Across industries, research consistently shows that the quality of relationships, between leaders and teams, colleagues, and clients, is one of the strongest predictors of performance, engagement, and long-term success. High-trust, psychologically safe environments aren’t just good for morale, they drive innovation, accountability, and retention.
The GENUINE model offers a practical, research-based framework for fostering those relationships. Each letter represents a core principle:
Generous, Engaged, Nice, Unafraid, Integrity, Non-Judgmental, and Empathetic.
These aren’t abstract values, they’re intentional behaviors that shape culture from the inside out. When consistently practiced, they help build trust, foster mutual respect, and create a standard of behavior others naturally want to follow. The framework works with your team, with your customers, and across your organization.
The Culture-Building Challenge in Business Environments
Most professionals develop their interpersonal and leadership skills informally, by observing others, relying on instinct, or following fragmented advice from books, mentors, or past experiences. While well-intentioned, this informal approach rarely produces a consistent or scalable culture. Without a clear relational framework, organizations often face avoidable breakdowns in communication, trust, and alignment—not because people aren’t trying, but because there’s no shared playbook for how to excel at relationships.
Why does this matter? Research across organizational psychology and leadership studies makes the case:
Trust and psychological safety drive open communication, adaptability, and performance—especially under pressure or during change.
Relationship-centered leadership increases employee engagement, motivation, and retention. People who feel valued invest more fully in their work.
Supportive work environments reduce burnout, improve well-being, and create space for innovation and collaboration.
Stronger relationships build stronger teams and ultimately, stronger businesses. If your organization is ready to build a healthy, high-performing culture rooted in evidence-based relational practices, the GENUINE framework offers the structure and tools to make it happen.
Learn the repeatable process for great work culture
Our professional offerings include 1 day workshops, multi-session engagements, and organization specific intensives. The engagements equip individuals, teams, or full organizations to embed these seven principles into all interpersonal interactions that occur within a team environment or when working with customers. Participants leave with:
Research-aligned strategies for creating relationally rich work environments.
Assessment tools to measure growth in team culture.
Implementation guides tailored to leaders, individual contributors, teams or organizational contexts.
By integrating GENUINE practices, organizations strengthen the relational foundation that drives performance, collaboration, and long-term success. We've identified the consistent behaviors that define the most respected people and healthiest workplace cultures. Applying these behaviors within your team or company leads to stronger relationships and stronger results.
All program options include action oriented content and resources for applying the behaviors for faculty and students.
Preview the diagnostic or learn how GENUINE came about here.
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