Business
Every team has a heartbeat, a culture, and a united group of individuals who are all different. As a manager, it is your job to create the environment, perpetuate it’s values every day, and ensure that people do not feel stifled about the general culture of the team. Remember, you are running a business and you are a leader of a team, not a cult.
In theory, if you think too hard, you’ll find that there are way too many similarities between corporate cultures and leadership, and what you’ll find in your common day cult. Great managers will recognize this and know when your culture is borderline manipulating people instead of motivating people. Recognize the level of power you do have, you may think that you are just a small-time manager and you don’t have that much power, but you’re not seeing the impact that you may have in your employee’s day to day.
Employees need proper direction
People look up to you, look to you for direction, and depend on you for protection, support and guidance. You may think you’re smaller than you are because your perspective is from a corporate level, there may be hundreds of managers that are your peers, but to your employee’s there really is only one boss, so recognize that and the responsibility you have to them.
Environments are so important because this is what your team will have to exist in each and every day. If you create an environment of sloppiness and perpetuate this by letting timelines slip, or letting go of mistakes, you will be creating a culture that doesn’t “care” about excellence and details. Those people who are high achievers will be frustrated and you’ll be creating a higher hill for you to climb for the goals you want to achieve. Instead, create values that you want your team to uphold, and create levels of accountability to those values so that if you do create a level of high ownership and excellence, the high performers will self-correct, and will help enforce this with those who may be slacking and struggling.
This then goes to the concept of creating systems in place to help you self-regulate your team. Always create push-pull mechanisms in anything you implement, including environments. You shouldn’t be the only advocate for this environment (pulling others along) you should also be creating a system in place where people are pushing this to you (suggesting how we can improve, identifying low-hanging fruit, tackling projects without your initiating).
Involve your teams!
One way to do this is to involve your team in the creation of these principles. Every year, I ask my team to gather around and tell me what they think our team’s goals are this year, and how we want to be with each other. I start off with a history of where we came from, what we tackled this year, and what I think our next big strategic goal should be.
From there, I have already introduced the concept of what direction I want to get to, then I open it up to brainstorming and collaboration to have the team put together what the identity should be of our team for the next year. Their contributions to the team dynamic help them feel a part of the team, and give them an equal stake in what our team will be in the future.
That way, when they are existing in it day to day, they can feel that sense of connection to it and have it not feel arbitrary to them.
Cultivating success is crucial
Creating an environment that cultivates success is crucial to any team, as it helps maintain a united group of individuals who all bring something different to the table. As a manager, it’s up to you to establish this culture and ensure that your team feels empowered and motivated by it.
Remember, you’re running a business and leading a team, not a cult – so don’t get too caught up in corporate culture and leadership ideals that end up crossing the line into manipulation. You have a great deal of power over your team, whether you realize it or not, so it’s important to recognize your role and the impact you have on your employees’ day-to-day experiences.
The environment you create is what your team will live and breathe in every single day, so make it count. If you allow sloppiness and let mistakes slide, you’re setting a precedent that doesn’t value excellence and attention to detail. High achievers will feel frustrated, and you’ll make it harder for yourself to reach your goals. Instead, establish values that align with your team’s goals and hold everyone accountable to them. High performers will naturally self-correct and help motivate those who are struggling.
Implementing systems that help regulate your team is also crucial. You don’t want to be the only one advocating for a positive environment – create a culture where others are pushing for it too (push pull concept). What I like to do is to involve your team in establishing these principles, so they feel invested in the process and have a sense of ownership over the team’s identity.
Get your employees to buy into your system
By doing so, they’ll have a stake in creating the team’s culture and be more likely to buy into it. First, I lead off the conversation by doing a step back of our history: where we came from, and where have we been in the past year. I then go into what I can envision for the team and the outcomes that I can see us crushing. This gives people a target to shoot for, and then they are able to brainstorm what literally would the like the team to look like for the next year.
Try this exercise, by gathering your team and brainstorming what your team’s goals and values should be for the next year. By doing this, you’ll help foster a sense of connection and camaraderie that will benefit everyone.
But how do we prevent a cult mentality? Strong corporate cultures or “drinking the koolaid” are strikingly close to following a cult leader, so be careful. It’s important to promote individuality and encourage healthy disagreement. Instead of trying to avoid conflict, embrace it and hear both sides, as it may lead to creative solutions. By promoting an environment where conflict is encouraged, your team will feel comfortable expressing their ideas and opinions.
Keep your organization communication open
If your team knows that conflict is promoted and debate is encouraged, they will likely lean into that more and more. You’ll be surprised how much you find out in one team lunch with a group of people who are encouraged to debate. It’s important to have an open mind and not immediately dismiss ideas, work styles, or behavior that may seem different from the team culture. However, if a disruptive employee is affecting the environment of others, it’s necessary to isolate the behavior and address it.
This also applies to watercooler talk, where personal time and bonding with co-workers should be encouraged, but negative behavior should be addressed quickly to prevent it from spreading. By listening to the grievances of those who are negatively impacted and taking action, you can maintain a positive and healthy team dynamic.
Many of these pieces of advice are high level and situation driven. If you need someone to talk through your particular situation with me, please schedule a free 15 min mentorship so we can go into your team’s dynamic in detail. Otherwise, this is just high-level advice for you to think about and help you implement for your day to day.
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