Tabitha Laser: “Leaders need to clearly define what success means to the organization in order to create a fantastic work culture”

Define success — Leaders need to clearly define what success means to the organization. I was working for a company that went through almost as many senior leadership and managers & every single one of them had a different opinion of what success was. It was a horrible culture to work in. It is confusing for the workforce and every time you felt there was progress, the definition would change creating even more chaos.

As a part of my series about about how leaders can create a “fantastic work culture”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Tabitha Laser. Tabitha is a multi-faceted professional with over 25 years of leadership experience in a variety of industries ranging from oil and gas, energy, manufacturing, agriculture, construction and more. Her diverse background has provided her opportunities to work with government agencies and some of the world’s largest companies, including Fortune 500 companies, BP, 3M, and General Mills. Her expertise has fueled her passion to help shape the next generation of leaders, especially millennials, to help avoid the pitfalls of their predecessors and lead beyond best. Tabitha is the author of Organization Culture Killers. The first book in a series of leadership books she calls, “The Deadly Practices.” Follow Tabitha.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

Throughout my life, and my professional career, I have moved twenty-one times, served as a leader for eight different corporations, consulted for dozens of organizations, coached and mentored thousands of professionals in various roles, industries, and geographic locations. Whether the changes happened unexpectedly or purposefully, every step along my path has provided me with the knowledge, experiences and tools necessary to be where I am today.

This consistent state of change has afforded me the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds in the World and experience what good, not-so-good, and just-plain-awful looks like. Along the way, I have been collaborating with industry leaders and technical experts to understand, test possible solutions, and evaluate approaches to tackle many of the common problems businesses have been facing for decades. Sometimes the solutions have not worked out well, and other times they have exceeded expectations. The value has been on the journey and learning what works vs. what doesn’t.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?

I recently held a free event in my hometown of Houston, TX and I needed to fill seats. IN addition to my role as speaker and author, I’m also the President of ASSP (American Society of Safety Professionals) and offered members free tickets to event as well as my book at cost, as a perk. I sent emails to all members and I found it very interesting that few of them showed up to my event. I was shocked, not because they didn’t show up, but because they decided to pass on a FREE opportunity to learn and gain valuable knowledge. Someone actually complained that I had emailed them about a free event, as they felt it was all for my personal gain. It’s also interesting because I think it fits with the challenges we are currently facing — people complaining about not having enough opportunities. I was offering my peers a free educational opportunity, in the evening, and someone was complaining. The problem here is that we’ve become toxic in everything and don’t take advantage of the opportunities offered to us

Are you working on any exciting projects now? How do you think that will help people?

Yes, working on my new book, “Organization Culture Killer.” It’s about teaching young people the tricks to head ahead that the past generation took longer to learn. I want to help drive change in the way we do business and offer opportunities for people to learn and grow.

Ok, lets jump to the main part of our interview. According to this study cited in Forbes, more than half of the US workforce is unhappy. Why do you think that number is so high?

I believe a majority of the workforce is unhappy because life has become unbalanced. As organizations fight to stay on top, data continues to grow and budgets keep shrinking, people are being asked to do more with less, work longer, and give more to their workplace. I don’t think there is any one thing to blame. We’re caught in somewhat of a catch-22. I’ve heard that employees aren’t loyal anymore, but that’s a symptom of our economy. Organizations need to perform, which sometimes, seemingly more often lately, results in outsourcing, downsizing, pay cuts, etc. Pushing performance also tends to limit resources for people development, so people are often put into positions they are not competent or qualified for. The workforce doesn’t understand or trust the organization or its leaders because of inconsistencies, unthoughtful changes, diminishing development opportunities and lack of recognition for the value they bring so they jump ship hoping to find somewhere better.

Organizations don’t clearly define, communicate, resource, and sustain their expectations for success in healthy ways, and often make decisions that negatively impact the workforce. Leaders don’t know how to motivate and inspire their workforce to achieve success because it hasn’t been defined, and often the organization’s intentions are misinterpreted.

The more they demand from employees, the more pressure they’re under & that’s when budget cuts happens. The workforce becomes skittish as a result. People become less loyal & start leaving. Once they leave, organizations don’t care and start firing people because budgets get tied, so they lose competent people & people who are not fit for the job. It’s a horrible cycle we’re in. In Asia, people are dying. They are overworked and the need for perfection is crushing workers. In 2016, South Koreans worked 2,069 hours — the third-most worldwide, after Mexico and Costa Rica. People at the top aren’t happy because they’re not able to perform. People at the bottom aren’t happy because they don’t understand what’s necessary to be successful. Not defining expectations continues to perpetuate this cycle. It’s like the image of the snake eating its own tail.

Based on your experience or research, how do you think an unhappy workforce will impact a) company productivity b) company profitability c) and employee health and wellbeing?

Companies need to build and nurture a foundation that yields success & eventually the culture of success determines an employee’s performance. If you have a culture that’s unhappy, then your performance, profitability will be poor & your workforce will be unhealthy, not just physically, but mentally, emotionally and psychologically as well. Not to mention an increase in absenteeism, divorce, drinking, etc.

An organization can only reach sustainable success if they build a strong foundation for success, prevent the concrete barrier from blocking their path to success and eliminate deadly practices so they can foster a culture of success. The culture of success determines the performance of the organization.

Can you share 5 things that managers and executives should be doing to improve their company work culture? Can you give a personal story or example for each?

1. Define success — Leaders need to clearly define what success means to the organization. I was working for a company that went through almost as many senior leadership and managers & every single one of them had a different opinion of what success was. It was a horrible culture to work in. It is confusing for the workforce and every time you felt there was progress, the definition would change creating even more chaos.

2. Manage changes better — Put in place processes to ensure changes are fully thought out, change the methodology & decision impact scale. Avoid knee-jerk decisions that can negatively impact an organization

3. Understand risks associated with the organization — not just safety risks or financial, but all risks. What risks can jeopardize us from making bad decisions? Here’s an example: An organization that is rolling out a new information management system, a new CRM, or a system like SAP, they don’t fully think of all the risks associated with the rollout. Instead, they focus on implementing that system that can cause a ripple effect on systems that were not taken into consideration because people weren’t properly trained & the system needs lots of modifications. At the end of the day, SAP implementation has a tendency to cause huge business disruptions that leadership doesn’t think about and the sales people don’t give upper management all of the information they need. Management needs to consider all the risks or face consequences.

4. Simplify all processes — If it’s not something they can memorize, the likelihood of people actually understand & fulfilling expectations of success are harder.

5. Standardize — Allow adequate room for flexibility when appropriate. The less you reinvent the wheel, the less likely you’ll be from deviating from expectations. People need to have ownership of program, get the buy-in & make sure there’s consistency throughout the organization, which will lessen the risks

It’s very nice to suggest ideas, but it seems like we have to “change the culture regarding work culture”. What can we do as a society to make a broader change in the US workforce’s work culture?

We’re part of the problem. We’re turning into a society like Asia, where everything is in high demand. More stock, more money, things, etc. In doing that, we’re driving organizations to make decisions that perpetuate an unhealthy culture. In talking to leaders for my book, they said the way our stock market is, they’re not a standard way or a specific set of guidelines for the measurement of success. Part of the problem is that success doesn’t take into account the culture. There’s a need to create some guidelines for senior leaders/managers of organizations across the globe to include things employees will be valued on. Culture should always be kept as part of the equation. External culture assessments need to be conducted in order to get a feel of what’s going on.

Very much like our U.S. Constitution, written in 1789, it has gone a number of amendments throughout the years. Think of culture like the Constitution. It serves as our main set of laws, but there’s always room to amend it and adapt it to the times we live in.

How would you describe your leadership or management style? Can you give us a few examples?

Management style — I’m a horrible manager. My ADD/ADHD is all over the charts. I can’t manage myself. However, my leadership style is more of an inspirer. I’m a visionary and I love coaching, I’m transformational, strategic, and achievement-oriented.

Take millennials, for example. They have changed how the workforce operates and how we relate to them as employees. You have to lead people by inspiring them, supporting them, but don’t be a hand-holder. I’m not a delegator. If they don’t get it done, I’ll do it myself & use that as an educational tool so they can do it better the next time. Show them what was expected, but I can also admit, it could rub off people the wrong way.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

I had a leader when I worked at BP, his name was Stuart Graudus and he was a Global Leader. I was working on a project in Florida on alternative energy, working with farmers & BP, so that alone was conflict between people that had never had oil & gas people provide standards for agriculture. Stuart became the best mentor I’ve ever had. He was a great source of leadership, training, and sent me to Scotland for an Executive Coaching training. That was a game-changer for me because my style before that was very matter-of-fact. Afterwards, I became more reflective & encouraging. I was leading people instead of tasking. From there, Stuart set me up with mentors within the organization that he knew would improve my leadership style.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

I’m using it right now — by aiming to educate the next generation of leaders and teaching them what pitfalls to avoid in order to be better leaders.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Success is not final; failure is not fatal: It is courage to continue that counts” — Winston Churchill

I fail all the time, but I grow stronger from those failures. My philosophy is turning lemons into lemonade.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

I want to lead the journey to build cultures of success by impacting positive change in the future. I want to educate leaders — the biggest part of the journey is to start a movement where we develop more educational opportunities for leaders. The journey starts by educating future leaders.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We wish you continued success!