Workplace Culture: What Leaders Need to Know

1. Leadership always believes the culture is better than it really is: to find the truth, go to your front line employees.
2. Culture grows one of two ways: either by neglect or by design.
3. When culture is ignored by leadership, the default mode grows complacency, dysfunction, and disengaged employees.
4. A culture by design is meaningful, mission-minded, productive, focused on people, service and continual improvement.
5. The leader sets the standard for what is acceptable and what is not:  the leader’s moods, attitudes, facial expressions and actions are watched and emulated.
6. To be an extraordinary organization, there must be a culture of excellence. Excellence is not to be confused with perfection. Excellence is consistently using one’s talents and skills to the best of his/her ability with the resources that are available.
7. The positive culture promotes and rewards individual strength of character. In other words: doing the right thing.
8. The positive culture must promote organizational integrity:  where the vision, beliefs and principles of the organization can be seen acted out in what happens every single day.
9. A positive culture can only exist where there is a culture of service to employees as well as to customers and vendors.
10. A positive culture will produce loyal and committed employees as well as an environment where innovation and creativity can thrive.