The Culture of Mattering
This week, an executive at the company I co-founded and led for over a decade reached out in a text. He said “I just want to say that the culture you created and fostered was not only amazing but cult-like in the best possible way and I’m not sure it will ever exist anywhere… so thank you for showing me how incredible things could be”.
His text put a lump in my throat and reminded me of the positive impact that we can have on people. It did more than that, though, it galvanized who I am as a coach and advisor to my clients. I’m a big believer in strategic plans built on values, mission and principles. I co-authored a book about it called Ten Year Plan. I love competency-based development and working with executives to build their skills. It’s so fun to see the breakthroughs as they discover new ways of navigating. But in conversations with 9 out of 10 of my executives, we quickly end up in the deeper realms of what it means to be a heart-centered leader and how culture is simply the product of intention supported by action. Meaning, if our intention is to be heart-centered but our actions go contrary to that ideal, then our culture won’t be heart-centered but instead more of a do-as-I-say, not-as-I-do hypocrisy. If our intention is to have a culture of excellence but we cut corners or deprive our team of the tools necessary for that excellence, we might as well strive for a culture of mediocrity because that’s really what we’re selling. If our goal is a culture of inclusivity and belonging but we keep secrets, play favorites and have double standards, then all the buzzwords on our social media won’t do anything to make our teams believe them.
In our case, we wanted our team members to think of their time at Tender Greens as the best job they ever had. We wanted our culture to be one of love and discipline. Care for each other and our guests. Mutual responsibility for creating win-win partnerships. A sense of possibility and opportunity. We backed that up in meaningful ways, not in service to the mission but in service to the people themselves. We were there as bosses for sure but also as coaches, confidants, fathers at times and big brothers at others. We wanted our team members to feel seen, heard and valued. Really. What a good feeling that is to actually be seen by another person let alone an entire organization. A place where the act of recognizing the individual contributions of each person as well as actively and explicitly caring about their human potential and growth are baked right into the company’s crust. Sean jokingly called it “a cult” but that intention and action does border on a spiritual quest. That’s the place where we wanted to work. It’s the place we created for others.
We did it simply by asking after their families, cooking a holiday dinner for them, chipping in when the bills got tight, teaching life skills while we trained job tasks, asking their opinions when we had problems to solve, being transparent in our decision-making, empowering everyone to speak up when we were violating our principles, and staying connected to the idea that love can permeate a work place without it going soft or stepping over the line.
It’s sad to me that many people actually go through a lot of their lives not feeling this way much at all let alone during their working hours. Talk about an employee value proposition; make coming to work a deeper and more meaningful experience than when we’re at home! How awesome is that?
Please get in touch if I can support you in deepening your heart-centered leadership at work or elsewhere.
