Having a healthy culture is critical...but...
Almost everyone agrees that having a healthy culture is important. There are still a few outliers who think "all that culture stuff is overrated," but that group of leaders seems to be in the minority.
If most leaders believe culture is important, why are there still numerous programs and organizations with unhealthy cultures?
Many will say that it is hard to build a healthy culture. Which I would agree with. Some might even say it is the hardest thing to do as a leader.
This is how building culture is often done.
The leader stands in front of his/her team or organization and lays out the "Four values that this program/organization will live by."
They then proceed to define each of those values, paint them on the weightroom or lobby wall, put them on a T-shirt, and add them to the letterhead.
Then, during subsequent staff or team meeetings this leader picks one value (or non-negotiable or pillar) and goes over this value again.
At some point, they will talk about standards or the rules of their program.
This is where we have a problem. After doing all of that, many programs or organizations are still unhealthy. These programs are fraught with drama and dysfunction...even though a lot of time was spent trying to build a culture.
The problem is not that the leader didn't talk about the values enough.
The problem was that these values are not being lived out.
We far too often think build, when I think we should cultivate.
We think "build culture" when we should be thinking "cultivate the right environment."
The best leaders who sustain success are those leaders who cultivate an environment where their people can thrive and flourish.
The best leaders are CECs, not necessarily CEOs. They are Chief Executive Cultivators.
Culture is downstream from environment. If you get the environment right, you get the culture right!
In the coming weeks, I am going to give some insights into how the best leaders cultivate an elite environment.
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**FAITH AND LEADERSHIP**
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One of my weekly disciplines is scouring the internet for articles/tweets I can learn from and/or use with those I work with. Below are two that I hope will help encourage and equip you.
Article 1- Toughness
Article 2- What makes a person likable?
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