Those are all great and very interesting examples where senior leaders create a culture by taking tough and visible decisions. I wonder if they worked in the same sort of way that the post describes where new people talk about them and it makes them engage with the issues around the culture? That is, did they have a long-lived effect on culture or were they one-off boosts to it? I think you've got a culture when all employees are reinforcing it rather than just the top leaders.
It's something we all need to do - not just "management." A great company culture will, almost as a byproduct, see people genuinely complementing each other on great work, and supporting each other to do even better work. There is no us and them.
Company culture starts from the very top. C-level huddles determine the ethical priorities of its decision-makers, and these eventually are delegated down to teams.
Right, culture is frequently described as a top-down phenomenon, so it is appropriate to look at those highest in the leadership chain first, as they are prime movers when it comes to this kind of thing. They shape the organization's operations through their choices of what to get involved in and what to let others handle.
Can't agree more with this point: If you create a great culture (a fun work environment filled with people who are high performers and who care about their work and their impact on the world) you will be able to attract and retain better people who will be much more engaged and productive and create a much more financially successful company.
reply