What It Really Takes to Build a Great Workplace Culture

Let’s be honest: building a great culture at work isn’t easy. Especially when your team spans different generations, backgrounds, and communication styles. Expectations vary. Work habits vary. Even the definition of “success” can vary.

But from day one at Winstone Wealth Partners (formerly Green Financial Group), we’ve been committed to creating a workplace that feels positive, driven, and genuinely energizing.

It hasn’t always been perfect. It’s taken time, feedback, a few tough conversations—and a lot of intention. But in the past few years, we’ve really hit our stride. We’ve formalized the way we operate, and as we approach our 17th year in business this year, I can say with confidence that we are incredibly proud of the culture we’ve built.

In fact, the evolution of our culture is a big part of what led to our recent rebrand. In June 2025, we officially changed our name from Green Financial Group to Winstone Wealth Partners—a move that honors our growth, our team’s momentum, and the vision we’re building toward. While our name and logo may have changed, the values at the core of our culture remain as strong as ever.

In the spirit of transparency—something that’s deeply important to us at Winstone—and in keeping with my personal commitment to mentorship in the financial industry, I want to share a few things we’ve done that have truly worked for us.

1. Define Your Core Values—and Mean Them

We knew we wanted to sit down and define our Core Values. We thought it would be easy. It wasn’t.

But the process of putting our values in writing forced us to be brutally honest about who we are and how we want to show up for our clients and for each other. These values guide everything—from our hiring process, to how we evaluate performance, to how we make daily decisions and hold each other accountable.

At Winstone Wealth Partners, our five Core Values are more than just words on the wall, they’re the standard for everything we do – and a perfect way to describe our culture:

• BRING THE ENERGY We thrive in a fast-paced environment, bring our best selves to work, and maintain a positive, can-do attitude. Excellence drives us—and energy is contagious.
• KEEP IT REAL What you see is what you get. We value authenticity, transparency, and integrity—doing the right thing even when no one is watching.
• BE A PROBLEM SOLVER We tackle challenges head-on, think outside the box, and take pride in delivering impactful solutions for our clients.
• TAKE OWNERSHIP We take pride in our work, seek opportunities to improve, and own our mistakes—no excuses, no finger-pointing, just accountability and trust.
• WORK HARD, PLAY HARD We get the job done, celebrate wins along the way, and enjoy the hell out of life.

2. Foster Transparent Leadership and Open Communication

We believe people do their best work when they understand where the business is going—and feel invited to be part of shaping it. Obviously, not every single decision can involve everyone, and some decisions are reserved for our leadership team. But there are certain things we intentionally do to ensure everyone feels as included as possible, even if they’re not in the room.

For example, we hold Quarterly “State of the Office” meetings where we openly share our firm’s financials, progress toward goals, and where we’re headed as a team.

And when we say we have an open-door policy, we mean it literally. Our team works with doors open as much as possible, and we invite anyone—at any level—to come in for a chat, a discussion, or to voice a concern. That includes our leadership team. No one is off-limits, and no voice is too small to be heard.

3. Run the Business Like a Business

In the past few years, we’ve fully adopted the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS), working with an experienced EOS consultant to help guide us through the process. And honestly, it’s been game-changing.

EOS helps us operate like the high-performing business we are. Every team member knows their role, their goals, and how their daily work ladders up to our firm’s bigger picture. It keeps us aligned, accountable, and focused on what really matters. All with an eye towards encouraging this positive culture we are so proud to have cultivated.

4. Invest in People at Every Stage

At Winstone, we’re deeply committed to our team’s growth, both personally and professionally. The following are just a few examples of how we invest in our people, but they represent a much larger, ongoing effort to support each individual’s development. When our people grow, our firm grows, and we take that responsibility seriously.

• Quarterly Development Days – Interactive team sessions and Lunch & Learns focused on topics like professional development, personal branding, business development, leadership, and more.
• Quarterly Performance Evaluations – Powered by our EOS “90” system, this clearly defined and frequent process gives every team member a structured path to track performance and plan for what’s next.

5. Make Space for Fun

We work hard—and we find time to laugh, connect, and celebrate. In fact, it’s literally one of our core values. Below are just a few of the ways we keep things fun around here. But there’s more where this came from:

• Monday Motivation – Weekly team meetings that kick off with an energizing playlist and a burst of positive momentum as we all go around the table sharing about our weekends, our kids’ pictures playing sports or the foodie photos of what we ate when we went out to dinner.
• Celebrations & Traditions – From team birthdays to cheering on the Houston Astros, celebrating Halloween with our Annual “Boo Brunch” and even National Cheeseburger Day—we make time to enjoy fun (and funny) occasions as a team.

Final Thought Something I’ve learned over time is that culture isn’t a “perk.” It’s not ping-pong tables or snack walls or having craft beers on tap (though that would certainly be fun). A true culture – the kind you feel proud about being a part of – is the result of consistent effort, shared values, and a team that shows up for each other.

We’re proud of what we’ve built at Winstone Wealth Partners. And as we step into our 17th year in business, we’re more committed than ever to leading with intention, transparency, and heart.  

Please Note: Any opinions are those of the author, are subject to change without notice and are not necessarily those of Raymond James.  This material is being provided for information purposes only and does not constitute a recommendation.