Culture, Simplified

Congratulations! Your CEO and Executive Team, have finally declared culture a top priority.

The HR team is elated ... It's time! Time to show your people the good stuff: better career paths, leadership training, a few nice perks and most of all, feeling heard.

Wherever you are in your journey - beginning, intermediate, veteran ... there's lots you CAN do in fostering a great culture.

Yet only a few principles REALLY matter. If you don't get these right, the rest won't really matter.

(I am teaching about many of them in my NEW online Culture Builder Academy starting February 10. Take a taste here, on Slideshare...)

Meanwhile ... to satisfy your immediate craving ...

Simplified Culture Building:

1. Mission is King. You know this. And, knowing does not equal doing. The opportunity to ignite people around your unique purpose, create passionate excitement for it, is a daily practice. In the simplest sense, culture-building is ONLY about igniting people in the quest for a common mission. The bigger your organization ... the more you rely on talent not machines ... the more essential it is to build your Mission-Centered Brand. It's not what you think it is - it's what your employees think it is. If you do ONE thing, do this well.
2. Small Change Works. Narrow your culture building work to ONE team or ONE skill or ONE new habit: Then get it right and ensure it sticks before expanding. Always center the work around felt-need or pain, and build on successes (versus trying too much all at once.)
3. What People Want Most, is Mostly Unfulfilled. We all know happier people at work leads to better company performance. (This happens mostly at the team level, by the way.) To make this work, leaders today need a basic understanding of psychology. All people want to belong, feel appreciated, be good at something. (Leadership training should address how these fundamentals are put into action on their team.) The more you show people that working for you fulfills their basic needs, the higher your performance.
4. Some People Don't Belong. A significant challenge in culture building for every company is weeding the garden. (Growth depends on it.) The people who don't have your company's or team's best interests at heart are obvious. They undermine others through their need for power, their ego. They get great results in the business ... yet always have leaders thinking they are indispensable. (They're not.) Maybe they just don't fit the style of your office or work flow or customers - no harm, no foul. You know who they are. Teach your leaders to set them free on a new journey, and watch the magic that comes with less conflict, more collaboration, more natural camaraderie.
5. Work-Life Dance ... versus Balance.  Life is not a series of boxes we step in and out of anymore. (House ... Car ... Train ... Work Cube). Life for most of us today, is more like the Tango: Intense. Dependent on relationship. Requires learning to react quickly. Constant change with predictable structure. A process that must be felt to be enjoyed. Relax the hold and get in the flow. Make the process of working for you a dance between "Challenging people to work hard and get results" with "Flexibility on where, when, and how."
6. Leadership is Needed Now More Than Ever. The old-school style of rigid hierarchy is changing, but the need for catalyzing, inspiring, clear direction never will. If you want results and growth, a leader needs to keep people focused. Training the first-level managers to LEAD (which is different than MANAGE) is the most important work of our era. Open to change. Adapting quickly. Listening to the customer. Removing obstacles quickly. Rapid, focused sprints to a goal. These are all best practices of an environment that LEADS.

Need support?

Consider joining our Online Culture Builder Academy - EARLY BIRD DEADLINE ends February 3. It's convenient, affordable, rich with practical ideas. Plus, we will graciously refund your full tuition if you bow out after the first session.

No risk, No gain.

Check it out!

Happy Culture Building.