Let's Think About It Podcast

Episode 72: Why Leaders Must Embrace C.T.C.T. and S.W.A.G. for Stronger Work Culture

• Morice Mabry • Season 3 • Episode 72

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Episode Summary

What really shapes your work culture: the organization, or the energy you bring into it? In this episode, Coach Mo breaks down his CTCT framework for healthy workplace culture—Communication, Teamwork, Collaboration, and Trust—born from a panel conversation with UC Davis law students preparing to enter the profession. He unpacks how CTCT shows up in great teams, the military, and everyday organizations, and why broken cultures always trace back to gaps in those four areas. Then he connects CTCT with his SWAG framework (Self-awareness, Why-power, Aligned action, Grit), showing how inner conditioning is the only leverage you truly control. From performance anxiety on big exams to the “punk-ass inner critic” that hijacks your confidence, this episode challenges you to become the ice cube that changes the temperature of any room you walk into.

Key Takeaways

  • C.T.C.T.: A simple culture diagnostic. Communication, Teamwork, Collaboration, and Trust form a quick scan for any workplace: if one is missing, morale and performance eventually drop.
  • Culture vs. control. C.T.C.T. is external and shared, but the only piece you fully control is your own SWAG: Self-awareness, Why-power, Aligned action, and Grit.
  • The ice-and-water metaphor. One person with SWAG can change the “temperature” of a team, but lasting culture change requires multiple “ice cubes” carrying the same energy.
  • Calling out the punk-ass inner critic. High performers often know the material and still choke from anxiety; without self-awareness, fear drowns out their why, confidence, and execution.
  • Leaders are always in a cycle. Whether it’s exams, promotions, or New Year’s goals, you’re already in a pattern; the question is whether you’ll choose a new S.W.A.G. cycle that actually serves you.
SPEAKER_01:

Welcome to the Let's Think About It podcast, where high achievers stop performing and start transforming. I'm Coach Moe, certified core energy leadership coach, founder of the Inner Arena, and creator of the Swag Framework. Self-awareness, my power, aligned action, and grit. Around here, we train your mindset, challenge your limits, and turn pressure into purpose. Subscribe now and join me on YouTube at Swag Coaching. So let's get your reps in.

SPEAKER_00:

We're going big, going big. We're going big, going big.

SPEAKER_01:

Welcome to another episode of the Let's Think About It Podcast. I'm your host, Coach Mo. And I'm here with my co-host, Algie Mosley, aka Coach Amo. What's good, brother?

SPEAKER_02:

Hey, what's going on, Coach Mo? It's Coach Amo right here on your side, ready to take this ride. Where are we gonna go today? What's the subject matter? What are we really gonna think about?

SPEAKER_01:

I had this amazing experience today, bro. I had the opportunity to be on a panel at UC Davis Graduate Law School, business law school, bro. Whoa. Man, was that chill, bro? Was that M H MLK Law School at UC Davis? Yes, the business law school, brother. I was asked to be on a panel to discuss work culture. We had an audience of graduate law students who will be potentially moving into the professional world and seeking opportunities and as being an attorney, whatever type of law that they go into. And the law professor, which I know pretty well, she invited me and another group of attorneys. I was the only non-attorney in the building, seemed like, which was cool. It was cool. But she wanted us to just share perspective around work culture. I had the opportunity to sit on that panel and answer some questions around work culture to help influence young potential next generation attorneys about work culture really means, what it looks like, and how do you navigate it? So that's what I want to talk about today.

SPEAKER_02:

That's a very complicated subject. As you're into the workplace, there's many variations of different cultures in different workplaces, right? But can you tell us about some of the things that are consistent in the workplace?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, it was really a vague topic, but the scene of it was really how do you help employees or new people going into the workforce that are attorneys navigate this work culture when it's not really a good work culture? I had the opportunity to create this idea around a framework of work culture, and I called it CTCT. And we joke about it because it has that rhyme, CTCT. You know me, I'm down with CTCT. But what exactly is CTCT? It's communication, it's teamwork, it's collaboration, and it's trust. I brought that up, that framework, because it's easier to put an image to it in your head. CTN, when you think about it, when you are in a bad culture or a great culture, you can feel what CTCT is. But here's here's why I say communication, teamwork, collaboration, and trust. Because everything in all organizations, and you were a manager and you know this. That's right. It starts with communication. You have to have communication. That communication, whether you're seeking feedback, whether you're giving feedback, whether you're delegating, whether you're motivating, giving recognition, all of it. It starts there. The baseline of communication, in my opinion, being a coach, you gotta be curious. So that's the frame, that's the beginning of the framework is communication. And as you become this effective communicator, guess what happens?

SPEAKER_02:

I mean, yeah, it's building, right? You know, it's like together they create a workplace. It's almost like this CTCT, this teamwork, communication, collaboration, and what else they said, trust trust that will make people feel valued, supported, and inspired. That's what success is built for in the workplace. When you create that type of foundation, anybody can thrive. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01:

And when communication is the foundation of that, guess what happened to your teams? They work better. Yeah, they're working better and they're supporting each other, they're communicating with each other with that support and that communication, they collaborate internally and externally. You play sports, bro, and you've been on good teams, and I'm sure you've been on bad teams. To say the least, yes. Right. The good teams, when you go back through your experience from maybe pee-wee to high school to college, playing in the wreck, sports, doesn't matter. What did good teams, your good teams have?

SPEAKER_02:

That I remember that we had collaboration, everybody knew their roles that they played, everybody respected each other for their roles and even had expectations for people in those roles. So we held each other accountable to take us home. Exactly. Right.

SPEAKER_01:

How did you get to the ability to collaborate within the team? Communication. Communication, sharing expectations, like you said, sharing your wins, your strengths, your areas of opportunity, all of that. And the teams that typically strive the best and are at the highest level, they do that extremely well. And when they're able to do that extremely well, collaborate internally and externally, that's what they have trust, which is the key. Which is the key. That's correct. It's the glue that holds it all together. That is correct. Because if I know you, I like you, I respect you, I honor you, you're my brother, and we're playing this game together, and I trust you, win or lose, because you can have all of this and still lose. But guess what? There's power in that, there's morale, there's energy in that. So that's what I was teaching today in my short little snippet of time on the panel. I was telling them about CTCT.

SPEAKER_02:

So let me ask you a question, Coach Moe. Because as you're talking about the CTCT and you're talking about the workplace, right? And you're talking about the realness of this. What comes to mind is we just celebrated Veterans Day. How does CTCT fit into the world of a veteran, of somebody that's at battle where it's not just the workplace, we're at war? How does communication trust, right? How does all those mechanisms, teamwork, collaboration, communication, and trust when your life is at stake is trust you say, help me clarify?

SPEAKER_01:

Are you saying confines of being in the military or being a or just being a veteran?

SPEAKER_02:

In the confines of being in the military, here I am. I'm battling, I'm at war, right? And here I rely on other people on my team, right? And we got a vision that we're trying to accomplish. How key is communication, collaboration, teamwork, and trust.

SPEAKER_01:

It's just as important as a unit on the military. See, I have no experience being in the military, but all I can go off of is, you know, what I see on TV and other experiences that I hear from other people, right? Correct. Imagine if you're on the battle. When starting when you're starting the military and you gotta go through boot camp, there it is. Infantry. When you're going through boot camp, right? That's what you're building. You're building the CTCT in boot camp, in my opinion, in the military. If you're coming outside and you're coming in, and you have to learn how they communicate from within, right? And they have certain structures and certain expectations, certain rigid rituals that they may have, that you all of this, you have to learn that process, and that's part of the communication process. And as you learn that communication process, forming a team, right? And then within that team, whatever that unit is that you're probably going in with in boot camp, you're learning the strengths and weaknesses of your brother to the right and your brother to the left, and your sister to the right and your sister to the left, right? You're learning all of these different things. When shit hits the fan, you know how to collaborate with these people. And there's certain situations where I'm imagining that when you are going, what's the word, man? I'm losing my thought right now. That you have to collaborate with other units in certain missions or certain appointments that you have to do. And that takes time to build trust with them as well, which equivalents to communication in that standpoint, right? But through the whole process, when you're in boot camp, ultimately that's what you're learning is to trust one in one another. And then guess what? When you serve a certain time, a certain unit, you build this unique bond, like a fraternity bond. That's your brother, and you identify with that person because you went through shit with this person, whether it's boo count, whether it's certain missions, but you learn that's CTCT, but it's external. I think of it as external because it's a culture, right, that you're going into. And that culture can be good or bad. That's correct. And you feel it, right? And CTCT, if the trust isn't there, what does that do for the morale, right? If the communication is not there, what does that do for the morale? If the teamwork is not there, what does that do for the morale? The collaboration is not there, what does that do for the morale? You see what I'm saying? The military, I think that's a great example, but if that's not present, the CTCT, that's why you feel maybe not belonging, morale down, whatever, because that's what's off. And then the other connection to it, see, CTCT is external, and a lot of times we can't really control the external. I can't control algae, culture amount to want to talk to me. I can't make you want to talk to me. I can't make you want to be my teammate, right? But what I can do, what I can do is have swag because that's what I control. Self-awareness, why power, aligned action, and grit. See, swag is internal, it's my inner being because I know when I feel my fears, my hesitations, my guilt. And I can choose to ignore it or I can choose to embrace it. But it's all internal, right? I may know my why, I may not know my why. It's still internal, though. And whatever those actions are, to learn what my why is, it still comes back to me internally. What am I going to do to figure it out? Or I choose to ignore it and continue to stay in the loophole that I'm in. It's still my choice because it's internal. And then the grit, do I just give up on myself? Do or do I find a way? Do I keep pushing forward until I find this yearning answer, this calling? That's grit. Okay. If I'm saying swag is internal, what I really am saying is all I can control is me and how I influence me. And that pins out to the people that's external to me. And those people that's external to me potentially will say, I want some of what he has. I like that guy. I want to be his teammate, I want to communicate with him, right? Because you are in your own swag cycle, it naturally influences those around you without you telling them that they need to be your friend, they naturally feel your energy and want to be a part of you, what you and I have. I more than understand that. You know what I'm saying? So the CTCT that's external, that's culture. The swag is internal. If we can get more people to understand the swag framework for themselves in the institution, the CTCT goes up.

SPEAKER_02:

Wow, I just had a vision based on that. So if I am swag and all I can do is control me, and let's just imagine a glass of water, and the goal is to make the water cold. And if my swag is ice, it's almost like a statement that says ice doesn't argue with the water, but its essence can be deeply felt, right? So if I'm the ice and I got swag and the we're trying to make the water cold, I don't have to argue with the water, all I have to do is be myself, and the water will be an appreciation of because we're on the same goal. Am I it sounds a little chilly, but let me out.

SPEAKER_01:

Let me take a lava with you. Split splash, go ahead. Let's continue that because I like that analogy, right? So I get a glass of water, okay? Just like you said, I'm the ice cube. The ice cube is swag, and I'm trying to freeze the water, make the water cold. And I get I go and get some water out of my refrigerator and it's lukewarm, and I drop the cube in. Boop, right? Drop the cube in, boop. It immediately dissolves. What do I need to do? I need to put more cubes in there. So one person with swag isn't going to change the CTCT of an organization. You need multiple swag components, people, right, to make that water cold. I need more ice cube to make my water cold. Or I just I'm just a big ass swag cube. A block of ice, one big ass ice cube, and you can just drop me in there and I freeze everything. But the reality of it though is when you get that ice, you need more ice to freeze the water to make the water colder. So that's right. Same concept. We need more people with swag within the organization to help shift the organization to make it cold. But I like the ice cube because you, as an individual with swag, I'm an individual with swag. You and I walk into a room, and there's a room, let's just say 15 people with no swag. But you and I walk in there with swag. Guarantee you, we would influence some of those people in there just on our presence alone. And it's the same with ice. The water may not get fully cold the way that we want it, but it influences it. That's right. It influences it. And so that's how that's what I see in what you said in that analogy.

SPEAKER_02:

And so, therefore, what it does, uh Coach Mo is it creates what we call impact. And in the workplace, impact if everybody has swag and CTCT is the format or the mission, then it comes under the the acronym called Imagine Many People are actually caring together. That's what creates impact.

SPEAKER_01:

Absolutely, bro. Because this the swag, it really makes you a better you. It does. If you're in the cycle, you're in a swag cycle, and I don't care where you end up at, if it's the A, if it's the G, if it's the W, it doesn't matter. But if you're in the loop of the cycle, what what should I be doing right now? You're questioning that's aligned action. That's right. And then when you figure it out, because you didn't give up, that's the grit part. That's the grit. We're always in some sort of cycle. We're always in a cycle, bro.

SPEAKER_02:

Because we're always evolving.

SPEAKER_01:

It's always revolving. You don't know why you can't quit smoking. You're in the cycle. You tried it, it didn't work. You go back to your old way. That's the cycle, right? Diet, exercise, right? You're in the cycle. So, what's coming up? New Year's, right? Everybody, it's time to set your goals and blah blah blah, right? All of that. Guess what's gonna happen? Cycle. This you're in the cycle because you have all these goals, these ambitions, blah blah blah. By March, you're off track, you're back to the old you. That's the cycle. Why even try? I did that, done that, it doesn't work, whatever. That's a cycle. So, why, if you naturally are in cycles, why not try a new cycle that benefits you to make help you grow? I hope people don't think I'm trying to sell you on swag and you trying to get in a business of mine or something like that, because that's really not where I'm coming from. Come on, Coach, tell us. Man, it's that punk ass inner critic, it dissuades people from this concept because it will shut a punk ass critic up. That punk ass critic wants to be loud. The swag framework will help you dismiss his punk ass. People don't understand that yet. They don't understand it yet, they will understand it. But when I introduced it to these students that that I at the law students, man, I saw a couple people start laughing. Swag. Swag. Oh man, whatever. That was their attitude. And I said this, Algie. I said, nah, not swag, the attitude, swag the conditioning of self. That's what I'm talking about. Self-awareness, why power, aligned action, and grit. Let's talk about that. They lean forward. Yeah. And then I asked that question. I said, how many of you get very anxious, afraid, fearful when you got this big exam coming up? Oh, half of them raised their hand, right? And I said, guess what? In that moment, you have absolutely no swag because you're distracted by your fear, your nervousness, and all of these draining negative emotions in that moment. There is no swag present. Well, what do you mean? I said, you're distracted. You're distracted. You spent all of these hours studying. You know the material. You know it. You can't study no more. You're afraid that you're not gonna do well. That's that punk ass inner critic. And you don't have the self-awareness to recognize that the punk ass inner critic is talking you out of your game and your worth in that moment. You don't have self-awareness of what's really happening right now. Yeah. Eyebrows start going up, bro. Eyebrows start going up. Leaning in forward. Okay. You lose thought of why you're even in law school in that moment. That why power, you're distracted away from it because the fear is so present. The doubt is so present. And when those emotions are very present, that inner critic, that punk ass inner critic is so loud, you have no choice but to listen to it. And you forget about your white power. You forget about your actions. You still may have grit though, because you have no choice. You have to take the test. You you'll still have some grit, but that anxiety is so high until you actually take the test.

SPEAKER_02:

I wonder if that can even affect me in passing that test. Really? Can that punk ass critic talking to me in a way that make me think less than that when I even if I know all the information and I go to take the test? Can that punk ass critic, Coach Moe, actually cause an effect to I can actually fluck the test?

SPEAKER_01:

It does enough to influence you to doubt yourself within the test while taking the test. That's what it does to keep you in the cycle. During a cycle, that's another cycle. Because every time you have a big test, guess what you do? You get this nervous feeling, you get all of this anxiety, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. That's the cycle. You have no intentions of how to contain the cycle. You didn't think you don't think about it because you don't know what you don't know. You just know that this you go through this and that's what you gotta do. How do I break that cycle? How do I get out of it? Swag. I gotta be aware. I'm not gonna give everybody everything on this on the show, but that's what the inner arena is for. That's for if you want to if you want to really well into all of this, join the inner arena. You gotta come join me in the inner arena. It's not open right now, but you can always hit me up and say, Man, I'm interested. I have a swag cheat sheet for anybody. This stuff that we're talking about. I got a cheat sheet. You can start there. Well, how do they start? Well, where do they go to get this information? Maurice Mabry.com. Simple. My name, Maurice Mabry.com. And there's buttons in there that will take you to my suite, my swag cheat sheet. And there's a burnout mirror assessment that I have there as well, too. All free, man. And when you if you're feeling like you burnt out and all of that, it gives you when you complete the assessment, it gives you this archetype visual of what type of burnout you're carrying. So I got all of that stuff, man. It's all good, man. But at the end of the day, bro, I don't want people to feel like I'm trying to sell you on something. It's really, it's really my passion to help people get out of their own damn way. And this swag framework, I'm gonna tell you, I'm gonna put it out there right now. It's a movement, bro. And people don't know that they're gonna be a part of the movement because at the end of the day, whether you believe me or not, swag is just swag. It is what it is. You can deny it, and if you deny it, you'll be in your old cycle, and that's cool too. And most people are comfortable being in their old cycle, so you don't deserve to be in the inner arena anyway. That's right. What do they say? My true intent, because see, I know my white power, that's why I'm a coach, that's what God put me on this earth to do, bro. And people do not really understand the magnitude of how passionate I am about helping people get out of their own way. And I seriously created this framework to do just that. And if you want to take a deeper dive into learning more about this framework, you gotta holler at your boy. Because I love this stuff, and I am so thankful. I am so thankful for this opportunity today to go speak to those students and what it validated, because they didn't know me from Jack. These attorneys that I'm on a panel with, they didn't know me from Jack. But here's what I found out today on that panel. This swag framework, this CTT framework, it's real and it resonates, and it's true, and it is, it's just is, and it's up to you to believe it or not believe it. But I ain't here, I'm not the one that's trying to sell you on it and trying to convince you to get on board with it. Nah, that's not my role. It's never been my role. My role, my purpose is to just help you be the best version of you, whatever that looks like. The swag framework, when you can enter the cycle of that, you're moving toward a brighter version of you. Believe that. Awesome, Coach Bo. Thank you, bro. I'm gonna go ahead and close this baby out, man. I believe in the work that I'm doing can really help and change lives.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, I believe, first and foremost, that there's no ration and passion. And people need to feel it because it's real, no different than the ice in that glass of water. It's the very fabric of what we do every day in regards to trying to mold ourselves into a better version of ourselves, right? I want to be better tomorrow than I was today. I want to be better for my children, I want to be better for my employee. It's all about how you are in that swag format. More importantly, understanding that swag format. And then once you do, and you're in that cycle, that swag cycle, and it starts moving, it's almost like a wheel, right? And then you're able to be it forward, whatever that vision may be, right? That's right. Because you say, I got swag on it.

SPEAKER_01:

There it is, brother. I thank you. Have a good one. You too, Coach Mo. That's another rep in the inner arena. You didn't just listen, you leveled up your swag. Self-awareness, why power, aligned action, and grit. If this hit home, share it, subscribe to the Let's Think About It podcast, and lock in with me on YouTube at Swag Coaching. Until next time, stay aware, lead with your why, act in alignment, and keep your grid strong.