Culture de-cooded

About Culture de-cooded

A collaboration between Coode and Culture15, intended to highlight the best in thought leadership and effective implementation on the topic of organisational culture. Culture de-cooded is a series of interviews where prominent leaders, culture practioners and thinkers from a range of fields are asked to reflect on their personal journeys and that of their organisations. Whether you are starting a business, leading a team or organistation, or you are just interested in how organisations succeed or fail, there's something here for you - we hope you enjoy listening.

Publisher

Charlie Coode

Category

business

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

10 Jan 2024

Latest episode

23 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

20 of 20 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   23 Sept 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Mark Cuddigan, CEO of THIS

   Charlie Coode interviews Mark Cuddigan, CEO of THIS, about building thriving businesses and transforming organizational culture through impactful leadership.

2. 

   2 Dec 2025TRANSCRIPT

   Damian Hughes, High-Performance Speaker and Bestselling Author

   Damian Hughes (https://liquidthinker.com/) is an international speaker, bestselling author and co-host of the High Performance Podcast (https://www.youtube.com/@HighPerformancePodcast). From formative years in a Manchester boxing gym shaped by his father’s belief in community and belonging, to a career spanning Unilever, elite sport and academic work as a visiting professor, Damian combines his background in sport, organisational development and change psychology to help leaders and teams create high-performing cultures grounded in behaviour and human connection. In this episode of Culture de-cooded, Damian explores the central question he has asked across more than 500 conversations with leaders, athletes and creatives: what really defines high performance? His guiding insight is simple and inclusive. High performance is doing the best you can, in the moment you’re in, with the resources you have. Drawing on stories from his upbringing in the Manchester boxing gym, his work across England football, rugby union and rugby league, as well as interviews and research that underpin Microhabits (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Micro-Habits-Tiny-Changes-Supercharge-Performance-ebook/dp/B0FHVM933N), Damian explains why exceptional cultures are those where people feel seen, heard and loved. He reveals how leaders close the say-do gap by replacing abstract values with lived, observable behaviours. Damian also explores why clarity, consistency and trust matter, how standards are formed, and why personal reflection sits at the heart of sustainable leadership. Through examples ranging from Clive Woodward to Toto Wolff and insights gathered from 20 years working inside high-pressure environments, he shows how small, practical habits become the foundation of performance. Finally, Damian reflects on his own journey, including the turning point at Unilever that pushed him toward dedicating his career to human performance, culture and behavioural change. It is an honest, practical and deeply human conversation about what it takes to build environments where people can truly thrive. Podcast Chapters 00:00:00 Welcome to the episode 00:01:33 Introducing Damian Hughes 00:02:12 What is high performance 00:03:36 Phil Neville’s definition 00:05:45 Growing up in a Manchester boxing gym 00:07:43 A culture where people feel seen, heard and loved 00:09:24 Are great cultures replicable 00:10:30 The Eleven Madison example 00:12:03 Culture and outcomes 00:13:42 What happens in the shadows 00:14:36 Turning values into behaviours 00:17:46 The say-do gap 00:19:50 Trust and behavioural consistency 00:22:24 Standards and non-negotiable behaviours 00:27:48 Transparency, consistency and hard calls 00:31:00 The leader’s self-mastery challenge 00:33:59 Behaviour as personality plus environment 00:41:08 The “Dickhead Test” and context 00:44:47 Psychological safety (SAFE) 00:48:36 Humility and the valley of humility 00:52:12 Lessons from Nims Purja 00:56:55 Damian’s journey from boxing to Unilever 01:02:11 The Durban boardroom moment 01:04:06 Working in elite sport and culture 01:05:36 Damian’s leadership journey in a song: Just Say Yes

3. 

   24 Jun 2025TRANSCRIPT

   Dan Strode, Global Culture & Innovation Expert

   Global culture and innovation expert Dan Strode discusses leading with purpose and clarity in fast-moving environments, sharing insights on shifting behaviors and embedding cultural change in global systems in this interview.

Inside a recent episode

Mark Cuddigan, CEO of THIS

Published 23 Sept 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] It's not actually a sacrifice, but it's one of the topics I really wanted to explore, which is you said the categories down over the last few years. Um, And I switched to a plant-based diet a few years ago, actually, partly to, it's a bit like trying snowboarding once so I can criticize it. […]

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

7,923,874

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Spotify

4.5 / 5

8 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 67 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

78

Social presence

0

YouTube

93

Engagement

51

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Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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