Culture? Culture! Now I get it (or at least I think I do)

As I wrap up the 1st term of my MBA here in Barcelona at IESE, I’m finally beginning to gain a better sense of what I want to do and the type of company I want to join. I’m also getting a little anxious as the search for summer internships kicks into high gear and my classmates focusing on banking and consulting already have their interviews lined up. In my talks with my fellow technology club members one thing that often comes up is culture; it seems to be at the top of mind for most people and is probably the most important criteria in my search for an internship or full-time position. Recently, I’ve only started to figure out why.

I started the MBA because I needed to take a pause and really figure out what to do in the next stage of my career. There are other, less expensive ways to do that but I also had a longing to return to school and get a higher education. There was almost a sense of void in my life that I did not study hard enough or specialize in something during my undergrad at NYU. But at the same time, moving from Austin to Barcelona seemed crazy. I was making more money than I’d ever made, working in a fledgling startup where the sky was the limit, living in an amazing city I had grown to love, and yet I was still not content.

What was the problem with me?

I was 30 last year when I decided to pursue an MBA after years of waffling on on the subject. I had been in 6 different jobs, which, even to my fellow millennials, seemed to be a bit much. I felt like a failure in many ways. Why couldn’t I stick with one company for a long period of time? Was I bad worker? Was I too impatient? Did I not have enough focus? Was I in the wrong role? The list of questions can go on and on.

Sure there were some truths to all those questions. But after a period of reflection — which I’ve been told and I agree is the most important part of the MBA — I think it boils down to a few things:

1. Sales as a profession is more transient than others
2. I’m a natural risk taker
3. Culture

Now, I’ve worked in some poor working cultures, I’ve worked in some great cultures, and I’ve worked in some great cultures that just were not the right fit for me. But what I’ve realized is that wherever I have worked my overall happiness and success have depended on my interactions with my fellow coworkers. How we helped each other thru adversity, congratulated each other on individual successes, and learned from each other is ultimately how I defined whether or not I had a positive experience in that organization.

I think that’s ultimately why culture is such a buzz word these days. It is not just defining the recruitment process for companies but also affecting their reputation and the basis by which former employees and even the media judge them. Google talks about measuring their employees in terms of ‘Googliness’, Amazon has their leadership principles, and Satya Nadella ‘Hit Refresh’ on the company culture at Microsoft by fostering empathy.

Hit Refresh by Satya Nadella - Official Site

At IESE, we have a leadership course that by and large the whole class dismisses as ‘repetitive’, ‘too touchy feely’, and a ‘waste of time’. I’m seemingly one of the few thoroughly enjoying it probably because I worked in 6 different organizations. I was able to see different cultures in action. A year ago, I was looking at my career like it was a series of mistakes. Today, I see it was a series of lessons, or as Steve Jobs said in his famous speech at Stanford, I’ve learned to connect the dots. Now, I’m not saying I’m going to be a world famous CEO but I know what I want in my next career.

I want the ability to learn. Warren Buffet spends most of his days reading and equates it to compound interest for the mind. I’m actively looking at companies who not only encourage learning but provide resources for it.

I want a company that is obsessed with improving the customer experience. If you take care of the customers then everything else, sales included, will take care of itself. Work is so much more satisfying when you are constantly overdelivering for your customers.

I want a company with balance. Balance in leadership and strategy. Balance in working hours. Sure there will be busy periods and organizational changes, but after switching jobs over so many years, I want to find somewhere where I can develop some relationships and grow inside and outside of the office.

These are my main criteria and it’s certainly different than my friends in banking or consulting (or maybe even in tech). However, instead of chasing a salary or a big title like I did in the past, the goal now is to find the culture that will allow me to thrive. If that happens the salary and the title will come in due time. More importantly the right culture will allow me to develop long-term relationships — people I can call friends, people I can count on in time of need, and people I can learn from. If I can find the right culture, not only will I have success, but I will embrace the duty to help others succeed as well.