You Can't Fix Company Culture

One of the most common questions I get from CEOs all the time is some combination of, "how do I create a better company culture? How do I improve? How do I fix my company culture?" The problem with this, and the reason why CEOs and leadership teams have so much trouble with this, is they’re asking the wrong question.

You can't create a culture or fix a culture at a company level. You can't. The right question is, "how do I create the right culture on my leadership team?" When you create it on your leadership team, it'll cascade down through the rest of the organization - guaranteed. If you don't have the right culture on the leadership team, I don't care what posters you put on the wall about your culture. You're not creating a great culture.

Let me get a little bit more specific. I think culture is made up of three "V"s:

1.      Values: Values are non-negotiable behaviors that are what's best, right, most noble about who you are as a company.

2.      Vision: Having a crystal clear one-year vision, three-year vision, or ten-year vision that your leadership team not only buys into, but they are evangelists of that vision throughout the organization.

3.      Vulnerability: Vulnerability is a willingness to admit a mistake or that you don't know something. It's a willingness to give and receive honest feedback on the leadership team. It's a willingness to subvert your needs to the needs of the team.

What are you going to do to improve your leadership team culture today?