People are the heart of every organizational culture. Herb Kelleher, the co-founder of Southwest Airlines, said it best; “If we take care of our people, our people will take care of our customers.”
The culture of an organization, winning or otherwise, starts at the top and the people within the organization project the example they see with both colleagues and customers alike.
So, what does it mean to have, and what are the results of having, a “negative organizational culture?” Such organizations usually suffer in at least one of five important areas.
Weak Leadership: Leaders who tend not to push themselves and, consequently, do not push their followers. Average becomes the norm.
Non-existent Teamwork: When leaders do not have the respect of their followers, teamwork suffers and individualistic behavior and thinking prevails.
Lack of Quality Talent: When the culture of an organization is weak, that weakness shows in the interview process, encouraging potential applicants of quality to apply elsewhere.
Ineffective Planning: negative organization cultures often exhibit poor planning practices which result in last minute rushing and poor quality of work.
Unproductive Decision Making: Unlike a winning culture that creates a sense of responsibility and promotes sound decision making, negative cultures tend more toward quick and illogical decision making by everyone. This results in increased mistakes, escalated employee turnover, and drastically reduced employee morale.
Needless to say, a winning culture is preferred and when the inverse of these five traits are implemented and adopted by everyone within the organization, a winning culture is what you will develop.
Are you part of a winning team culture?
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