About Jason

The best teams and organizations on the planet intentionally develop leaders and culture and have clarity of Mission, Vision and Values.

Cultures are dynamic, living and breathing ecosystems that need continuous calibration. Too many leaders try to dictate the culture from above rather than co-create the culture with their people. When leaders and teams are not aligned, it creates incongruence between their Thinking, Acting & Interacting. This often creates people who become disengaged and disconnected, which then creates scattered and toxic cultures where momentum is lost and poor performance sets in. From this negative environment, higher turnover rates, fewer applicants, and misaligned teams often follow.

Too many organizational cultures are stuck in reactionary mode (thermometer thinking) rather than proactively creating the future they desire for the future (thermostat thinking).

Organizations that intentionally and strategically calibrate their thermostat to create more compelling cultures where their Thinking, Acting & Interacting is congruent across their teams, produce better results.

A more engaged workforce leads to 22% higher productivity and cultures that are 2-5 times more likely to retain great employees, experience lower turnover, and become a Best Place to Work. Companies that get clear on the temperature they aim to set as an organization then strategically breathe good oxygen into the engagement of their people and culture in the way they hire, onboard, develop leaders, and measure performance each day. build momentum humans want to be a part of proactively navigate their way through times of change become a competitive advantage that leads to higher levels of engagement, productivity and performance.

Recent Gallup research shows that only 20% of employees feel connected to their organizational culture and only 23% say they trust their leadership and future direction of their organization. Yet, 90% of humans say they want the exact opposite— to feel connected, aligned and engaged in creating their future culture.

It’s up to both the leaders and employees to co-create the culture they want (set the temperature), build that culture together, and then maintain and evolve the culture (breathe oxygen) by intentionally developing their people in alignment with the overall vision.

As a keynote speaker and consultant, Jason Barger has helped align and strategically create more proactive Thermostat Cultures at iconic brands like Nationwide Insurance, NetJets, Wendy’s, Deloitte, Kaiser Permanente, and many more. Through his 6A Process for Leading Change, Barger has helped countless organizations lower their turnover, increase their hiring rates, breathe oxygen into team morale, and raise performance.

He is the author of four bestselling books on culture and leadership including Thermostat Cultures and Breathing Oxygen, is the host of the podcast The Thermostat with Jason Barger and Founder of Step Back Leadership Consulting.

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Jason Barger is committed to engaging the minds and hearts of people in order to strengthen leadership, culture, and clarity of mission, vision and values.

He is a globally celebrated Author/Speaker/Consultant and creator of the “Step Back from the Baggage Claim” Movement – featured in the New York Times, National Geographic Traveler, Kiplinger, Book TV, and many other spots worldwide. Books two and three “Remember” and “Thermostat Cultures” have been widely-celebrated around the globe and his fourth book “Breathing Oxygen” reached #1 during the launch in many different categories related to organizational culture and learning. He is also the host of “The Thermostat with Jason Barger” podcast.

Prior to sleeping in airports and observing human behavior, Barger led over 1700 people to construct 125 houses internationally for families living in poverty as well as implemented the Streets Mission Project to serve the homeless on the streets of Columbus, Ohio. As the former Director of First Community Church’s Camp Akita, he designed programming focused on living with joy, love, compassion, faith, and service for over 1900 campers a summer.

Jason is a graduate of Denison University, where he served as Captain of the men’s basketball team, and also received certification from Georgetown University in Nonprofit Executive Management. In 2004, he was one of five people in Columbus, Ohio to receive a Jefferson Award, a national award given to “Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things”. In 2014, he was selected as a 40 Under 40 award winner by Business First. In 2021, Jason was recognized as a “Top 200 Global Thought Leader to Follow” by PeopleHum.

Jason is a sought-after Keynote Speaker, visionary, and consultant. As founder of Step Back Leadership Consulting LLC, he works with organizations that are passionate about Culture Change, Leadership Development, Innovation, Service, and bringing their Mission to life everyday. Step Back Leadership Consulting was recognized by HR Tech Outlook as a “Top 20 Leadership Development Training and Coaching Company.”

Jason is passionate about his family and travels from Columbus, Ohio all around the world to engage the minds and hearts of people. Follow on social media @JasonVBarger and dive into his podcast “The Thermostat” where podcasts are found.

Join Jason in Calibrating your thermostat: