Leadership

5 Myths About Organizational Culture Every CEO Should Know

By gothamCulture
Published at In Category Blog Tags: ,
5 myths about organizational culture

The rising awareness of the importance of organizational culture has given way to a host of new pundits and opinions on the topic.

Many thought leaders today are talking about company culture as if it’s akin to capturing a unicorn. It carries a romantic and mythological appeal that makes it an irresistible topic of conversation, but they still haven’t fully figured out how to effectively shape it to drive the right behaviors in their organizations.

Unfortunately, a lack of rigor in process as well as a lack of real-world experience makes it challenging at best for them to really help businesses understand and harness the power of their cultures. And as a result, when it comes to measuring bottom-line performance metrics like profitability, sales growth and market share as they relate to culture, they have yet to connect the dots between fact and fiction.

With that in mind, here are 5 common myths about organizational culture, debunked:

Myth #1:  “We can’t manage what we can’t measure.“

The term “culture” is in and of itself pretty tough for people to wrap their heads around in a consistent and meaningful way. Culture can cover any number of aspects of organizational functioning. It evolves constantly based on what seems to be working in the current business context and it subconsciously influences people to behave in certain ways. Often, employees are not even aware of how it’s affecting their everyday work.

How can we hope to manage something we find difficult to even define?

There are a lot of aspects of culture that are all playing a role in shaping employees thoughts and behaviors in the day-to-day, but only some of those have been studied rigorously and have been found to be directly linked to performance.

If you’re working to understand your current culture and how it may be impacting the performance of your business, start with the aspects of culture that are linked to empirical research; not just someone else’s opinion.

Myth #2:  “Culture takes years to change.”

This is not wholly untrue. It does take a long time for collective norms and ways of working to develop and, through success, become more entrenched in the collective mindset as the right way to do things. The longer that “way of doing things” reigns supreme (and the longer that way meets with successful results) the harder it is to change it.

That said, culture can change quickly. It usually takes a “gut punch” to the organization that clearly shows everyone that the old ways of doing things that had yielded success for many years are no longer going to cut it in today’s business environment.

Myth #3:  “Culture is a silver bullet that will take away all of our problems.”

Business today is extremely dynamic, involving more and more stakeholders who demand greater amounts of input and control than ever before. Trying to find a silver bullet solution to these kinds of complex issues is akin to spotting a unicorn ordering a double macchiato at your local Starbucks.

Culture is inherently a multi-faceted concept and, thus, there is no single solution that’s going to align everyone in your organization to reach your goals. Typically, true culture transformation requires a multi-pronged approach to achieve the results you require. For example, clarifying and aligning stakeholders about the strategy, providing tools and skills so people can do what you are asking of them and adapting systems and processes to improve work flow might all be potential intervention efforts to get things moving in the right direction.

Myth #4:  “It’s HR’s job to worry about stuff like this.”

While HR can, and often does, play a critical role in the culture assessment and evolution process in many organizations, one fatal pitfall is when executives extend that role to include ownership of the entire process.

Culture is a collective concept and, as such, should be owned by the collective.  Everyone in your organization needs to be involved in both understanding what aspects of the culture will help drive success and which may need to change in order to keep the organization relevant in changing business environments.  This is everyone’s job. Leaders cannot simply delegate responsibility for leading these types of changes.

Myth #5:  “We can do this internally.”

In other words, you and your team were involved in creating the culture, so it’s up to you to fix it. Yes and no.

In many instances, organizations find it difficult to assess and evolve their own culture because so much of it resides in the collective subconscious and is taken for granted in the day-to-day. Because of this, it is often much more beneficial to engage with a team of external experts who can examine your organization with fresh and unbiased eyes.

This gives you the ability to dig much deeper into the beliefs and assumptions that are driving behavior than you could ever hope to get to on your own. External experts also bring proven methodologies and structure to the process that helps to expedite your efforts.

Additionally, in many organizations people don’t always feel comfortable opening up to internal colleagues in the same way they might with an external person. An objective third party can help facilitate a more honest assessment of current assumptions and behaviors.

So, while culture may not be the silver bullet you may have thought it was, or the unicorn that will magically solve your organization’s performance problems, it is still too important for your organization to ignore.

And now that you know the truth, it’s up to you, as a leader, to help your organization succeed. How will you take the first step to create a high performance culture in your organization?

Next Time, Say Something Real to Inspire Greatness

By gothamCulture
Published at In Category Blog Tags: ,
inspire greatness

Guest Article Written By Lou Solomon

Years ago I attended a radio group awards gala for excellence in ratings and revenue. Everyone in that ballroom had already achieved a high bar of performance and made a huge sacrifice just to have been invited to this event. But the seating chart didn’t say that. The very best performers were seated in front of the room and the lesser best were seated in a graduated order toward the back, according to actual numbers. My team sat at the back of the room, the last of best.

The lights dimmed and the CEO, we’ll call him Jim, stepped out into the spotlight. “If those of you in the back of the room want to move to the front row,” he said, “you’re about to learn from the true champions.” He went on to say, “Tonight we celebrate, but tomorrow we will ask more of you for the new fiscal year. We are a fast growth organization, and we won’t concede to anything but fast growth at each of our properties.”

Someone on my team grumbled, “I thought we were all champions,” and another, “Wow, we get to celebrate for one night and then it’s another year of working harder!” and I thought, “Jim, you’re committed to fast growth for the shareholders—what’s the commitment to this team?”

It’s important to consider that it’s not just what someone says, but the way in which words are said that reveals true meaning of what a person wants to get across, thus impacting business success. Research proves it: MIT’s Alex “Sandy” Pentland, one of the ‘seven most powerful data scientists in the world’ did a study outfitting executives at a party with devices that recorded data on their social signals—tone of voice, gesticulation, proximity to others, and more to show if being more positive and energetic would impact business success.

The results showed that social signals (also called honest signals) are often mimicked by the receiver, and that the more positive and energetic the person is, the more positive and energetic the receivers will be, driving better productivity and success in business. Humans use many types of signals, but social signals are unusual in that they cause changes in the receiver of the signal. For instance, if we’re spending time together, and I’m happy and chipper, you’ll be more happy and chipper.

Being conscious of honest signals in conjunction with our words reminds business leaders they have the power to affect workplace productivity and culture for the better or worse each day.

Scores of scenes like that one play out every hour at company all-staff meetings, retreats, awards galas, video conferences, and everywhere employees are gathered across the globe. Ironically the blow back on attempts to control people with fear moves an organization backward into disengagement and turnover.

The obvious and overlooked alternative? Stop unloading your own fear and say something real and authentic with words that inspire positive change to build trust, a positive workplace culture, and productivity.

Authentic communication asks that we open ourselves up to humanness.

What if Jim had talked about the giftedness in every individual in the room?  He might have made us all feel included in the celebration. If he had expressed his deep gratitude, he might have instilled trust. Instead of making us feel a sense of dread, he might have given us a vote of confidence to lean into our greatness for not only the company, but also one another and ourselves.  Instead, he made some of those hard-working people fearful that while they might be good, but not quite good enough.  Mind you, these things would have to have come from the heart.

Here are 5 points for reflection when you have the opportunity to connect with employees at a company event:

  1. Give careful thought to what you can do to bring authentic value to people.
  2. Tell a relevant personal story and share what your life has taught you.
  3. Let people know you understand and appreciate their contribution (and make sure you do).
  4. Activate the best ideas and inspiration within people by giving voice to your own true passion for the future.
  5. Articulate a bigger picture and more meaningful purpose than the work alone.

By replacing negative tone and lackluster words with a positive tone and authentic appreciative words, workplace productivity and trust in an organization can grow, enabling a business to be successful. Each new day is an opportunity to inspire greatness in your organization, and say something real.

Lou Solomon

 

Lou Solomon is CEO of Interact, a communications consultancy that helps business leaders and their teams build authenticity, make connections, earn trust and build influence. She is the author of “Say Something Real” and is also an adjunct faculty member at the McColl School of Business at Queens University of Charlotte.  Connect with her on Twitter and LinkedIn.

How Exceptional Companies Create High Performance Cultures

By gothamCulture
Published at In Category Blog Tags: , ,
create high performance culture

For years, as an employee of a variety of organizations ranging from small consulting firms to the US Army, I’ve been increasingly fascinated with the way in which groups functioned.  How some could quickly align around a common set of practices that added tremendous value, while others could not.  How some organizations were able to coordinate and integrate efforts across the globe by setting clear values, expectations and processes in place where others seemed to be operating behind the curve every step of the way.

A decade later, having spent the majority of my professional career in the organizational culture space, I continue to be driven to understand how leaders and organizations are able to achieve significant and lasting performance that catapults them ahead of the competition (or not). Why do these leaders and organizations succeed while others just seem to lag or cease to exist altogether?

While there are a lot of variables that come into play in each situation, one common root always seems played a key role – the culture.

If culture is defined as “the way things get done around here,” the way of doing things that organizations develop through trial and error, over time, are the things that drive behavior and performance.

Organizations that are able to set very clear and aligned values and processes will consistently outperform those that cannot. Furthermore, leaders who understand when it’s time to do things differently in order to stay relevant are those that are best able to adapt their organizations to changes in the business environment.

While it sounds simple in theory, its much more difficult to pull off in reality- ask any business leader out there.

So, how can leaders make this happen? How do you intentionally create a sustainable culture of high performance in your organization?

How Your Company Can Achieve High Performance

Now that “culture” has been recognized as Merriam-Webster’s word of the year, the role of culture in a high performance organization seems to be coming of age in business. This new awareness has given me the opportunity to meet a variety of people who have shared their own ideas about how culture drives performance. One such person is Olli Laurén, who leads the Global Machinery and Engineering segment of Egon Zehnder’s Industrial Practice.

I had a chance to spend some time with Olli recently to talk about his recent research paper, “How Exceptional Companies Create a High Performance Culture.” Together, we discussed 3 core abilities that an organization must possess in order to reach high performance:

1. The ability to stop and take a hard look in the mirror.  In today’s rapid-fire business environment, taking a minute to press pause and think can seem like a death-sentence.  Unfortunately, organizations that operate in this fashion may continue to spin their wheels with the same old ways of doing things to try to solve problems that have changed or evolved over time.

Olli calls this quality “a passion for renewal.” Organizations that are able to stop from time-to-time to really understand why they are doing these things are better positioned to identify the need to change in order to keep pace with the market and continue to drive results.

2. The ability to include all stakeholders in the conversation.  Culture is a collective concept- a phenomenon that forms and evolves through the norms of the group.  While many people view culture as the responsibility of leadership alone, the most successful organizations I’ve observed and worked with over the years are those that understand and value the input of their stakeholders.

Olli recognizes the need for transparent and trusting relationships throughout an organization. By fostering trust and transparency at all levels, stakeholders are given a safe environment to provide input and take an active role in shaping the organization’s culture.

3. The ability to let go of the existing behaviors and practices that are no longer serving the organization’s success.  Knowing you should lose ten pounds and actually changing your behavior to do it are two very different things. Getting people to understand that some ways of doing things are no longer effective and actually getting them to change is similar. In both cases, you must take the time to change behaviors that are no longer supporting your desired goals.

Humility is a key concept here, for leaders and employees alike. It takes a lot for people to be comfortable with giving up the way they’ve always done things.  Some take it as a statement that what they’ve been doing all along was wrong.  Others fear that they may not be able to succeed if asked to doing things differently.  Still others hear that there is a need to change but their leaders don’t role model the new expectations, which makes it easy to stay in the same old habits.

Can You Create a High Performance Culture?

The challenge that leaders face in creating high performance cultures is overcoming the deeply rooted assumptions and behaviors that aren’t doing their organization any favors.

Does that mean it’s impossible? Absolutely not.

If my experience has taught me anything, it’s that any organization, no matter what size or industry, has the ability to build and sustain a culture of high performance. To make that happen, you, as a leader, must be willing to take a hard look in the mirror with your colleagues, dig deep into what needs to change, and help your entire organization let go of the behaviors that are no longer serving its goals.

[Tweet “Change doesn’t have to be an attack on the past.”] It’s simply a stepping stone on the path to your organization’s long-term success.

This article originally appeared on Forbes.

The Transcendence of Military Culture and Values

By gothamCulture
Published at In Category Blog Tags: , , ,
military culture and values

The United States Military culture, regardless of branch (Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force or Coast Guard), is attributed with values and behaviors of LDRSHIP: Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity and Patriotism.  As I outlined in a previous article about our veterans, these are great values to epitomize and work towards in your own corporate culture.

What I have learned more recently is that employees in many organizations may think these values don’t currently reside there, or that they are far removed from the behaviors of the staff in general, may be surprised when they take a closer look. These organizations already epitomize, in their own way, these values of respect, belonging, loyalty, service and duty.

Here’s the experience that brought this realization to light:

Recently, in the same week, I visited both a client site of one New York City organization, and a US Navy client. Two very distinct and diverse organizations; city government and federal/defense.

As I was leaving the New York City client site, we all knew that the infamous “Fleet Week” was arriving here in New York, so we took a drive down to Fort Hamilton on the water to watch the USS New York arrive in all its glory.  As it passed under the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, the management and uniformed staff of Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority made it clear that they were proud of not only this magnificent Naval Ship (forged from the steel of the twin towers of 911), but of the equally as magnificent structure that Naval ship was sailing under, the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge that they each manage, protect and maintain.

To quote, “A beautiful image… a naval ship on the backdrop of the Verrazano.”

Though half a century apart, both of these government assets were built with the blood, sweat and tears of Americans. Both structures represent, in their own way, cultures of pride, of strength, and service to country. The bridge keeps the economy of New York City moving and the Naval Ship keeps the citizens and infrastructure of our United States economy safe from harm.  Two distinct missions, with two similar and transcending cultural compasses, representing withstanding and honorable service to the people they serve.

Sometimes the culture you desire—that you think doesn’t exist—is already there under the surface. It just needs to be tapped into.

I encourage employees, employers, owners, executives to think about what you each define as a honorable and respected culture and then try to emulate that in your actions, decisions and behaviors within your own organization.  You may be surprised at how close your current organization is to that seemingly far off culture and values you have been seeking.

We all need perspective like this at times to see past the fog.

May we all think of the majestic naval ship sailing under our own ‘bridge’ this Memorial Day and attempt to help our teams, our departments and our organizations do more to instill the culture we all desire.

As JFK once said, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country”.

Many thanks in memory to those who have served for our freedom.

Building High Performance Teams Takes More Than Talent

By gothamCulture
Published at In Category Blog Tags: , ,
building high performance teams

We’ve all come across this type of person in our careers: the guy who is miserable to work with but who’s also “the top salesman we have.” Or how about “the smartest guy in the room,” who’s also the most unapproachable person you’ve ever met? The talent may well be there but, in today’s increasingly networked workplace, it isn’t a guarantee of success.

Sometimes, very talented people just aren’t a good fit for your organization, but more often, the problem lies in a leaders’ inability to harness or align their employees’ talent to the mission. Either of these situations can cause employees’ talent to atrophy — or, worse, give them a reason to move on to a more engaging position at another company. Your job, as a leader, is to recognize when talent isn’t being used to its fullest potential and correct the situation.

When Talent on Its Own Isn’t Enough

As a leader, you may be tempted to hire an individual, or keep him in your organization, based on talent alone. Unfortunately, this might be a recipe for disaster. To make a difference, talented people need to be given the right roles and responsibilities, proper direction, and a sense of urgency. Most of all, they need to be properly aligned to advance an organization’s long-term goals.

Here are some common talent issues leaders face that could hinder your business’s success in building high performance teams:

  • The “lone wolf”: The lone wolf archetype makes for a great western, but in today’s hyper-connected business world, that mindset just doesn’t work. You could have the smartest guy in the industry working for you, but if he can’t interact with the rest of your team, he’s ultimately a drain on morale and productivity. A successful business requires a team of people who make use of each person’s talents through effective and productive communication and collaboration.
  • Misaligned talent: Businesses can fall victim to misaligned talent for many reasons, but what I’ve seen happen, time and time again, is talent being evaluated based on short-term operational needs versus long-term business goals. Perhaps you needed someone to fulfill certain responsibilities in a pinch when your business was growing, but now that person is stuck in a role where her talent is being wasted. Leaders must be able to see past pressing operational needs to the future performance of the company, which includes putting your best and brightest in leadership and strategic roles.
  • Disengaged talent: If a talented employee is bored or unmotivated, they’re not going to perform to their highest potential. Getting employees out of their comfort zones, but not in panic mode, will help employees feel like they’re contributing to a greater cause and experiencing individual development. Those employees will know they are truly putting their strengths to good use and will go above and beyond for your business. However, fail to provide a challenge that fully utilizes an employee’s talent, and that talent will start to mold.

How to Align a Team’s Talents

Business moves fast. Often, business leaders get caught up with other priorities and let the performance and direction of their teams fall by the wayside. Here are three simple remedies to get talent back on track:

1. Communicate: The most effective way to align a team’s talents is through honest dialogue. Take the time to evaluate internal processes and dynamics. Hearing from your team about what is — and isn’t — working will help create alignment and do more for your team’s big picture than any task management system or monetary bonus ever could.

2. Look at your business objectives: When you put talent in the context of business strategy, talent will start to naturally align itself. Leveraging the strengths and preferences of employees according to where they fit within your long-term business objectives will naturally bring out the best in your people and organization as a whole. Make sure all employees know their roles and how their actions contribute to the bigger picture.

3. Put the right people in the right seats: Jim Collins said it best when he advised that people need to be put in the right seat on the bus to drive performance. If your goal is building a high performance team, find the right roles and responsibilities for the right employees. Find out what your employees enjoy doing and what motivates them to determine where they are best suited.

All leaders want the most talented people working for them, but talent alone can’t carry an organization. Leaders must provide oversight and direction to ensure employees are engaged, motivated, and challenged on a daily basis. Most of all, they must harness talent effectively by putting people in roles that align them — and the organization — for long-term success.

This article originally appeared on Forbes

 

 

Don’t Just Survive Boring Meetings, Conquer Them!

By gothamCulture
Published at In Category Blog Tags: ,
conquer boring meetings

Corporate America is obsessed with meetings.

They drag on endlessly, accomplish very little, and people seem to show up just to grab a free lunch, avoid getting in trouble, or for personal, political reasons.

At my previous position, there were days where I had to attend over seven and a half hours of meetings in a single day, and if I missed one, I’d be asked by management where I was. I wasn’t even allowed to take my laptop. When was I supposed to get any work done?

When I had the opportunity to run meetings, my attendees really enjoyed them. They were so refreshing & efficient compared to all the others and were well attended. People were actually engaged and proactive.

So what did I do differently? These tips below will help you run better meetings that your team will actually enjoys attending.

1. Is the meeting even necessary?

Talk to some key people before you think you need a meeting. Many times you can get all your questions answered by talking to one or two people. Do some knowledge mining with your coworkers. You’d be surprised how much you can get done by spending just a few minutes with the right people.

If you cannot get your questions answered, ask them if they’d be interested in joining a meeting to solve these issues. Those who are engaged beforehand are much more likely to attend your meeting and be active participants.

2. Create a solid agenda

Make a descriptive agenda well ahead of the meeting and send it to all parties so that people can prepare for discussion. Sometimes, it takes time to gather the correct information and many times email replies will answer all your questions. You can then cancel the meeting and give everyone their time back if your questions get answers. Other times, your attendees may tell you that you’re missing some key stakeholders and will help you get vital resources and attendees to your meeting.

Be sure to ask specific questions in the notice. Let everyone know what the issues are and maybe even a proposed solution to it. A well-prepared meeting will likely get you better attendance by all the important invitees.

3. Manage your invite list

Don’t invite someone because they MIGHT be needed at the meeting. Make sure they have a key role in the discussion. Small group discussions with the right people are more effective than a massive catchall wasting the time of dozens of people that usually end in off-topic conversations with little results.

If you feel someone is vital to a meeting, make sure you talk to him or her beforehand. Let them know that they are needed to have an effective conversation. This ensures your email invite doesn’t get lost in the wasteland of their inbox.

4. Send out reminders.

Send a reminder the morning of the meeting. If it’s a morning meeting, send one out the day before. This is paramount if the topic is important. Not everyone lives and dies by their calendars. They forget or just assume it’s not a vital meeting. Other times, they are double booked and need to know which meeting is more important.

5. Learn how to create useful slides

I cannot tell you how bad most people are at making PowerPoint slides. They either write a novel that rivals War & Peace or put up a graphic with so much information you need a telescope to see it. There are a lot of great tutorials of how to make effective and engaging slides. Use them to your advantage.

6. Manage the your time well

Set a precedent of starting on time. Some people will be late of course, but you’ll gain respect from others if you are punctual for all your meetings. And, it will encourage most attendees will make an effort to be on time for future meetings.

End your meeting early. Give a buffer to allow others to get to other meetings. Lots of people have back-to-back meetings, and will likely leave yours early to make it on time to another meeting anyway.

This also gives you a moment for those who have some extra time to talk about the “offline” issues (see next tip for definition). Those who are effectively engaged in the meeting will be eager to have an extension conversation, so utilize this time to help create a better solution to the issues.

7. Stay on topic

If two people are dominating a topic that is not necessary to resolve right at that moment, it is probably best to have them speak about the issue “offline” (talk in a small group outside the meeting).

Some issues cannot be resolved right away or there isn’t enough time to talk about it during that meeting. If it’s a major topic that needs more discussion, don’t be afraid to “table” it (delaying a topic until a future meeting) and create a new meeting to explore the conversation point further.

8. Take notes

If you are leading the meeting, have someone else take notes.  It’s too distracting to lead and brief the conversation and will usually break the flow and limit engagement.

Put action items right up top. Let’s be honest; we rarely read through all the notes when someone sends them out. By putting the action items at the beginning, it gives everyone a quick reminder what they are expected to do.

9. Follow Up

Don’t just expect everyone will get their tasks done by sending out the notes. Follow up with people to see if their action items were accomplished. It’s easy to get engagement at the meetings, but many times these tasks will fall off a participant’s radar. Ask them if they need help with their assignments or if they are facing any barriers to completing them.

10. Become a better public speaker – Toastmasters

The truth is, many of us are not very efficient at getting our point across. We either bore the audience by giving a very dry presentation, repeat the same points over and over, or worst of all, give a ton of unnecessary information. There are resources out there to help us give better presentations like Toastmasters. Many companies will even pay for it. Even if the company doesn’t front the cost, it’s a smart personal career move to improve your skills.

5 Signs Your Organization Has Outgrown You

By gothamCulture
Published at In Category Blog Tags: , ,
organization outgrown you

Think back to when your child was young. What’s changed as she’s matured? She’s likely swapped naptime for overtime and a dollhouse for a down payment — and she’s grown into a personality all her own.

Like our kids, companies also grow up. Although they may not swap carefree childhoods for adult responsibilities, they still change and mature with time. Growing old with a company is like a relationship: Sometimes, you grow together; other times, you grow apart.

I recently spoke with a friend and mentor, Bruce Eckfeldt, a former Inc. 500 CEO and current entrepreneur, about leaving his former company. Together, we outlined the following five signs that signal that you and your organization have grown apart:

  1. The passion is gone. Do a quick gut check. Are you still jumping out of bed in the morning ready to take on the day, or is your snooze button getting a daily workout? Is your team energized, or does your office share the excitement level of a meat locker? No one can be fired up about a job 24/7, but if you can’t remember the last time you got excited about work, it might be a sign that your job has outgrown you.
  2. You constantly feel “the rub.” One surefire sign that your organization is evolving away from you is “the rub” — the friction between you and day-to-day life in your work environment. Too much frustration with co-workers, vendors, or clients can lead to uncomfortable chafing.
  3. The cylinders aren’t firing like they used to. Do you feel like the behaviors that have always worked for you are no longer hitting the mark? The issue might be turnover, client relationships, or budget, and you can’t shake that feeling of drowning. If the team’s terminology is leaving you behind in meetings or it seems like you have to work twice as hard as you used to just to keep your head above water, you should assess your situation.
  4. Your company is scaling rapidly. As your company matures, you may find that you can’t (or don’t want to) develop the skills you’ll need to lead in the new environment. If you aren’t willing or able to adapt to the new reality, then you’ll experience more problems as the organization continues to demand things that you can’t provide.
  5. A disconnection arises between you and the company. If you wrote a job description for the leader of your company, would you apply for the role? Your business will likely begin to value new skills and devalue old ones over time, particularly when moving out of startup mode — where flexibility and innovation take precedence — to become a more mature organization that’s focused on following established processes. You may feel responsible for leading the organization, but are you still connected to its changing needs? 

How to Hand Over the Reins

Once you know that your company has evolved away from you, you have an important decision to make: You can either sell your company or hand off your leadership role. This process is all about how you want to be remembered in your company’s collective history.

Do you want to be remembered as the boss who stayed beyond his ability to manage effectively, the executive who stopped showing up one day, or the leader who realized his personal limitations and ensured the organization was left in good hands?

First and foremost, you must decide whether your ego can take admitting that the company has evolved to the point where someone with a different skill set could do a better job. Are you the most qualified for the current needs of the role? Are you willing to adapt your leadership style to your changing business?

If you no longer feel like your leadership is what’s best for the company, pass the torch. Find and integrate the right person to lead the company under your guidance. If you have a good talent planning process in place, you may already have replacement options.

Hopefully, you caught the signs early enough that the performance of the organization hadn’t taken a nosedive. Recognizing the changing currents as they happen helps you be more intentional about identifying a successor and integrating her into the organization in a productive way.

Leading a rapidly growing organization is full of high and low points, and it’s never short on challenges. For Bruce, it was less of an “outgrown” situation and more about growing apart: “Being a founder and operator puts unique pressure on your sense of self and ties up your professional and personal identity in that of the company. For me, I felt like I was fighting to get the organization to go in the direction I wanted to go in personally.”

I realized fairly early on that in order to be most effective over the long term, I would have to continuously evaluate the needs of my organization and adapt my behaviors. This required me to develop new skills over time and be very intentional about my willingness to change to be of service to my team.

If you’re giving your organization everything you have and still sense that it has evolved beyond you, you owe it to yourself and your company to consider taking action.

 

This article originally appeared on Forbes

 

It’s Inevitable: How To Have Tough Conversations With Your Employees

By gothamCulture
Published at In Category Blog Tags: ,
tough conversations employees

While popular media likes to portray entrepreneurs as fearless conquerors willing to storm the beach single-handedly, the reality is that entrepreneurs are quite a diverse population. Sure, it takes courage to be an entrepreneur, and there are many who don’t back away from a challenge, but there are just as many who would rather avoid certain aspects of the job — and that often includes having tough conversations with their employees.

There are a variety of reasons for this. Sometimes they hope that the problem will just fix itself, but that’s rarely the case. Others simply have a fear of conflict or of not being liked.

Our culture often labels people who are willing to have tough conversations as mean or worse. But I completely disagree. In fact, a willingness to have these conversations shows that you care enough about your team to put yourself through something uncomfortable in order to rectify the situation.

Sorting It Out Could Save Your Business

The fact of the matter is that hard conversations are necessary in any organization, but they can be especially prevalent in startups.

After all, in a business’s formative stages, there’s a lot of room for misalignment. And if this misalignment goes unchecked, it will only snowball into resentment, which diverts attention from what’s important and can even devolve into active or passive sabotage. What’s more, in a startup, things move quickly — very quickly. Startups are in a constant state of organizational change, and every few months, your company may look and feel completely different. As you add more individuals to your team, each with their own values and opinions, you’re bound to run into conflict.

There are five areas that nearly every entrepreneur ends up having a hard conversation about at some point:

  • Personality conflicts: People approach life from different perspectives, and unfortunately, some can’t stomach the idea of getting along with people who don’t view the world through the same lens.
  • Inappropriate or unprofessional behavior: This one might seem like a no-brainer, but some people simply don’t know how to behave in the workplace.
  • Underwhelming performance: Again, this is a no-brainer, but when performance begins to slide, you have to correct it before it has a negative impact on the company.
  • Organizational growth: As your startup scales up, a person who was a perfect fit in the early days might not be right for the second stage. In some cases, that person might even be you.
  • Organizational cuts: If your company fails to meet its goals, you’ll likely have to make some tough choices about whom you can afford to keep.

In this last case, it can be an especially difficult conversation to have. Even if your teammates are working their tails off, you may still reach the point where you have to let someone go when the numbers aren’t where they need to be.

Never Wing a Tough Conversation

When you’re faced with uncomfortable conversations like these, a direct approach is often the most effective. I’ve found that honesty, transparency, and timeliness are key to reducing the negative impact. In fact, there are four key things you can do to make a hard conversation easier, regardless of the situation at hand.

1. Don’t avoid the conversation. Trust me: Problems don’t age well.A lot of people make the mistake of keeping quiet and hoping things improve, but oftentimes, the problem only snowballs, so be proactive.

2. Have a plan. Whatever you do, don’t just wing a hard conversation. Take the time to think through the issue, brainstorm some tangible examples to illustrate the impact that the person is having on the company, and decide what you’ll accept as a resolution.

3. Be mindful of your language. People sometimes say and do things that lead to increased anxiety and defensiveness in hard moments. But when you don’t keep your emotions in check, you tend to derail the conversation. Be careful to present yourself in a way that doesn’t come off as accusatory.

Above all, be open to the fact that your perception of the situation may not be the only one. One-way communication is never fruitful. Of course, there are times to adopt an unequivocal approach, but difficult conversations are rarely one of those times. For this and other reasons, it’s essential that you engage in active listening.

4. Don’t conclude too quickly. Never go into a conversation with a specific outcome already decided. By the same token, however, you must always leave the meeting with a clear plan in place that leaves no room for interpretation. If you end the conversation without developing a plan for moving forward, then nothing has been accomplished.

I’m not sure that anyone really enjoys these types of conversations, but for the good of everyone involved, sometimes they’re necessary. In the end, your goal should be to communicate that the conversation is difficult for you, too, but that you’re committed to having it because you care about the employee and about the company.

This article originally appeared on Forbes

Organizational Culture: An Aphorism is “Worth a Thousand Words”

By gothamCulture
Published at In Category Blog Tags: ,
organizational culture aphorism

In our daily lives and our daily work, we are undoubtedly impacted by subconscious messages that we have been socialized to accept. Often these are reflected in the choice of leaders that our society venerates. Other times, these messages enter our lives via quotes, mottos or aphorisms, such as, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” that are so common they are often cliche.

Though they may seem harmless in everyday use, these mantras are incredibly powerful, simplistic guideposts on our thinking and how we prioritize our time and attention. For example, how many colleagues do you know who seem to operate according to the principle, “if you want something done right, you got to do it yourself?” or, “if you want something done, give it to a busy person?”

Acknowledging the presence of these subconscious beliefs is the first step in making any sort of change; these believed aphorisms might be ingrained in your organizational culture, and/or they might be ingrained in your own modus operandi. For example, in the case of the above mantras, trying to instill a culture of empowerment of staff might be challenging if it’s commonly accepted among the managers in the organization that they need to “do things themselves” if they want things “done right.”

In some organizations, recognizing that this is pervasive and unpacking why managers think that people below them can’t do things “right” might be exactly where to start to facilitate culture change.

What Aphorisms Are Guiding Your Culture?

Knowing what beliefs and behaviors drive your culture is the first step to changing it. Take a few moments and write down some aphorisms that guide your own approach to leadership and life. Then, think of a few that guide your organization.

Once you finish, take a look at some of the common (and not so common) quotes below. How does your agreement (or not) with these statements match up with the current-state of the culture in your organization? How do these mindsets serve you (or not) in your own development as a leader?

Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom.

There’s no time like the present

If you always do what you always did, you’ll always get what you always got

Perfect is the enemy of the good

Winners never quit and quitters never win

Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.

You can sleep when you’re dead

Time is money

Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.

Move fast and break things

Change or die

When the best leader’s work is done the people say, ‘We did it ourselves.’

As you reflect on these statements, It’s also critical to remember the aphorism, “what got you here won’t get you there.” While a reliance on “doing things yourself” could work at certain stages in your development as a leader, or your organization’s development, it might no longer serve you or your organization given the current state. That doesn’t mean that the aphorism isn’t true– it just means that belief in these truths might be holding you or your organization back from operating more optimally.

And if that didn’t convince you to re-examine how aphorisms are subconsciously guiding your thoughts and actions, this statement might: ”Echoes from the walls you build around yourself hurt your ears the most.”

What aphorisms guide your leadership and culture? We’d love to hear from you!

6 Authentic Leadership Tips For Overcoming Your Fears

By gothamCulture
Published at In Category Blog Tags:
authentic leadership tips

Do you lead authentically? If you’re not sure, you’re not alone. Many leaders are beginning to question themselves, especially when tough situations force them to act in ways that don’t align with their true beliefs. When they must juggle different personas across different settings and boundaries, they can start to feel deceptive.

As a leader, you may feel like you’re walking on a delicate tightrope, with your true self on one side and the responsibilities of your position on the other.

The key components of authenticity (self-knowledge, self-awareness, authentic behavior, and self-regulation) mean you have to know who you are historically, be aware of who you are in the moment, align your behavior with your values, and know when and why you deviate from those values. We all like to think that our true self is behind every action, but many leaders don’t do a great job of leading authentically — mostly because practicing authenticity is easier said than done.

I recently teamed up with Taylor Peyton Roberts, Ph.D., and Crystal Dujowich, Ph.D., managing partners and co-founders of Valencore Consulting, to deeply examine this topic. They’re both experts on leadership authenticity and have developed an online assessment called the Role-specific Evaluation of Authenticity in Leaders, or REAL. Their valuable insight into the dangers of inauthenticity and how to be a genuine leader has influenced my own leadership style.

Why Is Authenticity So Hard?

Before we can get into how to be an authentic leader, we have to first understand why authenticity is so difficult to maintain in the workplace.

There are many fears that keep leaders from striving to be their authentic selves, such as exposing a real or imagined weakness, losing respect, or even missing out on an opportunity. To make matters worse, workplace culture, professional subcultures, industry cultures, and even national cultures all exert enormous pressure on leaders to conform. If your views differ from the cultural norm, you may hesitate to express them.

It takes some rock-solid confidence to be able to stick to your guns when they aren’t readily accepted. No one wants to be viewed as “different,” but failing to act authentically has a pretty big downside, too. You may have trouble creating trusting relationships, experience a loss of self-respect and respect from your co-workers, or even get dragged into corporate corruption and scandal.

Tips For Leading Authentically

Leadership is complex work. You’re managing multiple stakeholders with competing values and demanding respect from your team. If those people can’t sense what you stand for as a leader, they’ll lose trust in you. This is especially true in leaders who switch values and decisions based on whomever they’re interacting with at the moment.

If you’re struggling with leading authentically, ask yourself, “What are my core values, and what is the priority of my values?” Once you understand your values, test out these six strategies for authentic leadership:

1. Find a peer with whom you can be fully authentic. Compare your authentic interactions with someone you’re comfortable with to your inauthentic interactions with others. Once you can identify the differences between the two, it will be easier to close that gap.

2. Seek out exemplary leaders in your industry who model authenticity. Having an authentic role model is useful because you can observe how he or she behaves genuinely, then you can incorporate those strategies into your own leadership skills.

3. Take authenticity to a new level by encouraging others to be real. Create a safe environment for others to have a voice. Let employees know you value their opinions. Demonstrate unconditional acceptance by saying things like “I enjoy working with you, and nothing you say to me right now could change that.”

4. Don’t let “being authentic” become a cop-out for individual and professional growth. Always reflect on your behavior in high-pressure situations, and ensure your response was reflective of your “ideal self and highest values.” Challenge yourself to strive for growth.

5. Learn to speak your truth in a positive way. When you’re facing a difference in values, be diplomatic and concise and strip any frustrated emotion out of your voice. One-on-one settings are usually best for delivering feedback on sensitive topics. Follow up afterward to make sure respect is maintained.

6. Accept that 100 percent authenticity isn’t the goal. Total and complete transparency doesn’t always ensure success. In fact, boundaries often help people feel safe. Tune in to your moments of inauthenticity, and learn from them. Build your self-awareness around when and why you’re disingenuous so you can recognize these situations, and experiment with new behaviors when appropriate.

It can be difficult to know when and how to be your authentic self to ensure that you can lead those around you most effectively. When your values conflict with others (or when you have a lot to lose), you may unintentionally do more harm than good by expressing yourself authentically. Still, as a leader, you need to give honest, timely feedback to shape the system you’re in.

Leading authentically isn’t simply about being yourself and living up to your values; sometimes it also means developing the ability to adapt. Understanding true authenticity means that if you need to shift your views and values, you must consider letting go of some aspect of your past self and learn to be authentic to your future self. The quest for authenticity is a long and challenging one, but like any worthwhile goal, you won’t come out of it unchanged.

This article originally appeared on Forbes.