Are You Playing Defense With Your Organizational Culture?

Hope Solo Photograph by Jeff Riedel for Newsweek; Hair and Makeup: Vickie Granado for MC2

As a leader in your organization, you job is to play offense, not defense.  Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs find themselves in a defensive position when it comes to culture.  Caught up with so many business issues and crises, many business owners spend too much time reacting to their people rather than leading their people.

Instead of the Chief Executive Officer, have you become the Chief Sympathizer?  Instead of the Chief Executive Officer, have you become the Chief Peace-Maker?  Instead of the Chief Executive Officer, have you become the Chief Problem-Solver?

Time to get proactive.  Time to play offense.  Time to lead your people by creating a performance-oriented culture that encourages accountability, teamwork, and creativity.

Accountability vs. Sympathy

When people come into your office to give you their latest excuse for not meeting their performance goals, they often try to draw on your sympathetic nature.  And remind you of their loyalty to you and the organization.  Out of a misguided sense of "fairness", many leaders accept excuses rather than holding employees accountable for results.

As Chief Executive Officer, you can create an accountability culture by ensuring:

• All of your employees have clear, documented performance goals
• Everyone receives feedback from their direct supervisor on performance at least quarterly
• Raise, promotion, and award criteria include individual performance metrics

Teamwork vs. Peace-Making

How often do you find yourself trying to resolve an employee conflict?  Sadly, many employees can see this as a way to get your attention.  The more you involve yourself in conflict-resolution, the more conflicts will be brought to you.  What you tolerate, you teach.

As Chief Executive Officer, you can create a teamwork culture by:

• Documenting and modelling the behavior you expect
• Swiftly and constructively confronting inappropriate behavior
• Recruiting, promoting, and firing people based upon their behavior (as well as their skills)

Creativity vs. Problem-Solving

Do people in your organization bring their problems to you, hoping you'll solve them?  Oncken and Wass, in their 1974 HBR article tell about a busy manager who responds to people who bring him problems by saying, "Let me think about that and get back to you."  With that simple statement, the manager has just taken on the subordinate's job - taken the monkey on his own back.

Some employees hope you'll take over their monkeys, and wait until you offer.  Others are completely capable and motivated.  When you take on their problems, rather than empowering them to find their own solutions, you shut down fresh ideas, initiative, and creativity.

As Chief Executive Office, you can create a creativity culture by:

• Ensuring that you have a talented team that inspires your confidence and willingness to delegate
• Measuring and monitoring performance and bottom-line results, while allowing freedom in approach
• Focusing your time and energy on long-term strategy, rather than day-to-day tactics

Summary

OK - ready to take the field and lead?  By proactively building a culture of accountability, teamwork, and creativity, you are investing in sustainable competitive advantage.  And spending more time with your family instead of the line outside your door.