Latest / Sandra Elizabeth - The Leadership Collective / The Making of a Leader: The Leader as a Culture Carrier

Transcript

The Making of a Leader: The Leader as a Culture Carrier · Sandra Elizabeth - The Leadership Collective

• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: Culture is not what you put on the wall.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: Culture is what people experience when they walk through the door.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: Every organization has a culture.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: Every business has a culture.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: Every department and every team has a culture.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: The most interesting thing is that the culture written in the handbook and the culture experienced by the people can be two completely different things.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: A company can have integrity written on the wall, yet dishonesty is tolerated.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: It can have people first printed in its values while their employees feel invisible.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: A company can advertise open communication, yet everyone in the organization is afraid to speak.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: It can promote teamwork, but leadership operates through favorites and clicks.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: That's because culture isn't created primarily by their slogans.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: Culture is created by behavior.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: Whether leaders realize it or not, they are carrying culture everywhere they go.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Sandra Elizabeth.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for joining me on this podcast today.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: The conversation for today is the leader as a culture carrier.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: People often watch what leaders do.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: People watch what you teach when you speak.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: But you also teach when you remain silent, you teach when you praise, you teach when you correct, you teach even when you ignore, you teach when you promote, you teach by who gets access.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: And you teach by how you respond when somebody disagrees with you.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: The people you have on your team, the people around you, they are constantly learning.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: This is how things are done around here.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: And that sentence alone is one of the most simplest definitions of your organization and its culture.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: So what you tolerate becomes your culture.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: Imagine if one manager continually arrives late, nobody addresses it.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: Another manager begins doing the same.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: And soon your employees realize punctuality isn't actually important.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: Now imagine someone regularly speaking disrespectfully to their colleagues.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: Everyone knows about it, leadership knows about it, and nothing happens.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: A message has just been communicated.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: That behavior has just become acceptable.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes leaders think, I never told anyone that they could behave like that.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: No, you didn't have to.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: Your silence told them that.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: Because what leadership repeatedly tolerates eventually becomes permission.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: My next point is that culture travels downward.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: Consider a senior person, a senior leader who constantly gossips about other people.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: Eventually, managers begin doing the same thing.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: Managers gossip with supervisors, supervisors gossip with employees, then leadership announces we need to stop the gossip culture.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: But where did that culture begin?
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: You see, culture often travels from the top downward.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: If senior leadership is defensive, middle management becomes defensive.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: If senior leadership operates through fear, managers begin using fear.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: If leadership protects favorites, then managers will create favorites.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: But the opposite is also true.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: If senior leaders demonstrate respect, accountability, excellence, and transparency, those behaviors can travel throughout an organization because culture follows what leadership consistently models.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: Let's look at point number three.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: Your private behavior creates public culture.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: This is where most leadership gets uncomfortable because leadership culture isn't only created during formal meetings, it's created in corridors, it's created in your private conversations, it's created when you go out for lunch meetings, it's created in your WhatsApp groups, it's created in your phone calls, it's created in your social media, it's created after meeting conversations.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: What happens when somebody leaves the room?
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: Do you discuss them?
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: Do you ridicule them?
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: Do you ridicule their idea?
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: Do you question their competence?
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: Do you entertain negative conversations about others or about that person?
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: Because the person sitting with you is learning something.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: They're learning from you.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: They're learning this is what happens when someone leaves the room.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: And eventually they will wonder what do they say when I leave?
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: That's how trust begins to disappear.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: Great leaders always understand that private integrity eventually will produce public trust.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: Number four, culture is created in small moments.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: We often think or imagine that organizational culture is built during specific strategy meetings.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_00: But culture is usually built in small moments.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: An employee makes a mistake, how does the leader respond?
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: Someone disagrees in a meeting, how does the leader respond?
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: A junior employee will suggest a better idea.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: Does leadership listen to that person?
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: Someone succeeds, but who receives the credit?
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: Someone fails, and who receives the blame?
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: An employee will say, I don't think this is working.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: Are they actually heard or are they labeled negative?
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: These moments may look small, but employees remember them and collectively those moments become the culture.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: Let's talk about the lunchroom.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: When the senior leader leaves the building, employees gather around.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: What are they saying?
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: Our leader listens.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: We can actually talk to our leader.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: Our leader is demanding, but is also fair.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: Our leader expects excellence.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: Or are they saying this?
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: Don't say anything, just keep your head down.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: They already have their favorites.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: Nothing ever changes.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: Don't disagree with them.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: That conversation will tell you more about your leadership skill.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: It will tell you more about the organization's culture.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: People talk about culture when leadership isn't standing around.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: Number five, leaders create culture through what they celebrate.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: What gets celebrated in your organization?
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: Only results, only sales, only numbers, only the people at the top?
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: Or do you celebrate improvement, initiative, integrity, teamwork, innovation, problem solving, owning a mistake?
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes you will find that organizations will accidentally create unhealthy cultures because they reward results regardless of how those results were achieved.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: Imagine your top salesman producing extraordinary numbers, but that same person treats everyone badly.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: Leadership continually celebrates that person because that person is bringing in money.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: But hey, you've just communicated that performance matters more than character, and everyone saw that, and that becomes part of the culture.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: Number six, the leader sets the temperature.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: Think about leadership like a thermostat.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: A thermometer simply tells you the temperature of the room.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: A thermostat influences it.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: Weak leadership constantly reports what's wrong with the culture.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: People are negative, there's too much gossip, nobody takes responsibility, everyone is divided.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: But leadership isn't supposed to simply report the temperature.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: Leadership helps set the temperature.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: If the culture is negative, then you as a leader must model something different.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: If the communication is poor, leaders communicate better.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: If accountability is missing, leaders establish accountability.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: If people don't trust leadership, leaders start behaving in ways worthy of trust instead of asking, what's wrong with these people?
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes leaders need to ask, what have we been teaching these people through our behavior?
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: What have you been teaching people through your behavior?
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: I want to ask you to take notes today.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: Write down five words that you want people to use when describing your organization.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: Remember, you're a leader, so you have an organization, you have a team, or you have a department.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_00: Do this exercise.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: Write down five words that you want people to use when describing your organization.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: Example, respectful, innovative, accountable, positive, professional.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: Now comes the difficult part.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: Write down what behavior proves that this is true.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: So if you wrote respectful, what happens when people disagree?
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: If you write accountable, are senior leaders held accountable too?
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_00: If you wrote innovative, what happens when somebody suggests something different?
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: If you wrote transparent, what information does leadership actually share?
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: If you wrote people focused, how do employees experience that?
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_00: If you cannot identify behavior supporting the value, then it will currently be an aspiration rather than part of your culture.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_00: And that's okay.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: But recognize the difference.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: As a leader, you need to ask yourself, would you want to work for you?
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_00: This is one of the most powerful questions a leader can ask themselves.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: Forget about your position, forget about your title.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: Imagine you're applying to work in the organization that you currently lead.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: Would you want to work there?
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: Would you feel heard?
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: Would you feel respected?
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: Would you have opportunities to grow?
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: Would you trust leadership?
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: Would you be able to make a mistake without being humiliated?
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: Would your contribution be recognized?
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: Would you recommend the organization or the department to somebody that you care about?
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_00: You see, leadership development requires the courage to answer these questions truthfully.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: Ask people in your department or in your team or in your organization if you could change one thing about the way we work together, what would it be?
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: Then resist, really resist the temptation to explain.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: Don't defend the organization or the team.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: Don't tell them why something happened.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: Don't immediately correct their perception.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: Listen and look for patterns because sometimes your people can see your culture more clearly than you as a leader can.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: And as I come to the end of this podcast, I want to remind you that culture is not something that leaders delegate to the human resource department.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_00: It's not something that the marketing department creates.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_00: And it is not something that lives inside a company handbook or rule book.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: Culture lives in the people, it lives in their conversations, in decisions, it lives in what gets rewarded and what gets ignored.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: It lives in how people are treated when they succeed and how they are treated when they failed.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_00: Culture lives in the example that the leader sets every day.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: So before asking yourself, what kind of culture do I as a leader want to build?
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: Ask what kind of culture am I personally carrying into the room?
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: Because leadership doesn't simply manage culture, leadership models it.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_00: And that brings us to the end of today's episode.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: Remember, leadership isn't something that happens overnight, it is shaped through our choices, our character, our conversations, and our willingness to keep growing.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: As you begin a new week, don't just think about what you've heard today.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_00: Ask yourself, what can I do differently because of what I've learned?
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: Because leadership becomes powerful when insight turns into action.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for spending this time with me, and I look forward to joining you again for another conversation.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, keep growing, keep learning, and keep becoming the leader you were meant to be.