IPMA Report: Create a Super Culture

By Bob Neubauer

In his morning keynote session on the second day of the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association 2024 conference, Chris Cornelison of Solutions RX gave an inspiring presentation in which he detailed how to create a “super culture” in your in-plant. He told an intriguing story about his experience running a pharmaceutical company. He worked very hard, but was a bad leader who scolded employees and used guilt and intimidation to motivate them. He couldn’t understand why the company was failing. Eventually he realized he was the problem.

Chris Cornelison speaking at the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association 2024 conference. | Credit: Sam Lauersdorf Photography

After reading books on leadership, Cornelison came to realize that leaders serve others, and that creating a work culture that is fun and focuses on praise and not criticism is more inspiring for employees. He also learned about “emotional intelligence,” which he called the biggest competitive advantage in the world. He defined this as the ability to identify your own emotions and those of others; to harness emotions and apply them to problem solving; and to regulate your emotions and also be able to cheer or calm others and spark work improvement.

Chris Cornelison speaking at the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association 2024 conference. | Credit: Sam Lauersdorf Photography

Cornelison shared his own four-step “Super Culture Document.”

Be happy and have fun at work.
You choose your attitude.
Be accountable: to your job description, to the company goals, and to the policy and procedure manual.
Maintain a team environment at all times.

To help in-plant managers get started, he offered his three rules for creating a Super Culture:

It all starts with you.
Write your Super Culture document down or it does not exist.
Praise what you want repeated.

“People starve for praise,” he said. “When praise goes up, the culture gets better.”

Chris Cornelison speaking at the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association 2024 conference. | Credit: Sam Lauersdorf Photography

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Bob Neubauer Author's page

Bob has served as editor of In-plant Impressions since October of 1994. Prior to that he served for three years as managing editor of Printing Impressions, a commercial printing publication. Mr. Neubauer is very active in the U.S. in-plant industry. He attends all the major in-plant conferences and has visited more than 180 in-plant operations around the world. He has given presentations to numerous in-plant groups in the U.S., Canada and Australia, including the Association of College and University Printers and the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association. He also coordinates the annual In-Print contest, co-sponsored by IPMA and In-plant Impressions.