The impact of intentional culture is powerful. From exceptional business growth and performance, see Southwest Airlines or Costco; to extraordinary innovation and impact, see Apple or Google; organizations with intentional culture bring out the best in their people so that their people can achieve the best for their organization.
Intentional culture exists when there is clarity of purpose, principles, and payoff (what I call the Culture Print™ Markers) for a team, organization, or community. Then, that clarity is activated through tools and processes to help make these markers tangible to the organization.
The question I get asked the most when speaking with leaders about culture is "How?"
It's a simple question with a simple answer...simple, but not easy. The answer is focus. The more focused you are on your culture, the more effective you will be in delivering the experience and results your organization was created for.
"The more focused you are on your culture, the more effective you will be in delivering the experience and results your organization was created for."
That's the simple answer. Here's where it gets difficult.
To achieve this focus, you need to do two things. First, you need to understand the role your people play in creating, keeping, and consuming your culture. Then, you need to equip your people with the necessary resources to fulfill their role in your culture.
Over the course of the next few blog posts, we will break down each culture influencer role: who they are and how they are best suited to influence and deliver your desired culture experience. Also, we'll dig into some of the tools and processes that successful organizations use to make their culture tangible, leveraging culture as a driving force in meeting and exceeding the expectations their organization was created to achieve.
To start, let's identify the Culture Influencers that exist in any organization. There are three key influencers and I've identified them as the following:
Culture Creators
Culture Keepers
Culture Consumers
Culture Creators are the people at the top of the organization, the founders and owners, and/or the executive team responsible for creating and casting vision, setting the course for the organization, and providing the resources required to accomplish the vision.
Next, you have the Culture Keepers. These are the people leaders; the managers and supervisors who have direct influence over the individual contributors. Culture Keepers are the conduit that allows the culture to flow up and down throughout the organization. They are, by far, the most critical culture influencer in any organization.
"Culture Keepers are the most critical culture influencer in any organization."
Finally, there are the Culture Consumers. This group consists of frontline employees, vendors and partners, and the external customers of the organization. These are the people whose experience with culture will determine the success or failure of the organization.
Your organization's ability to activate your culture influencers to identify, articulate, develop, and reproduce your Culture Print ultimately determines how successful your organization will be.
Our next post will look at Culture Creators. What are the responsibilities this group of influencers has in creating and cultivating an intentional culture? And how can this group engage, empower, and equip the organization's Culture Keepers and Consumers?
I would love to hear your thoughts about the concept of culture influencers and why intentional culture matters. Leave your comments below and join the conversation.
Till next time...
By Dan Shurtz, Founder of The Culture Print
