You’ve got a great company culture… if you can keep it
Stealing a line from Dr. Benjamin Franklin. Historians claim he uttered the following phrase in 1787 when walking out of Independence Hall after the Constitutional Convention. A lady is said to have shouted out, “Doctor, what have we got? A republic or a monarchy?” To which Franklin responded: “A republic, if you can keep it.”
Franklin was speaking of the fragility of the republic, the long, hard road to a perfect union and democracy, which one could argue continues today. I’ll leave history and politics there and shift to modern organizations.
I’m encouraged to work with many companies who believe in the establishment and promotion of culture. Culture, according to Merriam-Webster is the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits shared by people in a place or time. I’ve seen cultures which are grounded in teamwork, innovation and bravery. I’ve seen cultures which promote transparency and embrace the growth benefits of failure. They are all inspiring, but they face extinction if they are not espoused and promoted in word and deed by leaders, especially as a company scales. Here are some of my thoughts specific to ‘keeping’ culture.
Culture must appear everywhere, all the time. Get some frequency bias going! A mentor of mine once stated, “if you want something done right once, you have to say it ten times.” Culture statements or the key words which describe them must appear:
In all job descriptions
As part of the recruiting and interview process
The onboarding process
On official documents used by all employees
Painted on the wall of the business
On business cards
Everywhere!!
Beyond appearance, leaders must espouse and promote culture each day. They should utter the words which describe culture at every opportunity, in meetings and formal and informal engagements with new and existing people. Leaders must become champions and stewards of company culture. They ought to pause a group when an example of culture is discovered to demonstrate its power. Leaders ought to formally reward shining examples of culture.
I can fill a month of blogs on this topic, but I’ll leave you with what I’ve shared here to ponder. ‘Keeping’ culture is vital to the success of a company, no matter how big it gets. But it won’t just happen just because it is printed on a fancy slide or as a link on a website. Leaders must take ownership or culture, and its company will perish. Where can you see and hear culture in your company?
I’m never too busy for a referral. Share this blog, connect me with a deserving leader so that I can invest in them and the people they serve.
Make it Personal!
Rob
Rob Campbell