There are no bad businesses, only bad leaders.
People don’t leave organizations, they leave leaders. Many companies know how to win the game of business, but they don’t make their people feel like winners. Yes, today you can find companies that look successful on the outside, but are filled with people who are depressed, scared and nervous. These feelings create bad culture within an organization and companies rot from the inside out, In a company with a healthy culture, you can see and feel the enthusiasm, people will nod, acknowledge you and even look you in the eye. Something is often being celebrated. When a culture is sick and dying, people don’t look at you. They aren’t happy to see you. Customers are a bother, rather than the reason a company exists. Everything is slowly dying in this company. You company may be winning today, but it’s like a person who is in the early stages of a disease. They look fine on the outside, but it’s what is on the inside that will determine the future.
Leaders are totally and fully responsible for this either healthy or unhealthy culture and attitude in your company. You must hire the right people. You must nurture them.
You have to feed them daily. Leaders give them a steady diet of encouragement, hope, security and perhaps most important, recognition for their contribution. The company must be organized rather than disorganized. It must be friendly rather than unfriendly. It must be on a mission rather than just having a mission. It must not be depressed but rather it must be having purpose and fun. This is why there are no bad businesses, only bad leaders. Leaders have the responsibility to make sure their company is not just healthy on the balance sheet, but a healthy environment and culture. When people leave a company, they always mention two people. The bad people that caused them to leave and the good people they left behind. In both cases, they left people, not the company.
Action Steps:
1. Establish responsibility. Let everyone know you are the one who is responsible for this being either a good place to work or a bad place to work. People have to feel that, whatever your faults or credits have been in the past, you are very sensitive to them and the issues at hand.
2. Be open about culture being important. On one hand, culture in many companies is not recognized as important, yet everyone sees it and recognizes it for what it is. They may use different words, but they will describe it if you are listening. Be open about it and ask for suggestions on how to always be improving it.
3. Pride is the catalyst. If people are going to get engaged about culture, they must be proud of themselves and what they do. Pride is all about caring, it is a sense of fulfillment you have in what you do. Take some time and figure out how to instill this in your people.