Culture is about how we make people feel

For me, workplace culture has always very much been something that I am able to sense from walking into an office, chatting to a few people and attending a meeting or two. Everything from the architecture, design and decor, to how people are dressed and how they interact and converse with each other or the design of the company's slide decks, gives me a glimpse into the true soul of a company - no matter how well they try to disguise it with classy finishes or modern touches and expensive coffee.

It's my superpower and it's pretty cool, I'm not going to lie! Most folks would criticise me and say that I am jumping to conclusions or I am making assumptions. They say this because they aren't able to make the same accurate observations and they simply cannot fathom that if they can't do something, perhaps there is someone else who can. So they want proof. What data do I have to back-up my assertions that the company that's plastered values like 'innovation' and 'belonging' and 'kindness' all over their offices and social media, is in fact, a toxic waste pond that is crippled by ego and hierarchy? I don't know how to explain it to you. I guess if I could - and better yet, if I could teach this ability - I would be out of a job.

But here's what I can tell you for sure: culture lives in the tiny moments. It lives in actions, conversations and decisions because every single one of those, causes individual employees to feel a certain way. They might feel intimidated or empowered, valued or disposable, respected or scorned.

Not sure that you believe me? Think for a moment of the worst boss you have ever worked for. What made them so awful? What did they used to do? And how did they make you feel? I'm going to go ahead and assume that you didn't feel that they trusted you to do a good job or that you had the autonomy to make the day-to-day decisions needed in your role. You probably also didn't feel seen, respected, valued or even liked. You may have started to feel insecure about your own abilities or about your relationships and interactions with colleagues and clients. And before you knew it, you were probably a mere shadow of your true self, constantly hiding your true potential and keeping your mouth shut and your head down. Gosh, why did you leave?!

Now think of the best managers you have worked with. How were they different? What did they do differently and how did their actions make the people around them, feel?

See where I'm going with this?

Your actions and your words have an emotional impact on the people around you. Every single decision that you make at work, in every moment, has the power to make someone feel good or make them feel small. That is a LOT of power to have. And we all know that with great power, comes great responsibility. So I would like to invite you to complete a simple exercise and decide how you would like people to feel after interacting with you. How would you like to be remembered?

I know that workplace culture is a big, scary beast. I work with it every day and whether it's in the context of a start-up or scaleup, or whether it's with a huge multinational organisation, the challenges are always the same. It comes down to balancing the goals of the business with the needs of its employees. When you're chasing market share and profits, it's easy to forget the feelings of the very people helping you achieve those goals. It's that constant dichotomy of the quantitative stuff that shareholders and boards care about, versus the qualitative stuff that drives employee engagement, psychological safety and overall workplace performance.

If ever there was a time for us to want it all and have it all, it's now. We can have great business and financial success without sacrificing health, wellness or employee happiness.

Here's a simple exercise you can do, to start improving the culture in your team:

1. Make a list of emotions that you would like your people to feel (respected, appreciated, valued, encouraged, supported etc);
2. Identify your top 10 most important ones and then whittle the list down to 5;
3. Define those top 5 emotions and get some clarity on the actions and behaviours that will build those feelings, as well as the actions and behaviours that will break those feelings;
4. Now, figure out what you need to do to ensure that you are building those feelings in every interaction, every day;
5. Identify means to track your success and indicators that will help you to know for certain, how your people are feeling. Mood-tracking is great for these purposes. Don't be averse to receiving feedback from your team. Give them permission to tell you how your actions and behaviour in a specific situation, made them feel and let them make recommendations on what they would prefer instead.

It may seem small, but it's amazingly powerful and effective. You cannot control all of the factors out there, but you CAN control how you act and what emotional impact your actions, words and decisions will have on those around you. And that is a powerful legacy to leave behind.