Organizational Culture – Doug Dickerson on Leadership

Does Your Workplace Culture Need an Alignment?

Posted June 14, 2023June 14, 2023
by admin

A statement of shared values, no matter how inspiring, does not make a healthy culture. – Tod Bolsinger (Canoeing The Mountains)

I read with great interest a study at Team Stage which reported that only 28% of executives understand their company culture. They stated, “While they understand its importance, they fail to fathom the culture itself.” From a leadership perspective, I found the disconnect quite disturbing. How can one believe culture is important while at the same time failing to understand their own culture?

Imagine, if you will, that you are driving your car and you notice that it is pulling to the left or to the right. Intuitively you know that your car is out of alignment. Knowing that your car is out of alignment is a good thing, but if you ignore it for too long, it’s going to create bigger problems that you will have to address. And the longer you put it off, the more damage it can cause.

Simply having a mission or value statement plastered up on the wall somewhere in the office is no indication that anyone truly knows what it is, how it pertains to them, and how it impacts the day-to-day operation of the organization.

As a leader, you need the awareness of knowing if your organizational culture is out of alignment and what corrections are needed. Here are a few things that may help guide you in that process.

Focus more on alignment than organizing

Writing in the Harvard Business Review, John Kotter states, “The idea of getting people moving in the same direction appears to be an organizational problem. But what executives need to do is not organize people but align them.” In other words, align them around your values. The more your people are aligned with your mission and vision, the healthier it will be.

It will always be hard for your organization to move forward if it’s out of alignment. Just as your car will want to go off the road, so, too, will your organizational culture drift if not properly aligned. Once you take care of alignment, organizing will be a much simpler process.

Lead by example, not by decrees

When only 28% of executives understand their company culture they will not be in a place to lead by example. Here’s the rub – organizational culture is leader driven. If the leader doesn’t get it or know it, then the leader will not be able to align with it.

Writing in A Tale of Two Cultures, David Burkus writes, “People typically do not look to written codes for clues about how to behave; they look to others.” And this is the void leaders must fill. They need to know their culture and the people in your organization ultimately need to look to each other in terms of knowing how to behave – not a poster on the wall. As a leader, you must set an example and it happens when your words and your actions are aligned. Click To Tweet

Final Thoughts

Tod Bolsinger writes that “culture creation work rests on identifying the gaps between aspired values and actual behavior, and then working with the leaders to bring every aspect of the organization into alignment…” As a leader, this is your responsibility. A healthy workplace culture just doesn’t happen – it’s intentionally created.

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How To Be A Good Follower

Posted September 10, 2020October 15, 2020
by admin

The most difficult instrument to play in the orchestra is second fiddle – Leonard Bernstein

I read a story once of a young woman who wanted to go to college, but her heart sank when she read the question that asked, “Are you a good leader?” Being both honest and conscientious, she wrote, “No,” and returned the application expecting the worst.

To her surprise, she received this letter from the college: “Dear Applicant: A study of the application reveals that this year our college will have 1,42 new leaders. We are accepting you because we feel it imperative that they have at least one follower.”

I suppose being a follower runs counterintuitive to being a good leader. But I submit that good followership is good leadership. They are not mutually exclusive.

So what does good followership look like and why is it important? In his book, Creative Followership, Jimmy Collins says, “If you’re not selling chicken, you better be supporting someone who is.” Understanding the value of good followership can add tremendous value to any organization. Here are three ways how.

Followership drives the vision

Simply put, good followership; the buy-in if you will, is the fuel that drives the mission and vision of your organization. Taken in its proper context, followership is not abdicating your position within your organizational structure. If anything, it’s empowering it Click To Tweet. Rather than relying on a title to move you forward off the backs of those around you, being a good follower is getting behind the best ideas- regardless of the source – and everyone working toward shared goals.

When the vision is clear and buy-in has taken place, then somehow positional leadership loses its appeal. Rather than turf wars and politics being your driving force, you can purposefully pursue your vision and where you are in the pecking order becomes secondary.

The leader who knows how to follow will outlast the leader who only wants to lead the parade.

Followership builds teamwork

A team is only as strong as the collective effort of its team members. So long as everyone on the team only wants to be the captain and call the plays, you will never make the advancements you desire to achieve. Babe Ruth summed it up nicely when he said, “The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don’t play together, the team won’t be worth a dime.” And this is the essence of teamwork.

The myth that needs to be dispelled here is that you never lead when you are a follower. Within your organization, there will be times when your role is that of being a good follower. Other times, you’ll be the point person on a certain project. The point being, you are not just a follower, or just a manager or supervisor. When you work as a team you play to your strengths and everyone adapts to seize the momentum you need at the moment.

Being a good follower on your team is allowing everyone to play to their strengths and everyone doing whatever it takes for the win. Knowing how to follow makes the difference.

Followership builds the future

The success of your organization relies upon leaders being able to embrace being a good follower. You will never rise above your ability to serve. If serving and following is beneath you then leadership is beyond you. Your future as a leader and the future of your organization rests upon people being comfortable in their own skin and embracing roles that don’t necessarily embody their title or rank. Click To Tweet

When you learn to set aside your own agenda for the good of the team and embrace a followership attitude, you will build a future that you can be proud of, but you have to set aside your pride to make that happen.

Final Thoughts

How about you? Are you a good follower? What issues do you need to work on in order to be a good follower? In a world where everyone competes to be the leader “in charge”, how refreshing it would be to look around and find more followers.

Suggested Reading:

Creative Followership – In The Shadow of Greatness by Jimmy Collins

Order from Amazon at https://amzn.to/3hbjVYh

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What Your Employees Don’t Need From You

Posted November 18, 2019
by admin

What a pleasure life would be to live if everybody would try to do only half of what he expects others to do. – William J.H. Boetcker

I read a story about a farm boy got a white football for Christmas. He played with it a while and accidentally kicked it over into the neighbor’s yard. The old rooster ran out, looked at it, and called the hens to see it. “Now look here,” the rooster told them, “I don’t want you to think I’m complaining, but I want you to see what they are doing next door.”

Ask most people at their place of business what they need from their employers to be more successful or productive on the job and they will be quick to tell you. But when you ask them what they don’t need in order to be more productive is when things get interesting.

Knowing what your people need to succeed is important, but also knowing what they don’t need from you will certainly help. Here are four things to start with.

Your negative attitude

In as much as positive attitudes are contagious, so too, are negatives ones. If you make it a habit to circulate among your people with a bad attitude, always finding fault, only focusing on what’s wrong, then your presence will be a demoralizing factor. Click To TweetThe truth be told, your people may have every tool they need to succeed but if you have a negative attitude then it is hindering them.

Your indifference

Everyone wants to be appreciated, valued, and wants to believe that their work makes a difference. But if you come across as indifferent to their work, ideas, and contributions then you are sending signals that they are unimportant to you. If you place no value in your people then how can you expect them to place value in their work? Indifference breeds indifference and the results will be devastating. Click To Tweet

Your Obstruction

Your leadership style will either facilitate the progress of your people or it will stand in their way. If you burden people down with unnecessary policies and procedures, time-wasting meetings, or ill-timed interruptions then you are in the way. Your employees should not be made to pay the price for your poor time management skills. Don’t allow the “tyranny of the urgent” to be an obstruction to your people.

Your Inconsistencies

While most of your people will never speak up about this, don’t mistake it for not noticing. Inconsistent actions by management always send the wrong message. When you communicate one thing and do another then you have planted doubt and mistrust in the minds of your people. Click To TweetYour employees don’t need mixed messages. It only creates confusion and animosity.

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Leadership and the Law of Timing

Posted September 29, 2019
by admin

We keep moving forward, opening new doors and doing new things, because we’re curious, and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths. – Walt Disney

The story is told of two men riding a tandem bicycle up a steep hill. After much effort, they finally made it to the top of the hill. The front rider said, “That was a tough ride.” To which the second rider replied, “Sure was, and if I hadn’t kept the brake on we might have slipped backward.”

While that humorous story may bring a chuckle, there’s not much to smile about when that same mindset is at work within your organization.

You know the type of people I’m talking about – those who are the last to adapt to change, those who always seem to hold up progress, and those who always have a reason as to why things can’t be done. They are the ones applying the brakes.

Identifying those who are applying the brakes within your organization may not necessarily be hard to figure out, but the greater question is why they are doing it. So let me ask you – is everyone who applies the brakes an obstructionist? Are there times when it’s actually a good option?

Allow me to share six quick insights with you. The first three are the times when a person in your organization is applying the brakes for negative or selfish reasons. The last three are when it’s in your best interest to hit the pause button for the moment.

Fear of the future

Those who hold the brakes can be those who are simply afraid of the future. This can be the case because they fear that you will be unable to replicate the successes of the past or a fear of repeating its mistakes. Either way, it’s fear that motivates them to hold the brakes going forward.

Traditions die hard

Some hold the brakes because they just can’t let go of the way things have always been done. It’s the proverbial mindset of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”, that stifles creativity and holds the team back and prevents progress. Some traditions die harder than others, but so long as people hold onto them they are hindering progress. Click To Tweet

Loss of control

It’s sad to say, but true nonetheless -some people apply the brakes because it’s the only option they have left. If they can’t be in control of the future direction of the organization then their last tactic is to hold up progress for everyone else.

The mission isn’t clear

Some of your team may be applying the brakes because the mission isn’t clear and going forward without that clarity may not be the best option. To be sure, sometimes the brakes are applied out of personal grievances, but sometimes the brakes need to be applied because there’s no clear path forward. Knowing the difference is the key to smart leadership.

The objective is right but the timing is wrong

Timing is everything when it comes to your organizational mission. The best goals executed at the wrong time can sink you. Click To Tweet Understanding the law of timing is essential to your leadership and to your success.

Not everyone has bought in

Sometimes you need to apply the brakes before going forward because not everyone on the team is on board. You need all of your team members moving in the same direction with clarity of purpose. It’s up to you as a leader to get them there. When the timing is right and the mission is clear then you can release the brakes and unleash your potential.

Essential to your leadership development and organizational growth is knowing when to apply the brakes and when to release the brakes. It will make all the difference going forward.

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How To Defeat A Culture Of Apathy

Posted May 12, 2019
by admin

A lot of you cared, just not enough. – Jay Asher

Data from Gallup has confirmed what many have known for some time – employee engagement in the workplace is suffering. When only 32% are engaged in their work then we have to acknowledge the elephant in the room. Simply wishing things were different is not enough.

The Conference Board reports that 53% of Americans are unhappy at work. Think for a moment too about the economic impact of disengaged employees on your bottom line. If more than half the people in your organization are not happy, how do you think that affects your future?

An article in shiftboard revealed that disengaged employees are costing you money and affecting your profits. They say, “Each disengaged employee costs you 34% of their salary because of lost productivity, missed shifts, chronic tardiness, and disrupting others by spreading negativity throughout the company”. If not bad enough, the article goes on to say that “actively disengaged employees cost the U.S. $483 billion to $605 billion in lost productivity.”

How much can you afford to lose to disengaged employees? What is an acceptable figure that you are willing to tolerate?

While every organization faces its own cultural challenges as it relates to employee engagement, there is usually one common denominator that can be found in most- apathy.

Apathy, in its simplest definition, is a lack of interest, enthusiasm, or concern. It sets in when your people believe they have no voice, and when they believe that things are not going to get better. Then they get angry.

When any of these characteristics are in play within your organization then you must move quickly to identify it and turn it around. Time is money and your productivity is at stake. Here are a few ways to defeat a culture of apathy.

Promote ownership

As a leader, you must do everything within your power to promote the mission and vision of the organization. It must be out there and repeated often. Never take for granted that because you’ve shared it once they will remember it forever. But, over time, the buy-in will happen as trust is built. However, if you want to fast track employee engagement, then give your people ownership. When people take ownership they will be less apathetic, they will be more invested, and will deliver their best work.

When people work to fulfill your vision it can be a struggle, when they work to fulfill theirs it can be life-changing. Click To Tweet

Promote community

A smart leader understands that there’s no substitute for a community of people within your organization who are known to each as colleagues and not combatants. Apathy becomes an issue when people see each other as combatants – not caring what the other group is doing- when in reality it all matters. A diversity of ideas and opinions is one of your greatest assets. In community, all ideas are welcome. In a community, relationships are coveted over competition and turf wars. In a community, people are held accountable for negative attitudes that would give rise to apathy. Click To Tweet

Good leaders are not just aware of the need for community but insist upon it because they know their existence depends upon it.

Promote culture

This is an important piece of the puzzle that leaders need to understand. Community is how you get along with one another. It’s the practice of good manners, cordiality, and civility. But your culture is your why. It’s what gives meaning and purpose to what you do.

Your organizational culture is weakened or is breaking down when you hear things like, “I don’t why I bother speaking up, no one listens to me,” or “What difference does it make if I’m late, no one will notice,” or “Why should I care if no one else does,”. How many times have you heard these type of statements? How many times have you used them?

A failure in community creates conflict. A failure in leadership creates apathy. Your organizational community is relationship driven. Your organizational culture is leadership driven.A failure in community creates conflict. A failure in leadership creates apathy. Your organizational community is relationship driven. Your organizational culture is leadership driven. Click To Tweet

As a leader, you need to understand that apathy is the greatest threat to your organization. With apathy there is no ownership, there is no community, and your culture is harmed.

Make it your practice to know the signs of apathy and be intentional in addressing it. It will make a world of difference to your organization.

Check out the link at the top of the page for information on my employee engagement workshop.

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What Bees Teach Us About Teams

Posted November 26, 2018November 26, 2018
by admin

Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success. – Henry Ford

It’s been said that bees can show you something about teamwork. On a warm day about half the bees in a hive stay inside beating their wings while the other half go out to gather pollen and nectar. Because of the beating wings, the temperature inside the hive is about 10 degrees cooler than outside. The bees rotate duties and the bees that cool the hive one day are honey gatherers the next.

Who knew that the bee could teach us about the power and function of teams.

Pardon the pun, but there’s been a lot of buzz in recent years about teams and teamwork and rightfully so. Anyone can throw a group of people together and call it a team. But is it, really?

Until the following four characteristics emerge within that group of individuals they will simply remain a group of people struggling for identity, struggling to make sense of what they are doing, where they are going, and what they are accomplishing. Here are the four things we must learn from the bees.

Trust

It stands to reason that if a group people can emerge and gel as a team it will be predicated on trust

The bees trust one another to carry out their duties. Whether those duties are in the hive beating their wings or out gathering pollen and nectar. They depend on each other to get the job done.

One recent survey I read said that 45% of employees say that a lack of trust in leadership is the biggest issue impacting their work performance. So until the issue of trust is settled then those in leadership will continue to struggle. And sadly, so will the team and its ability to perform.

Empathy

Due to the revolving nature of the bees’ duties, they have an understanding of what it takes to get the job done each day. Each knows and understands what the other is going through.

Within your organization, developing empathy goes a long way in building trust and moving the team forward. Everyone’s skills and talents are needed and all must be respected even though not all are the same. Team members need to see the big picture not just through the lens of what they do but in what others do as well. Click To Tweet

Accountability

Bees depend on each other to cool the hive and gather food. If they fail to do their job, someone might just get stung!

In his book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Patrick Lencioni says, “Great teams do not hold back with one another. They are unafraid to air their dirty laundry. They admit their mistakes, their weaknesses, and their concerns without fear of reprisal.” And this is the secret sauce of how teams work. They hold each other accountable.

Without accountability, your team will flounder and miss the mark. It’s when you embrace it, as painful as it can be at times, that you will come to understand the power and potential of your team. Click To Tweet

Mutual respect

When team members begin to trust one another, develop empathy, hold one another accountable, then they can move forward with mutual respect.

When you look at your fellow team members not as competitors but as colleagues, you can then harness the power of teamwork. Don’t let petty office politics or gossip ruin what could otherwise be the making of a well-performing team. Click To Tweet

When you come together possessing these qualities you can move from being a group of people that look like a team to actually being one. If the bees can do so can you!

Coming in January 2019 – A brand new four-session workshop I facilitate with the purpose of bringing your team together, having intentional conversations in order to clarify values and get your team members off the sidelines. Watch for more details in the coming weeks!

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Four Ways Leaders Can Foster Cooperation

The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people. – Theodore Roosevelt

Charles Osgood told the story of two ladies who lived in a convalescent center. Each had suffered an incapacitating stroke. Margaret’s stroke left her left side restricted, while Ruth’s stroke damaged her right side. Both of these ladies were accomplished pianists but had given up hope of ever playing again. The director of the center sat them down at a piano and encouraged them to play solo pieces together. They did, and a beautiful friendship developed.

We all know that cooperation is important. That much is certain. But if you are a leader on a diverse team of individuals how do you reconcile such diversity of opinion, egos, and DISC placements in a way that inspires collaboration and cooperation rather than a brawl in the break room?

Here are four approaches that may help.

Embrace the tension

Some leaders prefer to shy away from the tension and madness that makes up their organizational culture; I say embrace it. Within those diverse opinions and ideas is a wealth of creativity, when collated and organized, can be a game changer for you. Corralling your team and tapping into their collective creativity can be a leadership challenge but if you can pull it off it can pay huge dividends.

Challenge assumptions

One thing you have to be mindful of as a leader is not falling into the mindset that you must always “keep the peace” or not “rock the boat”. I think once in a while it’s a good thing. I am not advocating disrupting your organization simply for the sake of creating chaos, but I am advocating confronting status quo thinking head-on. Disrupt your way of thinking and disrupt it in your people so that no idea, option, or way of looking at things is ever business as usual and predictable.

Build bridges

Within your organization you have left brain people and right brain people. You have the visionaries that see things before the rest of the team and you have the builders who make it a reality. You have the strong-willed, the analytical, the outgoing, and the humble. You are all over the DISC map. Good! Building a culture of cooperation begins when you acknowledge, embrace, and seat everyone at the table. If your organization is going to grow and succeed you need all of these people with you. It was General George Patton who wisely said, “If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn’t thinking.”

Create engagement

Successful engagement and cooperation within your organization occurs when you bring your team together- not when you keep them apart. It happens when you put the visionary and the builder together to see the big picture. It occurs when you put the right brain and left brain people together so they see they are not each other’s competition but their completer.

Lest you think I am looking at this through rose-colored glasses, let me be clear- this will not be easy. It will be hard work and a leadership challenge. People will have to check their ego’s at the door and come prepared to learn.

But before cooperation can take place you must name the elephant in the room and embrace the tension that exists that is a result of different personalities on your team. You must challenge your assumptions and traditional ways of thinking. Cooperation is not forcing everyone to conform to your way of thinking. It starts with an open mind, respect, and by embracing other points of view.

Building a culture of cooperation can be the difference-maker for your organization. As a leader it is up to you to foster the environment.

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What Five Old Ladies Teach Us About Leadership

Posted December 12, 2014
by admin

Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things. – Peter Drucker

Sitting on the side of the highway waiting to catch speeding drivers, a State Trooper sees a car puttering along at 22 m.p.h. He thinks to himself, “This driver is just as dangerous as a speeder!”

So he turns on his lights and pulls the driver over. Approaching the car, he notices that there are five old ladies — two in the front seat and three in the back, wide eyed and white as ghosts. The driver, obviously confused, says to him, “Officer, I don’t understand, I was doing exactly the speed limit! What seems to be the problem?”

“Ma’am,” the officer replies, “you weren’t speeding, but you should know that driving slower than the speed limit can also be a danger to other drivers.” “Slower than the speed limit? No sir, I was doing the speed limit exactly … twenty-two miles an hour!” the old woman says a bit proudly.

The State Trooper, trying to contain a chuckle explains to her that 22 was the route number, not the speed limit. A bit embarrassed, the woman grinned and thanked the officer for pointing out her error. “But before I let you go, Ma’am, I have to ask… Is everyone in this car OK? These women seem awfully shaken and they haven’t muttered a single peep this whole time,” the officer asks.

“Oh, they’ll be all right in a minute, officer. We just got off Route 119.”

The old lady driving the car had her fellow passengers terrified. She had mistaken the route number for the speed limit. Your actions as leader have an impact on those around you. You can lead and inspire your people in magnificent ways or you can scare them to death. Here are three things we can learn from the story.

Leaders set the pace

Mary Kay Ash said, “The speed of the leader is the speed of the gang.” She’s right. You set the pace as the leader. Getting everyone on the same page is important but getting everyone up to speed is critical. If the leader perceives that the people are going too slow then he or she will get frustrated. If the people sense that the leader is going too fast then they will get frustrated. See what’s wrong with this picture? As a leader it’s important to find the right speed so that everyone can succeed.

Leaders chart the course

Knowing where you are going is important. As the leader you set the course by clearly articulating the vision and by everyone understanding their mission in making it come together. Roy Disney wisely observed, “When your values are clear to you, making decisions becomes easier.” Chart the course, communicate the vision, and never confuse the route number with the speed limit.

Leaders can make adjustments

Once pulled over, the old lady realized the error of her way. As a leader it’s important not to let your pride or ego get in the way of making adjustments when necessary. Your plans may look great on paper with your team is solidly behind you, but when circumstances on the ground change you must be prepared to make adjustments when needed. It was William Arthur Ward who said, “The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.” As a leader it’s important that you know how to adjust the sails.

Closing questions for your consideration

Have you set the right tempo for everyone in your organization to follow? Are your team members up to speed as they should be? If not, why? How soon can they?
Is the vision and mission of your organization clear to everyone system-wide? How often is it being communicated? Does everyone know how their specific role contributes to the vision and mission being fulfilled?
Are there any adjustments in your organization that need to be made? What about blind spots and who can help you identify them?

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Three Things to Know…About Jerks at Work

Posted November 11, 2014
by admin

We don’t devote enough scientific research to finding a cure for jerks. – Bill Watterson

Whose face comes to mind when you hear the word “jerk”? Not much hesitation there was it? Identifying jerks is not hard – so what do you need to know?

Jerks are everywhere. Your organization does not have a monopoly on the number of jerks it has working in it. Every organization has their fair share of them so don’t think you are unique because you have more than one.
Jerks procreate. Most of the jerks I know have it in their DNA to be that way. Here are a few questions to consider: Do the contributions of the jerk(s) make it more or less feasible to overlook their obnoxious behaviors? At what point do they become more of a liability rather than an asset? Is your organization a jerk magnet, and if so, why?
Jerks will have their day. Whether it’s in the form of bullying or some other type of intolerable workplace behavior –it’s just a matter of time before the jerks meet with enough resistance to change or move on, or be brought down by their own actions. Best advice here? Be patient.

A few final takeaways…

Stay above the fray. Don’t be drawn in by the behaviors of the jerk(s) regardless of their following.
Keep your attitude right. It’s not easy dealing with the jerks and it can be very frustrating especially when you think nothing is being done about it. Regardless, keep your heart right. Don’t let the jerks drag you down!
Set the right example. Let others (and the jerk) know that there is a better way to conduct yourself. When you treat people with dignity and respect and know how to mind your manners you are setting the right tone. Show the better way to lead.

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