“Culture is how we think, act, and interact inside our organization.”
Chris Goede (Executive Vice President of Corporate Solutions, John Maxwell Enterprise)
Years ago when I was a strength and conditioning coach, I was talking with my boss and he said: “You have the hardest job on staff. You have to be the master psychologist.”
I had to inspire hundreds of athletes to see the value in participating in the off-season work that did not involve touching a ball or swinging a bat, racket, club, etc. That was one challenge, but over time I saw a different and at times greater challenge.
I could create a culture of hard work, focus, and dedication when I was with them, but if the culture their coach created was different, I was fighting uphill. Maybe the team you lead is collaborative, but you feel you are fighting upstream against an organizational culture that is completely siloed. In this post let me break down culture into three areas you can evaluate, design, and possibly even influence within the larger organization.
People
I jokingly say often “where two or more people are gathered, there will be problems.” That is part of life. Whether two people, twenty, or two-thousand people create a culture. This is one area we need to evaluate. In his book Good to Great, Jim Collins discusses how great companies first get the right people on the bus and then figure out where to drive the bus.
Imagine you lead a professional soccer club. You get on the bus clear about where you are going and who you are playing and then you look. The managers, athletic trainers, and coaches are all on the bus, but only a couple players are there! You will get destroyed in your game. We must take time to evaluate the people on our team determining if they have the right character, skills, teachability, and capacity. The people will create and sustain the culture.
Process
The people are one part, but culture is also created by process. Process in this sense is “how we do things around here.” Every team has both an unspoken and spoken way of doing things. For example, maybe a written expectation is that people take notes on client calls in a certain system. The reality is no one checks or references those notes, so people rarely take them. This lack of inspecting the process that is expected has created a culture that is less effective than originally intended.
The way we act and think can be influenced by the processes in place within our team. Maybe your office door is open, but when people come in to talk with you they get treated as if they are an interruption. The intention is open communication, but the action says the opposite. Evaluate your processes and systems and check if they align with how you intend your culture to function.
Results
I was watching the end of the Cincinnati Bengals first playoff football game recently and the announcer said the stadium had over 66,000 people in attendance which broke the record attendance from 2007. What caused this newfound culture of excitement?
Results.
The last time the Bengals had a playoff victory was in 1991. When our team is getting results people want to be a part of it. As leaders what are the results we want people to get excited about? Is it simply numbers? If so, what do those numbers represent and how can you create a scoreboard around that? Create ways to genuinely recognize and celebrate the results you get. When those results support people and processes that are important to your culture, make everyone aware.
I hope this has helped stir your thinking on how to intentionally form your culture. Maybe you need some help evaluating your team in a fun, interactive, and organic way. If so, let’s discuss how I could serve your team by facilitating The Leadership Game to open up communication around topics like this. Which of these areas do you need to intentionally develop starting today? Let me know. Lead Well.
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