Author: Mike Urgo
It doesn’t matter if you are managing a team in a corporate environment or a sports team at the highest level, the CULTURE you establish will determine your team’s success.
There are many different “classical” types of culture. Jesse Stone from Seapoint Center shared the diagram on the left for Organizational Culture.
In my opinion, team culture is so much more than a diagram or some words. It starts and ends with the leader. If it’s a sports team, it’s the head coach. If it’s a development team, it’s the development director or VP. There are also circumstances where you end up with cultures within a culture. There may be a company culture that the development team is within, but for the purpose of this newsletter, I want to focus solely on the cultures we can control as leaders. Some of us may have the humbling experience of running a large organization or company and this would still apply here.
Having taken over teams and established multiple teams both in business, technology and athletics, I believe I have a template for success. The first thing to do is internally understand that the culture of your team begins and ends with you. Regardless of whether you are a team within a small company, university, or large organization, your team’s culture begins and ends with you as a leader.
The second step is easier when you are taking over a team as opposed to if you are establishing a new team. But it’s a great idea to sit back and observe. Trying to establish a culture on your own without any input can leave you looking like a clown. Observe your people, get to know them and what they value.
How are people treating each other within the team?
How are people interacting with people outside the team?
What is the work ethic of individuals and the team as a whole?
What is the overall attitude towards leadership and past experiences?
What type of feedback or thoughts does your team have on a desirable culture?
The last question is paramount. Understanding the type of culture your team desires is a big step to having a successful culture. I will never forget my second season coaching Ice Hockey at Stevenson, my largest concern was that I had recruited 14 players and I just didn’t want anyone to quit. At one point after a bad loss, where the guys could have won, but didn’t play to their potential, my captain pulled me aside before practice.
Captain: Are you going to skate us?
Me: Just the normal conditioning.
Captain: You need to skate us and make a point that the way we played was unacceptable.
It hit me that I had compromised a culture of accountability for fun. There’s always a place for fun in any culture, but there is a time and a place. Accountability is also something that most cultures should have. Being able to listen to my team members, in this case my captain was huge as we were building a program that was focused on sustainability and winning.
After you observe and receive feedback it’s time to put pen to paper and formalize the cultural pillars of your team. Formally these are called Core Values and typically include a Mission and Vision statement as well. Sometimes this can seem corny and can be met with eye rolls. But I believe that it comes from employees or team members who have been apart of teams with core values and a mission / vision statement that weren’t embodied by leadership.
This is why I believe the number one thing is that the culture starts and stops with you. A former supervisor of mine had a number one core value of respect. He would always state that we treat people with respect when we talk to them and about them. I worked for him for over 5 years and never once saw him raise his voice or tear someone down. It was easy for me as a leader on his team to enforce respect, because he embodied it.
On the flip side, I have had many supervisors who lived by ‘do as I say, not as I do’. I am not saying that this culture isn’t able to be successful, I am saying it’s more difficult. When I coached the hockey team at Stevenson our practices started at 5:15AM. As a coach who didn’t have to put much more on than a pair of skates, I could easily show up right before practice and get on the ice. However, I was asking college students to show up at the rink early to get dressed and get on the ice on time. So, I felt it necessary to not only get there early but try and be one of the first people there. To me, it showed I am not above the team or anything else I am asking them to do.
As a leader, there are times where you can or will do things that members of your team don’t get to do. I think there’s a fine line of the exceptions you can take as the leader, and when it can start to be perceived as abuse. It’s at that point if your team believes that the core values don’t apply to you, that they start to question why they should the core values apply to the team. This is when a “cancer” can start to grow. I will discuss maintaining a culture and fixing a culture in subsequent newsletters.
Once you have identified the core values that you feel comfortable exuding as a leader it is time to roll them out to your team and gain buy-in. Buy-in for the core values in theory should not be difficult if you have already been following them as a leader and you have successfully observed your team while receiving feedback. To further buy-in with your team, I find that it’s helpful to go through creating a mission and vision statement together with your team (depending on the size) can help. I believe one of the realest clichés is: people want to ride on a ship they helped build.
I laugh, because I have been doing the meal planning and grocery shopping for my family lately. Every Sunday, I ask what dinner ideas they have for the week. Mind you, I have to throw away the typical requests for McDonalds and Mac n Cheese every week. During the weeks where they participate, there are less complaints around dinner time. When there is complaining, I can always go back to: I asked for input, and you were too busy playing Fortnite. It’s a simple illustration of when the team is interested or uninterested in the collaborative sessions. It gives the leader something to refer should members of the team abstain from participating.
Finally, there can’t be any compromise on the core values. Compromise creates doubt and mistrust. There are always exceptions to rules and freedom in the framework, but not when it comes to core values. As a leader, you can’t preach respect, then disrespect someone. This especially applies to you as a leader. I started this article by stating that culture starts and ends with you. If you require your team to come in on time and are consistently late, there’s no way your team will respect that rule.
By taking ownership of the culture, ensuring your team is involved in the construction, documenting core values, gaining buy-in with your team, and not compromising; you will find that the culture you and your team desire is attainable.
Want to know more about how this type of thinking can have a positive impact on your organization?
Schedule a call to see how I can help you or perhaps you are an organization that is a good fit for my next full-time career move.
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