Setting the Right Cultural Tone
A man walked into a bar...
Wait, we're not really doing that are we...? Bear with me...
A while ago, I wrote about how you as a leader can define your organizational culture. Today I want to take that a step further and ensure you're maintaining the right tone on a day-to-day basis.
I'm going to start with a story - originally from Michael Tager on a twitter thread here, which I'm paraphrasing for you below.
A man walked into a bar for an afterwork beer. It was a bit of a dive - a crustpunk bar where the bartenders hate you. The man ordered his beer and sat down at the bar. He and the bartender were ignoring each other when someone sat down next to him.
The bartender immediately said, "No. Get out."
The new arrival said, "Hey, I'm not doing anything. I'm a paying customer."
The bartender reached under the counter for a bat or something and repeated, "Out. Now."
The guy left, yelling and complaining. The man noticed that he was dressed in a punk outfit. He asked the bartender what all that was about. The bartender responded,
"You didn't see his vest but it was all Nazi stuff - Iron crosses etc.. You get to recognize them."
The man nodded, and the bartender continued,
"You have to nip it in the bud immediately. These guys come in and it's always a nice, polite one. And you serve them because you don't want to cause a scene. And then they become a regular. And after a while they bring a friend. And that dude is cool too. And then THEY bring friends, and the friends bring friends, and they stop being cool.
"That's when you realize, oh no, this is a Nazi bar now. And it's too late because they're entrenched and if you try to kick them out they cause a big problem.
"So you have to shut them down."
The man responded, "Oh. Damn."
The barman said, "Yeah, you have to ignore their reasonable arguments because their end goal is to be terrible, awful people." He then went back to ignoring the man.
A bar, somewhere
Setting Cultural Tone
Now, I hope you're not dealing with literal Nazis in your organization. I also think it's unlikely that people in a business context are trying to be "terrible, awful people". That said, I think you can inadvertently find yourself entrenched in an undesirable culture if you let the little things slide.
So I'm using this example to illustrate how you can - and should - shut down unwanted behaviour immediately.
A little while ago I had an example of this in my organization. Someone posted something in a group chat that didn't align with the culture I want in the team. Even though it was something very minor on the face of it, I shut it down politely but firmly, and asked the person to delete the messages.
Show your team very clearly where the lines are, and don't allow them to creep.
I believe that you can correct potential issues before they become a problem if you act promptly.
Reinforce Positivity Too
The same applies to positive cultural attributes as well. We had a situation where a neurodivergent team member created a "Biodex" or "Personal ReadMe" as a way to help people interact with them. We encouraged others to follow suit if they wished, with the aim of reinforcing positive inclusivity within the team.
Encourage your managers to do the same thing - this is an area where clear firm direction will really help in creating the culture you want in your organization. You are not going to be everywhere all of the time - it's just not realistic - so set clear guidelines with your team and encourage them to be proactive all of the way down the organization. Ideally this becomes self-reinforcing over time, as the culture starts to become built-in to the way people behave.
What attributes do you want to see in your team? Where can you be more responsive to eliminate unwanted aspects or reinforce positive ones?
When you're ready, I offer 1:1 coaching for leaders who are looking to take their life and career to the next level. Send me an email and we'll set up a time to have a chat.
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