Keep Things Simple The world is a complicated, noisy place. Inputs assail us all day long, competing for our attention and challenging our ability to focus. Culture creates clarity. Leaders who curate culture are consistently on-message. They remind everyone of fundamental truths about the culture and the business to keep people grounded during challenging periods [...]
Quit Managing. Start Leading. Leadership Guru Warren Bennis defines leadership as, “the capacity to translate vision into reality.” Let’s add to that. The leader’s role is to cast vision, provide resources, remove obstacles, drive execution, and deliver results. Most people would much rather be led than managed. What’s the difference? Visualize standing over someone versus [...]
Get Aligned Once culture is defined, we need to align. Alignment requires two important shifts. The first shift happens within leadership. Leaders must realize it “isn’t about them.” The second shift is even more important and depends on the success of the first. This shift happens within the organization itself. Everyone must believe…that leadership believes…that [...]
Once you have the Code, bring it to life. Create laminated copies for everyone, turn into a piece of office wall art. Put it to work for you. Use it as a cornerstone of your talent acquisition efforts. Make it a tangible, visible part of your organizational ecosystem.
As important as culture is, if you ask ten employees to define their organization’s culture, you’ll likely get ten different answers. Culture should be easily understood and articulated. A great way to achieve that is by creating a Culture Code. For example: The Culture at ABC Corporation Is: · Sales oriented and results driven · High-energy and fun [...]
Every organization has a culture. It exists in the presence or absence of leadership. If there is a lack of leadership, the organization creates conflicting dynamics, and that becomes the culture. It’s impossible to eliminate culture. Like matter, it simply changes form.
Culture is horizontal gravity. It’s what draws individuals into an organization, and it’s what keeps them there. More simply put, culture is why people join and it’s why they stay. Culture is a mindset, rooted in a philosophy. It’s mission in action.
You may find that you fail less when you don't fear it. Failure is either redirecting or reaffirming. If failure caused you to take a different path, it’s because you saw it heading towards a dead-end. (Yay!) If failure caused you to get back up and keep going, it reaffirms you are committed to [...]
