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.