The newest episode of the Mastering Workplace Culture features an honest, compelling conversation with Amber "AJ" Jordan, CEO of Desert Sage Health Centers—a rural healthcare organization that transformed culture, strengthened leadership, and rebuilt trust across multiple sites through values‑driven alignment and measurable accountability.

AJ shares how a single team conflict sparked her search for a stronger cultural foundation. What began with a book full of Post‑it notes led to a multi‑year journey grounded in transparency, data, and consistent leadership behavior. She describes the moment she realized she couldn't improve culture through isolated fixes—the entire organization, beginning with the executive team, needed shared expectations, clearer communication, and a common language.

This episode takes you inside the realities of culture change in a close-knit rural setting: Young managers learning to lead, long‑standing interpersonal history, the strain of limited staffing pools, and the unique challenges of small‑town relationships. AJ explains how data‑driven insights, leadership vulnerability, Lean foundations, and repeated Executive Team Effectiveness surveys shaped a culture where respectful behavior mattered as much as performance.

You'll hear how AJ and Desert Sage handled:

Bringing frontline providers and clinicians into values‑based leadership

Coaching high performers who struggled with interpersonal behavior

Addressing skepticism from staff convinced that nothing would change

Expanding culture work from executives → managers → staff

Moving into a brand‑new medical building while protecting team morale

Innovating an innovative drive‑through element to the clinic based on patient feedback

Creating a leadership pipeline that elevated people from entry‑level roles to major responsibilities

This is one of the clearest examples of how culture becomes a core operating system — not through slogans, but through repeated alignment, shared vulnerability, and daily accountability.

⏱️ Key Moments

00:00 Bold Leaders, No Buzzwords (Opening Narration)

00:21 Welcome + Introducing Amber "AJ" Jordan

00:45 Who AJ Is and the Reality of Rural Healthcare

02:07 The Post‑It Filled "Culture Engine" Book

03:36 Team Conflict That Sparked a Culture Journey

05:06 Why "Good" Wasn't Good Enough

06:49 Discovering Measurable Culture Tools

07:18 CEO Alignment + Building the Case for Culture

08:55 Why Site Alone Can't fix Culture

10:34 Young Managers, Small‑Town Dynamics, Healthcare Stress

12:09 Accountability: The Long‑Standing Challenge

13:51 The First Survey Results: A Painful Wake‑Up

15:44 Leadership Scores All Over the Map

17:31 Translating Clinical Strengths into Leadership Skills

19:04 Lean Foundations: Respect + Continuous Improvement

20:20 Skepticism, Naysayers, and Peer‑to‑Manager Transitions

22:42 Leaders Go First: The Multi‑Year Rollout Strategy

24:38 Beneficial Attrition + Coaching Interpersonal Outliers

27:00 The "Green‑Green" Breakthrough Moment

30:23 Culture as a Continuum: Progress Over Perfection

34:23 Applying Culture During a Massive Building Move

37:54 Innovating the Drive‑Through Clinic

41:30 Accountability: The Hardest Cultural Value

43:14 Leadership Development + Internal Promotions

45:39 AJ's Advice for CEOs: Transparency + Vulnerability

48:07 Olympic Reflections on Human Performance

52:12 Desert Sage as a Culture Success Story

54:26 Closing Narration + Call to Action


Whether you're leading culture in a small organization in a small town or a large global corporation, we're sure AJ's culture story resonated. So please support more conversations that highlight real cultural transformation:

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This episode of Mastering Workplace Culture features a powerful and personal conversation with global executive Kris Malkoski, whose track record includes transforming brands, rebuilding cultures, leading global turnarounds, and proving that respect‑driven leadership produces extraordinary business results.

Kris shares the story behind revitalizing World Kitchen, ARC International, and Newell Brands—each with unique challenges, legacy issues, and leadership dynamics. From dysfunctional boards and cultural resistance to siloed teams and disengaged workforces, Kris explains how a clear vision, cross‑functional alignment, and accountability created measurable transformation.

Her "win as one team" mindset, paired with consistent values‑based leadership, increased engagement, improved profitability, strengthened trust, and built award‑winning workplaces worldwide.

This conversation highlights the reality of culture work: cCourageous decisions, transparency, the discipline to model values, and the willingness to lovingly let misaligned high performers go. Kris brings heart, wisdom, and honesty to every story—from tripling profitability at ARC in 18 months to turning siloed teams at Newell into collaborative innovators—and even the joy of becoming a grandmother.

For anyone who cares about leadership, culture, or the power of aligning the "what" with the "how," this episode offers a masterclass in transformation from someone who has lived it at scale.

⏱️ Key Moments

00:00 – 02:30 — Welcome + Kris's global leadership background

02:30 – 05:15 — World Kitchen: dysfunctional boards, private equity pressure, and cultural decline

05:15 – 06:30 — Creating a unified vision and the link between culture + business performance

06:30 – 08:15 — Resistance: leaders who feared culture change or viewed it as a "waste"

08:15 – 10:40 — Training global leaders, dissolving fiefdoms, and establishing shared expectations

10:40 – 12:00 — Accelerating engagement and building momentum across 3,000 employees

12:00 – 16:00 — Acquisition insights: high‑performing subcultures and cross‑pollinating excellence

16:00 – 18:28 — Sustaining a culture transformation across global sites

18:28 – 22:30 — ARC International: lack of community, Kaizen events, and tripling profit in 18 months

22:30 – 23:48 — "Better Together": a unified identity that lifted pride and belonging

23:48 – 26:00 — Personalized leadership: walking the floor, elevating dignity, transforming relationships

26:00 – 29:10 — Respect as daily practice: leadership modeling and contagious behavior shifts

29:10 – 31:40 — Newell Brands: silos, trust rebuilding, rewriting values, and lifting performance

31:40 – 34:40 — Reducing regretted departures + rebuilding internal talent pathways

34:40 – 38:00 — Letting go of misaligned high performers and protecting culture standards

38:00 – 40:15 — Graco success story: share gains through unified culture

40:15 – 43:00 — Kris's personal leadership evolution, biases she overcame, and early career lessons

43:00 – 45:20 — Diversity, respect, and building teams that reflect broader perspectives

45:20 – 47:00 — Sustaining a culture: accountability, calibration sessions, and values‑based ratings

47:00 – 48:56 — Why more executives struggle with culture—and how Kris guides them

48:56 – 50:30 — Culture legacy: leaders Kris developed and where they are today

50:30 – 53:20 — Joys of grandparenthood + closing reflections 


If Kris's leadership journey inspired you, help us spread these lessons to leaders who need them:

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In this powerful Mastering Workplace Culture conversation, David Mollitor Jr. shares the remarkable journey of transforming Consolidated Electrical Contractors (CEC) from a traditionally hard‑driving construction company into a people‑first, values‑anchored organization. This episode highlights a rare behind‑the‑scenes look at a blue‑collar business choosing respect, clarity, and cultural consistency over outdated pressure tactics that once dominated the industry.

David walks us through saving 15 jobs in the mid‑90s, navigating explosive growth followed by a devastating recession, and rebuilding a company where 200 employee‑owners now contribute to a shared legacy. You'll hear how a call to Ken Blanchard reshaped the company's direction, why CEC committed to cultural accountability, and how one leader known for intensity became one of the company's strongest culture champions.

You'll also experience vulnerable reflections on leadership, organizational rebirth, employee ownership, and the deeply personal shift that led David to redefine success—not through volume or status, but through meaningful impact on people's lives. The episode closes with a heartwarming look at his newest role: becoming a grandfather and watching the next generation grow.

This story is a reminder that culture is not a slogan—it is a daily commitment, a leadership discipline, and a long‑term investment in human potential.

⏱️ Key Moments

00:00–02:30 — Introductions + David's early career

02:30–06:00 — Saving 15 employees and restarting an aging company

06:00–09:00 — Confronting entrenched construction‑industry behavior

09:00–14:00 — Rapid growth, hard lessons, and the recession crash

14:00–17:00 — The "do‑over" mindset and discovering Gung Ho!

17:00–19:00 — The pivotal call to Ken Blanchard

19:00–24:00 — Acknowledging the need for cultural reconstruction

24:00–29:00 — Managing skepticism and blue‑collar resistance

29:00–34:00 — Aligning the executive team with values and behaviors

34:00–39:00 — A major leadership transformation inside CEC

39:00–42:00 — Training breakthroughs and real‑time behavior practice

42:00–48:00 — Why culture requires intentional professional guidance

48:00–53:00 — Leadership legacy and redefining personal success

53:00–57:00 — The emotional impact of a people‑centered company

57:00–59:00 — David welcomes a new chapter as a grandfather



If this conversation expanded your perspective on leadership and culture, help more leaders discover this message:

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