What behaviors do you create or accept on your work culture?

As Sal walked into the front door of the ABC Company of where he worked, he immediately felt the tension. He sensed a familiar knot in his stomach as he walked through the halls to his office. While many co-workers were friendly, he dreaded interacting with one co-worker in particular who is known by his brash personality and tendency to belittle other’s work, fail to pass along necessary information, and sarcastic humor at co-worker’s expense.

What do your employees feel when they walk in your organization?

According Henry Cloud, organizational consultant and author on several books on leadership, the culture of an organization is set by the behaviors that leaders either create or allow. In other words, the norms and behaviors of employees are directly related to how the leader behaves and what employee behaviors are allowed day to day. Sadly there is often a discrepancy between the stated acceptable behaviors and what behaviors the leader models and accepts by employees.

Culture is the behavior of any organization, in essence the behavior of the people. Most often the strongest personality in the group influences the culture the most. This person will profoundly influence the norms of your work culture. Even if they are not in a formal leadership position, they will impact others by the dominance of their personality.

Who is the most influential person in your work culture?

Think about the most influential person in your work culture. Is the behavior of this person what you want to be emulated throughout your organization? If so, wonderful! If not, what are you doing about it?

As a leader, if you are not intentional about creating the culture you want your organization to have, the culture will be shaped by others.

Strong leaders are systematic about creating culture just as they are intentional about their business plan and other drivers of success. Without being purposeful, your culture will emerge by chance…is that the chance you want to take?

Make the Conscious Choice to create and accept employee behaviors consistent with the work culture you want your organization to be known for.