Ducks in a Row: Some Things ARE About You
by Miki Saxon
Consider this a Valentine message from me.
Last summer I wrote that the solution to having employees who care about their work and company was to look in the mirror, since their caring was a direct result of your management and the culture it engendered.
A few days ago Jeff Haden wrote in Inc. magazine about eight things people want that are a function of your MAP as opposed to your budget.
- Freedom
- Target
- Mission
- Expectations
- Input
- Connection
- Consistency
- Future
The words and explanations vary slightly, but this is the same advice I and dozens of other culture mavens have been saying for years.
Culture matters; it matters more than strategy, planning and even compensation.
Culture is your responsibility.
Culture is how you show you care.
Culture is you.
Whereas it’s barely possible to effectively live a personal lie, it just isn’t possible to propagate a culture based on one.
Not in ten lifetimes could you implement a culture that deviates from your basic values, your MAP, your essence.
You can provide what people crave, because you can change at any time you choose.
That’s the key, the choice is yours; it can’t be made for you by someone else or made by you because another desires it.
You can change, but only if you want to change.
Valentine’s Day is a good day to choose to start changing.
It won’t be easy; it will take more than a day; but it will take longer if you don’t start now.
Flickr image credit: AForestFrolic
