A Culture of Greatness
July 20th, 2009 Posted in Newsletter
During the last two weeks I’ve spoken to the University of Texas football team, Northwestern Mutual and a conference of school principals. Very different audiences indeed, yet, the message I shared was the same:
“To build a winning a team and a successful organization you must create a culture of greatness.”
It’s the most important thing a leader can do because culture drives behavior, behavior drives habits and habits create results. In the words of leaders at Apple, “Culture beats strategy all day long.”
When you create a culture of greatness you create a collective mindset in your organization that expects great things to happen—even during challenging times. You expect your people to be their best, you make it a priority to coach them to be their best and most of all you create a work environment that allows them to be their best.
A culture of greatness creates an expectation that everyone in the organization be committed to excellence. It requires leaders and managers to put the right people in the right positions where they are humble and hungry and willing to work harder than everyone else. A culture of greatness dictates that each person use their gifts and strengths to serve the purpose and mission of the organization. And it means that you don’t just bring in the best people, but you also bring out the best in your people.
If you are thinking that this sounds like common sense, it is. But unfortunately far too many organizations expect their people to be their best but they don’t invest their time and energy to help them be their best nor do they create an environment that is conducive to success. They want great results but they are not willing to do what it takes to create a culture of greatness.
A culture of greatness requires that you find the right people that fit your culture. Then you coach them, develop them, mentor them, train them and empower them to do what they do best. As part of this process you develop positive leaders who share positive energy throughout the organization because positive energy flows from the top down. You also don’t allow negativity to sabotage the moral, performance and success or your organization. You deal with negativity at the cultural level so your people can spend their time focusing on their work instead of fighting energy vampires. And you find countless ways to enhance communication, build trust and relationships that are the foundation upon which winning teams are built.
If creating a culture of greatness sounds like a lot of work, it is, but not as much work as dealing with the crises, problems and challenges associated with negative, dysfunctional and sub-par cultures. While most organizations waste a lot of time putting out fires you can spend your time building a great organization that rises above the competition.
Which organizations in business, sports, health care and education would you say have “culture of greatness?” Share your thoughts on our blog here.
Download a free “I Am Willing to Pay the Price” poster.
One leader at Volvo Construction equipment posted one of our Training Camp posters on his door that said “I Am Willing to Pay the Price that Greatness Requires.” Then he had everyone on his team sign the poster so every time they went to his office they saw the poster and their signature. Click the poster image to see a larger view.
Stay Positive!
Jon
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Tags: business, culture, greatness, jon gordon, moral, northwestern mutal, positive, success, team, university of texas
5 Responses to “A Culture of Greatness”
By John Marchetti on Jul 20, 2009
Jon, you’re so right when you say “culture drives behavior.” A friend of mine, who was a successful College and NFL assistant coach for many years, told me when he joined the Tulane U. staff in the eaqrly 1990s, no matter how hard the coaches tried to make the young men understand what it meant to establish a winning mentality, he could see in their eyes, during a game, that they were trying to keep from losing rather than playing to win. He told me once a losing culture is absorbed into an organization, a total cleansing from top to bottom had to be done.
John
By Diane on Jul 20, 2009
I just completed reading The No Complaining Rule and found it as a great tie into the first book I read by Jon Gordon, The Energy Bus. (I was fully expecting Walter to somehow be related to Joy and Joyce.)anyway…
Our entire organization believes that we can make our own culture and we choose to go down the positive road.
We are grateful for these learning moments and take them to heart. These are great training materials and for those who are willing to make the change will reap the full benefits.
I look forward to reading The Training Camp.
By Susan Leary on Jul 22, 2009
I am a Creative Memories Consultant (scrapbooking). I am empowered on a daily basis by the organization. I feel gratification when pursuing and sharing my passion of scrapbooking and very sucessful when following the companies direction.
By Kathleen Keys on Jul 22, 2009
I recently joined Toastmasters. I love the supportive atmosphere and willingness to encourage even the extremely shy and reluctant speakers (ME).