To Change Your Culture, You Must First Change Your Paradigms

“The culture of any organization is shaped by the behavior the leaders are willing to tolerate.” Gruenter and Whitaker

As a leader of an organization, our organization’s culture is what we have allowed it to become; either proactively or inactively. What leaders seeking a culture change need to understand is they need a paradigm shift.

We ask why is our turnover so high? Why are the employees in our organization ineffective or unproductive or not engaged? The real answer is that we let them be the way they are. We can say employees just won’t do what we want them to do, but the truth is they do what we allow them to do. They do what we have taught them to do with the expectations, or lack of, we create for them.

I have found that managing is similar to parenting. Caring, proactive parents know setting reasonable expectations, and then holding their child accountable to them, will create the boundaries the child needs and will produce respect for the parent from the child.

This process works the same way in organizations as it does in families. Setting reasonable expectations for employees and holding them accountable to those expectations creates a caring atmosphere. Respecting the employee’s contribution to the organization is a key. If they know you respect them, they will be effective and productive. An employee that does not feel respected will likely not be engaged.

All people see the world through their paradigm or the filter of their accepted reality. Everything we have learned and experienced in our life from childhood until now has help shape our paradigm. If our paradigm says we cannot change our work culture, then it is true. We will not be able to change it. We accept it as truth and live with it.

“Leadership is about making others better as a result of your presence and making sure that impact lasts in your absence.” Sheryl Sandberg COO of Facebook

However, if we observe other organizations that are effective and productive, we will soon recognize it is possible to change our paradigm. We can begin to imagine what we want our culture to look like; happy, productive people. When employees understand what is expected of them, when they are well trained and when they feel accepted and respected for their contribution to the organization, the culture will change.

“Train people well enough so they can leave. Treat them well enough that they don’t want to.” Richard Branson

It all starts with ensuring your employees are working in the areas of their natural strengths. In Stephen Covey’s “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” he says to be truly effective a person must have knowledge, skills and a desire to accomplish their responsibility well. Where these three components intersect is where the employee should be. Missing any one element will create mediocrity. The most common component missing is desire. Many times, we give a responsibility to a person that has the knowledge and skills, but has no driving desire to accomplish the responsibility. This will not produce the type of results we are looking for.

“Working hard for something we don’t care about is called stress; working hard for something we love is called passion.” Simon Sinek

We need to know our people’s dreams and passions to guide them into the right positions. Jim Collins in Good to Great said “First get the right people on the bus, and then get them in the right seat.” To create the culture we want, we must have employees that want the same. This starts with knowing your employees’ passions and dreams. In new employee recruiting, we need to first find people that desire the culture you wish to create and then determine if they have the skill set to do the job you wish to fill.

Think of an iceberg. 90% of its shape is below sea level. Using this word picture, realize that the majority of employees’ knowledge, skills and desires are below “see” level. We will never realize all they have to offer our organization until we become close enough to them, through comfortable day-to-day conversations and deeper talks about their dreams, to understand the whole person.

If we want to change our culture, we must first change the paradigm we see our employees through. Only then can we determine what we need to change to get the results we desire.