Company culture starts with who you put in charge and who you hire
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To understand a company’s culture you have to keep an eye on the Whos of Whoville.
Companies try to create culture by publishing slogans and values. But what is written on the wall doesn’t matter. It’s all about what happens down the hall.
Your culture is not who you want to be. It’s who you are. And that leads to what you do. Who we are changes over time and this flux is heavily influenced by two things:
- Who we’ve put in leadership
- Who we’ve hired
In other words it’s all about people. Slogans are great but they focus on WHAT, HOW and WHY. Culture is primarily defined by WHO.
This post might be starting to sound like a Dr. Seuss novel but when it comes to building a great team, division or even company you really can’t ignore the Whos of Whoville.
Interestingly, it’s not just about what the Whos DO but also about what they DON’T DO. If you want to understand a company culture you must look past what is celebrated and see what is tolerated.
Tucker Max put it well when he said your culture is the standard that your company tacitly allows. And guess who decides what is acceptable? The Whos of Whoville of course.
Whoville’s culture is all about it’s mayor, denizens and what they get up to. So keep an eye on leadership appointments, who and how you hire and what is happening down the hall.