Leadership Development
“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan Press On! has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”
- Calvin Coolidge
5 Things that leaders can do to improve team or organizational Culture
First and foremost, most managers don’t know what their organizational culture actually is. They have some official documents like Mission, Vision, Values statements, but don’t actually know the culture of the organization or the individual cultures of departments or working groups. To improve the culture, you have to truly understand what the culture is.
I once worked with a CEO who took time out of his schedule every single month in perpetuity to visit every single team around the organization. He would sit in the call center, he would go on maintenance ride alongs, he would sit with graphic designers. He wanted to know exactly what employees thought and what they were dealing with. He wanted to know the real culture. After a few rounds, employees began to look forward to his visits. His visits became a part of the culture of teamwork.
Second, identify any gaps between the actual culture of the organization and the organizational culture you aspire to create. This step requires a bit of humility, acknowledging gaps in actual vs. desired culture begins with an admission that the culture isn’t there yet. That isn’t necessarily a condemnation of your leadership, but rather it’s an opportunity to explore the various opportunities for improvement.
I once was on the organizational development leadership team of a rapidly growing healthcare firm and I discovered an alarming trend in voluntary turnover. That is HR speak for people who leave the organization voluntarily (quit). Using the industry as a benchmark, the rate at which people were quitting our company was more than double what it should have been. I looked deeper into the numbers and realized that we had a culture problem. When I brought this information to the executive team, I was met with a swift rebuke laced with the odor of finality, “Your numbers are probably wrong.”
Third, model behaviors. This step is said so frequently, it is almost cliche. The problem is that so many leaders across organizations do not follow this basic, yet impactful model of leadership. We learn from a very early age that behaviors matter more than words do. If you watch children who are similar to their parents, it’s the behaviors that highlight the similarities. Those behaviors are rarely explicitly taught, but rather observed. If you want a culture that is kind and understanding, and then show kindness and understanding at every opportunity, folks will pay attention to that. “Do as I say, not as I do.” is a proverb that grants the speaker license for hypocrisy. Model the behaviors you want to see in the organization.
Fourth, create an environment to succeed. This step is more about context than content. If you have ever tried to learn a new language as an adult, you will fully understand the importance of this step. As adults in the 21st century, we often turn to language apps like DuoLingo for a few minutes, and then, as soon as we’re done, we put down our phones and the world around us is speaking English. The context is English, and when the context is English, it is significantly harder to learn another language. Now, let’s say that you were assigned to start up a new division in Chile. You would spend your time learning the language on your phone, and then as soon as you put your phone down, the world around you is in Spanish. Your context is Spanish. In an environment like that, learning a language is not only an intellectual exercise but rather a complete experience. Similarly, we must create an environment in which our desired organizational culture can thrive. If we want a culture of timeliness and there are clocks scattered around the office all displaying different times, computers display slightly different times, or cell phones on different carriers display different times, the context is not ripe for developing that culture.
Finally, be consistent - since cultures are defined by the people in the culture, there is a surprising amount of pressure on people who do not fit the overarching culture. For example, if your organization or team has a culture of dishonesty and self-preservation, people who are honest will find themselves exasperated every time they bump into evidence of the culture. They will be looking around, mouth agape, saying, “is anyone else seeing this?!” Each time the culture is reinforced, the honest person will feel less and less like they belong. Eventually, they will leave the organization. On the other hand, if you have a well-reinforced organizational culture of honesty, people who are dishonest will feel uncomfortable. Will Durant in paraphrasing Aristotle said, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit.”
We as humans have a natural tendency to progress forward and then slide backward, returning to the ways things have always been done. So changing the organizational culture is not about a big initial push, it is about generating enough momentum such that the culture reinforces itself.