There’s a lot that’s been written about culture. While I would hardly say I rank among some of the industries thought leaders in my 30 plus years in business, I think I have seen a thing or two that works and more than a few things that do not.

 

So you want to build a culture of ‘winning’ and ‘excellence’? Here are my best tips.

 

Keep in mind, much of this advice is industry agnostic. Yet in the interest of full disclosure, most of my experience (though by no means all) comes from building and managing teams in the technology sales and delivery space.

 

1. Hire those with a sense of urgency

 

Sounds simple, right?   It’s not. How do you define ‘the best’.   For most companies this means understanding what you already have in place that works, and mirroring that to scale. In our case, we know our customers appreciate our highly responsive nature. We are, as we like to say, “Always on”. So a sense of urgency is hugely important

 

2. Don’t hire anyone insane

 

Ok, again, seems straightforward, right? Well, I would say without naming names, we have failed a time or two, and hired at least a few people over the years who might have pegged at least a couple of DSM classifications of mental illness. We moved on, and recovered quickly.

3. Hire like-minded people when you can, but positive, if non like-minded folks when you cant

 

No team will survive with clones. Dissenting opinions can be hugely valuable if the dissenters have the emotional intelligence and aptitude to state their case.

 

That said, like-minded doesn’t mean everyone agrees all the time. For us, it means culture-fit.

 

We are, as I often like to point out, a bit quieter, and while we might at times be among the smartest folks in the room, we carry ourselves with a quiet dignity to ensure that would never come across. We are not loud, obnoxious, or overbearing.   Some sales people are. Those individuals would not do well here. We know this, we screen for this.

 

4. Look for well read, thoughtful people

 

As a voracious reader, we look for others who have a similar thirst for knowledge. As consultants, our customers are typically looking to us for ideas, opinions and strategies they can bring to bear to further their business, or deal with challenges they face. No matter how much experience one has, if our team members don’t find themselves pretty regularly engrossed with a great book, we’d be concerned.

 

5. Value down time

All of my teams, both current and past, understand that I juggle a lot of priorities. Personally and professionally, and it’s important that they know I value my down time, and need them to also value theirs.   A favorite hobby, a passion outside of work, or just the appreciation of knowing your work place appreciates you, and critical components of success in building high performing teams.

 

6. Hire slow, and fire fast

 

Yes, I know, if you follow any of my writings, this is a pretty common refrain. But if I could, I would print posters and glue this to the wall of ever room in our offices, and mail this out to all of our clients.

 

Too often I see companies afraid to fire. They hide behind a veil of ‘loyalty’, and instead create a culture of laziness or sloppiness at the worst, or just lackadaisical at best.

 

7. Avoid single points of failure like the plague

 

Staff should NOT be irreplaceable. Find those folks on your team who you would be most harmed if they departed, and immediately put a plan in place to duplicate their knowledge and skill. At the same time, ask yourself how and why this came to pass, and ensure it cannot be repeated. The path that lead to this is a dangerous and slippery road that leads no where you should want to be.

 

8. Know your team strengths, and weaknesses, and hire and train to fill them

 

As a leader, if one is more “big idea” driven, one should ensure there are appropriate staff around to keep the companies feet firmly on the ground. I for one tend to be that guy, so I surround myself with others who are more process driven.

 

9. Plan for disasters, plan for failures

 

Bad things happen, and ‘spoiler alert’, they happen when you least expect them to. Plan for this. Have emergency evacuation plans, know where important files and documents are, and are backed up to, and have recovery plans in place. Oh, equally important? TEST these procedures. Having stacks of ‘what if’ documents and manuals around is pointless if the procedures you developed aren’t practiced and tested.

 

10. Make security second nature

 

We all have horror stories of malware, ransomware, or identity theft at this point, yet are we prepared for when we are targeted?

 

Make security second nature to your organization, and test the policies you put in place. Hire an outside firm to test your organizations defenses, including susceptibility to phishing attacks. You’ll be amazed how at risk you are, and how easy it is to correct deficiencies.

 

And lastly, here’s a bonus number 11:

 

Make phone calls, and write emails like you’ll be called before a grand jury to testify about them. Because hey, you just might be.

 

 

Note that nowhere in here did I speak to metrics, KPIs, or reports. I am going to assume these are ‘built in’. Woven into the fabric already. If they are not, give us a call, we can help there too.