The Four Cornerstones of Growth Culture
Summary
Organizations with a growth culture flourish, while those without falter. Why? Because a growth culture is always ready for the future—it learns, evolves, connects, innovates, and cares. A growth culture is something that is never fully achieved, rather it is something that is constantly pursued by always honing the four cornerstones.
Cornerstone 1: Leadership Capacity
An organization's leadership capacity comprises four key elements: clarity, character, change management, and communication. Leadership must be able to define reality, set direction, cultivate identity, clarify priorities, and say thank you over and over again. The character of your leadership will directly impact your longevity. While short-term success can be achieved without character, legacy cannot. Change is constant, and organizations must understand how to lead change successfully instead of creating a trail of half-installed initiatives. Great leadership communication includes storytelling, celebrating, repetition, and understanding formal and informal systems within your organization.
Cornerstone 2: Relational Habits
Your team's ability to achieve, execute, and innovate is directly tied to your ability to stay connected. This connection is derived from our relational habits. Intentions are good, but habits happen. Your team's ability to have difficult conversations, listen well, clarify expectations, repair trust, and help one another are some of the key habits necessary. The challenge is that many of them have not spent time building consistent relational habits and standards. Instead, we rely on the relational habits we have learned from our family and community cultures. Creating common habits and standards allow us to thrive together.
Cornerstone 3: Organizational Systems
Your organizational systems will either foster, neutralize, or detract from the culture you hope to create. Critical systems such as hiring, developing, strategic planning, performance pay, and communication standards all play a part in defining your culture. These systems need to be constantly reviewed, analyzed, and adjusted in order to refine their fit and effectiveness.
Cornerstone 4: Life Together
The healthiest organizations are a community that cares for one another, celebrates together, and grows. The life of your community needs to be intentionally cultivated through rhythms of gathering, serving, caring, and fun.
Training
Information abounds on how to live and lead well; much of this information is excellent, but the key is whether we can integrate this information into our lives and organizations. My training prioritizes the implementation of new strategies as a result of our time together. I do this in three ways: First, the time is workshop-based and action-plan oriented, allowing you space to wrestle with your unique challenges so employees can take concrete next steps and build shared understanding. Second, the pieces of training give the tools necessary to create new habits successfully. I like to say, “intentions are good, but habits happen.” Finally, the sessions will be relational and fun because shared memorable experiences help new things stick with us and create a common identity.
Relationships That Work
- Relationships that work take work
- Listening so others feel heard
- Expect to clarify expectations
- C.R.A.V.E. difficult conversations
- R.E.P.A.I.R. relationships
- Life together
Cultivate an Environment of Development
- Am I willing to reflect?
- Am I practicing what I preach?
- Are my habits helpful?
- How’s my attitude?
- Where’s my attention?
- Am I celebrating the right things?
Leading Change
- Inspire movement
- Define reality & say thank you
- Journey together
Leadership Communication
- Winning personal communication
- Create a network of buy-in
- Align the corporate message
- Public speaking so people hear
- Be the chief reminder
*Training can be done as a series or a single element. For example, Listening so others feel heard is part of The Relationships that work series.
Partnership
Cultivate great culture by intentionally developing every tier of your organization: Leadership Team, managers, and all employees. Many organizations have added roles such as Chief People Officer to achieve this competitive advantage. Others invest significant dollars in classroom-like training. Partnering with KPCC gives you the benefit of having someone fluent in your culture, relationally connected to your people, and regularly present with all staff embedded into your organization while maintaining the value of an outside perspective that can act as a coach, mediator, and consultant to champion a thriving culture on behalf of executive leadership. Your organization will be positioned to thrive in the four cornerstones of great culture - leadership capacity, relational habits, organizational systems, and life together - as a result of our partnership.
