A Culture of "We"

Wikipedia defines culture as "Organizational culture has to do with the behavior of humans within an organization and the meaning that people attach to those behaviors”. A great definition connecting culture to behavior. Every organization from the family unit to the largest corporations in the world have a culture, formal or informal, written or not. Another way to look at culture is expectations. Culture establishes the expectations of the unit's members in terms of how they behave - what actions they take and what actions they refrain from taking. Culture also establishes how unit members communicate inside and outside the unit. Finally, culture is understood and internalized by the unit's members based on what they see in terms of how the unit leaders (parents, firm leaders, department leaders, practice leaders, etc.) act and communicate.

To understand any organization's real culture, you have to look beyond the posters on the wall and the the core value statements to observe how people in the organization actually behave and more critically, how the unit leaders behave. Behavior is the best and truest indicator of what an organization's culture is. There are many roads that this article can take but the one I want to focus on is "I versus We".

Are the actions that unit members take motivated by "I" or "We" - what is best for the individual or what is best for the unit. Let's look at one example within a professional services firm although the example apply equally to any organizational unit. One of the major challenges many firms face is creating a firm-first behavior model - doing what is best for the firm versus what might be best for the practice unit or individual partner. Silos are the norm in too many firms driven by both the leader's acceptance of "I" driven actions as well as the way compensation is awarded and the metrics that the firm leaders value. When book of business or new business development are the major metrics that are valued by firm leadership, it creates a culture of "I" - what's best for me versus "We" - what is best for the firm. "I" creates silos and "We" creates firm-first.

So how do you create the "Culture of We"? Let's first look at what doesn't work.

• Leadership makes a declaration saying "we are going to be firm-first from now on"
• Culture survey - ask your employees what they think and then respond with posters but no change in how leadership acts and communicates
• Talking about firm-first but accepting actions that are in conflict with that

So what does work?

• Leadership has to believe in a culture of "We" and ensure that all their messaging, communications and actions reflect firm-first
• Firm leadership must communicate and train their leadership team in what a culture of "We" means and what the expectation is relative to how the leaders interact with, communicate with and personally lead their team members
• Firm compensation awards must reward firm-first actions. I mention above that when book of business and new business development are those metrics that are rewarded, it creates the culture of "I". With that said, obviously generating new business and effectively managing current clients are both critical to the long term success of the firm, Question - who does it help when a partner takes on a new client that has an unacceptable risk profile or a fee proposal that is too low in order to grow their book of business? A culture of "We" and putting the firm first does not mean that business development is less valued. It means that everyone will pursue new business that is best for the firm and not accept a client simply to increase their book of business.
• The firm should celebrate firm-first successes to motivate and inspire everyone to focus on "We" versus "I". It takes time for a culture to take hold and become the DNA of the firm and it is important that firm leadership celebrate great actual examples of "We" versus "I" to demonstrate their commitment to the culture of "WE". It is equally and maybe more important that leadership take action and communicate when actions do not reflect a culture of "WE". When a partner takes an action that is inconsistent with firm-first, the firm leader should talk to the partner about the action taken, WHY it is not consistent with a culture of "WE" and coach a new behavior pattern for that partner.

You can look at a number of examples outside of business that clearly reflect how a team (WE) focused effort will always win over an (I) individual who looks to exaggerate himself over the team. Sports is one of the best and most visible examples of team (WE) versus I. Every team that ever won a championship did so when the team worked together as one unit. As Michael Jordan said “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships”.  It's no different in business. Firm's with silos, even talented silos, just don't perform as well as firms that have a firm first culture, a culture of "We" versus a culture of "I".

If you are leader in a firm, look to how your partners behave and how your staff behave to understand the culture that exists versus the culture you might think exists. If actions are driven by "I" and silos are the norm, that is your call to action to take the steps and have the courage and commitment to change to a firm that celebrates and lives through a culture of "We". It will take time but I guarantee you that the firm will be significantly stronger through any filter you want to measure.