I just finished a terrific re-read by Dr. Marilee G. Adams. She’s authored a book titled, Change Your Questions, Change Your Life. There were many things that caught my attention as I listened to words penned by Dr. Adams. However, the title of this article today made me take particular note. I’ve always understood in a headway that the culture at a center is there, whether it’s stated or not. Adams says it perfectly and in a way that gets it out of my head and, hopefully, into your heart. “Culture is defined by design or default.”
Culture is about what you believe in… at your core. We like to say it’s built from what you value. When we help companies in our business coaching program, the first thing we do is work on understanding what the core values of an organization really are. We don’t subscribe to the corporatey, jargony, mumbo-jumbo that mission statements can be made of, but rather the “real” stuff that drives you and your organization – the stuff people remember and hold on to when they make decisions about what to do at the moment.
Add that to your purpose, your why of being, and you have your culture. You don’t have to try to do culture. It’s built-in. It’s part of the fabric that makes you, your business, your job, your family, your relationships, the way they are. Here’s an example. If, at your core, you have a value that says, “I don’t steal things,” then you never steal things. You don’t have to try not to steal. Maybe you call that honesty. I honestly think honesty should be a RULE of the GAME. It is one of those values that may not need to be stated but assumed.
At TrainerTainment, we coach clients on a daily basis. Coaching is a lot like selling. Session by session we are working on buy-in from the team. We are teaching “plays” that help leaders and salespeople win. We are providing practice and new strategies that strengthen the team.
Here’s what I mean. We have designed or adopted selling and business systems we believe. We believe so strongly in those systems because we live them every day. We see the successes internally with our own team and externally with the teams we serve. So, of course, when we are looking for people to work with, we primarily focus on clients that share our core values.
I’ve been in business for almost 15 years. Certainly, there were years, many years, we had a “default culture.” It was not stated. I was not able to get it out of my head. As the business owner, my ego and pride make me feel like that “default culture” wasn’t so bad.
In the spirit of vulnerability, I’ll tell you having a culture that is truly designed, defined, stated, and the filter for everything from hiring and training to firing is a much better, more confident way to run the business. Oh, and it helps us experience a heck of a lot more success both for us and those we serve.
You have a culture at your center and in your life. What is it? If you are not getting what you want from your business, then my question would be, “Why not?” If you are on track, do you know why? Does your team understand your vision or have you stumbled your way into victory because you have a great team that is lined up with your values by default? What happens when those team members move on?
If you’ve ever worked on a team or been part of a winning project that seemed like so much fun you could work all the time, then you were part of a culture where the people on the team shared one another’s values…stated or not.
Wouldn’t it be great to design on purpose that winning experience – all the time? I know it sounds like a sales pitch, but I would love to help you with this. It’s an amazing shift for your thinking and your quality of life. If you believe in having fun, being in service to others, intentionally learning, high performance, and taking initiative, we would be in a good position to work with one another. At TrainerTainment, we are pretty obsessed with helping teams grow because we know healthy teams grow their business. If you believe we can help you, schedule a growth call.
