Personal initiatives to heal organisational cultures

Change

What is the perennial hallmark of leaders who aspire to leave their companies better than when they started? To make others better by their mere presence. 

One way they achieve this is by taking an active role in transforming the culture; and the environment that surrounds them.

A healthy culture drives healthy behaviors, which in turn foster good habits—something we have long referred to as virtues. 

Good habits are observed at behavioral level, as well as at the cognitive and emotional levels. A healthy culture encourages better ways of thinking, feeling and acting. 

Thus, as a manager, you have an obligation to get involved with enhancing the culture of the place where you work. To that end, I offer you the following 10 tips: 

  1. Identify a noble personal purpose to guide you and your journey through life. Give a powerful meaning to your life.
  2. Ensure your company has an exciting purpose. Give your people reasons to believe and hope; don’t just give them tasks to do. 
  3. Improve your habits: take care of your physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual energy.
  4. Schedule pending conversations with your team and your family.
  5. Do not allow cynicism to accompany you. Cynicism is the result of bad relationships and a lack of sincerity. 
  6. Heal your emotional wounds and those of others. Learn to grieve. 
  7. Incorporate more values and better principles into your way of thinking. Read biographies of people who could inspire you.
  8. Put a headline on the current stage of your career. Anticipate your next stage. Ready yourself so that the next one is better than this one. 
  9. Treat others not as they are, but as they could be.
  10. Foster an approach marked by rigor, self-discipline, spirit of service and mutual trust in your circle of influence. 

We like to say that culture is the strategy, since that is the most influential factor in its execution. 

To all the managers who get involved in the cultural transformation of your companies, you deserve my highest recognition.

And the gratitude of everyone whose lives you will transform by changing the culture.