leaders how to intentionally cultivate an environment where teams can win, employees can reach their full potential, and organizations can thrive.

Culture is a word we often use but seldom fully understand. So, why does that matter? Because there’s no force more influential on human behavior than culture. What we wear, what we watch, who we marry, how we vote, what we support, and just about every aspect of daily living is informed by—and in many ways governed by—our cultural subscription. Therefore, if we can fully understand what culture is and the underlying physics of how it works, then we can leverage its sway to get people to take action. Of course, this is powerful for marketers, politicians, leaders, managers, and anyone with a vested interest in getting people to move. In this talk, Marcus pulls from both theory and practice—using learnings from his work spearheading digital strategy for Beyoncé to working with Fortune 500 companies like Apple, McDonald’s, and Google—to break down the ways in which culture influences behavior and unpacks how to leverage its power to get people to move.

They say, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast” because a good strategy is only as effective as it is informed by the external customer who we want to move (consumers, voters, donors, etc.) and executable by the internal customer (staff, teammates, crew, etc.) who is tasked with implementation. Therefore, it is imperative that leaders intimately understand the inner workings of their internal culture—just as much as the external—if they are to fully leverage its sway and successfully achieve their collective ambitions. No matter what your organization aspires may be—more creativity, more inclusivity, more productivity—your success is 100% dependent on the culture that you create within the organization at large. This talk explores the extant scholarship of organizational theory and organizational culture, applying real case studies to reveal how leaders not only influence but also scale the internal culture of their teams.

In today’s competitive business landscape, it’s more important than ever to put the customer at the center of all business decisions. While this truth might be widely held, our ability to build organizations that are readily capable of implementing a customer-centric approach is not as accessible as we might desire. This talk uncovers a new perspective on customer-centricity and provides actionable strategies for adopting this approach within your organization that will demonstratively drive greater consumer engagement.

No matter what your company or organization aspires to be—more innovative, more inclusive, more creative, more customer-centric, more productive, etc.—your success is 100% dependent on the culture that you create within the culture at large. Afterall, culture is the operating system of humankind. When you understand and operationalize it, it can become your organization’s superpower. In this game-changing talk, Dr. Marcus Collins walks audiences through the fundamentals of culture and how it affects who we are and who we want to be, giving audiences the tools to view any business challenge or opportunity through the powerful lens of culture. He also brings the audience together with group exercises that challenge their thinking, spark new ideas and inspire action.

Scholars often refer to leadership as the ability to influence without authority. The most powerful way to do that very thing at scale is through culture—the system of beliefs, norms and symbols that demarcate who we are and what is expected of people like us. Whether you are in a company, an organization or community, culture governs everything. Dr. Marcus Collins helps leaders understand the power of culture in influencing and changing human behavior and to develop it as a leadership tool. Audiences learn how to shape a more innovative, productive, inclusive and empathetic culture in their workplace or organization. Most importantly, they’ll learn how to harness the sway of culture to get people to move and take action.