Culture reflects leadership.
Culture is a reflection of leadership. You see it on sports teams, you see it in companies and you’ll find it in your home. Culture happens where people happen. If there’s people, there’s culture. Culture is always moving, it’s like a ship on the ocean. It’s either being steered or it’s drifting wherever the currents carry it.
The difference between intentional culture and drift culture, is leadership.
I’ve had the privilege of working for a large company, a small(ish) company, a mom and pop company, a start up and film sets. Almost in that order. The greatest factor in whether I found the experience enjoyable vs not enjoyable was rarely the work itself, it was and has always been primarily, the culture.
Drift culture usually consists of toxicity, unhappy employees and a higher turnover rate. This is generally a reflection of leadership that focuses primarily on the outcome success of a company or project with little regard for anything else. As long as the company or project is successful, then whether the employees are happy or not is of little concern.
Some might ask, if it’s successful then what’s the problem?. To that i’d say, it’s like being on a ship with no one to steer, no clear direction and just hoping that everyone does what their supposed to do. You might still reach the shore, but the journey is far more arduous and much less enjoyable than say, a ship who’s captain gives clear direction and who’s mates not only share the same goal, but take ownership in doing so.
Intentional culture takes time, intentionality, repetition and sacrifice. It requires identifying the mission (where are you going, what are you creating?), the values (what principles are you willing to sacrifice for?) and a desired outcome. Your team needs to be able to recognize and speak the same language, moving in unity towards the same goal. Mission informs direction, values inform boundaries and together they create a buy in for future team members. Do you want a team that backstabs and gossips? If not, it’s up to the leader to set this boundary early on, repeat it often and model the correct behavior.
Here are some of the fruits I experienced on film sets and within companies that did not practice intentional culture:
Bullying
Gossiping
Division - teams paid by the same employer working against each other instead of for one another toward the same goal
Lack of creativity - where there’s constant berating there is a fear of trying anything new
Fear
Complaining
High turnover
Mistrust
Here are some of the fruits I experienced on film sets and within companies that did practice positive intentional culture:
Generosity
Patience
Creativity
Ownership
Fun - where theres less gossip, complaining and fear, there’s a lot more room for fun
Higher retention rates
Deeply cultivated friendships
To learn more about intentional company culture, I’ll point you to one of my favorite podcast episodes, a conversation between Craig Groeschel (Craig Groeschel Leadership Podcast) and Jerry Hurley, https://youtu.be/-85h4IrTiBE .