The Three Key Elements of Organizational Culture

It doesn’t matter if you are a little league team, a church, a school, or a Fortune 500 company, organizational culture matters. We’ve all worked for companies/leaders that failed to understand the impact of culture. So here are three quick things to keep in mind regarding organizational culture:

Culture and leadership are two sides of the same coin.

Edgar Schein in his best-selling book, Organizational Culture and Leadership, states that “culture and leadership are two sides of the same coin.” We often know those who serve at the top both individually and at the board level fail to realize just how big an impact leadership has on the culture of an organization. Leadership is the primary shaping force of any organization’s culture. If the culture is bad, you need to look no further than the leader. He/She will make decisions and shape the overall look and feel of the culture.

Culture is explicit and implicit.

Culture is both explicit and implicit… or, perhaps, intentional and unintentional.  Or, my favorite way of describing it is: spoken and unspoken. Leaders often think that culture is strictly and simply shaped by their spoken values, HR policies, or emails. There are so many other decisions and elements that impact the culture. How people are hired, fired, disciplined, rewarded, and reprimanded help to shape how employees believe they will be treated. Even the look and feel of offices, buildings, and green space play a role in culture. For employees, there are lots of questions: Are you compensated well? Can you receive a raise? Do you have the tools needed to do your job? Do you have access to training to advance in your career?  Most leaders just get so caught up in their roles, bottom lines, and day to day challenges that they forget the impact of the unspoken.

The best cultures are intentional.

The best leaders are intentional and careful in how they choose to create and engage the culture of their organization. Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to observe and work for some leaders who did it well. Those leaders who strategically planned and shaped the culture of the organization created the kind of place that everyone wanted to work. These leaders understood that the best cultures don’t just happen, they are well thought out and planned.

What do you believe makes a good culture?