The culture of an organization defines its success a lot more than the teams, products, skills that exist within it or the strategy that defines its vision. As the famous quote, attributed to Peter Drucker, goes — ‘Culture eats strategy for breakfast.’ In that sense, the watershed that splits good companies from great ones will be the culture and the leadership behaviors that shape it.
Let me be honest here — I believe culture is the set of behaviors that the employees show on daily basis, rather than the cultural artifacts (Cathy, thanks for the concept) within the office space — be it bean bags, posters, slogans, free lunch or remote working. The latter are perks. The former define the environment that we create together to set ourselves up for success or failure.
The baseline of the culture and environment could not be better captured than the quote by Gruenter and Whitaker —
The culture of any organization is shaped by the worst behavior the leader is willing to tolerate.
To build on it, however, we need to take a look at some of the behaviors that can bring a culture that sets the environment of mutual respect among teams and team members. Once this is in place, all else will follow. In essence, if you take care of that, the score will take care of itself.
To avoid making this short piece too long to read, here they are, seen through the eyes of my (still) young age and (in)experience.
1. Thank You
Expressing gratitude is a gift that we struggle to master despite the fact that it takes just a few seconds to acknowledge your thankfulness to a co-worker, team member or business partner. We are unfortunately too used to the assumption that people know how we feel and that’s how we justify our decision not to say these two powerful and humbling words.
Yet, it always helps to drop a line and simply thank somebody for the work they have done — that’s recognition to enforce the fact that the work done is appreciated and understood. In my team, we always make a point to send a note of thanks to anyone who has done a great job, whether that’s around what their job description requires or something that goes above and beyond the call of duty. Say thank you. And say it often.
2. Please
Asking someone nicely is not a matter of formality and good manners — it changes the relationship from a pure principal — agent one to the that of equals. In fact, a lot of times it reverses it in a way that empowers anyone to do what they do and they will do it better. Just a couple of examples:
Will you finish the analysis by 4 pm? vs. Will you please finish the analysis by 4 pm? are world aparts in how the task is positioned and understood. Please doesn’t hurt or take away from your standing — it empowers others.
3. You will do great!
We often talk about empowerment and how great leadership is defined by this behavior. However, all too often we equate empowerment with delegation or off-loading more work onto others. In essence, if I give more and more serious work to a team member, I am empowering them. That’s wrong.
Empowerment includes being there all the way, helping with the tasks (or at least, not impeding them), and at the tough moments turning back and saying — ‘Hey, all will be ok and you will do great!’ That not only takes the pressure away, but also sends a message that no matter what, you will support the team and not throw them under the bus if something bad happens. It also allows to build a habit of taking risks, which ultimately leads to the step-changes in any company and organization. Forgetting this part leads to incrementalism and lethargy.
4. All credit goes to…
Giving credit is one of the most rewarding exercises in a professional setting. In today’s competitive world, we all tend to forget this part and sometimes take a bit more credit than deserved, somehow omitting the contribution of team members that burnt the midnight oil to push the project over the line.
Giving credit, even sometimes a bit more than necessarily deserved, is a great exercise of recognizing the contribution of a team member in front of others. It is also a great sign of leadership — the moment you start giving credit instead of taking it, you are mature enough to lead a team, as what becomes important is the culture and then results, rather than who did what.
5. I am sorry
Mistakes happen. According to recent studies, a manager with four direct reports juggles 600 decisions a day (some minor, I know — such as whether your drink should be a Venti or a Grande). Just from experience, even with the best analysis and thought processes, at least 5% of our decisions are not optimal or simply wrong. That means that 30 times a day, we make the wrong call. And that is entirely ok — we should own the failures as well as the successes and it is always better to admit a mistake, take the ownership, and apologize than to try to figure out 1,000 ways how to cover it in the hope it will not give out a sign that a decision was wrong. Or disregard the ownership of that decision.
‘I am sorry’ makes you human and makes you trustworthy. ‘I am sorry’ also recognizes that what was true or valid when you made the decision is not so anymore and you are willing to embrace it, admit it, and move on, rather than try to prove that you are right all the time. As my experience and history suggests, nobody is right all the time. So, when you are not, just call it out.
Clearly, the literature that covers how to build a great culture is endless and evolves all the time. In my mind, however, there is always a start and having this behaviors engrained in the team or the company is a critical start of something great. That’s beyond product, skills, or separate teams within an organization. Or the strategy that defines its vision. After all, ‘Culture eats strategy for breakfast.’
Thanks for reading. ;)
Disclaimer: While I recognize these behaviors as crucial, I am still at fault for not utilizing them enough, so there is still a lot of effort that I need to put into that department. If you are interested in helping me get better, join our teams @Skyscanner.
