Throughout my corporate career and my years working as a consultant in two different continents (watch the video to know more), I’ve kept noticing that what makes the difference between companies thriving versus just surviving is their culture and the effectiveness of their leaders.
In my work with CEO’s, managers, or entire leadership teams, I see responsible, intelligent, and caring people every day– probably just like you – wanting to do well for their company and their people.
So, why do we have so many problems in the workplace? Why do so many managers and team leaders suffer from stress and feel frustrated with work? Why don’t all companies grow and achieve good financial results? And what does culture have to do with it?
A company’s culture is defined by the way the people in the organization, at all levels and on a daily basis, work to achieve specific results.
CREATE AWARENESS
If you are a manager in an organization, most likely you have people reporting to you. These people, whether they are aware of it or not, are constantly looking to mimic your behaviors and your decision-making process. You are defining the company’s culture right there!
This is important because, for instance, if you find yourself under a lot of pressure for a long period of time, a natural reaction is to complain more about other departments or blame a peer for preventing you from reaching important goals. Unfortunately, your teams will do exactly the same, and consequently, their teams will do it as well. It has a ripple effect, you see? You are now adding to the dysfunction inside the organization, and contributing to a culture of blame, distrust, and disempowerment.
Do you know how much this is costing the overall business? How much is the impact on profit loss, missed potential revenue, and talented people leaving?
BRING PERSPECTIVE
Another thing I see frequently in the workplace is people taking things personally. If someone shows they disagree with you in a meeting in front of everyone else, you normally take it as a personal attack and your response comes from that perspective. This creates friction. Again, the ripple effect! You are now adding to the dysfunction inside the organization and contributing to a culture of internal competition and buck-passing.
Again, do you know how much this is costing the overall business? How much is the impact on profit loss, missed potential revenue, and talented people leaving?
CULTURE TRANSFORMATION DEPENDS ON 2 IMPORTANT FACTORS
It is my experience that the drivers of dysfunction inside the organization, although clear to many, are not always visible to some. This reality can misdirect the efforts, taking the company much longer to produce effective results.
To change the negative behaviors and replace them with more positive and productive ones, you need to create awareness throughout the organization and foster the change.
This is where change management comes in – helping people go through that change, and coming out on the other side opened, confident, and empowered.
Although many organizations are already focused on making the changes in business as seamlessly as possible, I have two concerns in that process: 1 – Senior leadership’s commitment, and 2 – Knowing exactly what to do.
If senior leadership is not clear about the financial impact of having a dysfunctional culture, they will not make change management a priority and all the programs and initiatives in place can quickly be put on hold if any new business crisis kicks in.
HOW CAN YOU CREATE A GOOD COMPANY CULTURE?
Before putting change management programs and initiatives in place, assess your culture, quantify its current impacts on the business, and identify what is driving dysfunction. From that knowledge, you can define initiatives and programs that will be more effective and create real results.
Start by doing a diagnostic of your current culture to see what you are doing well and what needs to change. You don’t take medication before knowing what your disease is, right?
In my next newsletter, we will talk more about how you can do just that.
Until then, stay safe – and keep believing!
The story of Cristina Da Costa – Consulting Partners
