Culture Leadership Charge – Define Your Desired Culture

I am often asked about my three-phase culture refinement process. Today I’ll share how the first phase – the “define” stage – creates a foundation for your purposeful, positive, productive work culture.

My approach is founded on this hard fact – senior leaders must drive and champion their organization’s culture. They are ultimately responsible for clarity of the organization’s servant purpose, values and behaviors, strategies, and goals. They can’t delegate this responsibility to HR or any other function – they must model and coach their desired culture daily.

In the define stage, I help senior leaders formalize their desired culture through an organizational constitution – which includes the four elements noted above.

First, it describes the organization’s present day servant purpose. This statement describes what the company does, for whom, and to what end – how what they do for customers improves customers’ quality of life.

When I interview team leaders and team members in an organization, I ask, “What’s the purpose of this company?” 95% of the answers fall in two categories – to “make cars” (or sell insurance or build buildings – whatever the company’s tactical output is) or “to make money.”

The reality is that most employees are not deeply inspired by the tactical output of the company. Nor do most employees receive a direct benefit when the company makes money. However, most employees are motivated by the opportunity to serve others – and to work alongside trusted team mates to serve others.

In today’s three-minute episode of my Culture Leadership Charge video series, I describe the other three elements of an organizational constitution – and share why those elements are so critically important for a healthy work culture.

This is episode seventy-two of my Culture Leadership Charge series. Each episode is a ~three-minute video that describes proven culture leadership and servant leadership practices that boost engagement, service, and results across your work teams, departments, regions, companies – and even homes and neighborhoods.

You’ll find my Culture Leadership Charge episodes and more on my YouTube and my iTunes channels. If you like what you see or hear, please subscribe!

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Photo © Adobe Stock – Jacob Lund. All rights reserved.

Have your company’s leaders formally defined your company’s organizational constitution? Share your insights or questions below or engage me on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.