PEr Chronicles: Culture is being shaped every day whether you like it or not

It’s been a cruel summer for a couple of Prime Ministers. Japan’s Fumio Kishida resigned after just a year, plagued by low approval ratings. Thailand’s Srettha Thavisin was ousted in a surprising court decision, making way for the country’s youngest-ever Prime Minister, 37-year-old Thaksin’s daughter.

People are frustrated.

Most of us are ready to give it our all when we start a job. We are usually full of ideas for ways to do things better. Yet, we’re often dismissed, told it’s not our place, that it’s been tried before, or that we shouldn’t rock the boat. Our suggestions are ignored. Our creativity go unappreciated. Eventually, we stop trying. Too often that’s where the story of our work life ends.

Even the most promising employees can go through this downward spiral. Disengaged and dissatisfied employees hurt an organization’s bottom line while making the environment toxic for of their colleagues. Gallup estimates that this cost the US workforce over $300billion in lost productivity. My sense is that the true impact on joy and happiness is likely far greater.

Bosses are frustrated as well.

If you are a boss, you have likely been stymied by the lack of passion and ownership you see among your workforce. You probably have tried to encourage them to make decisions only to have many seem more comfortable simply doing what they are told.

This situation exists in even the best companies. A recent survey indicated that 44% of business leaders reported their disappointment in the performance results of their employees.

In my early managerial years, I thought I knew something about leadership. Turned out I didn’t.

Discouraging moments were plentiful back in 2005, despite my best efforts to inspire and empower my team, nothing seemed to boost performance or morale; instead, problems mounted. Frustrated and unsure of what was going wrong, I eventually took back control and began making every decision myself.

My moment of clarity came with the new role I took on six years later. I knew it was my job to encourage my people to explore and discover the answers while creating a culture that allowed them to their best work. I made it a priority to literally and figuratively wrap my arms around people by championing their work and supporting both their success and failures. I give credit where it’s due. Within a year, we went from worst to first in most measures of performance, including the one I valued most – our ability to attract and retain top talent.

Leaders create culture. Culture drives behaviour. Behaviour produces results.

Creating and maintaining an encouraging culture is difficult, but ultimately attainable. You may not be in the position to completely revamp your company culture. A shift in culture must start at the ground level with just the team in which you lead because culture comes to life at the team level first.

The steps were evolutionary. The results were revolutionary.