Calling Out What Isn't Working for Your Culture

You can't change what you aren't willing to admit needs to be changed. 

Part of creating a healthy culture is the willingness to call out what is wrong or unhealthy about the culture you currently have. This requires honesty, deliberation, feedback from many points of view, and a willingness to put away your ego in favor of doing what's best. 

Contrary to common belief, just because you implemented something with great intention, and just because you may have done it with a great deal of attention and care and planning, doesn't mean it can't be faulty. Cultural leadership includes scrutinizing your own ideas as you would anyone else's.

What metrics can you use to determine whether an element of your culture is or is not helping? Here are a few: If it doesn't create better beliefs, doesn't help your people prioritize what is most important, doesn't catalyze engagement or communications, serves as more of a diversion than a directing force, or dilutes people's focus, it's probably time for a change.

Whether it's a new set of words and ideas, a practice, or a stylistic or functional feature of your organization, cultural leadership means being willing to identify when something is not contributing to your team as it should, even if people like it. One thinks of extravagant parties or huge discretionary spending on gimmicks or goodies to try to change people's emotional state about work. Some cultural experiments are fun and create interest, but this doesn't always translate to increased engagement, productivity, or buy-in over time.

Be willing to take an honest look at the elements that help form the traditions, environment, and behaviors of your people. If something isn't as healthy as it should be, make the call.

Jared Lafitte is a speaker, coach and author who leads Lafitte Coaching, a firm dedicated to helping leaders thrive and organizations build effective cultures. His work has been featured in Forbes, The Predictive Index, The Business Journals, and other leadership publications.

(This piece was republished from the Lafitte Coaching blog)