{"id":292,"date":"2018-02-19T15:26:01","date_gmt":"2018-02-19T15:26:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/danielvlopes238992071.wordpress.com\/2018\/02\/19\/the-3-ways-leaders-can-influence-company-culture\/"},"modified":"2025-02-28T10:58:59","modified_gmt":"2025-02-28T18:58:59","slug":"the-3-ways-leaders-can-influence-company-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/2018\/02\/19\/the-3-ways-leaders-can-influence-company-culture\/","title":{"rendered":"The 3 Ways Leaders Can Influence Company Culture"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0<\/h2>\n

How do you help create the positive workplace culture you\u2019re looking for? Start\u00a0here.<\/h2>\n
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\u201cHow do you actually influence company culture?\u201d<\/h4>\n

This is the big, hairy question I often get asked by CEOs, managers, and employees alike. I recently posed it at the end of the piece, The 3 Key Elements of Company Culture\u200a\u2014\u200aAnd Why They Really Matter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In that piece, I shared how the fundamental, core element of culture are our basic underlying assumptions. That is, the things we actually believe\u200a\u2014\u200abut might not always say or outwardly show\u200a\u2014\u200aare what determines our company culture.<\/p>\n

As a result, the key to influencing culture is tapping into those basic underlying assumptions: Listening to them, responding to them, and acting according to them.<\/p>\n

But what does that tangibly mean? Can you affect or influence others\u2019 basic underlying assumptions, to begin with?<\/p>\n

Yes and no.<\/p>\n

Yes, basic underlying assumptions can be affected.<\/p>\n

But no, they can\u2019t be outright changed. You can\u2019t manipulate someone else\u2019s basic underlying assumptions. Employees are not malleable objects for leaders to shape. Each person has her own intrinsic, worthwhile desires and beliefs\u200a\u2014\u200aand that\u2019s not for you as a leader to try to mess with.<\/p>\n

Instead, what you can<\/em> do is to focus on creating an environment<\/a> where employees can choose to shift their basic underlying assumptions in line with what feels right to them.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s talk about what this practically looks like.<\/p>\n

There are three parts to creating an environment where the kind of basic underlying assumptions you want\u200a\u2014\u200aand ultimately, the kind of company culture you want\u200a\u2014\u200acan come into fruition:<\/p>\n

Personal accountability<\/h4>\n

You must model the behaviors and basic underlying assumptions you want to be true. One of the greatest shortcomings of a leader is wanting others to do something when she doesn\u2019t practice it herself. For instance, a manager often doesn\u2019t admit her own weaknesses, but expects employees to be upfront and forthcoming about mistakes that happen in the company. See the disconnect? Whatever basic underlying assumptions you desire to be deeply rooted in your company, you must exhibit those basic underlying assumptions yourself, first.<\/p>\n

As the leader, you should be the living embodiment of the basic underlying assumptions you want your culture to have. You should be consciously and intentionally speaking and acting in a way that shows people, \u2018This is important to me.\u2019<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Consistency<\/h4>\n

Your desired basic underlying assumptions won\u2019t be made true unless they are consistent. Basic underlying assumptions are solidified when you act consistently upon them.<\/p>\n

Say you want honesty and transparency to be a basic underlying assumptions within your company\u2019s culture. You decide to hold an all-hands meeting every month where you cover high-level financials, company goals, accomplishments, and answer employees\u2019 questions. Seems like it\u2019d be an effective initiative to establish that honesty and transparency are a basic underlying assumptions within the company.<\/p>\n

But here\u2019s the missing piece: Is it consistent? Do you hold those all-hands meetings every month, regularly? Or has the frequency of those meetings tapered off so now it\u2019s every 2 or 3 months\u2026or just whenever you remember to have them.<\/p>\n

If it\u2019s the latter, you\u2019re falling short of creating an environment where those basic underlying assumptions can be strengthened.<\/p>\n

Consistency determines whether or not this tenet of your culture is fleeting, or here to stay.<\/p>\n

Richness<\/h4>\n

Being consistent alone in how you demonstrate your basic underlying assumptions isn\u2019t enough. You must think about the richness of how you\u2019re communicating these basic underlying assumptions. Are you using a variety of channels, means, and mediums to show that this is something that\u2019s important for the team to embrace and embody? Or are you just relying on one?<\/p>\n

For example, it\u2019s not enough to just hold the all-hands meetings and assume that\u2019s the only way to foster honesty and transparency within the company. Consider that some people might not feel comfortable speaking up in front of the rest of the company\u2026 so you\u2019ll want to make sure you\u2019re also doing one-on-ones. But don\u2019t also merely assume that a one-on-one is enough of an opportunity for someone to speak their mind. Perhaps that person doesn\u2019t always feel comfortable directly addressing that particular manager. Make sure you provide other opportunities for your employees to speak up, be it at group lunches, coffees get-togethers, CEO office hours, or an all-company survey.<\/p>\n

The richness of how you communicate, the varying formats and mediums, helps dictate if the basic underlying assumption is truly what it should be: foundational.<\/p>\n

Now this is no grand formula by any means for creating the culture that you want. Shaping a company\u2019s culture and tapping into a team\u2019s basic underlying assumptions is more art than it is science.<\/p>\n

But consider these three elements\u200a\u2014\u200apersonal accountability, consistency, and richness\u200a\u2014\u200ain how you\u2019re upholding the basic underlying assumptions you want to make more real.<\/p>\n

Pick one, commit to it, and see progress build over time. Slowly, but surely, you\u2019ll see the difference.<\/p>\n

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