Leading the way

Creating an environment conducive to high performance is one part of the puzzle – the other is the commitment of the leaders to promoting and maintaining that environment.

In short, publishing the organisation’s intangibles and making assertions about what you do, means nothing if the team’s experience is something completely different to what they signed up for.  It is the role of the leader to walk the talk, to live the culture and to demonstrate through consistent actions and language that being on culture will enable a win-win-win for organisation, team and individual.

Of course, there is an underlying assumption that the culture has been designed to drive behaviours that promote the purpose of the business in the most powerful and profitable way and to attract people who will excel in this environment.

Culture works as a promoter of high performance teams when there is an understanding that it is a whole of organisation story – there can be no silos propagating their own version of the culture – led by people with personal agendas.  Culture is for the organisation as much as it is for the team.  It has been designed to create an environment conducive to the success of the business and to attract people who want to be a part of it because it serves them.  A team made up of people who are attracted to the same organisation and who have common beliefs will always outperform a fractured group of people with different agendas and contrary beliefs.

The leader must propagate the true cultural seed throughout the enterprise in the minds of cultural champions who fly the flag and stay alert in the leaders absent.

What do your KPI’s say?

KPI’s drive behaviour!  How do you know if your people are off-culture or not?  How do your people know if they are off-culture or not?  How do you measure cultural alignment?  How do you encourage and reward those who embrace and promote your desired culture?

Part of the process of maintaining a strong intentional culture is to build KPI’s that support that endeavour.  Never underestimate the importance of this piece of the puzzle – it brings the intangibles to life – it makes the invisible visible.

Learn more about how KPIs are drivers of behaviour at  https://openinggates.com/drive-right-behaviour-kpis/

Culture left up to chance is a leading cause of a business in crisis.

This work is one of our specialties here at Opening Gates. Numbers will be compromised when culture is neglected.

We recognised that every enterprise is different because it is a mix of unique people with unique experiences and intentions.  Our workshops are designed with that in mind.  Here are some of the sessions purposefully designed for businesses including start-ups, mature SMEs, and large corporations:

• CULTURE COLLABORATIVES
• WHY KNOWING WHY MATTERS
• HOW DOES A BUSINESS WITH A HEART LIKE THIS TURN UP TO PLAY?
• CONNECTING THE DOTS – WE’RE BUILDING A CATHEDRAL
• REWIRING THE ORGANISATON – CONNECTING HEARTS WITH HEARTS
• DISC ADVANCED BEHAVIOURAL PROFILING

If you need help with designing or refining your culture, drop us a line and register your interest at https://openinggates.com/contact-us/  We look forward to hearing from you.

If you missed reading Part 1 of this series you can find it at https://openinggates.com/culture-design-series-part-1/