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BOOK REVIEWER BOOK REVIEWER
ZOË SMITH PATRICK WITCOMBE
Culture Fix Career Conversations
Colin D Ellis’s book shows organisations of
all sizes how to create and maintain healthy
workplace cultures through the personality
of their staff. He reflects on his own personal
experiences providing you with everything that
you need to be the best version of yourself and
inspire the behaviours that you role model as a
leader in those around you.
I enjoyed reading about all six of the pillars,
each providing practical and enlightening
insights, some that were very relevant and some
irrelevant. I particularly enjoyed personality &
communication and collaboration as I believe
these are key areas that organisations focus on
heavily to maintain a great culture.
There are a lot of references to book quotes,
which I find isn’t always easy on the eye, and has
a tendency to distract you from the subject matter
but his humour always brings you back to the
point. The only negative comment that I would
make is that the majority of examples provided
relate to US companies, which can’t always be
applied in the same way in Australia.
I would highly recommend this book to all
leaders either wanting to establish a new culture
or fix an existing one. You can read the book in any
order you like and jump around as you see fit as
some sections are more interesting than others. It
has certainly opened my eyes and inspired me to
experiment and explore new ways of maintaining
the vibrant culture that I’m privileged to be a part of. A clear and approachable guide to career
coaching from a noticeably experienced and
passionate coach. It covers the core concepts of
assumption busting, building authenticity and self-
awareness, goal-setting, listening and facilitation.
It is also jam-packed with insightful activities,
stories and conversational tips. Having delved
into similar material through leadership programs
and coaching sessions, I found this a pleasing
overview and reminder of the fundamental
elements of coaching and self-management,
though it didn’t break any new ground.
Smith demands a high degree of self-
awareness and insight, which I fear limits the
impact of the book. Without someone to hold
a mirror up to you to reveal shadows, or keep
one accountable to new ways of thinking and
working, one can too easily navigate around the
hard truths Smith seeks to uncover.
The focus of this book is on career conversations
either within traditional line management
relationships or through self-management. The
more abstract concepts of leadership through
managing up and across are not addressed –
which is where the vast majority of administrators
and assistants wield their influence. Whilst this
limits the book’s application for administrative
staff, the broad principles still apply.
I highly recommend this as a great supplement
to a career development program or coach, but
not a substitute.
Zoë Smith, EA at Enerven Patrick Witcombe, EA at Executive Support Manager at CBM
by Colin D Ellis
64 Chief of Staff | Issue 1 2020
by Greg Smith