Culture eats strategy for breakfast!

Create Your Own Winning Culture

We always knew strategy was important but how many companies proactively create their own winning culture? We can all influence and create the culture we need to perform. Follow these three simple steps to Create Your Own Winning Culture. You can do this in a company, a team or as an individual:

Step 1: The Secret

The secret is “awareness”. When we become aware of something, we have choice about it. So by simply becoming aware of what you want for your own winning culture and what the reality of your existing culture is, you will have a choice to do something about it.

We define culture as “the way things are done around here” – an unwritten system of shared approaches and of similar behaviours.

To learn more about your culture, do the following exercise:

The below graph sets out the four main types of culture. We all need different levels of support and challenge. Take a moment to think about your current working environment.

1. Choose a spot on the graph that describes what your current culture is. Jot down the characteristics of your current culture.
2. Now choose a spot on the graph that represents what you would like your culture to be that would best support your performance. Jot down how it would be different and any similarities with your current culture.

Step 2: Responsibility

To explore the different relationships we have with culture, we invite you to watch this video:

Now ask yourself what relationship you tend to have with culture – pick the ones that could describe you (you can pick as many as you like):

Are you like the frog put in boiling water who can immediately recognize if the culture isn’t a fit for you and so you jump out?
Are you like the frog in slowly heating water who allows the temperature to rise to uncomfortable levels?
Are you not like the frog in the video and able to know and ask for what you need, ie get out and turn the temperature to what you need to perform well?

Which did you choose?

A: Generally we are quite good at spotting A – it is something so alien or unsupportive of our performance that we jump out. Think of a company that you didn’t join. Or perhaps even a project that you tried to do but failed.

B: Most often, like the frog in B, we allow ourselves to become unconsciously absorbed by culture. The water might be a little too hot or cold for us to perform well, but we make do and get on with things. However, what we need to keep in mind is that, at the same time as being influenced by culture, we are also influencing culture and we can use our influence to create the culture we want.

C: This is the challenge of the 21st Century in organizations – proactively managing culture so that it empowers people. You can choose to do this yourself and create your own winning culture – once you are aware of what you need, you can ask for what you need and set the water temperature just right to perform well.

Step 3: Action

Now you know what you would like your culture to be:

1. Make a list of at least three things that will help you get from where you are now, to where you want to be.
2. Now pick one thing from your list and take steps to complete it.
3. Notice what changes and repeat until you have completed your list.

Conclusion

Creating your own winning culture marks the next step in the evolution of the relationship between companies and individuals. It’s not about top-down, hierarchical structures anymore; now it is about individual empowerment and responsibility. At Performance Consultants we focus on building the management and leadership skills to create winning cultures. Through our coaching and leadership development programmes, we provide individuals and companies with the tools, skills and insights to create cultures that not only support strategy but deliver more.

To create a winning culture in your organization, join one of our public courses:

• Public course dates

Is Sir John Whitmore one of History’s Greatest Business Pioneers?

Over the next few weeks The Financial Times is asking people to nominate their top business pioneers of all time.

We think that Sir John Whitmore’s pioneering work in bringing a coaching style of management to world-class organizations puts him in the running. His work was the foundation for the birth and explosion of the coaching industry that we have seen globally and which is now helping business to transform from the inside out. His book Coaching for Performance has sold over a million copies in 23 languages, while his coaching programmes with innovative tools and techniques are now being delivered in 40 countries around the world. He has been at the vanguard of the paradigm change in management thinking and practice from heroic to post-heroic leadership where the focus is on people finding purpose and fulfilment in their work.

The FT article notes: “Their [pioneering leaders] achievements are seldom theirs alone”; this is absolutely at the heart of the coaching style of management which Sir John Whitmore has championed. We would love you to join us in nominating Sir John Whitmore as one of the top business pioneers by emailing [email protected] or tweeting at #FTPioneers. And please let the FT know why you are nominating our pioneering leader.

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