culture Archives - Alana M. Hill, PMP, CSP

What Are We Teaching When We’re Not Teaching? The Legacy of Everyday Leadership
What Are We Teaching When We’re Not Teaching? The Legacy of Everyday Leadership

What Are We Teaching When We’re Not Teaching? The Legacy of Everyday Leadership

Years ago, our family was traveling in Rome when one of our sons noticed a poor woman on the street. He gave her some money and then turned to us and asked for more so he could give her more. It was a small moment. There was no discussion beforehand about generosity. No reminder to pay attention to the people around us. No parenting lesson delivered on a street corner in Rome. He saw someone in need and responded. I [...]

By Alana Hill|2026-08-19T11:48:42-05:00August 19th, 2026|Lifting|0 Comments

Leaving Room at the Table: Belonging Begins at Home
Leaving Room at the Table: Belonging Begins at Home

Leaving Room at the Table: Belonging Begins at Home

Families change. We know this, of course. Children grow up. They develop their own interests, make their own choices, and eventually build lives that don't always look like the ones we imagined for them. But knowing that families change and knowing how to change with them are two very different things. As leaders, we talk a lot about creating cultures of belonging. We want people to feel valued for who they are and know that they have a place on [...]

By Alana Hill|2026-08-05T10:38:26-05:00August 5th, 2026|Lifting|0 Comments

Listening Beyond Words: Sometimes the Loudest Conversations Never Use Words
Listening Beyond Words: Sometimes the Loudest Conversations Never Use Words

Listening Beyond Words: Sometimes the Loudest Conversations Never Use Words

As leaders, we're taught to listen. Not just to the words people say, but to the concerns behind them. The hesitation. The excitement. The frustration. We learn that behavior often communicates more than conversation ever will. I've found that's just as true at home. One of my sons developed a habit in college of experimenting with his hair. First it was black. Then blonde. Then pink. Then gray. Every few months there was something new. I have to admit, it [...]

By Alana Hill|2026-07-22T12:56:13-05:00July 22nd, 2026|Family Matters, Lifting|0 Comments

The Family Team: Creating a Culture of Contribution at Home
The Family Team: Creating a Culture of Contribution at Home

The Family Team: Creating a Culture of Contribution at Home

One of the first things we do when building a high-performing team at work is make sure everyone understands how they contribute. We don't expect everyone to do the same job. We don't expect everyone to have the same strengths. But we do expect everyone to bring something of value. Healthy teams aren't built because one person does everything. They're built because everyone contributes something that makes the whole stronger. Somewhere between the office and our front door, though, we [...]

By Alana Hill|2026-07-22T12:44:18-05:00July 9th, 2026|Lifting|0 Comments

Black History Month: From the Birth of the Internet to the Age of AI
Black History Month: From the Birth of the Internet to the Age of AI

Black History Month: From the Birth of the Internet to the Age of AI

Unbeknownst to me at the time, I lived through a moment of Black history that would quietly—but profoundly—shape my future. Picture this. It’s my senior year at Texas A&M, and while making Black history myself as only the second Black female petroleum engineering graduate, I became fascinated with computers and the early internet. I wasn’t interested in changing my major, but I was deeply curious about possibility. I started asking questions—especially about how oil and data might mix. I watched [...]

By Alana Hill|2026-02-06T20:02:52-06:00February 6th, 2026|Culture & Inclusion|Comments Off

Reclaiming Merit: Why Culture Change Demands We Mend—Not End—Meritocracy
Reclaiming Merit: Why Culture Change Demands We Mend—Not End—Meritocracy

Reclaiming Merit: Why Culture Change Demands We Mend—Not End—Meritocracy

An effective weapon doesn’t have to be new—it just has to be familiar, emotionally charged, and poorly understood. Right now, that weapon is merit. In a recent Los Angeles Times essay, David Glasgow explains how the language of meritocracy is being deliberately used to undermine culture-change efforts. Calls to “restore merit-based opportunity” suggest that fairness has somehow been lost—when in reality, fairness has often been selectively applied. The implication is subtle but powerful: if inclusion exists, merit must be absent. [...]

By Alana Hill|2026-02-18T17:04:29-06:00January 21st, 2026|Culture & Inclusion|Comments Off

Back-to-School Style, Story, and Serving Others
Back-to-School Style, Story, and Serving Others

Back-to-School Style, Story, and Serving Others

It’s back-to-school Sunday at church, and this outfit tells a story (a testimony). First, please excuse my eclectic color choices The pants are baby blue and white for Aldine High School…Awldine..woo woo woo! My dad was a single father and worked to make ends meet. I worked after school, and I wasn’t exposed to much career readiness. The t-shirt speaks for itself, repping my Alma mater Texas A&M University …whoop! A school I entered because of an equity-based academic scholarship. [...]

By Alana Hill|2025-10-23T16:50:27-05:00August 14th, 2025|Leading, Lifting, Loving|0 Comments

Faith at Work: Respect, Grace, and the Gentle Invitation
Faith at Work: Respect, Grace, and the Gentle Invitation

Faith at Work: Respect, Grace, and the Gentle Invitation

The Most Spiritual Act at Work Might Be Respect One of the most spiritual things we can do in the workplace isn’t preaching or praying out loud—it’s respecting and appreciating someone else’s faith practice. At its core, honoring another’s beliefs reflects the grace that Jesus modeled throughout His ministry. Much of the New Testament is filled with stories of Christ engaging people where they were, not forcing them into belief, but inviting them through compassion, humility, and truth. An [...]

By Alana Hill|2025-06-27T11:16:29-05:00June 26th, 2025|Culture & Inclusion, Leading|0 Comments

The Door of No Return: Honoring Those Who Couldn’t Contribute
The Door of No Return: Honoring Those Who Couldn’t Contribute

The Door of No Return: Honoring Those Who Couldn’t Contribute

Last summer, during my trip to Ghana, I had the solemn privilege of visiting Cape Coast Castle—one of the many sites that served as a final holding place for enslaved Africans before their forced journey across the Atlantic. Within its walls lies the Door of No Return, a small, narrow passage through which countless men, women, and children were taken—forever severed from their homeland, their culture, and the futures they might have built. Walking through that space was an overwhelming [...]

By Alana Hill|2025-02-27T09:49:16-06:00February 26th, 2025|Culture & Inclusion|0 Comments

The Tale of Three Interns
The Tale of Three Interns

The Tale of Three Interns

When I was a project manager leading global change initiatives, I had the opportunity to mentor interns and add them to my team. My first intern, we’ll call him LM, performed well, exceeded my expectations, and presenting his work to executives at the end of the summer. This young student from an HBCU showed everyone what young Black engineers were capable of (I didn’t need convincing, but I knew my peers did). The next summer, I had another Black engineering [...]

By Alana Hill|2025-02-05T13:56:49-06:00January 30th, 2025|Culture & Inclusion|0 Comments