Building a Vibrant Culture: Leadership That Energizes People
Thoughts from the recent Consulting from the Couch podcast interview with Nicole Greer of Vibrant Coaching, about leadership.
A leader’s first job isn’t to manage tasks—it’s to create energy.
That’s the heartbeat of leadership coach Nicole Greer’s philosophy, and it’s a truth too many executives forget in the grind of quarterly goals and inbox triage. Culture doesn’t appear out of nowhere; it’s built—consciously, consistently, and with courage. Nicole calls her framework LIT: Lead with Vision, Live with Integrity, and Transform the Ordinary.
It’s deceptively simple. But when leaders actually do it, everything changes.
Lead with Vision
People crave a picture of the future. When leaders articulate a bold, meaningful destination, they invite ownership—not compliance. A clear vision gives daily work context and turns checklists into chapters of a shared story.
Nicole challenges leaders to make mission, vision, and values more than wall décor. They should set the operating rhythm of a team: weekly conversations about progress, quarterly “rocks” that anchor priorities, and milestone celebrations that remind people they’re part of something bigger.
She points to tools like EOS Traction for keeping that rhythm alive—a system that connects goals to values and replaces chaos with cadence. Culture, after all, isn’t a mood. It’s a management system for meaning.
Live with Integrity
Integrity isn’t about perfection—it’s about alignment. It’s what happens when leaders’ words, actions, and decisions mirror the values they promote. Integrity builds trust faster than any off-site retreat or motivational poster ever could.
The two biggest executive blind spots?
Trying to change others before changing yourself.
Tolerating low-energy “turkeys” who drain the flock.
Self-awareness and accountability start the turnaround. Nicole’s advice: practice metacognition—thinking about your thinking—so you can catch unhelpful patterns and replace them with curiosity. From that posture, you stop fixing and start coaching.
When leaders ask questions that help employees think for themselves, they multiply intelligence instead of hoarding it. Over time, the team becomes a network of problem solvers, not a dependency line waiting for approval.
Transform the Ordinary
Transformation is where leadership turns from theory into practice. Ordinary moments—feedback conversations, project updates, Monday meetings—can either drain or ignite people.
Nicole’s C3 Feedback Model makes this practical:
Circumstances: What happened?
Conduct: What did the person do?
Consequences: What resulted from it?
This simple formula anchors both praise and correction. Recognize good work eight times as often as you correct. It’s not just about morale; it’s about neuroscience. People perform better when they feel seen and safe. And when correction is needed, it lands without ego because trust is already established.
Sustain the Energy
Workshops and retreats spark energy—but systems sustain it. Nicole recommends a layered development approach: quarterly academies, optional skill modules, and targeted coaching for leaders implementing EOS or other frameworks. Like fitness, culture strengthens through repetition and rhythm.
Leaders, too, need personal cadence. Nicole’s morning routine is a powerful example: end your day before it begins. Write down your intentions. Ask, What is it like to experience me? Then decide—on purpose—how you will show up.
When leaders manage their presence, coach their team members, and celebrate progress, their culture becomes contagious.
The result? Teams that don’t just perform—they thrive. They show up energized, take ownership of outcomes, and turn ordinary workdays into extraordinary experiences.
If you’re serious about building a team people are proud to join, start here: Lead with Vision. Live with Integrity. Transform the Ordinary. Get LIT.
To listen to the podcast interview with Nicole, click here.