The Glue That Keeps High-Performance Teams Together
Culture is not the ping-pong table.Culture is not the Keurig.Culture is not the ability to hang out with the people on your team after work.
Somehow, this is what many people think.
Culture is “Do you believe what I believe?”Culture is the alignment of core values.Culture is how we treat each other when it gets hard.
This is the glue that makes great teams excel.
No team can withstand the barometric pressure at the altitude of high-performance without having the trust and support of good culture.People don’t leave bad jobs, they leave bad managers.
2 Minute Action
Who is someone you haven’t connected with deeply in a while?Who is someone that maybe is on the outskirts of your team and is waiting to be included?Take 2 minutes to say “hi,” today. Ask them about something they are interested in. Make sure you don’t walk away without them knowing you care about them.That’s culture.Recognizing others and making people around you know that you value them.
The Small Everyday Thing You Can Do To Improve Dramatically
It’s that time of year.Were getting closer to lots of consumption.Over spending. Over eating. Over working.
I just took some time to review some of the things I value in my life.
I wrote out a list and compared it to a list I found online.
I then started narrowing my list down.
Only 5 values allowed.Each value really had to fight for its life to stay on that list.By the end, it was tough but really clear.The next thing after this is mapping current behaviors to values and seeing where the gaps are.
2 Minute Action
Come up with some values.Narrow down the list.What small action are you doing each day that aligns with these values?
Your Ping Pong Table Is Not Your Culture
Let's make something crystal clear.Company culture is NOT how many Nerf guns are in your office.It’s not about having a ping-pong table.It's not the kitchen, the snacks, the sweet standing desks, or the Keurig, either.Company culture is how you treat each other when the work gets hard, when the environment changes or when the house of cards crumbles.Company culture is putting in the emotional labor required to respect others and to keep grinding together.That said, you’re allowed to feel frustrated, angry, upset, sad, envious, all of it. You’re allowed to feel however you feel because that’s how feelings work. The next thing that happens though, is the important part. The next thing that happens after your feel something is how you react.The important part is how you choose to react to your work family when you’re operating on little sleep, a bagel, and 3 layovers.The important part is being the bad guy and calling out your teammates for not following safety protocols you all agreed on together.The important part is pulling a teammate aside to figure out why they aren’t acting like themselves.The important part is realizing you’re not acting like yourself and changing your behavior.The important part is working through the most critical problems first, even if you’d rather be working on something else.In fact, this is more than company culture. This is an Operating Religion.An Operating Religion is the world-view, values, and actions we choose to hold in order to best serve our clients, customers, teammates and the other humans on this pale, blue planet.This is the belief system we use to show up as our best selves and build something much bigger than ourselves.When we are a united front, that's when we do our best work.When we're committed to each other, that's when we get things done.When we're honest with each other, that's when we have the best output.
2 Minute Action
If you work on a team or if you fly solo, you've got culture.Culture is your religion. It's the value system you're obsessed with.Not sure what your values actually are? Run a quick Google search for Values Assessments. There are plenty that are used in high-functioning organizations.Start with this one.If you can already name your top 3-5, put them down in a list.Next to them, write one thing that you will do today that's in line with your values.Example:- Kindness - (Write a thank you letter and hand it to the mechanic who saved you $40 at your last visit)- Friendship - (Set up a skype call with a friend overseas to catch up)- Usefulness - (Donate something that you don't use or need anymore)