Culture change in a regulated industry isn't just hard — it’s rare. But at National Exchange Bank & Trust, it’s happening from the inside out. In this episode, Tami Christian and Tammy Pitts share how a conservative, compliance-first environment evolved into a people-first culture built on trust, voice, and vulnerability.

With the help of Dr. Tom Nebel from Leaders Rising Network, they began embedding tools like the 5 Voices, Support Challenge Matrix, and intentional leadership rhythms across 30+ branches and all levels of leadership. From the early discomfort of self-preservation to the breakthrough of shared language, this episode explores what it takes to lead culture change that actually sticks — and scales.

Listeners will discover how NEBAT used employee engagement surveys, voice training, and 1:1 development rhythms to unify their teams, sharpen their managers, and shift their entire culture toward relational, liberating leadership. It’s a blueprint for any organization that wants to move from compliance to connection — and build a leadership culture that lasts.

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Resources Mentioned

• Five Voices Assessment
• Identify your foundational leadership voice and begin the self-awareness journey
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• Support Challenge Matrix Tool
• Visualize how you show up with your team and how to calibrate for liberation
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• Intentional Multiplication Framework
• Move beyond training space to develop sustainable leadership culture
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Key Quotes

“I fell in love with the language very quickly. And I’ve seen a lot of tools over the years.”

— Tammy Pitts (03:21)

“You could feel the room shift. Vulnerability created a trust breakthrough.”

— Dr. Tom Nebel (11:03)

“We went from training events to a full culture embed. And that changed everything.”

— Tami Christian (18:14)

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Show Outline + Timestamps

• 00:00 – Why engagement is critical in modern banking
• 00:45 – What NEBAT’s culture looked like before transformation
• 03:21 – A fresh HR perspective and falling in love with the 5 Voices
• 05:29 – Tom’s surprise at the bank’s dominant nurturer profile
• 08:04 – How voice diversity (and friction) built trust across the team
• 11:03 – Vulnerability that unlocked organizational trust
• 15:13 – How every new hire gets onboarded into the culture
• 16:55 – Using engagement surveys + tools to measure real growth
• 18:14 – Programmatic rollout: from training space to embedded rhythms
• 21:15 – Measuring engagement as more than satisfaction
• 24:30 – Getting beyond compliance into true relational engagement
• 27:51 – What it looks like to lead when trust is on the line

What makes leadership development actually stick? In this episode, we unpack the full lifecycle of Bespoke—a structured leadership program that moves leaders from unconscious habits to empowered, scalable leadership.

Joined by Astrid Benedetto and Jim Lee, we explore how combining 5 Voices, data partnerships, and a rhythm of training, coaching, and apprenticeship transforms individuals and drives ROI.

Key Quotes:

• "You can't do this alone. You need the right partner with the right data." — Astrid
• "Most leadership development stops at informing. That's not enough to transform anyone." — Jim

Show Outline:

• 4:00 - Astrid's motivation to join the Bespoke program
• 5:40 - Cultural insights and 5 Voices awareness
• 9:30 - Jim's vision behind designing the program
• 13:30 - Subjective vs. objective leadership blind spots
• 17:30 - Proving ROI through data partnerships
• 21:00 - The Intentional Multiplication Model: Inform, Train, Coach, Apprentice
• 36:40 - What a month looks like inside Bespoke
• 43:40 - Why most internal programs fall short
• 45:00 - Where leaders get stuck & how to move forward
• 48:30 - One bold move for leaders today

"Culture is revealed when behavior collides with values." — Jeff Lovell (07:53)

In this summer-session episode of the Leaders Rising Podcast, Jeff Lovell and Aaron Lee pull back the curtain on a timely truth for growth-stage organizations: Culture isn’t the enemy of performance—it’s the pathway. With candid reflections from their own compressed schedules and real client stories, Jeff and Aaron dig into the friction leaders feel when aspirations don’t match behavior.

Whether you’ve got posters on the wall or ping-pong tables in the office, this conversation reframes culture from a vibe to a diagnostic. You’ll hear how performance stress, feedback gaps, and people-first leadership all intersect—and how micro-decisions are shaping your workplace more than your strategy slides.

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Take the Culture Pulse Assessment

6 minutes. 8 questions. Find out what's really going on.

Take the Culture Pulse Assessment and get a clear picture on where your team is headed.

Link in the show notes @ LeadersRisingNetwork.com/podcast

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Key Quotes

• “Culture doesn’t have to be perfect. It has to be practiced.” – Jeff Lovell
• “We all footnote our values. The leadership moment is deciding whether we’ll own it.” – Aaron Lee
• “Ask your team: Where is our culture not showing up the way we say it does?” – Jeff Lovell

Show Outline

• 00:00 Summer tensions and the leadership pulse check
• 03:27 The culture problem myth: What we miss when we blame culture
• 05:39 Culture as what we do, not what we say
• 07:53 Behavior vs. values: Where real culture is revealed
• 11:08 Feedback, reviews, and owning the story
• 14:25 Client example: Execution wins, culture slips
• 17:00 Human capital is not a machine
• 21:30 Whole people, whole week: Building space for humanity
• 24:35 A practical reflection tool for cultural gaps
• 28:08 Bold step: Ask where your culture isn’t showing up
• 29:35 Invitation for follow-up and free culture conversations