are you culturally positive?

Four Pillars of Business Series - Part 1: Culture

"Hire on attitude, train for skill."

"Make sure the person we are hiring fits into our culture."

"He or she doesn't fit in, it's not working."

It's bad when we miss the mark hiring the person that doesn't match the culture.

It's worse, if they choose to stay.

The culture is the ethos of the people within your business. Culture doesn't belong to 'the company'. It belongs to each individual within your business.

Each person plays their part in determining what the culture will be. One person may behave in a way that is culture positive. It may be ignored or discouraged. Or it may be championed. Each of these decisions are the moments when the culture is being determined.

The key is to hire and retain people who are prepared, and able, to take responsibility for the culture, and won't rely on others to maintain it.

People are culture negative, culture neutral or culture positive. Only culture positive people will help you improve your business and drive home what you want to achieve.

Culture is made up of many elements, with a focus on:

Vision - is the vision being fulfilled and fought for by the entire team?

Values - are the values being lived by the team? Do we hire, fire and performance manage based on these values?

Standards - what personal standards of excellence does each member abide by? Are they enough for business success?

Expectations - what expectations do we have of each other? Do we communicate this effectively? Do we speak up when a cultural expectation is compromised?

Emotional Aptitude - are the people resilient enough to the tough times and able to handle the challenges we'll face pursuing our goals?

Focus on culture first, second and third and you will be rewarded with raving fans in your team. These are the people that connect with your market, your customers and through how they connect, are creating how your business will be perceived.

You create a divergence - something unexpected, extraordinary.

Think about the type of service you usually get. When you get your bread. When you buy lunch. When you go to the cinema. When you call your service providers.

Beige. Boring.Bad.

If you focus on great culture, you'll attract great people. They will represent your business beautifully and your business will be talked about. And people will come. And they will pay to play.

Have a look at your competitors. What is the level of care they demonstrate in their marketing, client relationships, what do they show they care about?

There is your opportunity to disrupt.

A great Culture is the first key in the Four Pillars of Business Success Series. Stay tuned for part 2 Client Experience.

Christiane is an Agile Coach, Meta Dynamics Coach and Visual Facilitator. She joined The Coaching Institutes’ Professional Master Coach Program in order to gain deep knowledge of human behaviour and business success. She works with businesses, teams and individuals on developing high performance, connected relationships and reaching business outcomes. You can follow her on Twitter under @agiledynamics