Reimagining Work with Fleik and Magneto
In this episode of Coffee Break with Magneto, Juliana Lévano, consultant and co-founder of Flake, shares how her personal experience with burnout led her to create a company focused on redefining the relationship with work and transforming organizational culture. Flake promotes the concept 50-50, where the company offers tools and promotes culture, but employees have the co-responsibility to take advantage of them and be ambassadors for them. Juliana highlights that leaders are key players in being an example, inspiring and accompanying their teams, with essential characteristics such as self-knowledge, strategic clarity, active listening, curiosity, vulnerability and the ability to delegate with confidence. In addition, it highlights the importance of companies building a Genuine employer brand, based first on a solid culture and then on transparent, empathetic and close selection and onboarding processes. Finally, it advises candidates to seek employment with self-knowledge, defining their Ideal job and their non-negotiables, and being authentic and proactive in asking about the culture, leadership and conditions of the company.
Reimagining Work with Fleik and Magneto
Axis 1: Presentation and context
JULIA: Hello and welcome everyone to this new episode of Coffee Break with Magneto. Today we have a super special guest who is going to be talking to us about that organizational culture that we want to achieve. In addition, we decided to call this edition of our podcast Change Makers. Organizational culture is 50-50 and throughout this episode we will be getting to know why that 50-50 is.
So I want to introduce you to Juliana Lévano, by Fleik. Juliana is an organizational consultant, entrepreneur and founder of Fleik. Juliana, welcome.
JULIANA: Thank you very much, Julia, happy to be here and to be able to share with you and with all the listeners.
JULIA: What a joy. Well, let's start with the first thing: why did you decide to work in culture and organizations?
JULIANA: I think I've always been moved to understand how people work and what happens when we come together in teams and organizations. I saw that many companies had processes, products, plans, but what really differentiated them was the culture: how they treated each other, how they solved problems, how they communicated.
Axis 2: Fleik's origin and Juliana's vision
JULIA: Tell us a little about Fleik. What is it and how is it born?
JULIANA: Fleik was born out of the need to help organizations build more conscious and humane cultures. For many years I saw that companies were investing in technology, in processes, in expansion, but they forgot the human factor. And that's where everything is at stake.
JULIA: So Fleik is like a bridge between strategy and people.
JULIANA: Exactly. We work to connect business objectives with the real experience of employees, because in the end, culture translates into results.
JULIA: And that's why today we're going to talk about that 50-50 formula that you defend.
Axis 3: Organizational culture as 50-50
JULIA: Let's start with the basics: when you say that culture is 50-50, what do you mean?
JULIANA: Look, Julia, when I talk about 50-50 I mean that culture is not just the responsibility of the organization or just of the people. It's a balance sheet:
- 50% is built by the company with its values, processes, leadership and practices.
- 50% is built by each employee with their behaviors, attitudes and commitment.
JULIA: In other words, it's not enough for the company to say “these are my values” if people don't live them.
JULIANA: Exactly. And it's no use for employees to have an incredible disposition if the organization doesn't create an environment that facilitates it.
JULIA: So, culture is not decreed, it is built.
JULIANA: That is, culture is built on that encounter between what the company proposes and what people do.
Axis 4: The role of leaders in culture
JULIA: And what role do leaders play in that 50-50?
JULIANA: A huge role. Leaders are the translators of culture. They can make the values real on a daily basis, or that they remain in a beautiful picture on the wall. The challenge is to be coherent, in that the decisions truly reflect the culture that you want to build.
JULIA: And that's where a lot of companies fall, right? Because sometimes they say one thing and do something else.
JULIANA: Yes, incoherence is culture's greatest enemy. If I say that I value innovation, but I punish mistakes, I am sending the opposite message.
JULIA: Then people notice more about what you do than what you say.
JULIANA: Exactly, culture is taught more with acts than with speeches.
JULIA: There is an enormous consistency challenge there.
JULIANA: Yes, leaders must remember that they model culture with every decision.
Axis 5: The role of employees and everyday life
JULIA: Now let's talk about the other 50%. How do employees build culture?
JULIANA: They are the ones who experience it in every interaction. From how they respond to an email, to how they resolve a conflict or how they rely on each other. Every action adds or subtracts culture.
JULIA: So it's not enough to expect “the company to motivate me”, but it's also a matter of individual responsibility.
JULIANA: As is. Culture is felt in conversations, in the hallway, in what isn't written in the manuals. That's why we say that we're all responsible for building it.
JULIA: I like that: culture isn't just about human talent.
JULIANA: No, it belongs to everyone. Human resources can facilitate, but those who make culture alive are the teams on a daily basis.
Axis 6: Examples, Challenges and Real Cases
JULIA: Do you have any examples where you've seen this 50-50 working well?
JULIANA: Yes, there is a company that we accompany in a process of digital transformation. Initially, the organization was driving technological change, but employees didn't feel part of it. What we did was work in parallel: with leaders to better communicate the purpose and with teams to take an active role.
The result was incredible because they realized that the change was not just “of the company” but also theirs.
JULIA: In other words, when both parties recognize each other as co-responsible, culture is strengthened.
JULIANA: Exactly. We also see it in family businesses that move to a second generation: if the new management doesn't open spaces for participation, culture suffers. And if employees don't adapt, the change doesn't work either.
JULIA: So the key lies in that co-responsibility.
JULIANA: Yes, 50-50 is not a mathematical formula, it's an invitation to recognize that no party can do it alone.
Axis 7: Conclusions and Call to Action
JULIA: I love it, Juliana. To close, if you had to leave a message to those who listen to us, what would it be?
JULIANA: That they understand that culture is not something abstract. We build it every day, half the organization, half each of us. If we become aware of that 50-50, we can have more coherent, humane and sustainable organizations.
JULIA: What a good reflection. Thank you so much for joining us on this episode of Coffee Break with Magneto. And to all who listen to us, remember: organizational culture is a shared task. See you in the next episode of Change Makers.