6 Elements of an Ideal Culture

“For the majority of our history at work, we’ve mostly relied on our muscle for hard, physical labor. Only in the last few decades did we begin to rely heavily on our minds as well as the focus at work shifted to the knowledge worker. Now, we are finally moving into a whole body experience at work, involving our hearts, too.” - Derek Irvine

Everyone is talking about culture. There is enough data out there to support that culture is important. Yet, many of us still find it tricky to create our ideal culture.

Before we can tackle the BIG question of what we need to build our ideal culture, let’s first define what culture is.

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the definition of culture is “a way of thinking, behaving, or working that exists in a place or organization (such as a business)”.

In other words, it’s a community or group of people who share similar values, a shared history and experience, and a collective awareness.

But that’s just the general definition of an organizational culture. What about the definition of our ideal culture?

That really depends on what you want to create as every company is different.

Where I work at SPARK Creations, we take it a step further and define a WOW culture as an inspiring and stimulating community that creates a fulfilling workplace experience.

To create a WOW culture, it’s more than just defining your core values, sharing a clear vision and goals, or offering all the fun perks and benefits.

It’s all of that and creating purpose and meaning.

It’s getting back to the basics and asking yourself, why is it important to build your ideal culture?

When you are clear about your why, then that will fuel you and your team to bring life to your company culture.

Consider your ideal culture as a home. Each home will be unique as every family or organization is different in what they like, how they work together and with others, and what they need to live and lead their lives daily.

Once you are grounded and clear with your why, then start assessing your stage of culture development using the following key elements.

For us, our culture philosophy considers six areas that we feel are key to building a thriving home for your team. Just focusing on one of these areas is not enough. All these elements are equally important and must be working together to create and sustain your ideal culture.

6 ELEMENTS OF A WOW CULTURE

1. STORY - In this element, you must get clear about your why (purpose) as Simon Sinek shares in his book Start With Why. To compliment your why, you then must define your core values and/or guiding principles. Learn the difference between your purpose, vision, mission and values in this Harvard Business Review article here. According to Culture University, the “awareness of values at an organizational level helps employees and organizations to more easily navigate today’s complex, ambiguous business environment.” Your purpose and core values will help to create your unique culture story. Check out HubSpot’s Culture Code! People connect through stories. It’s these stories that will guide and inspire you, your team, your clients and partners to continue on your journey. How do you know if you have a strong culture story? Ask one of your team members to share a story about what makes your company unique and see if they use one of your core values or purpose in the story.

2. LEADERSHIP - We’ve all heard the saying that it’s starts from the top. I know from first hand experience that this is true. When I was leading the HR function in my last corporate role, I thought I did everything right to create the ideal culture. But the culture platform I co-created was missing this element of leadership. When one of our executive leaders made a decision that was not aligned and contradicted our declared company core values, we lost the trust of our team. Check out another example featured in this Harvard Business Review article “When Company Values Backfire”. Finding the right individuals that are committed and accountable to live and lead from the values and principles of the company is critical. The actions and behaviours of your leaders must completely align with the core of the organization. No exceptions. How do you know if you have a strong leader or leadership team? Think of a value-driven action that he/she demonstrated in the past week.

Click here to learn about the other key 4 elements of a WOW culture!

Strengthen your Leadership element at the Essence Leadership Retreat on October 18 – 21, 2015 held at the beautiful Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise. Click here to reserve your seat.

Please feel free to share with us in the comments below. I would love to hear about your culture development experience. It’s always fun to learn together!

For additional reading, here are some other posts from Lorie:

• Why Asking for Help Makes You a Stronger Leader
• Eliminate the Word "Weakness" to Build a Stronger Team
• Are You an "Earn My Trust" Leader?
• What Saying NO Really Means
• Stop Recruiting and Start Connecting
• Shed Your Armor and Reap the Rewards
• If You’re a Leader, You’re Under a Microscope!
• 5 Strategies to Integrate Your Values at Work
• Are you a WOW Leader?
• Are you ready to #dreambig?
• It's Time to Bring the "Human" Back Into "Human Resources"
• It’s Time to Mix Personal with Business
• Are you qualified to be in HR?
• The Most Important Skills Today’s Leaders Need to Know
• The Power of Leadership Presence in the Workplace
• How to Trust Again After You’ve Lost It
• Can Frequent Conversations Really Replace Annual Reviews?
• The “Real” Job of HR
• Why GoPro is Living a BIG LIFE
• The Five Benefits of Being Imperfect
• I have an announcement. I’m engaged!
• The One Thing To Do Before the End of 2015
• I have a confession to make.
• Start the New Year with this!
• It’s Okay to Love in the Workplace
• Is mindfulness just nonsense?
• 3 Daily Practices for Mindful Teams
• The Disadvantage of Being Too Caring
• Why We Hate Love (in the workplace)
• The Real ROI of Informal and Social Learning
• Bringing Values-Based Learning to Life (at Work)
• The New Kind of CEO HR Leaders Want
• DIY Management: 5 ways to build an effective startup culture
• Digital Detoxing in a 24/7 World: Disconnect to Connect
• Stand Out and Be Bold
• The Culture Code: Six Keys (and Four Steps) to Hidden Treasure
• A Love Letter for our SPARK Community
• The Importance (and Profitability) of Staying Human
• The ROI of Leading by Example is Priceless
• Love may be a remedy for fear and stress in the workplace

About Lorie:

Lorie Corcuera is the Co-Founder and CEO at SPARK Creations & Company Inc., a heart based coaching and consulting organization that inspires people and companies to create meaningful cultures and workplaces. Lorie is partnering with conscious, purpose-driven businesses who are ready to ignite their cultures and create purpose through creating and inspiring loving human connections at work and at home.