Transform Corporate Culture for an Increased Bottom Line

Corporate Culture is a harmony of people coming together for a common purpose – their communication with each other, how they manage their time and energy, the way they organize their work, and the way they are led.

Leaders communicate values – the things that really matter to us, ideas and beliefs we hold special so that we may gain clarity and focus for consistent decision making.

Values shape decisions – mutual trust and respect, integrity, empowerment, strong work ethic, fun, open process improvement, transparency.

If the Values of an organization are not consistently defined, articulated and continually reinforced by its Leaders, a Culture of cynicism and mistrust evolves. The results of this are decreased productivity, lack of accountability, limited engagement, deficient work ownership. And ultimately a reduction in the bottom line.

If you are not sure if your company has this problem, ask yourself this question:

Is your revenue what you’d like it to be? Are the employees producing in the same way as if they owned the business? People make or break organizations. And they can create productive cultures based on integrity, teamwork, and results that breed customer loyalty. Or they can function under the radar screen fostering a culture of underperformance. Is your company where it could be? How much is that costing you?

A Culture of Accountability provides a positive work atmosphere for both employees and executive management because everyone shares in the company’s success – everyone owns it. Accountability does not mean that when something goes wrong you look for someone to blame. It comes from appealing to their desire to contribute something meaningful and empowering people to make a meaningful difference. It inspires their true desire to be successful. True accountability must be developed from within, and cannot be imposed. For this reason, sales commissions and bonuses are an effective way of rewarding accountability, but a poor tactic to create it.

Productivity in a corporate culture is often hampered by procrastination. Procrastination feeds a common human desire – Drama! Indeed procrastinating brings on undue stress and anxiety. But the thrill that comes from completing the task at the last minute brings a greater high than simply completing an otherwise mundane task on time. Where is the fun in never testing yourself or realizing your potential to perform on an exceptional level? The problem is that these short-lived thrills, however, do not out weigh the feelings of guilt and powerlessness that precede and follow the work.

In order to control procrastination, you have to be willing to anticipate the payoff first and translate that feeling into the present instead of transferring it to the future. You have to be able to feel the part of the experience that’s superficially positive in the present – the relief in the completion, because that’s what compels you to keep procrastinating for greater drama! Repeatedly allow yourself to envision the relief and accomplishment you would fee if the project were complete. Run this feeling over and over in your mind when you are putting off work that you could begin today.

The next time you find yourself procrastinating, ask yourself these questions:

1) Where in my life am I bored and long for drama or excitement?

2) What does procrastinating allow me to feel that is positive?

3) How can I recreate that feeling now and not wait for it to occur later after much stress and anxiety?

Do the people in your organization need an opportunity to communicate what they can’t or don’t accept or acknowledge about their organization’s personality? Start those conversations now!

Follow Mary Lee on Twitter at StartingOverNow.

For the FREE Worksheets: “Change – Here’s How!” and “Overcoming Adversity is an Every Day Slice of Life?” go to Mary Lee's web site at: http://www.startingovernow.com/WorksheetsandArticles.html