Navigating Culture Transformation in the workplace
Over the past few years, few things have been more challenging than navigating culture in a workplace. Companies have defined culture as many things (ping-pong tables, free beer). Still, culture is knowing who is within your organization and seeing each employee as a human being with challenges, needs, and opportunities to learn.
This week, I learned of this four-day webinar hosted by The Arbinger Institute that brings together a community of leaders to build better organizations. I registered and attended the first event today, and wow – it was impactful. Hosted by several of Arbinger’s team, the event runs until Thursday. Learn more and register here. Below, I’ll share some of my takeaways from day one of the series.
This question stood out for me at the beginning of the keynote with Mitch Warner, Managing Partner at Arbinger. He posed the question to attendees: How do you know if you have a toxic workplace culture?
Here are a few of the answers he provided:
Low morale
High turnover
Frequent burnout groups in conflict
Lack of career support
Work-life balance
Gossip and drama
Fear of speaking up
Siloed teams
Lack of accountability
Role confusion
Lack of trust
The ripple effect of mindset
If experiencing a toxic workplace, it doesn’t just stay static but rather ripples out to the organization as a whole. Mitch says you must go to the source rather than fix the “ripples” (the problem).
You have to understand how to shift a mindset, not a behavior. Mitch says, “At the heart of all cultural dysfunction is ‘conflict,’ in which two parties provoke the problematic behaviors they complain about.”
Traditional leadership sees the problems and works to “fix” that problem by addressing the behavior. Arbinger’s Leadership Blueprint provides a different approach by recognizing that people must be accountable, and it’s a leader’s job to see an employee as a human, not just a problem that needs to be solved.
Develop accountable people.
Foster a culture of helpfulness.
Nurture employee engagement.
Transform conflict.
Build relationships.
Recruit and retain talent.
Take corrective action.
Addressing the skill gaps for new leaders
When an organization grows, it’s time to recruit from the existing top-performing employees. In a breakout session of this webinar, Lisa Sharapata and Lee Engle shared tips for setting these new leaders up for success.
Lisa shares, “What got you here (being a top performer)is not what will help you move forward,” meaning that the skills they bring to the role are not those they will use in the leadership role.
The biggest mistake companies make is bringing on new leadership without understanding the team’s challenges and what’s working. Leaders may need more time to build relationships with the group.
During the session, one of the attendees asked about tips for new leaders. Lee spoke about how important it is to look at what changes are happening and become more aware of who’s accountable and for what part of the process.
At this time, I was reminded of the CALM Method: Clarity, Awareness, Learning, and Motion. The CALM Method can be applied here to process how a leader approaches a team.
Clarity on the leader’s role and the team’s role.
Awareness of the team’s existing systems, processes, and communications.
Learning how to communicate best and support each member of the team.
Motion to take action for developing accountable people.
Don't Hold People Accountable;
Develop Accountable People
During the most impactful keynote of the day, Sam Whitney, Senior Product Manager, shared that the way to build a healthy workplace is to develop accountable people. He shared two mindsets:
-
Inward mindset – the way of seeing, while others exist, they don’t matter as much as I matter, my challenges are essential, they aren’t as important.
-
Outward mindset – a way of seeing and thinking – people matter, each person matters, and we see their needs, objectives, and challenges.
Sam said that when an individual is “inward,” that person can’t see that they are “inward,” meaning that that person will misunderstand what success means because the individual isn’t looking at the whole picture.
Sam provided a guide called The Outward Mindset Pattern, also known as SAM, to address challenges and offer ways for teams to show up better at work. (However, this framework isn’t named after Sam). To help people become accountable, an organization needs to change how they approach accountability.
S – See Others
A – Adjust Efforts
M – Measure Impact.
Sam provided three questions during this session and encouraged attendees to write them down, and I agreed. They are impactful!
-
How does someone in my role affect or affect your ability to do your work (both positively and negatively)?
-
From your perspective, how could someone in my role be most helpful to you?
-
How and at what frequency would you like me to check in and stay accountable to you for my impact on your ability to do your work?
When used as a tool, these questions can offer a different perspective or, at minimum, examine the current processes, viewpoints, and challenges facing a team.
The three takeaways I found most valuable:
-
The effects of behaviors ripple to your company employees.
-
See each team member as a person.
-
Redefine success after understanding the people, processes, and problems.
I learned so much more, so if you want my notes, click here! Send any questions to [email protected].
© 2024 Find Calm Here LLC, All Rights Reserved.
