312 Part 3 Group and Organizational Communication
business. Rather than admit defeat, Coulombe changed his tactics: trusting that
the burgeoning airline industry would entice more Americans to travel—and that
those Americans would want to find the foods they enjoyed abroad once they
were back home—Coulombe began stocking imported foods other convenience
stores didn’t carry. Thus began the first Trader Joe’s in 1967 (Hoover, 2006).NAME: Kibibi Springs
OCCUPATION: Marketing Communication ProfessionalI know a lot about
organizations. Not only
did I work for major
corporations for years
as an employee, but I also continue to work
with them now as a consultant on programs to
improve organizations. Although lots of consul-
tants claim to be able to improve performance
and profitability, the work I do focuses on chang-
ing the culture and overall wellness of the orga-
nization. Basically, we teach professionals how
to redesign their habits and communication skills
to improve their quality of life within the structure
of the organization and within the framework of
a healthy lifestyle. When they learn to engage in
low-stress, healthy behaviors, they—seemingly
miraculously!—become happier and more
productive.
As I ascended the corporate ladder, I found
that I couldn’t be happy if my job was my whole
identity. I’d seen so many people lose their health,
their families, and even their sanity because they
had no work–life balance. I decided to become
an entrepreneur and help those people. I had an
undergraduate degree in communication and then
earned a master’s in consumer and organizational
psychology where I focused on the intersection
between rising organizational health care costs
and the health impacts of uncivil behavior in the
workplace. With this combination of strengths, I
have been able to work with companies to enact
large and small “culture change programs.”
Most companies today are concerned
about their culture. They want to find and retaingood workers. They want to be productive and
creative. They want (and need) to adapt to a
changing world and new technologies. Younger
organizations that come to me are usually in
touch with these goals; they ask for help in sus-
taining the positives and the strong dynamics.
I work with both management and employees
to develop more sustainable lifestyle habits
and more collaboration and relationship skills—
which can even include emotional intelligence
training.
Bigger, older organizations often come to
me in crisis. Things have gone wrong and they
are not sure why. In these cases, I have to ana-
lyze the entire organization to find the root(s) of
the problem. The good news is that they came
to me—which means they are open to change!
If even one person in the organization says, “We
are really bad at ‘x’; we need some help,” it is an
indication that they are willing to take steps to
improve the situation. I often start with manage-
ment in these situations, interviewing them about
goals and culture and looking for the commonal-
ity of the core groups. Once I have an under-
standing of the current culture, I teach them how
to be more positive, how to relax, how to ask
questions, and how to listen. I help them choose
behaviors that advance their personal and pro-
fessional goals within the framework of a healthy
lifestyle—and enable them to pass these on to
their workforce.
I encourage everyone to find an organization
that employs the whole person—one that is posi-
tive about its people as well as its products.real communicator