How individuals influence culture (and what Zorro can teach us about it)

Culture often gets talked about as something set by leaders, strategies and values decks.

In this episode of A Curious Space, we zoom in somewhere else.

We explore the role individuals play in shaping culture day to day, through small choices, habits and behaviours that quietly ripple out across teams and organisations.

We unpack a simple but powerful idea: we all have the power to significantly shape the cultures we are part of, especially when we do it together.

In this episode, Kate and Maddie discuss:

• Why culture is made up of small actions rather than grand gestures

• How individuals can influence culture intentionally, even without formal authority

• Emotional contagion, mood hoovers and radiators

• The spheres of control, influence and concern, and why they matter when change feels overwhelming

• What Zorro can teach us about growing influence by starting small

• How team identity shapes behaviour and outcomes

• Why being deliberate about “how we want to be” as a team really matters

As ever, we share practical reflections, useful frameworks and ideas you can take straight back into your work.

• Stephen Covey – Spheres of Control, Influence and Concern

• Margaret Heffernan – Beyond Measure

• Sean Achor – The Happiness Advantage

• Haslam, Reicher & Platow – Research on leadership identity and “who we are”

• Drexler–Sibbet Team Performance Model

We’re collecting questions, challenges and conundrums for our Agony Aunt episodes later in the series.

If you’ve got a tricky team dynamic, a culture question, or something you’d love a thoughtful outside perspective on, email us at:

hello@acuriousspacepodcast.com

Huge thanks to our brilliant producer, Tim Fox, for keeping us on track and making the podcast sound far more coherent than it sometimes feels in the moment.

And thank you to our music creator, Richard Flindell, for the soundtrack that carries us in and out of these conversations so beautifully.

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it, rate it, or send it to someone who might need a reminder that small actions really do matter.

In this episode of A Curious Space, Kate and Maddie explore one of the biggest (and most underestimated) forces shaping organisational culture: leaders and founders.

From emotional “weather systems” to decision-making habits and unexamined assumptions, this conversation looks at how culture is created every day — often unintentionally — through how leaders show up, decide, and relate to others.

Along the way, we share practical reflections, coaching insights, and one simple thing you can try immediately if you lead (or influence) others.

1. Leaders and founders set the emotional temperature How leaders’ moods, stress levels and ways of showing up ripple through teams — whether they intend it or not. We explore why this impact is amplified in leadership roles and how awareness is the first lever for change.

2. Decision-making as culture in action Who gets listened to, how decisions really get made (not just how governance says they should), and how leaders shape culture through what they prioritise, question, or bypass.

3. The unintended influence leaders carry From inherited beliefs and assumptions to past organisational experiences, leaders bring a lot with them. We unpack why unexamined assumptions can quietly undermine good intentions — and what helps surface them.

Before your next meeting, pause for 30 seconds and ask yourself: “How do I want to be in this room — and what will help me show up that way?”

It might be a breath, a reset, a smile before you click “join”, or building small gaps between meetings. Tiny shifts in presence can have outsized effects.

• The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership – Jim Dethmer, Diana Chapman & Kaley Warner Klemp (Including the simple but powerful above the line / below the line model)

• Harvard Business Review article: If You Want to Be a Great Leader, Be Present On mindfulness, presence, and the measurable impact leaders have on team performance and wellbeing

We’re collecting real dilemmas for our upcoming Agony Aunt–style bonus episodes.

If you have:

• a tricky team dynamic

• a leadership challenge

• a culture or collaboration question

📩 Email us at hello@acuriousspacepodcast.com

We’d love to explore it with you.

In the next episode, we shift the lens away from leaders and ask: What role can everyone else play in shaping culture — regardless of job title?

Thanks for listening, and see you next time in A Curious Space.

In the first episode of A Curious Space, hosts Kate Nicholroy and Maddie Fox kick off their opening series with a practical exploration of organisational culture: what it really is, how it forms, and why leaders can’t afford to ignore it.

Moving beyond values statements and posters on the wall, Kate and Maddie unpack culture as “the way things actually get done around here” — the visible and invisible forces that shape behaviour, decision-making and performance. Using the iceberg model of culture, they explore the gap between what organisations say they value and what people experience day to day.

Through examples from Timpsons, Netflix and investment banking, they examine how different cultural choices play out in practice, why culture change takes time, and how small leadership behaviours can create powerful ripple effects. The episode also introduces new ways of thinking about organisations as living systems rather than machines — and what that means for leadership, trust and learning.

This episode is for leaders who know culture matters, and want to shape it intentionally rather than leaving it to chance.

• Culture is tested most when leaders are under pressure

• Small, repeated leadership behaviours create outsized cultural impact

• People are quick to spot dissonance between stated values and lived reality

• Owning the culture you actually have enables more honest hiring and engagement

• Fear shuts down learning — and leaders set the tone for both

• Wheatley, Margaret — Leadership and the New Science

• Heffernan, Margaret — Beyond Measure: The Big Impact of Small Changes

• Coyle, Daniel — The Culture Code

• Morgan, Gareth — Images of Organization

• McCord, Patty — Powerful: Building a Culture of Freedom and Responsibility

• Gratton, Lynda — work on organisational “hotspots” and high-performing teams

• Brown, Brené — writing and talks on leadership, vulnerability and high performance

Send us your agony aunt suggestions, or your general thoughts to hello@acuriousspacepodcast.com we'd love to hear from you!

This episode was recorded by your hosts Maddie Fox of MadFox Group, and Kate Nicholroy of the Good Ideas Agency. It was produced by Tim Fox with original music by Richard Flindell.

Episode 0: Welcome to a Curious Space

What does it really mean to be human at work, and why does that matter more than ever right now?

Senior leaders are under more pressure than ever, to deliver results, keep teams engaged, and drive innovation, while navigating constant change and uncertainty. In this intro episode, Kate Nicholroy and Maddie Fox explain why curiosity and culture are the two most powerful levers you can pull to build high-performing, resilient organisations.

They share insights from their work as coaches and facilitators, explore the real challenges organisations face today, and explain what to expect from Season 1: practical, actionable ways to influence culture and make your organisation thrive.

If you lead people or teams, this is your space to think differently—and make work better for everyone.

Welcome to A Curious Space!