Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish American businessman and philanthropist. He led the expansion of the steel industry in the United States and became one of the richest men in the world. During the last 18 years of his life (which ended in 1919), he gave away the 2022 equivalent of roughly $10 billion to charities, foundations, and universities. Carnegie-Mellon University? United States Steel Corporation? Carnegie Hall? That\u2019s him.<\/p>\n
Always chatty and eager to share his wisdom, Carnegie once said, \u201cYou must capture and keep the heart of the supremely able man before his brain can do its best.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n It\u2019s a savvy assessment of the vital connection between heart, mind, results, and retention. How do we capture and keep the hearts of those we lead so they perform at their fullest potential year after year? A good place to start is curating an exceptional organizational culture.<\/p>\n Culture is horizontal gravity. It\u2019s what draws individuals into an organization, and it\u2019s what keeps them there. More simply put, culture is why people join and it\u2019s why they stay. Culture is a mindset, rooted in a philosophy. It\u2019s mission in action.<\/p>\n Every organization has a culture. It exists in the presence or absence of leadership. If there is a lack of leadership, the organization creates conflicting dynamics, and that becomes the culture. It\u2019s impossible to eliminate culture. Like matter, it simply changes form.<\/p>\n Create a Culture Code<\/strong><\/p>\n As important as culture is, if you ask ten employees to define their organization\u2019s culture, you\u2019ll likely get ten different answers. Culture should be easily understood and articulated. A great way to achieve that is by creating a Culture Code.\u00a0 For example:<\/p>\n The Culture at ABC Corporation Is:<\/p>\n Once you have the Code, bring it to life. Create laminated copies for everyone, turn into a piece of office wall art. Put it to work for you. Use it as a cornerstone of your talent acquisition efforts. Make it a tangible, visible part of your organizational ecosystem.<\/p>\n Get Aligned<\/strong><\/p>\n Once culture is defined, we need to align. Alignment requires two important shifts. The first shift happens within leadership.\u00a0 Leaders must realize it \u201cisn\u2019t about them.\u201d The second shift is even more important and depends on the success of the first. This shift happens within the organization itself. Everyone must believe\u2026that leadership<\/em><\/strong> believes\u2026that it\u2019s not about them. Why? Because in the end, it\u2019s what they<\/em><\/strong> believe that matters. What they believe determines how they behave.\u00a0 How they behave will determine how they perform.<\/p>\n Make the Investment<\/strong><\/p>\n Making it about them requires consistent, focused investment of time and attention. Start with understanding purpose. Purpose inspires and drives people. What\u2019s important to them personally? Professionally? Financially? Paint pictures of how exceptional performance will lead to outcomes serving the very things that are most important to them. The historical boundaries of location and time relative to work are forever blurred. Work\/life balance has dissolved into\u2026life. Listen. Learn about people. Within reason, the things that are important to them should become important to you.<\/p>\n Quit Managing. Start Leading.<\/strong><\/p>\n Leadership Guru Warren Bennis defines leadership as, \u201cthe capacity to translate vision into reality.\u201d Let\u2019s add to that. The leader\u2019s role is to cast vision, provide resources, remove obstacles, drive execution, and deliver results. Most people would much rather be led than managed. What\u2019s the difference? Visualize standing over someone versus walking beside them.\u00a0 Don\u2019t just tell them you\u2019re in it with them \u2013 they need to feel<\/em><\/strong> that you\u2019re in it with them.<\/p>\n How? Here\u2019s something simple. Ask people, \u201cWhat can I do for you today?\u201d<\/em> Ask it daily. And when they need something, do it. Promptly.\u00a0 This doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re going to do their work, nor does it mean they aren\u2019t accountable for their results. Rather, it demonstrates to them that you\u2019ve made that oh-so-important shift.<\/p>\n Keep Things Simple<\/strong><\/p>\n The world is a complicated, noisy place. Inputs assail us all day long, competing for our attention and challenging our ability to focus. Culture creates clarity. Leaders who curate culture are consistently on-message. They remind everyone of fundamental truths about the culture and the business to keep people grounded during challenging periods of time.<\/p>\n Be the Cultural Immune System<\/strong><\/p>\n Curating exceptional culture also means protecting it. Threats must be identified and eliminated. In \u201cA Failure of Nerve,\u201d author Edwin Friedman likens organizational culture t0 human organisms. Our bodies are programmed to protect us from harm. Infection is met with an assault of white blood cells. Pepper in our nose triggers sneezes. Bad sushi is met with\u2026. well, you know. Friedman draws a parallel with organizational culture and declares that leaders that must serve as the immune systems of their organizations.<\/p>\n Few organizations have an exceptional culture. That\u2019s because it\u2019s hard to do. But if you want to capture and keep the heart of supremely able people who perform at their very best, it\u2019s absolutely worth the effort.<\/p>\n \u2014Karen Schmidt<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish American businessman and philanthropist. He led the expansion of the steel industry in the United States and became one of the richest men in the world. During the last 18 years of his life (which ended in 1919), he gave away the 2022 equivalent of roughly $10 billion to charities, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sra-updates"],"yoast_head":"\n\n