Culture is one of the key drivers for your company’s long-term success. At DU, we refer to it as “culture always wins.” What kind of culture are we talking about? A culture where every person at every level is focused, passionate, and clear on delivering meaningful results. This doesn’t change in a recession; it is probably even more important than during good times.
A culture that celebrates virtue, for example, will inspire the people within it to be virtuous. A winning culture, then, is a culture that sets the stage for positive attitudes, high expectations, and successful performances.
How can this be true?
The reality is, your competitors have access to the same computer systems, equipment, markets, compensation, and operational processes that you do. When they discuss strategy, the words on their flip charts are not significantly more insightful or different than yours.
Coming up with a cool or compelling strategy is not the game changer, it is executing against the strategy that is the real game changer. This is all about how you engage and work with your people. In challenging times, it is more important than ever.
You, as the leader, are the CEO-Chief Engagement Officer. You set the pace, model the way, align the team, build trust, and champion the culture.
In short, then, culture is the accumulation of the habits your organization displays over time. Habits are built by repeated action. And…actions are driven by the choices we make in every area of the business.
“We are what we consistently do. Excellence then is not an act but a habit”
Will Durant
So, are you consciously and consistently building a winning culture?
6 KEYS TO A RECESSION-PROOF CULTURE
- BUILD TRUST. One of the key attributes of high-performing companies is a culture of high trust; a place where people feel emotionally and physically safe. A culture where they know they will be cared for and treated fairly. A place where they can take risks, innovate, learn and grow.
- HAVE A SCORECARD. Every team in the business needs to have a scorecard; a way to drive focus around what is most important and provide feedback on how they are doing. How will they know the difference between winning behaviors and losing behaviors if they don’t have a scorecard?
- FACE REALITY. Tell yourself the truth and value candor and honesty from your team. Despite our belief that we embrace the cold, hard truth, we are often guilty of ‘imagi-memory’ rather than facing reality, we imagine ourselves with what we would like to believe happened vs what actually happened. We don’t have to be offensive or uncaring. We need to help people speak the truth with care and be relentless.
- CELEBRATE WINS. make time every week to celebrate the wins. Progress, not perfection, encourages us to focus on smaller achievements instead of just the end goal.
- LEARN AND GROW EVERY DAY “It is not the strongest of the species that survives but the one that is most adaptable” Kodak invented digital photography but lost the market because they did not adapt. Complacency kills. Create a sense of urgency and bias for action around growth and improvement.
- WHAT ARE YOU COMMITTED TO? Have clear values so that employees know what it means to be a part of your company. Ensure employees get regular feedback on how they are doing at living out those values
- BUILD A CULTURE OF HIGH PERSONAL OWNERSHIP. Top performers in every walk of life demonstrate courage and commitment by holding themselves to a high level of personal ownership for results. Effective leaders bring out the best in others by encouraging, inspiring, and holding them to a high level of accountability.
Culture always wins. Building a high-performance culture is not quick or easy. It will require your commitment and focus over the long term but the benefits are sustainable and dramatic.
Are you ready and equipped to build a high-performance culture? Are you ready to weather the upcoming recession?
Join us at our Recession Proof Your Business course on Wednesday, January 18th, 2023 (next week). Click here for more details.
We are offering a 30-day money-back guarantee. If you aren’t satisfied, if, after the course, you feel like it was a waste of time, we will give you your money back!
This is a minimal-risk, high-reward situation.
