So as a leader, you know that building and protecting your culture is vital.
So the obvious follow up question is: How do I go about doing that?
I think the answer is the same for building and protecting culture and it starts with you. If you don’t love the way your culture or atmosphere is right now.. look in the mirror. As leaders we set and determine that culture. All of the things filter down.. example. You come into work and you are just not up for it. You’re maxed out, you don’t have time, you’re short and curt with team members.. and everyone feels it. And reacts to it and it changes the tone of the day. For you.. and for everyone else.
That day is a microcosm of your organization and team as a whole. If your team isn’t vulnerable with one another. If your team doesn’t trust one another. If your team doesn’t encourage one another. Doesn’t have fun together.. you have to first look in the mirror and ask yourself, do I embody the culture I want to see here? Do I show trust, am I encouraging, can I be lighthearted? It starts with you..
Secondly.. you must be relentlessly intentional about creating and protecting culture. When people talk about the wonderful culture they have and they say it just came about organically.. I don’t buy it. It’s either about to collapse around them, or there was and is a lot more intentionality happening that they just don’t know about. Culture and Cultivating is a word that finds it’s home in garden imagery. Your garden can be beautiful, but ask anyone who has one.. it does NOT just happen. It takes the careful attention and disciplined work of a gardener to sustain that beauty. So it is with your organization. It takes your time and disciplined work to foster the culture you want and hope to sustain.
So.. there is your encouragement. Now.. get to work.
