Culture + Principles

When it comes to building culture in an organization, we reap what we sow.

“What’s the culture like at your company? On your team?”

The responses will always describe how it FEELS to be a part of the team. That feeling is in reaction to the behavior the org sees from its leadership, the behavior that is expected and rewarded.

If, as a leader, I'm toxic, bureaucratic, political, and cut-throat...that's the culture I'm building. If I'm supportive, thoughtful, empathetic, entrepreneurial, and energetic...THAT is the culture I'll develop.

Shaping the Culture on my Team

I'm a firm believer in this flow:

• Personal values shape beliefs.
• Beliefs drive behavior.
• Behavior results in consequences.
• Consequences impact beliefs.

To influence my team's culture, I instill principles, a set of shared beliefs to act as guideposts for the team's decisions and drive behavior. If you're not on board with these principles, then you won't be a good fit for my team.

Principles

I think it's important to instill some principles early on, and evolve them as the company matures. Here are the ones I believe in:

Faster is better.

We feel that speed wins. Speed when hiring new colleagues, speed in the user experience, speed/effectiveness in our dev process.

Simpler is better.

We follow the age-old adage to Keep it Stupid Simple (KISS) and avoid unnecesary complexity.

Change is good.

We're not always gonna get it right. The market, our customers, and our people WILL change over time. This principle says to expect it, embrace it, and adapt. Roll with the punches.

We are vocal, helpful, dependable, and kind.

We default to trust, and we show empathy and compassion with customers, partners, and each other. The closer we are, the better work we do. A happy and healthy team does the best work.

Walking the Walk

The team will naturally get its cues from the actions I take:

• Do I talk more than I listen?
• How do I react when the team comes under pressure? When we experience failure? When we get a win?
• How do I balance work and my personal life? When do I take vacation, and how much?
• How do I make decisions when one needs to be made? In a vacuum, with an iron fist? Or by considering all that the team has to offer?

To answer these questions, I always put myself in my team's shoes. What would I want to see from MY boss. I'd want a kind, understanding, smart, and thoughtful human.

Very intentionally, I lead with a light touch. The idea is to operate like an approachable peer, modeling what it is to be vocal, helpful, dependable, and kind (the 4th principle above).

I want the team to productively question decisions, so I prod them for concerns. I want the team to step up and lead, so I ask them what they think we should do.