3 Steps to Align Strategy with Culture
High performing companies build strategies that harness their cultural strengths.
culture
Culture Drives Performance
Increasingly, the discussions I’m having with leaders focus on how to better leverage their culture to improve performance. We’ve experienced more change in the past few years than we’ve ever seen before. The work to be done is evolving, it’s different; so, the way we get it done must be different. Culture is how a business gets things done. It defines who you are as a company and what you believe. While your purpose or …
Resetting Your Foundation
It won’t be long before busy schedules, endless meetings, and heavy workloads again become the norm. Before that happens, and if you haven’t already done so, recognize that this time presents a unique opportunity to assess your business’ progress from “what is” to “what can be.” Your company’s achievements and aspirations rely heavily on your culture as the foundation upon which your business is built. Those responsible for implementing and adapting strategies to achieve your goals behave in accordance …
Strengthening Cultural Capital
Businesses are living entities, communities with cultures built and nurtured by all those whose energy and commitment have produced your company’s progress. Culture binds your employees to one another, and to the company. It enables the execution of strategy in pursuit of shared goals, and the creation of value for customers, the business and each other. Culture is how things get done. Increasingly, culture is recognized as a primary source of competitive advantage and business …
Driving Change Amidst Turmoil
Supply chain challenges and rampant inflation continue to disrupt businesses of all sizes, causing them to revise strategies and priorities as they adapt to new realities. Having navigated Covid shutdowns, and the subsequent transitions back to work, leaders are now compelled to control rapidly escalating costs that are crushing margins and constraining the achievement of revenue goals. It’s one thing for leaders to drive proactive, productive change when the business is growing; it’s another when strategy and structure revisions are required in …
Resilient Culture
In the last ten years, we’ve experienced more change in business than ever before. The way we work will necessarily keep evolving – we’ll need to work differently.And new, different work will need to be done. Operating productively with this level of required flexibility will compel every business to rely more heavily on its culture. Hence the increasing dialogue about the value of culture in executing strategy and adapting with agility. Leaders who are more comfortable …
Precedents vs. Possibilities
Two components define a company’s culture: 1. Its perspective towards people interactions and coordination (codependence vs. independence). A codependent culture emphasizes collaboration, managing relationships, and generating team success. Independent cultures value autonomy, individual action, and competition. 2. Its response to change (stability vs. agility). Cultures that favor stability prioritize consistency, predictability, and preservation of the status quo to drive efficiency and risk aversion. Those that value agility stress flexibility, adaptability, and receptiveness to change, prioritizing innovation, openness and a …
Assessing Culture
Emerging from months of virtual-only connectivity, many businesses are discovering that the long-term lack of in-person interaction among their staff has compromised their culture. Control, dependence and short-term thinking have grown more dominant over collaboration, risk-taking, initiative and more strategic thinking. Businesses are living entities, with cultures built and nurtured by all those whose energy and commitment have produced the company’s progress. Their culture is what binds them to one another, enabling their execution of strategy …
3 Qualities of a High Performance Culture
“Culture can account for up to half of the difference in operating profit between two organizations in the same business.” (Heskett @ Harvard) Consider these 3 qualities of a high performance culture: Across the organization, there is a shared ownership for customer success and business progress. People understand how they create value by making a difference for customers, for each other and for the Company. The purpose and profit motives for the business are aligned. Cross-functional collaboration and …
Doing Work That Matters
Doing work that matters is about being vigilant for opportunities to make a difference…for your customers, your associates or your organization. Making something better for one of these groups often creates value for the others. Doing work that matters is about leading by example… taking ownership of an issue, without authority, in order to make it better. Acting to resolve a problem, rather than complaining about it, demonstrates commitment, generosity and shared accountability that encourages others to contribute. …