Author of
The Gauntlet
We’ve begun returning to the office, emerging from months of virtual-only connectivity. Many leaders are discovering that the lack of in-person interaction has caused their company’s culture to fray.
Businesses are living entities, communities with cultures built and nurtured by all those whose energy and commitment have produced the company’s progress. Their culture binds them to one another, enabling the execution of strategy and achievement of goals, creating value for customers, the business and each other. Culture is how things get done.
Leaders have increasingly realized that their company’s culture is a primary source of competitive advantage, a key differentiator between success and failure, so there’s urgency in revitalizing the cultural bond. Resources are being invested not just to strengthen their cultural capital, but to measure it as well.
Leaders cultivate culture. Through words and actions, they shape it by modelling its mindset, values and expected behaviors. Then they ensure that the right structures are in place to support those desired behaviors, monitoring them, as they do with goals, to develop the consistency that enables a collaborative culture to take root and grow. Ultimately, an organization’s culture reflects its leadership.
Leaders may define culture, but it takes the commitment of the company’s people to drive it forward – a commitment which reflects how the values posted on its walls live in the hearts and minds of the employees. When trust and belief permeate the culture, people step up to make things happen.
Cultural capital is the new frontier of competitive advantage.
What are you doing to strengthen your culture?
