Why You Must Work On The Culture

The #1 responsibility of the leader is to be the culture architect, that is, to design the culture you want to build. 

Your job is to ensure that the culture is built by design rather than default. Culture is king. 

In today’s leadership economy, it is the dominant driver of health and growth. 

Culture is a dynamic combination of several things— 

• Culture is the combination of our vision (what we want to do) and our values (how we do it).
• Culture is the combination of what we believe (what we say is important) and how we behave (whether or not our actions align with what we’ve said is important).

Today, you may be designing the culture you want OR you might find yourself changing the culture you inherited. Either way, you need to work— more than anything else— on the culture.

Here are three reasons why you need to work on the culture.

#1 = Culture accelerates the vision

Every organization has a goal they want to achieve. 

Organizations with healthy culture get there faster, stronger and with more consistency. Culture serves as the fuel to achieve your goals. Culture allows you to accelerate the vision. 

It’s like throwing gas on a fire.

Unhealthy culture— on the other hand— throws water on that fire and slows everything down. 

The culture will either accelerate or decelerate the vision. You get to decide.

#2 = Culture creates credibility

“The road to hell is paved with good intentions,” they say.

If you say we value something and you don’t live it out, you lose credibility. 

Leaders do this every day.

One of the values in our culture  We do what we say we are going to do. 

Here are our core values. 

Notice the second: “We follow through.” 

Every time we respond quickly and do what we say we’re going to do, we build credibility (and we accelerate the vision). If we fail in this area, we lose credibility. 

As we live this out, we earn our client’s trust and build credibility. That guides behavior and immediately shines a spotlight on team members who don’t follow through on promises. 

#3 = Culture facilitates accountability

You create culture by what you tolerate. You must hold your team accountable to living the behaviors you claim to hold. 

When we are intentional and clearly frame the culture we want to be, it creates an environment for healthy accountability and growth. 

When team culture is strong, team members are empowered to hold one another accountable. Culture levels the playing field, which elevates our game and builds (and maintains) a healthy culture. 

It's one of the "big three

Culture is one of the “big three” in your organization. 

Any cog— or gear— in your car’s engine can keep the entire vehicle at a standstill. Or cause it to move slower.

(When the gears all work in alignment and move in sync, the results are fabulous!)

The result is that you go farther, faster, with less effort…

In the same way, there are three gears in your organization. We call them the Organizational Gears of Growth. 

• Culture
• Systems 
• Team 

Access the video overview here + take and re-take the online assessments to gauge your progress here.