Creating Culture

Students of Our Culture | Michael Stovall

I posted a video this morning on LinkedIn that was focused on credibility and how important that is for a leader.

Credibility is that ability for others to trust and believe in you, and what you say you will do.

How does that play with creating a culture?

True culture is a tribe. It is a group of people that know each other, trust each other, work for each other ... they feel safe together.

A lot of people seem to think that just by joining an organization, by putting a company logo on our shirt and caring you laptop from meeting to meeting that it creates a bond among the employees; maybe, but usually not.

We are human, whether in our professional or personal lives, there are just certain things we need.

People need to feel safe.

We are social animals who learned and developed understanding that our ability to survive, to succeed dramatically increased when we work with others not only for own benefit, but for theirs as well.

As we have become so competitive and as our ability to be 'safe' has been able to be achieved with less help than our ancestors, we forget the importance of this when we do have to work together.

The best teams are the ones that feel safe together. They feel safe sharing their ideas, they feel safe making mistakes, they feel safe that decisions are made for the whole and not the individual.

To create a culture of real collaboration, innovation and unity, you have to be able to make people feel safe, respected and included.

To do that you need to be authentic. You are not your title, your are not your experience, you accomplishments are things from the past.

Each day is about connecting with those around you. Appreciating their contributions, being honest with them, respecting them to talk to them like you would your closest friends.

The days of seeing people as cogs in a machine are past and dead. Value the person, let them know you care. That's culture.

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