Culture of Awesome !!

There are countless numbers of blogs and articles regarding culture.  I’m absolutely in that mix because I feel that culture is the most critical factor of today’s workplace.  The challenge I see though is that people continue to offer models of what will absolutely work for you.  I think this is an incredible presumption !!  I can’t come close to understanding what your company culture is or isn’t.

There are a few assumptions I can make that will be accurate:

  1. Your company has people that work there.
  2. All the people you have are different and unique.
  3. No one agrees on having the same culture.

In our constant pursuit for the silver bullet for all things HR, we tend to get frustrated because we can’t make everything “the same.”  I’d like to suggest one component regarding company culture that you can control, but you overlook.  That cultural component is . . . YOU !!

In organizations, we talk about others and how THEY need to improve their behavior.  In fact, the majority of our time in Human Resources is dealing with the behaviors of other employees.  After a while we get desensitized to thinking about how we affect the behaviors of others because we are always trying to address and “fix” people.  That approach is exhausting isn’t it?

Be AwesomeA friend sent me this picture with the message, “I thought of you the moment I saw this.”  I am smiling even as I type this blog because I get Geeked everytime I see it !!  What makes it an amazing picture is that the advice is not to start with others, it’s for yourself first.  Behavior is most affected by what you model and not what you dictate.

If each and every day started this way for you, how would your day go?  Imagine that this framed your behavior as you pulled up to work, got out of your car, and as your hand hit the handle of the door to enter your building – it was on !!  I understand that this could be tough to pull off for some people even one day a week.  I just believe that HR has the ability to set the tone of the culture where they work.  If you came in to set up a Culture of Awesome – you would set the world on its ear.  People would look at you, and at HR, differently.  There may be some skeptics to start, but you’ll see that it will become a norm for the environment around you.

Tomorrow, or when you read this, start with Rule 1, move to Rule 2 and see how you start working better with everyone around you as you incorporate Rule 3 !!  I think you’ll agree that it’s AWESOME !!

12 thoughts on “Culture of Awesome !!”

  1. Wow!! Really needed this today – we are in our last push of summer into labor day with the work force going back to school and tons of moving parts and pieces. We are so much better than last year but it is hard to remember that when we are in the weeds! THANK YOU for always being a positive role model

  3. It’s great (or perhaps I should say “awesome”) to see the advice produced by David D’Souza (@dds180 on Twitter) being shared and circulated. You and he are so right – cultural change (indeed most positive change) has to come from the actions, attitude and dedication of each of us as individuals. Keep being awesome (thank you for doing so and being you) – Kate

  5. p.s. and as testament to the awesomeness of the post, I’m happy to report that, per our Insight software, this is currently a Top 5 trending article in HR today!

    Regards,

    Christopher Watkins
    Social Media Manager
    fisher VISTA/HRmarketer

  6. Love this post Steve. I went back to an old post I did on HRH in 2009 and found this:

    “Culture doesn’t create the environment. Leadership creates the culture that leads to the environment in which people work. These things can be planned and managed from all levels of the organization, but they start at the top and must permeate everything a great organization does.”

    The post was called “Creating a WOW Culture”. It’s still pretty relevant.

    http://www.thehumanracehorses.com/2009/07/15/creating-a-wow-culture-at-work/

    1. Michael,

      Great response and I remember that post and thinking it was so relevant to the issues I was seeing in organizations.

      Fred

  7. Roomie,

    Great post and I agree with an earlier comment that it starts with “looking in the mirror” before looking at others.

    Fred

  8. Great point, Steve! It’s powerful when you help create and work in a Culture of Awesome! It must start at the top with leadership, and the contagious factor is tremendous!

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