If you have spent much time working in the business world, you have heard the phrase “company culture”. This isn’t exclusive to the business world, and you often hear the phrase in the non profit sector, in churches, and anywhere else where people are a central focus. Some of my thoughts apply to all of those, and some don’t.
Culture is not what you say, it is what you do.
Often there are endless amounts of communication, vision statements, posters, etc. designed to create “culture”. But all the words and posters mean nothing if there are not actions that back them up. As leaders in any environment where we want to create culture, people will watch what we do, long after they have heard what we have to say. So, we have to be intentional about giving our values real substance that our teams can feel on a regular basis.
Hire for culture.
If we hire people that already reflect our culture, then the desired culture grows in a healthy and natural way. With very little input or coaching, people who “get it”, just do things each day that line up with the culture we want in our space. When we hire people that don’t reflect our culture, we introduce conflict and create tension between the desired culture and the people in our circle.
Value culture.
When we value something, our actions show that it is important to us. The amount of time and energy invested is proportionate to how we value it. We have to teach culture, live culture, and make decisions based on culture. When we as leaders choose things in opposition to our culture, we are sending a message that what we value and how it relates to our culture has changed. Keep the two in alignment.
