Next steps

Don’t be tempted to implement all levels at once and independently. Consult with your team members to explore what is meaningful for them and identify champions who can help make the interventions more sustainable.

Remember that you don’t have to be the expert or big ego in the room. Culture can be deeply ingrained, and people may look automatically to you for your leadership. Consciously create a space for others to step forward and use supportive, non-judgemental language to help move ideas forward. 

Celebrate the small wins. Make sure that you communicate the incremental steps in progress to encourage others to be involved, and demonstrate that the community – rather than management – leads initiatives. 

It takes time, but the rewards are significant, and the early stages are the most fragile.