Browsing Category

Leadership

Define the Culture

If there are two more people in an organization, there is a culture and there is a language. Whether we like it or not, we have a company culture and it develops with ever action we take and word we speak/type. Simple things such as do people bring their lunch or do they consistently eat out? Do people respond to email immediately or do they let emails linger or batch them? Is there a combative feeling that everything should be challenged or is it there one clear direction and the flow is always smooth? Our cultures can be shaped around a number of things, things that we don’t even realize are significant. So if company culture is so elusive and so mysterious and free flowing, how do we create the company culture we want our organizations to have?

1.) Leadership

2.) Moment of Crisis

The first part of the equation is leadership, no surprise here. The formation of company culture is not through words, although verbal and written communication are paramount, but through actions. Encouragement goes a long way to new people struggling with processes, it doesn’t necessarily matter what is said, it’s the action of uplifting them that counts. Do our company cultures exemplify what we want it to embody? Or has t spun out of control on it’s own tangent? If we keep a clean desk we set the expectation for new people to do the same. If we focus on our actions and be concise in what we do, people will take note. And if what we’re doing is admirable, it will get noticed by those unsure of themselves and they’ll begin to do as we do to build that culture: one action at a time.

Leadership sets the pace and everyone looks to that person or people to exemplify what do to in crisis moments or times of uncertainty. In those times when there is not a precedent and the lead must be taken, we have the opportunity to define the company culture with our actions. How would we handle a problem customer, calm and patient or smug and uncaring? What happens when people are in need of our decision making, do we stop and give them our full attention or do we brush them off with delegation? (They came to us to make the call, otherwise they could have handled it) When the company is faced with departures, do we downsize the issue hoping nobody will ask about it or do we attack it head on and show transparency to build trust in our remaining team? How we handle ourselves in moments of crisis define our culture. It gives people around us the opportunity to learn and to have something to strive for.

Culture is about actions, not about words. How would weconduct ourselves if we knew everyone was watching our every move? Act as if they, are and see how our actions change. Define the culture, don’t let it define us.

5 Whys

A top skill among leaders as well as managers, is problem-solving.

All too often we see organizations put what I call a band-aid on an ax wound. It may have stopped the bleeding, momentarily, but the fact remains that there is a hole the size of an ax with multiple layers of damage.

A good example of this is an attempt to “revive” company culture with a single picnic, on people’s time off… The issue of a shifted company culture isn’t fixed by hamburgers and bud lights. Instead company culture is much deeper and requires changes in processes, communication, and leadership.

So how do the best problem-solvers get to the root of issues?

Funny you should ask, because I experienced this yesterday when getting a massage for my injured knee.

The 5 Whys of problem solving helped me and the massage therapist visualize what was wrong with my leg. The 5 Whys are a practice that stem from lean manufacturing and the Toyota process developed by Taiichi Ohno and is a simple concept: ask “Why” five times to get to the root of any problem.

The process allows us to dig deeper into the root cause of issues, and not just jump at the first sign of a solution. Often times our first solutions are not the end-all to the issue, and if we jump to those conclusions without investigating all potential fixes we may lose even more time and have to revisit the problem down the road.

One of the biggest wastes of time in any organization is repeatedly fixing the same problem, it is also a sign of surface fixes and a lack of understanding on how to fix them.

My conversation with the massage therapist went like this:

Mike: My knee is hurting right here on the outside

1.) Why?

Mike: Because I run a lot and didn’t stretch and ice after one long run

2.) Why not?

Because I wasn’t patient and didn’t stretch after running

3.) Why would your knee hurt from not stretching?

Because my IT band was overworked and needs maintenance, it can’t handle that much stress apparently

— Enter early solution: get a massage today & rest it: PROBLEM SOLVED get back to running in a week, business as usual —

4.) Why is it so overworked?

Because I haven’t been icing and stretching it enough (just like an oil change for a car)

5.) Why not?

Because I was lazy and didn’t finish the run properly

*** Enter proper solution: massage today, rest this week, be sure to maintain stretching & icing every day to maintain healthy knee***

If we jump to conclusions because we’re impatient or even worse if we turn a blind eye to it because we don’t want to address hard issues, we are creating more work for ourselves long-term.Had I not resolved to ice and stretch every day, I would more than likely have run into the same knee issues in a month or so.

I have seen too many people and organizations waste time on band-aid fixes when they needed to get deep into the would and sew up the damaged tissue to heal properly. Do not waste time on simple fixes, be sure to get to the root of the issue and don’t settle for surface solutions.

What are some other examples of a band-aid on an ax wound? Were they ever given a permanent fix?

—

Want posts sent directly to your email?

Fill out the simple form below & check your email to confirm!

Thank them

Often times in our professional careers we have people who help us in some way, shape, or form. Often times they don’t even know it, they were just passing by and gave us an encouraging word. Other times they help us work through a sticky situation we’ve never handled before and still others mentor us for years. We don’t always know the impact of our actions on others, and so many times those small acts of kindness resonate with us beyond the givers scope. How will they ever know they helped if we don’t thank them?

Most people do not go out of their way to help for thanks we may give them, most people go out of their way to help because they care about us. Show them that it means something and be sure to thank them properly. This shows maturity in knowing that we needed them, and it shows humility when we allow ourselves to accept others’ help, something that is rare in business today. We are much more likely to receive their help again when needed, and yes, we will need them again at some point.

Be sure to give a proper thanks or don’t do it at all. Half of a thank you is much worse than no thanks. A half effort only shows your arrogance, because you didn’t really need them but you don’t want them to feel bad… that’s cute. If they really helped you, make it sincere. You don’t have to send 4 ft stuffed teddy bears every time someone lifts your spirits, but hand-written thank you notes go a very long way. I learned this from my coach my senior year at Charleston Southern University, Coach Staggs. He made us hand-write letters to 5 people that had helped us in our football careers and thank them. I wrote my with sincerity and I didn’t find out till years later that the words I wrote brought tears to the recipients eyes, some were even framed. That stuck with me and I learned a lot from him, if I ever get into coaching that is one thing I’ll implement immediately.

So why have I ranted about manners for 1/2 a page… Because that is how we build bridges. When we’ve got people around us who know we are grateful when they have the opportunity to help, they are much more likely to do it again. And we ALL need the right people surrounding us whether we’re in an office with 300 other people or we’re starting a business on our own, everyone needs connections. And on the opposite side of that coin, nobody wants to help an ungrateful, selfish person who thinks they don’t they can do everything on their own.

I’ll close with final encouragement for us to put ourselves out there and help people when needed, do not pass those opportunities up. We never know when that encouraging text changed someone’s day or when that group really needed insight from someone outside of their project. And just as we would thank someone with sincerity, help with sincerity. I met someone who gave a Christmas Bonus simply because he wanted to hear the person say, “Thank You” and be indebted to him for his “giving spirit.” I almost vomited on command. If we cannot help because we want to, we shouldn’t help at all. The only way I’ve learned how to be successful is to help the people around me accomplish their goals. Everyone needs “me time” but if we go out of our way to help someone every day or at least every week, we will have an army of people who want our success just as bad as we do.

Faith | Hope | Love

In my devotion last night I was on I Corinthians 13:13, regarding Faith| Hope | Love. And I began to connect the dots between leaders and this verse. Leaders should aim to exemplify all of these in their day to day lives if they want to reassure those around them and create a happy, thriving tribe. I will speak on toxicity in leadership at another time, I have plenty of content for that subject… But for today Faith, Hope, and Love are what you should focus on if you want to step up to be that leader that you’ve always heard about. You DO NOT have to be in a position of power to be a leader and you DO NOT have to be someone who is in the spotlight to be a leader, all that means is that you have a larger audience. Everyone has an audience, and if you influence your small audience in a positive manner, it will grow exponentially.

Faith

Leaders need to reassure their tribe that the course they are on is the correct one. So many people in this world do not know where they’re going or what they’re doing or what they are working towards. It is the leader’s duty to help them stay the course and remind them to have Faith. Faith in the leader’s actions and Faith in their own actions, a leader must eliminate doubt. A leader in sports can reassure teammates that their actions are making them better and getting them one step closer to a championship. A leader in business can give Faith to co-workers by showing progress towards that common goal and reminding everyone that it’s baby steps that make up the long road before them.

Hope

Leaders must give their tribes Hope. Hope that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, Hope that their hard will pay off, Hope that their BHAG is attainable. Hope is not something easily instilled in others and is impossible to feign. Hope is viral and people can feel it when you have hope in your daily work. When people can feel the Hope that you possess, they gravitate towards it and they begin to have Faith in your actions and they begin to Hope that your vision can come true. Carrots, Incentives, Goals…. these all boil down to Hope of things imagined, but not yet seen. As a leader, be sure to give your people Hope in a vision.

Love 

Leaders have to Love their tribes, even when the tribe doesn’t always love them back. There are times when leaders are put in difficult positions and they must make a hard call, but if they are guided by Love for their tribe they will make the right decision. If they are guided by vanity or greed or spite, their actions will resonate so loud with their tribe that Faith, Hope, and any thought of Love will be lost. Actions speak infinitely louder than words, and when you are a leader, all eyes are upon you. Your every move will be judged, which can make leadership taxing for those who aren’t prepared for it. However, if you have Faith, Hope, and Love for your tribe and you let those guide you in your decision making each and every day than that judgement will not affect you, because you know you are leading your tribe in the right direction.

Love is the greatest and without it, neither Faith or Hope will exist. Everyone responds differently so that Love should be expressed regularly, whether it’s through speeches, a blog, videos or any other medium you choose. However, your tribe should know how much you Love them through your actions above all.