You can't keep holding on to how it used to be. You can't stay where you are because it feels comfortable. You must stand up and say aloud, "We must change together to become the team we have always dreamed of being." This will start with you, by the way, not with them.
Let me share a short story.
I was touring the great Pacific Northwest with three other college teammates. We were presenting special events designed to encourage churches in mostly rural settings. We led weekly stuff full of music, activities, games, speaking, and sharing our faith, especially with student culture.
One night before an event, Mitzi started to share how distracted upset she was because of the breakdown of her relationship with her boyfriend back home. Rather than thinking it to myself, I opened my mouth and said something like, "Well, can you get it together by tonight? I mean, we have an important work to do tonight and this is going to blow it all up." I know, I know. I am horrible. At the time, though, it seemed like I was helping everyone with their priorities. They needed to adjust.
I was wrong.
Chris, the team leader, pulled me aside a few days later and asked me if I had any idea how negative a person I was. I think he told me I should record myself sometime and play it back. He also gave me a pretty stern encouragement to help me avoid causing further pain in the team: "If you don't have something positive to say, maybe you shouldn't say anything at all."
I took him seriously. Embarrassingly, I found I didn't have much to say.
You get the picture. It was I who needed to change. It was my mindset that was bringing the team down. I wanted them to change to be more like me: in love with the mission, sold out to success, completion at all cost, etc. What was really needed was a change in my mindset.
It took many years for me to discover the joy of people over projects.
OK, now that we have established the importance of the right mindset, let's make serious applications to our own organization's culture. Let's overcome our negative thoughts and make some decisions with our team toward healthy culture. What follows in this article are three solid strategies for designing a better workspace culture and a better business future. Do you want to stop enticing average clients? The wrong employees? The wrong professional colleagues? More importantly are you ready to start enticing your ideal clients? New customers? Your ideal employees? Your perfect professional colleagues?
Then it is time for you to get ready to change alongside your team.
You change first. They will be more willing to follow.
Here is how to begin building the company culture you have always wanted.
Let's dig into each of these three steps:
You are a business owner. Your business message must be singular and exciting if you are to win the best people as both potential customers and as great employees. When your message is all over the place, it confuses people and turns them off. But when you refine your message and make it clear, it becomes winsome. A strong business identity will intrigue others. If you want to win great clients, you need to have a strong business identity. This means being clear about who you are, what you stand for, and what makes you different. When you're clear about your identity, winning new people happens naturally.
Who are you? This image represents "The Archer". The Archer is the heart of your business. The Archer is known by the stories he tells of his early days...
The same goes for attracting great employees. Your business mission must be attractive. It will win new clients if your mission is clear. It will win new employees if it is meaningful. A strong business identity creates a gravitational pull. The right people are naturally attracted to you. If you want to build a great team, start by being clear about your mission. Whose lives do you want to improve? How can a great team help you do it?
This means when you are interviewing new hires you should be talking more about the mission you are on as a company and way less about what they can earn or what financial perks they may be able to gain. When you are trying to motivate your present workforce, the same is true. An inspiring vision for the future will win over a financial bonus based on grinding work with no sense of the valuable impact on the world.
Also remember, when you focus on growth, your mission becomes more attractive. People are naturally drawn to things that are growing. If you can show that your business is growing, you'll attract more attention from potential clients and employees. Focus on what's working and continue to do more of it. This will help you appeal to the right people: those who share your values and are excited about your mission.
If you want to engage the right people, start by being clear about who you are and what you stand for.
If you're like most business owners, you've probably put a lot of time and effort into creating a winning strategy. But what good is a great strategy if you don't have the right people in place to execute it?
This is what the phrase "culture eats strategy for breakfast" means. It is all about people.
Building a strong company culture should be one of your top priorities. Why? Because culture eats strategy for breakfast. In other words, no matter how well-crafted your plans are, they won't amount to much if you don't have the right team in place to carry them out. Strong company culture will attract and retain the best talent. It will also help you build a more cohesive and productive team. So if you're serious about growing your business, start by promoting your culture, not your strategy.
Here are a few tips to get you started building culture:
Your business culture will recruit better employees. The culture of your business is like a magnet that attracts or repels people. It’s what makes your business unique and will help you attract and retain the best people.
When you have a strong culture, you will have less turnover. Less churn. Less turnover means less cost to replace employees. A study by the Work Institute found that the average cost of replacing an employee is $15,000. The attraction and retention of great employees starts with having a strong company culture. If you want to build a better culture at work, start by promoting your culture, not your strategy. Growth is a measurable result. Culture affects your bottom line. In a study of 200 companies, CultureIQ found that companies with high-performing cultures grew four times faster than those with low-performing cultures
Remember: Culture eats strategy for breakfast.
If you're like most people, you've been taught that the best way to attract clients or employees is to share your "elevator pitch." You know, the 30-second speech that tells people what your company does, how great you are, and why they should use your services or products. It is common in corporate culture to write this on an index card for new employees as basic sales training. The problem is that corporate culture has a hard time telling personal stories.
People are attracted to personal stories. They want to know who YOU are, what YOU stand for, and what drives YOU to do what you do. In other words, they want authenticity. I define authenticity as living your mission from the center of your story. This is important because before people will trust what you have to share with them, they want know if they can trust you to share it.
I am fine talking about my business, but not about me. I have never considered myself a storyteller.
Those are legitimate questions. They are reasonable concerns. But they are not excuses to opt-out. Let me ask you: Can you effectively present yourself to someone else if you are not confident in your core identity--in who you are?
Don't worry, everyone has a story. The first step is to sit down and think about the experiences that have shaped your life and made you who you are today. Once you have a good understanding of your own story, you'll be better equipped to share it with others. Here are a few things to try.
Let's begin to discover your core identity by brainstorming just a few questions. Would you consider writing these out in your journal and sharing them with significant partners and mentors for feedback?
By journaling these simple moments, you are beginning the journey to discovering where your deepest values were birthed. This creates an authentic story that only you can tell ... but many others can relate to!
So if you're tired of attracting the wrong clients or employees, stop sharing your elevator pitch and start sharing your story. Here's how:
I guarantee you will get amazing feedback from those you love and serve if you begin this process of getting your story into the center of your mission. Remember, this is what authenticity is made of.
Be authentic.
Tell your story.
Let your heart drive you forward. If you invite your team to tell their stories, magic will happen. It will be the power of all of your stories together that weave your best culture together.
The culture you always dreamed of will come to life as every single member of your team can be valued for the unique story they bring to your company. When everyone's stories find a spot in the center of your company's mission, then your company can also find its own kind of authenticity.
Cheers.
H.B. Pasley, Growth Advocate®
