The Soil of Culture

When my yard was landscaped, I asked the crew to fill my 3 raised garden boxes with top soil. A couple of weeks later, it rained. The rain caused the soft soil to settle and it was then that I saw the thousands of small rocks that were beneath the surface. It wasn’t good top soil at all. It was screened fill dirt disguised as top soil. As Spring came, all the dormant weed seeds in the fill dirt began to sprout. The garden boxes that were supposed to be a nurturing environment for thriving vegetables was a mess of bad soil with prickly weeds – soil that had to be dug out and replaced.?

The Principle

What a company truly values is the proverbial soil from which things will grow. If the soil only seems fertile and healthy, but really isn’t, when the rainy days come with their failed product launches, economic downturns or org restructures, the weeds of self-interest, cynicism, doubt, mistrust and fear will spring up.?

If the soil is actually healthy, when the rainy days come, difficult decisions will be made in alignment with vision and values. Trust and loyalty will increase and teams will pull together to take care of the company that cares for them.?

The Practice

If you’re in an environment where the vision and values are just corporate wallpaper, here are a couple of ideas to get you thinking about how you can practice this principle:

1. Identify which elements of the vision and values resonate with your personal value set. Then make a commitment to bring those values to life in the way you lead or influence your team.

2. Make it a point to notice when others around you are living elements of the company/team vision and values and recognize them when they do. Good behavior is more likely to be repeated when it’s recognized and rewarded.