Several years ago I wrote a blog post called “You Might Be A Redneck Marketer If…” that channeled the popular Jeff Foxworthy comedy routine of a similar name. It was intended to call out some prevailing marketing attitudes that would be amusing, if they weren’t so incredibly tragic.
In recent weeks, I’ve been watching the latest WeWork business debacle – and the ensuing commentary, vitriol and recriminations – and wondering why there still remains so many leadership and culture faux pas.
Particularly when we all should know better by now.
So, in the immortal cadence of a Jeff Foxworthy routine, I’m going to ask you to play along with me today.
Begin by reading this sentence out aloud…”Is It Any Wonder Our Organizations Are A Mess When…”
· We believe that our people are solely motivated by money. Being paid fairly is important. And a legal requirement. But money alone isn’t enough to keep our people motivated and energized. And money alone won’t compensate for poor leadership and a toxic environment.
· We proudly display Values on our walls (and coffee mugs) but they don’t reflect the way we actually behave.Nothing erodes the credibility of an organization – and its leaders – faster that saying one thing and doing exactly the opposite.
· We treat Onboarding as a box to tick, rather than crucial moment to bond a new colleague to our organization. And provide them every opportunity to shine from Day One. Any Onboarding routine that doesn’t prepare a new colleague to contribute from the outset is disingenuous to them and a wasted opportunity for the organization.
· We treat Resignations, and even Terminations, as pariahs. Sometimes things don’t work out despite the very best intentions of both parties. Everybody who leaves your organization should be treated with respect, dignity and a hearty thanks for their contribution, no matter how small. Imagine what reputation you’d garner if everyone who left your employ did so with dignity and your genuine thanks? I guarantee you they’d speak glowingly about your firm rather than resentfully.
· We believe everyone desperately wants to lead other people. Sadly, we still promote people based on functional skills (You’re a great project manager, bookkeeper, procurement agent etc) and elevate them into a role managing people. Some people can’t (and just shouldn’t) lead other human beings. They have no desire, or no interest, to do so. And their teams suffer for it. Not everyone wants to be a leader.
· We treat our leaders as omnipotent and super-human. Spoiler alert – they aren’t. They are human just like the rest of us and come with all the same baggage. They may have more experience, more track-record, better connections, better education but they make mistakes too. Cut them some slack – and lose the sycophantic behaviour. It doesn’t help them and it is not a good look on you either.
· We let our leaders believe they’re omnipotent and super-human. Enron, WeWork, Lehmann Brothers, Sears. All great examples of leadership run amok. And organizations – and Board of Directors – who let them. Arrogance and hubris have destroyed many organizations – and many employees lives in the aftermath – so organizations need to guard religiously against the massive egos we let run our companies.
· We believe that Culture is solely the responsibility of HR. That’s woefully naïve or a cop-out. Culture is a living and breathing manifestation of the attitudes and behaviours of everyone inside the organization. Each employee bears responsibility for it and, as you ascend within an organization, YOU have a significant responsibility to ensure you’re creating the very best environment for success. In each and every action you make
· We don’t create Purpose and Clarity for our people. Not every organization can tackle global-warming or cure cancer but it doesn’t mean that you can’t explicitly define exactly what it is you are trying to solve. And, with equal precision, how each and every employee contributes to that goal. Work still (sadly) engulfs such an enormous part of our lives, we owe it to our people to give their time with us as much meaning, direction and clarity as we can. To do any less is psychologically exploitative.
· We slavishly obsess about Employee Engagement. Without realizing that, like Profit, Employee Engagement is an outcome not an objective. Run your organization with direction, clarity, cohesion and purpose and your employee engagement will naturally soar. Relentlessly measuring EE every quarter without rigorously tackling the foundations of our organization is treating the symptoms not the disease.
· We tolerate bad behaviour or excuse it as inconsequential. Any time we excuse culture-inconsistent behaviour because “that’s just Patrick..” or “It only happened once..” it’s the start of the demise of your culture. Your culture truly is defined by the worst behaviours tolerated by leadership. Because if YOU tolerate it, it becomes seen as acceptable by your employees and that’s the beginning of the end.
· We minimize Diversity and Inclusion to an objective. They’re more than that. They’re a strategic advantage and an accelerant to success, not a percentage to hit for Recruitment or for a business magazine poll on Executive Team Composition. Organizations that create and unleash a diverse and participatory set of ideas, opinions and skills will inevitably hammer those with singular and static views. Yet, for many organizations today, D&I still seems like a checklist or a popularity contest than a bona-fide attempt to create a strategic advantage.
· We believe our Employees owe us more than we owe them. Many organizations still, erroneously, believe that an employment contract is one-way. The astute ones realize that having expectations of your people is fine – if you’re equally prepared to meet and exceed the expectations they have of you. And that means more than paying them on time. That means genuinely and deliberately caring about their growth, nurturing their potential and unleashing their skills. That’s what you owe them.
· We believe newer Technology and a better process will save us. People, People, People remain the very core of any business. Even the most technologically-advanced organizations are reliant on people for their success. Its people who create new products and markets. People who come up with new ideas and inventions. People who collaborate and conspire to change the status quo. Technology and process are just enablers, they’re seldom if ever creators. If we continue to idolize the technology and marginalize the people, we will find our organizations slow and halt as creativity and ingenuity vanish.
· We fail to recognize Culture as a strategic business advantage. A very personal point for me because I genuinely do believe that an organization’s Culture, when humming like a finely tuned engine, remains the only sustainable competitive advantage any organization has. Technology can be bought (or stolen) and processes, products, markets can be copied. Your Culture is impervious to that because no other organization has your singularly unique DNA or the potential trapped inside that DNA. Organizations who pay scant attention to their culture, or ignore it completely, are choking off the very fuel that could power their sustained advantage.
Finally, we forget that Work is Human.
Dress it up in whatever language you want but Work (and the Future of it) will remain Human.
It feeds us, clothes us and puts a roof over our heads. It frustrates us, angers us and makes us feel worthless. But, when we think deeply about how to elevate our organizations and actually win in the marketplace, we realize we need to create Work that inspires us, gives us meaning, gives us an opportunity to belong and to contribute, to be part of something larger, to feel safe but also to feel challenged.
Our Work – and our Organizations – should help us evolve and grow. Not stifle and minimize our potential.
Until that happens – as the rule, not the exception – I’m not sure we can really be surprised that our organizations are such a mess.
Dear Reader, I’m sure I’ve missed many other (blindingly obvious) reasons why our organizations are a mess. Please add your reasons and solutions below.
As important, please go back inside your organization and tackle just one of these reasons head-on. Your colleagues, and especially your organization, need you to.