Episode 4: “Culture Changes When Leaders Go First’ with Jerry Pico

Jerry Pico joins us on The PeopleSmart Podcast to explore what sustained culture transformation looks like in practice – and why it consistently begins with leadership behaviour.

Originally from Brooklyn and now based in Munich, Jerry works as a facilitator and executive change leader at the intersection of leadership, learning and culture transformation.

As a practitioner he uses the research developed by academic researchers like Erin Meyer, Carol Dweck, Amy Edmondson and Brené Brown to inform his work and approach, and support the behavioural changes required to successfully transform the culture of companies; and in turn was able to provide sufficient field-based evidence to validate the research of Professor Edmondson, which was published in a Harvard Business School case study in 2025.

His belief is simple but insightful: sustainable change happens when leaders model the behaviour they want to see.

In this conversation, he outlines a disciplined progression – building cultural awareness, strengthening a growth-oriented mindset, and creating the conditions for genuine psychological safety.
Rather than launching initiatives broadly and hoping they stick, Jerry begins each shift working with executive teams. He establishes shared language, encourages curiosity over certainty, and challenges leaders to examine how their own behaviour either accelerates or inhibits change.
He shows how culture is not shaped by communication campaigns or well-crafted values statements, but in rooms where senior leaders choose whether to defend or to listen, to project certainty or to invite contribution.

The message is straightforward: culture does not change because it is announced. It changes because it is modelled – repeatedly, visibly and from the top. When leaders demonstrate openness, humility and trust, others follow.

This is a conversation about practical transformation – about how executive behaviour shapes organisational climate, and why meaningful change depends less on programmes and more on consistent leadership practice.