Culture begins with beliefs and finds expression in behaviors.
Two questions matter when building a culture. Use excellence as an example.
- What do you believe about excellence?
- What behaviors reflect your beliefs about excellence?
Culture in Two Words: Beliefs and Behaviors
Belief: Curiosity is better than complacency.
Behavior: Ask, “How can we be better?”
Belief: Good enough isn’t good enough.
Behavior: Identify and discuss mediocre performance.
Belief: Leaders persistently work to develop themselves.
Behavior: All leaders must have development plans that their teams know about.
Belief: Isolation is the enemy of excellence.
Behavior: Teammates know each other’s strengths and regularly seek each other’s help.
Belief: Feedback fuels improvement.
Behavior: Leaders invite feedback concerning their performance. When they receive feedback they say, “Thank you.”
Belief: Forgiveness turns failure into growth.
Behavior: Responsible failure is met with, “What did you learn? What will you do differently next time? How can we help?”
Belief: Celebration is energy.
Behavior: Leaders ask, “What’s working?” and celebrate progress.
Culture in two words: Clarify what you believe. Identify behaviors that prove it.
If you can’t see the behavior, it’s not culture.
Can leaders actually build culture in two words?
What ideas do you have about culture building?
Culture Building in the Real World – Leadership Freak
Read: The Culture Code by Daniel Coyle
