“Culture eats strategy for lunch.”

Peter Drucker

Years ago management expert Peter Drucker said the above quote and many leaders over the years have referenced it to this day.  This does not mean strategy is unimportant, but a culture will accelerate or stall the implementation of the strategy.  Over the next weeks I am going to explore the ideas of others on how to build a healthy culture.

I recently read the book The Power of a Positive Team by Jon Gordon.  I don’t have time to go into all the great insights he shares in this book, but I will highlight a few principles that we can apply to help develop a healthy culture on our teams.

Culture is the Standard

“Team culture is the written and unwritten rules that say how a team communicates, connects, thinks, works, and acts.”

Jon Gordon

I will go into organizations and often I work one-on-one with the leaders to help them think into their leadership.  Eventually we get to a point where the leader may need to establish or clarify their values.  At the core of a culture are the values.

Values determine what is acceptable in communication and action.  If the leader does not clearly define and live the values the team will organically create their own.  When these values do not align with the leaders then culture starts eating leadership.  As a leader create time to clarify what are the few guiding values.  Then make it stick by living it, holding people accountable to them, and having visual reminders.

Culture is the People

“Your culture is not just your tradition.  It’s the people in the locker room who carry it on.”

Brad Stevens

Brad Stevens was the head coach for Butler University basketball and the Boston Celtics.  He led two programs with strong traditions of success during his tenure of coaching them.  Tradition will not bring results.  People do.

As a leader it can be easy to get caught in the details of each day or the numbers, but the reality is the numbers take care of themselves if we take care of the people.  On any team there will be people who do not ever buy in and people who are all in.  The majority are in the middle.  As a leader the job is to pour into those who are all in so they can help win over the middle and carry the team to success.

Culture Evolves

“Culture is not static; it’s dynamic.”

Jon Gordon

Since a culture is created by people and people change, so does a culture.  Recently I have been talking with some teams about the various generations in the workplace and how to lead and communicate with them.  This information can help a leader understand how to communicate their vision in a way that molds the culture to continue pursuing the vision.

A sports team in five years will evolve even under the same coach, but the vision remains to win a championship.  Twenty years ago much of the shaping of the culture would be through long written, verbal, and in person communication.  Now culture can be impacted by brief messages on social media.  The leader’s job is to continually remind the people why we do what we do and remain focused on the purpose especially when going through challenging times.

What are you doing to mold your culture?  Do you have clarity on your values?  What are you doing to connect and add value to your people to strengthen the culture?  Need help understanding your team or clarifying your values?  Contact me to discover ways I may be able to serve you and your team to help you develop a stronger culture.  Lead Well.

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