𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞? 𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐚 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞?

You know the saying "Culture eats Strategy for Breakfast". It highlights how much your culture can supercharge or tank the best strategy. And it happens everyday.

I have experienced how much changing a culture is tough. Would it be because or divestitures, acquisitions, change of leadership, pivoting of business, adaptation to change,... there are many reasons why leaders want to evolve (or change) their culture.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠:

1. 👀 never remove your eyes from the ball. When you engage in a hashtag#culture hashtag#change, all your actions, words, objectives and incentives need to support that goal. The moment you think it's enough, is when you create the conditions to revert to the "old culture". Change takes time and leaders often underestimate this parameter. "𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞" 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭.

2. 🦆 Align all your ducks in a row. It looks directive but from the top to the bottom of your organization, consistency is key. If you let divergent culture prosper, you create that environment where it is ok to not align. If you tolerate this, you send the signal you are not serious, so people can behave differently. You create pockets of non-alignment, and sub-culture. You kill your energy. 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐧𝐨𝐧-𝐧𝐞𝐠𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞.

3. 🏄 Cherish your culture, honor it, encourage the behaviors that align with your culture and allow people to take initiatives that make it happen. Culture is "how we do things here", it's this secret sauce that makes your company and team unique. 𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫, 𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞. It's your best guarantee to make it work.

4. 💪 Don't treat culture as a gimmick for employee surveys. When winds are strong, or when the business struggles, what will stay? Only what you believe in, truly. Simple example: if you start micro-managing the moment your numbers drop, can you really say that ownership and autonomy are part of your culture? 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐝 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬.

When you get the "right" culture, you get a distinctive touch that bonds people together, that acts as a compass on how to make decisions and treat customers, employees and partners. It does reduce stress on the system and provide clarity on what you and your team stand for. It makes you stronger and more resilient in the long run. It just makes sense.

That is why getting the right culture is so important!