Welcome to Students Incorporated, a podcast where we dive into relevant topics and issues
related to the world of business, technology, education, and design.
I'm your host, Mr. Jason.
Episodes include student conversations, interviews with thought leaders, and inspirational stories
with an international flavor.
This podcast is created and produced with the help of students from the International
Community School of Bangkok.
In today's episode, we'll discuss developing a positive company culture with our special
guest, Mr. Steven.
I'm also joined by our co-host, Maci and Tasia.
But first, let's hear the quote of the day and get some headline news.
Thank you, Mr. Jason.
Today's quote is from Sir Sosyon.
He said,
Lasting and strong relationships cannot be built on child-lift interest.
A credible partnership is inconceivable without shared values and a commitment to the same
ideas.
In sports news, the Brooklyn Nets have not had a smooth beginning to the NBA season,
and forward Yuta Watanabe only complicated it by dunking in his own team's basket.
Just recently in regional news, crowds multiplied in Seoul, Korea during a Halloween celebration
causing 154 deaths and dozens of injuries.
The catalyst to the crushing stampede is still unknown.
And in international news, in order to commemorate the 175th anniversary of Switzerland's first
railway, the country is building the world's longest passenger train with 100 cars.
Thank you for the quote and the news headlines, Tasia.
Let's begin the interview.
Maci has our first question for Mr. Steven.
Good morning, Mr. Steven.
Our first question for you today is how many years have you been a part of the ICS community?
This is my 16th year at ICS.
I spent my first two years teaching history in the high school, and ever since then I've
been in leadership positions.
So ICS is short for International Community School.
And everyone here says that the community is the best part.
What kind of things have you seen over the years that have helped build into the strength
of this community and organizational culture?
Good question.
Community building comes down to people.
So if we've done one thing really right over the past several years, it's getting the right
people to serve here at ICS.
I do believe that it's God's work of bringing people here from across the world, but it's
about getting people who are behind the mission and vision of the school.
It's about creating a culture that breeds trust and growth and an emphasis on connecting
with students and making them feel known.
It's about putting things in place that builds community, whether it's meeting every morning
for devotions as a staff, teacher community, or having days we encourage our community,
putting things in place like Eagles Camp, which you had this past weekend, that just
breeds and celebrates our community, our diverse community, and fostering bridges between our
parents and teacher community as well.
For me personally, I remember when I first became principal, I heard it said that if
you want a positive tone or culture in a school, you have to set it every day personally
yourself.
And yeah, I've tried to do that every day.
So it seems like the company culture is really important to our school, and since it can
be defined as a shared set of values, goals, and attitudes, and practices that make up
an organization, what are some of ICS core values and goals that make ICS what it is
today?
Yeah, it starts with our mission and vision, and our mission at ICS is based on the Bible
in partnership with parents.
We teach the whole student to know and apply wisdom for the good of our world and the glory
of God.
And our vision is to continuously excel as a Christ-centered learning community.
So every decision we make, we want those two statements to be behind it.
If they're not, we don't do it.
It's about reminding staff and teachers of this mission and vision over and over again,
keeping it in front of them on every classroom wall and office wall, because this fosters
an attitude that we're all here for this common purpose, a common mission to serve students.
And we have to maintain that spirit of service and humility in all that we do.
So when problems arise or conflict occurs, we point back to the mission with a humble
response and a humble heart, because we still know we're on the same team, we're here for
the same outcome, what is best for students.
And that leads to growth as a whole school.
In your opinion, what are some of the core ingredients needed to foster, accompany your
community?
I think you need that shared feeling of trust among staff, teachers, and leadership team,
shared feeling of care and love for each other.
That's where community building starts through a spirit of care and love for each other.
With that as the foundation, your culture is bound to grow in leaps and bounds.
I remember I worked at Merrill Lynch for a few years as a financial firm, and I never
knew the mission of the company at all.
I had no idea what it was.
I knew exactly what I needed to do in my given department, but I never knew the connection
it had with the overall success of the company.
And you have to have that.
You have to know where the company is going and what role I play in bringing the whole
company towards a greater mission.
And that never existed there.
I also remember in a public school I worked at, there was this, it was a tough culture
in some ways.
The teaching environment was good, but we had shared classrooms.
So you had to hang out in a teacher's lounge where all the computers were laid out.
And I remember that just became a breeding ground for negativity, negativity against
maybe some student issues or against leadership.
And there was this big divide between teachers and the leadership team.
And here at ICS, I don't feel that at all.
I didn't feel that when I first arrived, and I hope it's still not the case.
I feel there's a common sense of trust in the teachers, trust in the leadership team,
trust in me, care for leadership, care for me.
And that made a world of difference.
And that enabled me to be who I really was, be free who I really was, and do hopefully
excellent work to allow us all to flourish as a school.
Yes, thank you.
I agree with you, Mr. Stephen.
Trust is a really important thing to have in a company culture.
And also these two things, which is efficiency and creativity is also very important.
So what do you think is the value of including both efficiency and creativity in the community?
Yeah, I mean, in order for a company or school to thrive, you need to have efficient policies,
procedures in place that lead corporations to a place of excellence.
At the same time, just getting bogged down in policies and efficiency or what is most
efficient often could get in the way of giving teachers or staff or any workers to be creative
in their individual talents in order to bring our school to a place of greater success.
Yes.
And so how can you find a balance between those two values?
Yeah, it's kind of our it's through our individual and joint creative efforts in an efficient
way and efficient manner where companies are able to grow faster, right?
It's about trusting everyone around us to be the best selves, best of themselves they
can be, giving opportunities for them to live out their creative giftings.
In the end, it's in those creative decisions, which actually leads to more efficiency and
improvements in the end as a company or culture or school.
I've got a question about Merrill Lynch, if we can go back to that quick.
You said that you weren't connected to the mission or goals.
And obviously, it's a big corporation.
Did you feel like there was a sense of culture there?
Or was it just I go into work, sit down on my desk, do my job and I leave?
Yeah, you're exactly that was what it felt like.
I just I knew my role.
I knew what I had to do every day.
There wasn't much connection between other departments, which would have enabled me to
feel a bit more sense of fulfillment there.
But in the end, after three and a half years, I just never felt that sense of fulfillment.
And probably that was partly a reason for it because I never felt a sense towards what
I'm doing personally every day that is hitting the benefit of the overall company.
All right.
Well, thank you for sharing for part one.
We'll be right back after this short announcement with part two.
Thank you.
One, two, three, four.
Procrastination is a rising issue around the world.
Why not just leave my assignment to the last minute?
Well, students think this is a harmful habit, however, and should be fixed.
Did you know that by dividing your task into simple incremental steps, you can reduce procrastination
by up to 60 percent?
It's easier to start working when you have a clear picture of what you need to do.
You won't be overwhelmed and can complete a big picture with one little step at a time.
All right.
Thank you for that announcement.
We are back with part two of our discussion with Mr. Stephen.
Tazia leads us off with our next question.
How big of a role does Christian faith and values play in shaping the community at ICS?
I think it plays a massive role.
It's the Christian faith and values that unites our staff and teachers.
It puts in front of us a common vision as to why we're all here.
We're here to serve God, and we do that by serving our student and parent community.
That's why our teachers and staff stay on average of eight years, which is extremely
uncommon for international schools.
But they believe they're here for a greater purpose, and I think that's why they stay.
So it fosters this spirit of loving and learning that trickles down, I believe, to the students.
Our student community is the best in Bangkok, and I see the way they care for each other.
They promote each other's accomplishments, and I believe it starts with the Christian
faith and values that they're learning under, fostering this spirit of compassion and love
for others.
So with that being said, what exactly are the things that set an ICS student apart from
other students?
I see a major difference with ICS students.
They're not only driven and brilliant, but they're diverse and creative as well.
They also hold onto a foundation of trust and love for each other.
I see it every day in the hallways.
During the first month of school, I usually make a point to introduce myself to new students.
So I ask them all, like, hey, how you doing?
How do you feel like you're fitting in?
What do you feel about the community here?
And they always answer, often the same answer, oh, yeah, everyone's treating me so well.
My peers, my students are just so nice.
And I, of course, I feel a sense of, yeah, hooray, that's what we want.
Our current students to kind of grab hold of these new students and make them feel welcome.
But I just get a sense that these students, these new students, are finally feeling comfortable
to be who they really are in this community because our student body is so accepting of
each other.
Our students also do a great job of lifting up people of all talents, whether it be the
athlete, the actress, the artist, the computer genius, the scientist, whatever else it may
be.
Our students see value in all things, and they're there to celebrate alongside each
other, which I really appreciate about our ICS student body.
So along with that, how is diversity promoted in our community and what sort of activities
help promote that?
First off, I think you could look at diversity in several different ways.
We hold onto a diverse student body of people from over 28 different countries, but we also
hold strongly the idea of diversity of thought within each classroom, which is fostered through
a safe environment that our teachers create in our classrooms.
We also believe strongly that God has uniquely made each and every one of us and our students
allowing for diversity of skills, talents, and abilities to be lifted up and encouraged
at ICS.
I do believe events like International Day celebrate diversity, but even more so, our
salt ships, our capstone initiatives help our students be part of interacting in a diverse
socioeconomic setting, creating a greater understanding of the diversity around them
here in Thailand.
We also have Spirit Days, Eagles Camp, Friday night events that celebrate the idea of bringing
our diverse community group of students together, helping them feel as one.
Thank you for your answer.
But managing two schools is not easy.
You have to keep the ideas diversified.
You have to keep the morale high.
So what are some of the challenges you face in maintaining staff culture, student culture,
and having two different school campuses located in different parts of the country?
Oh, good question.
I think a more recent challenge was obviously COVID.
Our middle name, like Tasia said, is community, and it was hard to keep our community so tight
in an online forum while our teachers, students, parents were kind of just staying above water
during that time.
So it was hard to really breed community and find ways to build community via Zoom.
And connecting with two campuses when travel was sometimes difficult over the last two
years and building a new school when COVID just hit the world, a global pandemic.
So those were all major challenges and trying to keep the two schools as connected as possible.
But yet they have unique cultures that they're setting in place.
Bangkok has a 30-year culture in place of 1,100 students, while Udon Thani campus is
now, praise God, at 200 students when we started at 150.
So we're really thankful for that growth, but it's a smaller school setting and a new
school setting.
So it's hard to manage when it comes to the different cultures that are developing, but
yet uniting us as one at certain times and bringing us together.
So the key is to keep the mission and vision in front of all of them and to maintain that
spirit of love and care for students and that idea that we are here to build relationships
and connections with our students that needs to continue to thrive, that needs to be the
foundation in both schools, and that both will undoubtedly be successful and it will
rub off on our student and parent community.
Yeah, it's just maintaining that mission and keeping that mission and vision in front of
everybody and building connections year over year where ICS teachers can connect with their
peers in Udon and vice versa when needed.
So I have to continue to strive to build that.
Yeah, it was really cool to see some of the Udon tiny kids at Eagles Camp this past weekend.
And I was so encouraged because Mr. Allen had connected with us how what a great time
yesterday, he just shared with us what a great time the Udon students had and then he had
shared that when the whole bustle of ICS students came, it was quite intimidating, right?
For what 15, 20, I don't know how many Udon students when they see hundreds come, quite
intimidating.
But anyway, they made a remark that wow, the Bangkok students just made them feel so welcome
in their small groups and grabbed hold of them immediately to make sure they didn't
feel left out.
Pretty amazing.
My heart was touched when I heard that.
Thank you ICS students for being so welcoming to the Udon students.
They had a blast.
So thank you.
How can we as listeners help foster positive culture in our own communities or organizations?
Well, know first that it takes time to build culture.
But the most important aspect is getting the right people on board, people that are behind
the mission and vision of an organization, people that will create an environment of
care for others.
And then it's about building a common story, a common history, one that will continue to
grow and strengthen every day, leading the company into the future.
It's about always choosing to have a spirit of positivity and encouragement in every way
where people feel trusted to be themselves and feel like where they're working is a safe
place to be, to be who they are made to be.
I would like to go back to one other thing.
I feel like for you, Mr. Steven, probably the most important role that you play in this
community is keeping us on track with that vision and mission, kind of like a CEO has
a big corporation.
So would you agree with that type of like job description?
Yes, I'm actually responsible.
I am under a board, a board of whatever directors here at ICS.
And one of their number one policies that they have over me is you are ensuring that
the mission and vision is thriving here at ICS.
That's in a nutshell.
But I have to report how I'm doing that, right?
How am I making sure the school is maintaining its mission and vision and accomplishing its
ends, its ends in the students and their certain ends we go by the Esselers, making sure our
students are achieving those Esselers, the ends of what we want our students to accomplish
once they graduate here.
So yeah, that is a major role.
I'm not in the classrooms every day.
I'm not talking to students and teachers and every single day I hope to get out there and
connect with students as much as I can.
That's part of my role.
But my big role is I have to make sure I'm putting things in place where our mission
and vision is continuing to thrive.
Yep, we're definitely familiar with those Esselers.
Good, Tasia.
Good old Capstone, right?
Yeah.
Amen.
All right, that wraps it up with part two with Mr. Steven.
We know you're really busy and you're on a trip coming up soon.
So we'll end this episode.
So thank you again for joining us.
Oh, thank you so much, guys.
You do a great job in all these episodes.
I'm really enjoying every step of the way.
In our next episode, we will have a discussion with the casting crew of the upcoming musical
Shrek.
As always, this podcast would not be possible without the hard work and support of our international
student production team.
Our music and sound effects are courtesy of Pixabay.com, a vibrant community of creatives
sharing copyright free images, videos and music.
And we're signing off until next time.
For Students Incorporated, because your voice matters.