Do You Have the 8 Principles of Good Culture?

Great teams have symmetry between players and staff, and each department operates under the same set of guidelines and behaviors.

“The power of observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it.” — George Bernard Shaw

Growing up in Maryland, Dan Snyder dreamed of one day owning his favorite NFL team. In 1999, it became reality when he bought the team in Washington. Unfortunately, Snyder has experienced way more losing than winning — going 142-193-1 since taking over the once-proud franchise. With four brief playoff appearances and no sustainable winning, Snyder has seen fan interest, profits and brand identity decline rapidly. He also ignored any conversation about changing the nickname of the team to something more racially sensitive. Finally, last week, the Washington Post uncovered numerous accounts of sexual harassment complaints from women inside the football team building.    

What can we learn as leaders from the mistakes made in Washington?

Plenty. 

First and foremost, there can never be two cultures in one building. There needs to be in harmony between the field and offices — in perfect order. Don’t kid yourself — how the team behaves on the field is how the organization behaves. They go hand in hand.  What occurs off the field impacts the field, and what occurs on the field impacts the office. 

Great teams have symmetry between players and staff, and each department operates under the same set of guidelines and behaviors. Bill Walsh, the Hall-of-Fame Coach of the San Francisco 49ers, built his organization around his 17 standards of excellence principles that he would review with everyone to make sure each member of his organization was compliant. As Twitter co-founder Biz Stone once said:  “Positive culture comes from being mindful and respecting your coworkers, and being empathetic.”

So how does an organization know it has the “right culture?”     

1. Employee engagement is stable — people ask what they can do, not what do they have to do.

2. People stay and don’t change jobs even with offers for advancement. The collective team is more important than individual goals. 

3. No one is afraid of talking — to anyone. People say hello when passing in the halls. Coach Walsh would often remind people when he was walking down the hall to not jump into an office to avoid an interaction. Bill wanted everyone to call him Bill. Don’t be afraid.   

4. People feel safe at work and won’t lose their jobs — there are reviews and accountability meetings.    

5. No water cooler talk — there are no groups or people complaining about how the organization is poorly run or lacks direction. No gossiping. 

6. More than a job. The job becomes a way of life. People love coming to work and having daily interactions. 

7. People create new ideas in their roles, thus embracing change. New is not a bad word. Change is never dangerous, and most of all, mistakes are learning experiences for growth.

8. Listen intently to someone talking. Don’t multi-task when you are trying to hear. Listening to learn is a skill and needs to be practiced. 

Culture takes time to build, time to enact and, most of all, must be maintained every second of every day. When it’s right, it’s only right for the day. Tomorrow, everyone must create it right again. Practicing these eight qualities will allow any organization to move closer to a high-performance culture.

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