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As a leader you shape the culture in your organization from your words and your actions. The culture is also shaped by your employees and the environment that everyone creates on a day to day basis.
I was recently at someone's house and saw a great example of how they are using culture to teach their kids. (More on that later..)
At SME Strategy, we explain organizational culture as: "the way we do things around here".
That's your organizational culture.
Think of when you enter someone's house - Do you take off your shoes or not?
If you're in a house where people take off their shoes when you come in, and you walk around with your shoes on, you might get strange looks, and someone will probably say something to you.
That's a simple example of organizational culture. When culture is clear, others know how to act (and how not to act) in the work place.
The first step is to explain to people what behaviours you want to encourage as part of your organizational culture. Then you will need to lead by example and reinforce and reward the behaviours that fit your organization's culture. For example, some leaders expect certain values and behaviours, but reward different ones, which is confusing for staff!
Last week I was going through an open house and noticed this posted on the wall in a child's bedroom:
If we translate this into an organizational culture, their values would be to:
We can help you align your team around a clear vision, mission, values, goals and action plans,
so you can lead your organization more effectively and get better results.
These parents are shaping their child to have a specific set of values, behaviours and actions that will ultimately shape how they approach interactions with others.
When we look at values on their own, they are just words, and sometimes words are open to interpretation.
Your version of kind or clever is maybe not the same version that someone else has on your team.
Therefore, it's important to establish a common frame to view these values and behaviours, shaping the culture not just for the individual, but for the organization.
So let's take the values from earlier:
And now let's add the frame and the context to it.
What differences do you see with the two examples?
You don't need to be a biologist to understand some of the additional attributes and ways of being of each of those animals. It takes the values from being words on a page to something that is alive.
Need help with your strategic planning process? A facilitator can help:
Note: When I say positive and negative, I don't mean good or bad.
I mean, if it's positive it's aligned with your values, and negative is not aligned.
When it's clear what the expectations are, then you're either doing it, or you're not.
And that's what is great about having these articulated and understood by your team. When it's clear and understood, it's much easier for your team to buy in and engage.
Once you have this foundation of your organizational culture, you can use values to support your strategic plan execution, growth, and greater performance.
So think like a parent so that you're raising your employees to grow within your organization. Create clear values, establish desired ways of acting, and watch your organization transform.