Why Corporate Culture, Values and Vision Will Save Society in 2020
Martha Finney
Helping Great Leaders Move The World: Platform development and publishing consultant; author of 30 books on leadership
Politicians and pundits will be spending the next year telling us why we should hate each other.?But the business world is giving us everyday reasons why we can all love each other.
About four years ago, I walked away from a six-figure dream opportunity. Without even looking back. Which is a big deal, when you’re self-employed. On paper, it was one of those “you know you’ve made it when” invitations to collaborate with a new client. His topic was within my zone of genius, not to mention my zone of passion. There was no selling or pitching on my part. He wanted me and no one else. There wasn’t even negotiation. He practically said, “Take my money.”
Why on earth? His project checked all my boxes too. So what wrecked the deal? It wasn’t his politics. It wasn’t my politics. It was the fact that he was so indiscreet about his politics that he revealed all. And with every national name he dropped, and every joke he cracked, I kept returning to the same thought: “You would hate me if you knew who I am.”
And that is the reason why I took a pass.
Now, I may have been right in my conclusions and resulting decision. Or I may have been wrong. It’s anyone’s guess.?But here’s what I know for sure: This guy’s blatant and completely incorrect assumptions that I enjoyed and agreed with his commentary signaled to me that the truth of who I am would be actively unwelcome in his world once his suspicions began to perk up. I would eventually have been rejected like a bad kidney.
That signal was enough to tell me to walk away. I wasn’t driven away by his different world view. I was driven away by the unwelcome mat he had unintentionally laid out for me.
My friends and long-time colleagues who know me well will spray their coffee when they read this next line: I keep my politics to myself. Well, let me rephrase this: I’m getting better at it; especially in business contexts. And I really try to keep my views out of my Linked In life – although I’m seeing increasing evidence from other members’ behavior that even Linked In is dividing into political camps.
The divisiveness is predicted to get even worse as the months advance toward November 2020.?And that divisiveness could hit your company’s profit prospects hard. According to recent research released by The Society for Human Resource Management, nearly 20% of American employees have left their jobs over the last five years because of a toxic workplace culture. A toxic workplace culture is caused by a variety of behaviors and attributes, of course. But you don’t really think that the upcoming elections won’t turbo-boost that toxicity as experienced by both ends of the political spectrum, do you?
If you’re a leader who owns the job of talent retention in your workplace, do you really want politics to be the thing that disenfranchises your best and drives them away?
If you’re a leader who owns the job of talent retention in your workplace, do you really want politics to be the thing that disenfranchises your best and drives them away? Or when a recruiter drops a snarky political joke during an interview, if the candidate says, “You know, I think I left something in my car. I’ll be right back,” you don’t think that candidate will actually return to the interview, right?
We All Want the Same Things
I sincerely don’t believe there’s any chance of any minds changing at this point. (Although, if you are open to changing your mind in my direction, come sit by me.)?The lines are so sharply drawn, that I’m sure no matter what side we’re on, we all sincerely worry that there will be no national rapprochement in our lifetimes. Which is weird, because, with a few extreme exceptions, we really do all want the same thing:
If I’ve left anything out, just add it in the comments section. I’m sure I won’t disagree with you.
We just have different beliefs as to how to achieve those ideals. Those beliefs are then ossified by what media we choose to pay attention to. That’s when we look at each other across an ever-widening gap of understanding and gape at each other, appalled.
One time a client and I took a big risk and put it all out on the table, like two kids spreading out their marbles to compare our collections. Because we’re both in communications, we were professionally and dispassionately curious to see what our different ideas were as a result of our separate media choices and information sources. The operating assumption was that we both want the same things out of life and for our country. And that we respected each other and valued our relationship. Which is true.
As we compared marble for marble, we grew increasingly astounded and dismayed at not only how far apart we were (we already knew that intellectually; still we weren’t prepared for the emotional hit), but also how extremely differently we interpreted the same set of facts. It was like we were standing on two different planets trying to talk to each other across a vast expanse of unbridgeable nothingness. It just wasn’t going to happen. She was so blown away by the experience, she wrote about the encounter in her next book. Even two communications professionals, two emotionally mature adults of good will, couldn’t find one thing to see eye-to-eye on, except for the laundry list of what we want for the country.
As a society, we stand on our personal planets of individual identity, group identity, personal beliefs and assumptions and marvel at the people we thought we knew and liked. “How can you believe what you believe and not have lightning strike you dead?”
If that kind of extreme belief is as common as K-cups in your workplace, what chance can you possibly have of people finding any common ground to stand on at all??
Here’s the thing: Politicians and pundits will be spending the next year telling us why we should hate each other.?But the business world is giving us everyday reasons why we can all love each other.
Politicians and pundits will be spending the next year telling us why we should hate each other.?But the business world is giving us everyday reasons why we can all love each other.
What’s the essential difference? Corporate vision, values and culture provide one big umbrella of commonality and singleness of purpose. In workplace communities, we’re all gathered under one shared mission-critical objective, and we’re pulling together toward the same goals.
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A Well-Designed, Well-Defined Corporate Culture is Good for the Brain
We’re learning a lot about how to take care of our brain, which is a physical organ just like our heart and liver. Damage your noodle and you get mush. Neuroscientists are discovering that toxic thinking can be just as physically damaging – if not more so – as repeated impact. The opposite is also true: You can actually heal your brain, allowing it to rewire itself, with healthy thinking, positive reinforcement and empowering explanatory style (those stories you tell yourself about how and why things happen the way they do).
Think about your daily brain dose of political news. “We are on the side of truth and God. They are bad haters. And the world is coming to an end if we don’t turn this train around right now. It’s not already too late.” Your brain is flooded with flight-or-fight compulsions, learned helplessness, and overwhelm. Not to mention abject loathing for the guy sitting next to you. You’ve seen his bumper stickers.
If that’s not bad enough, there’s not a damn thing you can do to affect the changes you believe are critical to save the world. You can’t personally eliminate race hatred. Your decision to skip that straw won’t make an iota’s bit of difference to that trash island currently circumnavigating the Ring of Fire. Your decision to join that wonderful network marketing company and grow an amazing organization of fellow entrepreneurs isn’t going to put a dent in the relentless attack on capitalism.?No matter what political side you take on, it’s all just way too big.?But that doesn’t keep you from exposing your brain to cortisol-inducing morning headlines.?If you’re like me, it’s an addiction.
And you still have to work with Bumper Sticker Guy. There’s a lightning bolt with his name on it, and your best hope is that you’re not sitting next to him when it finds its mark.
All that hostility, fear and frustration just isn’t good for your moneymaker.
You know what is good for your brain? As it turns out, exactly the same things that are good for business.?To wit: Focusing on the stuff that’s good and positive and growth-oriented.?Even St. Paul had it right in his letter to the Philippians:
“Finally, brothers [and I presume sisters, and whoever else might have been reading over someone’s shoulder – given his own donkey tumble, I’m thinking Paul was an inclusive kind of guy], whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think on these things.”
Corporate values and vision would qualify in that list. For every moment that you and your team are spending talking about what lofty world/humanity improvements your corporate efforts will manifest, that’s one less moment someone is saying, “I’m calling HR on you.”
For every moment that you and your team are spending talking about what lofty world/humanity improvements your corporate efforts will manifest, that’s one less moment someone is saying, “I’m calling HR on you.”
If You’re Happy And You Know It, Be Nice to Bumper Sticker Guy
Focusing on your shared emotional rewards and goals to live out your company’s values and vision just feels good – which, in turn, contributes to a harmonious corporate culture. Two millennia after St. Paul was sending his letters, Martin Seligman, the father of positive psychology, was working to decode exactly what contributes to the feeling of well-being. Decades earlier, he had already identified confidence in our ability to create positive change as a critical component to optimism (and who doesn’t want optimistic employees?).?And now he was turning his attention to well-being – a sustainable emotional state that prevails over even transient unhappiness.?With these elements in place, you can have a really crappy day now and then and resist the urge to do something anti-social to your colleague’s work area:
If you want to learn more about Seligman’s research on well-being, I recommend his book Flourish.
In the meantime, consider this list and line it up with your corporate vision and values statements.?Assuming they’ve been well-considered and written with care, you’ll see that they’re just dripping with PERMA.?And you’ve got the basic material for a whole new training program designed to keep your precious talent focused on all those things St. Paul was going on about.
So. November 3, 2020. Yeah. It’s coming. And there will be tears on November 4. No doubt about that. Just a question of who will be doing the weeping.
Ideally, no one in your company will be. They may not be happy. But they will be nice to each other.?And maybe after a session of power-chowing consolation donuts, everyone will be back at the task at hand…making the world a better place. As a team. On behalf of this great company they work for.
Because they can. Because you set it up for them that way.
About Martha I. Finney:?In addition to writing books on employee engagement, career management and leadership, and bossy Linked In articles about how to live your life and run your business, Martha also helps companies build authentic cultures of employee passion and purpose through her one-on-one interviews and her small group workshop, Career Landscapes.
Learn more about how to bring Martha to your company to capture the authentic voices and stories of employee passion. Contact her at [email protected]
Thanks for sharing this with me, Martha!
Future of Work Expert, Board Member, Author, Keynote Speaker, Talent Management & Organization Effectiveness Strategist and Advisor
4 年Martha, this is brilliant! Kudos to you. The one thing you left off your list is “impact.” I did some research a few years back on how people defined career success, and making an impact was at the top of the list. Depending on one’s role or career stage this looked different; impact on a project, a person, a team, the business or the world. But i do think you danced around the edges of this when you brought in Martin Seligman’s work. Corporate culture often focuses on how employees can make an impact at work and what all employees are collectively striving to achieve. Keeping the collective focus here, and away from political differences that divide us, certainly will improve productivity and well- being.
Guiding Courageous Leaders to Navigate our Uncertain Future with Love, Not Fear. Reclaim the Power of your Purpose. Founder | Master Integral Coach | Executive Coach | Futurist | Psychedelic Mentor
4 年Martha Finney- I appreciated how you laid out the dilemma for creating productive work environments and thriving culture to be the nexus of what is also needed for our individual and personal flourishing. Focusing on the positive aspects of our lives, living intentionally and purposefully focusing on what matters, rather than what doesn't work. It's a win-win scenario for all of us, if we can create common solutions for both individual (employee) well-being into corporate culture remedies. Bravo.?
IYKYK
5 年As usual...very well done Martha. ?Great insights and advice for all who must cary the culture torch in their companies.