Glassdoor's Winning CEOs on Avoiding Cultural Debt - Part 2

In Part 1 of this virtual panel discussion, we were fortunate enough to get perspectives of four CEOs whose employees’ anonymous reviews on Glassdoor put them in the top 0.04% of organizations - the rarified air of 2018’s Best Places To Work in the U.S. list!

Our focus last time was on high level rules of cultural engagement, or social contracts, for staying out of Cultural Debt*. This time we wanted to go one level deeper - and provide readers with actionable takeaways to guide manager behavior.

*At ValuesCulture we see Cultural Debt accrue when an impression develops within an employee base that promises have been broken. The resulting cognitive dissonance between employees' ideal view of the organization and disappointing perceived behavior reduces employees' trust in the organization and lowers the discretionary effort employees are willing to contribute.

So let’s get after it!

Please welcome back our esteemed reconvened virtual panel:

Steve Bilt , CEO @ Smile Brands

Mark Bloom , President @ NetWorth Realty

Roy Ferman , CEO @ Seek Business Capital

Bob Glazer , CEO @ Acceleration Partners

(We’d love to have a follow-up conversation with some of the great female leaders atop Glassdoor BPTW in 2018 organizations. We just had not received any responses to their invites at the time of publication.)

We asked the panel: What can your managers do to minimize Cultural Debt?

Roy offered something very specific and actionable for those who are given the gift of the magnified impact that comes with being a manager:

“Managers who keep your organization out of Cultural Debt must learn to not over-promise and under-deliver. That’s a culture killer and a trust killer. Our managers have learned to not be pressured into saying “yes” on the spot in response to the desires and requests of the team, but rather to take the request on board and review it with the management team. Thus, a thought out approach is enabled. The core desires and requests of the team may well be met with a positive answer, but it’s critically important that we move forward in a way that’s going to work well for all stakeholders.

Managers who keep your organization out of Cultural Debt must learn to not over-promise and under-deliver. That’s a culture killer and a trust killer.

We know that when it comes to setting a cultural tone, leadership has to walk the talk. We have moved to a lead-by-example philosophy of 3 public gestures and 1 surprise gesture to ensure we minimize Cultural Debt. We like to think this provides the staff a feeling that promise-keeping can still be pleasantly surprising!”

Mark’s journey as a manager is informed by his learning of his own ability to curate a culture markedly different from one he was exposed to early in his career - and the knowledge that culture will always evolve on its own but can be curated by engaged leaders:

“I learned some hard lessons as manager early on. They were extreme, but thankfully they were early on. In part, they made me the leader I am today. As a kid, I was raised in a tougher than normal environment. I wouldn’t change a thing, but my upbringing was…different. Yelling, and screaming, and letting your emotions boil over was just how you got things done. I hadn’t known much else. From the time I started in a management role over a decade ago, I have completely changed my management style. This evolution has been essential to the environment we have chosen to create at NetWorth Realty. What people sometimes fail to realize fully is, you must actively create the environment you want. No different from a child’s growth, the growth of your culture takes patient guidance.

You must lead by example, with empathy; and you must communicate truthful reasons why things are being done one way or the other in your organization.

It matters little whether you embrace the culture fully, or you do not at all, one will be created around you. Everything you do or don’t do, whether you think it is seen or recognized, is. The energy is affected. What you “want" will matter less than what you are willing to sacrifice for personally and accomplish while leading from the front. You must lead by example, with empathy; and you must communicate truthful reasons why things are being done one way or the other in your organization. You must accept control and responsibility. If something happens or doesn’t happen in your company, good or bad, right or wrong, it does so because you, as the leader allowed it to happen. Own it, and be able to explain it in a way that squares with your values. Take ownership of everything. As a leader, it may not be your fault, but it is always your responsibility.”

Bob’s actions are all about playing the long game with the good people who’ve chosen to share the precious thing that is a phase of their career journey with your organization:

“We focus on making Acceleration Partners a place where people are excited about coming to work each day, a place where they find both their work and their relationships with colleagues rewarding, and a place where people can see themselves adding value for many years to come. We challenge employees and set big goals, but care for them and connect with them as individuals as well — that’s the key to inspiring them to contribute their best.

We challenge employees and set big goals, but care for them and connect with them as individuals as well — that’s the key to inspiring them to contribute their best.

Recently, I sent out an email to everyone in the company asking them to share their top five personal dreams/goals/ambitions with me asking, “What are the five most important things that you want to achieve/accomplish in your lifetime? I then offered to meet with each person in 2018 one-on-one to help them work towards a goal(s). As a surprise for AP’s 10-year anniversary, I selected 10 reoccurring themes from the life goals that were shared and showed our support for making those happen https://www.accelerationpartners.com/blog/making-dreams-come-true-at-ap-summit .”

Steve learned that part of successfully reaching great scale as a business, on the culture front, is a little counterintuitive: If you love your culture - set it free!:

“The idea of “Celebrate.Everyday.Miracles” has been part of the Smile Brands vernacular for a while and was very much associated with our mission to give back by providing free dental care overseas. Giving back in this way has proven to be immensely fulfilling for the team - we see huge smiles on their faces as they work hard and long in lousy conditions!

The team took the concept and ran with it in ways that were far more meaningful for them than a CEO-led initiative.

Something really interesting happened when the team began to take these words and alter the word order "Celebrate" "Everyday" "Miracles" in a sort of spontaneous grass roots recognition program. One team commissioned a whiteboard and would gather on a set schedule with "Cool And The Gang" blasting out - as they shared stories; from business process improvements that make “everyday” better, to some work life miracles that could be pretty tear-jerking. The team took the concept and ran with it in ways that were far more meaningful for them than a CEO-led initiative. They made it all their own and I was just happy to be able to crash the party!”

While ValuesCulture was delighted to see multiple clients make the 2018 Glassdoor list, none of the CEOs tapped here were clients. They cracked the culture curation code without us - so we’re extremely grateful for sharing their learnings so generously!

Again, all four of these Culture curating CEOs were quick to direct me back to their Glassdoor pages for more ongoing detail on how they’re doing their best to stay out of Cultural Debt. It’s always going to be a work in process - and the benefit of the doubt needs to be earned continually.

The topic of Avoiding Cultural Debt (see Part 1 here ) shall return….

It’d be great to get your take on how to stay out of Cultural Debt. Please comment below!

Peter Phelan, a Chief People Officer turned Culture Doctor making house calls in Manhattan's Silicon Alley and beyond, is Founder and CEO of?ValuesCulture . ValuesCulture helps growing organizations build sustainable competitive advantage by leveraging data to define and develop strong, truth-based organizational cultures.