Have you ever stopped to consider the heartbeat of your organization, the culture that keeps it alive and kicking? In this episode, Jenni Catron asks the question of why leaders sometimes bask in the illusion of a thriving culture, while their teams experience something quite different, and how this misalignment can spell trouble for business health. Prepare to confront the truths about company culture and learn why investing in it is as crucial as your business strategy.
Ready to dive in? Our Lead Culture workshops provide actionable tactics to align your mission with your team's day-to-day realities, and I'll give you a peek into these transformative sessions. Tune in for an engaging talk that promises to guide you towards not just envisioning but actualizing an extraordinary workplace culture.
We need your help to get the Lead Culture podcasts in front of more leaders! There are three simple things you can do that truly help us:
Have you ever stopped to consider the heartbeat of your organization, the culture that keeps it alive and kicking? In this episode, Jenni Catron asks the question of why leaders sometimes bask in the illusion of a thriving culture, while their teams experience something quite different, and how this misalignment can spell trouble for business health. Prepare to confront the truths about company culture and learn why investing in it is as crucial as your business strategy.
Ready to dive in? Our Lead Culture workshops provide actionable tactics to align your mission with your team's day-to-day realities, and I'll give you a peek into these transformative sessions. Tune in for an engaging talk that promises to guide you towards not just envisioning but actualizing an extraordinary workplace culture.
We need your help to get the Lead Culture podcasts in front of more leaders! There are three simple things you can do that truly help us:
The Art of Leadership Network. Hey leaders, welcome to the Lead Culture Podcast, part of the Art of Leadership Network. I'm your host, Jenni Catron. Each week, I'll be your guide as we explore powerful insights and practical strategies to equip you with the tools you need to lead with clarity and confidence and build a thriving team. My mission is to be your trusted coach, empowering you to master the art of self-leadership so you'll learn to lead yourself well, so you can lead others better. Each week, we'll take a deep dive on a leadership or a culture topic. You'll hear stories from amazing guests and leaders like you who are committed to leading well. So let's keep learning on this leadership journey together.
Speaker 1:Friends, today I want to talk about an interesting kind of set of thoughts that I've had recently, as I've been actively teaching and consulting on organizational culture, so this is not new to you. If you're a regular listener to Lead Culture Podcast, you know that I love the topics of leadership and culture and I have been doing a lot of work lately a lot of speaking opportunities, a lot of working with different clients and groups talking about the importance of culture, and in fact, I am writing my next book, which will be all about the subject. So I'm kind of in the thick of the writing process right now because I need to turn it into the publisher in just a couple of weeks. But I've had some interesting observations, as I've been consulting on organizational culture for nearly seven years, and so I thought I would just take an episode to share some of these observations. I'm not going to go into great detail, I just want to kind of share some of the things that I'm observing and I'd love for you to think about whether those apply to you, to your organization. Maybe you've seen it somewhere, a team you've been a part of, and hopefully it just kind of sparks some conversation, some learning, some curiosity around how do we continue to build extraordinary cultures, places that great team members are clamoring to be a part of. That's what we want right In a workplace dynamic that is just really has shifted so much over the last few years.
Speaker 1:We are hungry for committed team members who are on mission with us. I'm talking to so many leaders that have had transitions, and some of those, the reasons for transition have been good, they haven't been bad, but it's just left holes within their organization. Some team members have moved on because the cost of impact from inflation has just made it difficult for them to stay in a job that they really loved, but they had to go work someplace else for more money. And so there are so many different factors impacting organizational culture, and I think it's really important that we, as leaders, continue to elevate the importance of this conversation in the work that we do, and so I'm going to give you six things, six observations that I have made as I've been just deep diving on this topic for the last number of years. So the first one is this no one argues with the importance of culture, so I'm not having that argument anymore. It might have been. If we rewound a handful of years. I was probably trying to convince people of the importance of the topic. I'm not finding that to be the case anymore. No one's really arguing with it. This conversation has been elevated enough. Culture has been a buzzword for long enough that nobody's really arguing with it, and yet there's still a gap in what they're doing about it.
Speaker 1:The second one is most leaders think that their culture is better than it is. Now, this one might be a hard one to hear, but most leaders think that their culture is better than it actually is. What's happening here is that you're the leader disproportionate influence on the culture. You are setting the tone of the culture. So the environment that you sit in is one that you're comfortable with as a leader typically, but it isn't always the experience that the rest of the team is having. We have this challenge as leaders, regardless of what the topic is, that it's hard for us to really mind for the truth in the culture of what the experience is like for the employee. So it's really important for us as leaders to be honest about the reality. So I just want you to operate. If you're a senior leader, I want you to operate from the premise that the culture is not as good as it feels to you. If you start from that place, you'll be more motivated to actually take some action on making sure your culture is really healthy and thriving.
Speaker 1:Number three good culture is an expectation of younger employees. So Gen Z that's coming into the workforce. They will not tolerate poor culture. Like, it is an expectation, it is a given to them. So if your culture is not good, they're out, they're not interested, they're moving on to another organization because, again, this conversation has elevated so much over the last handful of years that they know that there are organizations that are more intentional about culture and they're going to go find those organizations. So younger employees are saying this is a pay to play. You need to have good culture. That's a starting point.
Speaker 1:Number four most organizations don't work on their culture until it's in crisis. Now, guys, this one kills me. This one, like so many times, we will work with organizations that they call us out of desperation because their culture is no longer in a healthy place and it hasn't been in a healthy place for a while. It's typically the truth of it and the like. As much as we are like eager to help those organizations and we are quick to jump in and help them work on their culture, it's heartbreaking to watch the long-term impact because they let it go for too long that they didn't work on it until it was truly in crisis. And we have the exceptions. We have some wonderful clients. I just worked with a client a few weeks ago that their culture is in a really healthy place and they just wanted to do a tune up. They had me come in. We did two days together. We looked at their culture, we assessed where they are, we clarified and defined who they want to be and how to continue to live. Into that and it was like it was so fun, it was so joy producing, because they just realized here's a couple of things we want to tweak, here's a couple of things we want to define a little more specifically, but for the most part, what I find is most organizations don't work on it until it's in crisis. So I want to caution around that, like work on it before it becomes a problem.
Speaker 1:Number five most leaders are reluctant to ask for help with their culture. Now, I get this. This is kind of true of most of the work we do at 4Sight, and it's why I consider the work we do such a sacred privilege, because we are connecting with leaders at vulnerable moments, right? So either you're saying I need leadership coaching and that's typically brought on by kind of a place where you feel stuck or you know you need to grow, or you've been given feedback that you need to grow in a specific area so leaders will come to us for coaching and that's very vulnerable to say I need help. And the same is true with culture, right? Like when an organizational leader comes to us and says, okay, we need some help with culture. It's a pretty vulnerable place because we all want to believe that we do a good job leading a team. We all want to believe it's a fantastic place to work, and when it's not, it is really hard to ask for help for that.
Speaker 1:The challenge with that posture is that it's also really hard to get good, honest feedback if your culture is unhealthy. Something in your culture is keeping your team from probably giving you the true feedback that you need or helping you bridge, maybe, the trust gap that has occurred, and so the best thing you can do is bring somebody in to be that third party in that voice to get perspective, to help foster the right conversations and help move your culture forward. And so I want to encourage you don't be reluctant to find support. Everybody gets coaching and support for the things that matter most to them. If you want to get fit, you go get a coach to help you get fit right, you get a fitness instructor. If you want to change your diet, you get somebody to help you coach you through a health plan and the right meal plan for you right, you find resources to coach you in the things you want to grow in. And the same needs to be true about culture, right? We can't be afraid to ask for help. Number six, the last one. Rarely do organizations have a plan for their culture.
Speaker 1:Now, think about this for a minute. This is like what kind of keeps me up at night and I get excited about talking with leaders. There's an episode that I did and I'd have to go find which episode it was. I don't have it right at the top of my mind, but quite a while back I did an episode on the three things that I think are critical for every organization to succeed. Its purpose, culture and strategy. And those three things are the critical building blocks for every healthy organization. Those three things are the critical building blocks for every healthy organization. And so if you think about these three things purpose, that's your mission. Your vision, it's your why, why do we do what we do? And my, I'm willing to bet that you have spent a significant amount of time developing your mission and vision. You might have brought in an outside consultant to help you refine or refresh or rewrite your mission and vision, or you spent a lot of internal time as a team, but you gave it disproportionate time and you probably revisit it every handful of years. So you give very purposeful time to crafting mission and vision. And then I'm also willing to bet that you have a strategic plan that you have annually or every couple of years you write a strategic plan. You probably hire a consultant to come in and help you write a strategic plan and it helps kind of map out the future.
Speaker 1:How many of you have a plan for your culture, right? Most of us don't. In fact, there's a staff that says 90% of leaders would say that employee engagement is critical to your success as an organization, but only 25% of you have a plan. And that's the thing I want you to really wrestle with as leaders is that we build plans for the things that are most important to us and I bet your people. Your culture is one of the most important things in your mind and yet for some reason, we leave it to chance. We don't have a plan. And, friends, that is the opportunity, that is the great work we get to do, because if we have a plan for our culture, we're much more likely to see that plan come to fruition, just like a strategic plan, just like a mission and a vision statement right.
Speaker 1:Once it is crafted and it is defined, our potential to live into that is exponentially greater. The same is true for your culture. You need to have a plan, you need to know what are we doing, why are we doing it, how are we doing it, what do we look like at our best as an organization and what's our plan to live into that? See, one of the biggest challenges with culture is that it's an outcome. Right, it is an outcome. The culture you have right now is an outcome of the inputs you've put in, and if you are not defining what you're putting into your culture, you also are not defining what you get out of it, and so I want you to wrestle with this idea. What would it take to build a plan for your culture? Do you have one, and how badly are you committed to building an extraordinary team and an extraordinary culture? Because building your plan for your culture is, in my opinion, one of the most critical things that you can do to lead a healthy organization.
Speaker 1:So, if you're curious about that, one of the things we do at 4Sight is our Lead Culture Workshops, which are designed for your organization to define your culture and put in place a roadmap for you to thrive. We help you get a clearly defined plan for creating a thriving team culture. You take a customized culture survey with your team and get an analysis of the results to help you identify critical areas of focus the things that are most holding your team back. We'll help you build a plan to implement your cultural values. At every stage of the employee lifecycle, we're going to help you define the culture you aspire to and build a pathway for achieving that. Using our values framework, you're going to learn the building blocks for sustaining great culture, and then you're going to define the leaders and systems and routines that will enable you to continue to build upon the work. And so, if you're ready to build a plan, we would love to help. I want you to just email me at Jenni J-E-N-N-I at get4sightcom. We would love to get you in touch with one of our certified lead culture coaches so that they can walk you through a healthy process to build a plan that defines your culture and helps you realize the impact that you want to have.
Speaker 1:Friends, your culture is too important to leave it to chance, and so I want you to really think about these six things I identified today that no one argues with the importance of it, like we're all on board with that, but most leaders think their culture is better than it is. So we've got to get honest there. Good culture is an expectation of younger employees. Think about your younger employees. What are they expecting and how can we live into that? Most organizations don't work on it until it's in crisis, so don't wait for the crisis. Most leaders are reluctant to ask for help with their culture. So don't be that leader. Be willing to ask for help and then build that plan for your culture. This work matters so much, I think, in the season that we're in, with the impact we want to have our ability to achieve the mission that's in front of us we need a team that is unified and aligned and on mission with us. So, whatever you do, give time and attention to your culture and, if 4Sight can help, just throw me an email and let me know. Friends, before we go.
Speaker 1:Today I want to give you a heads up about one more resource that I think you need to check out. On the Rise is one of today's most read newsletters about faith, culture, the future church and just other curious content. It's written by Carey Nieuwhof and, as you know, we're part of the Art of Leadership Network with Carey and his team, and so Carey writes this newsletter. It's delivered directly to your inbox each Friday and I wanted you to check it out If you'd like to start receiving On the Rise. Visit ontherisenewsletter. com and this content is exclusive to newsletter subscribers, so you've got to be subscribed to get it. It's not published anywhere else, so go to ontherisenewsletter. com and let them know that we sent you from 4Sight and when you get it, you'll get a sample newsletter delivered right away so you can get an instant taste of what it's like. Be sure to go check that out, you guys. Such a great resource for leaders.
Speaker 1:All right, I gave you a lot to think about today, but I hope these thoughts on the importance of culture have resonated and inspired you. I hope I wasn't bossy big sister who just made you feel bad about not addressing your culture. I want to inspire you to say this matters. This is why it matters. This is why I want you to be working on it. So let me know what you thought of this week's episode. You can connect with me on Instagram and Facebook, at Get 4Sight or at Jenni Catron, and I would love it If you would share the episode with another leader, another friend. Talk about it as a team and get honest about what do we need to do to keep building and sustaining a healthy, thriving culture. All right, friends, thanks for listening today. Keep leading well and we'll talk to you next week. Music.