One con of culture you should be aware of
Enlightening. Informative. Actionable. Affirming.
These are the words that come to mind after my first time at a CultureCon event.
CultureCon West
Let’s hit the highlight reel that created these feelings:
Eric Hutcherson delivered one of the best keynote speeches I’ve ever heard. Never could I imagine getting misty-eyed by anything a CHRO could say about building great cultures. But Eric pulled on multiple heartstrings throughout his presentation as he shared his insights and wisdom from his time working for the NBA and now Universal Music Group. He’s aligned his passion and purpose with the biggest platforms to help spread his message. And guess what he has found:
Leaders create the greatest cultures where people can unleash their potential and drive top productivity for organizations.
This was the key theme that emerged in nearly every session. Since this is a core belief at ADVISA, it was enlightening to hear so many examples of how this truth plays out in organizations of all sizes around the world.
CultureCon delivered big time on building on this key theme by curating a blend of sessions and speakers who shared openly about how they help leaders build the best cultures that unleash potential and productivity.
Being at CultureCon felt like finding your group that you didn’t know existed. Each networking opportunity, learning session, and speaker affirmed that the ADVISA POV about how to create cultural competitive advantage is aligned with these real-lived experiences. It’s energizing to be surrounded by people who share this point-of-view, especially when you know that so many companies are still struggling to “figure it out.”
Being at CultureCon felt like finding your group that you didn’t know existed.
Key takeaways that affirmed ADVISA’s 5 drivers of cultural competitive advantage
Here’s a quick rundown of my favorite take-aways from CultureCon that affirmed the 5 drivers of cultural competitive advantage:
Activation From Above
This driver was mentioned in nearly every learning session. But a tangible example that stuck out was Zappos. The session was about utilizing engagement data to inform the strategic plan. However, Zappos executive leadership is a masterclass in how culture HAS TO start at the top, as shared by Maritza Lewis. The CFO, CEO, and all other leaders know is it a major part of their role to create the environment that allows the intentional culture to thrive. It shows up in how they recognize employees, structure meetings, and report results.
Trust and Shared Purpose
Between the laughs and tears, Eric Hutcherson from Universal Music Group nailed this driver. He dove into how leaders gain followership – and the reality that people have to opt-in to the purpose of the organization. And at UMG, that is a lofty one . . . shaping culture through the power of artistry.
He shared how he asks employees at all levels, “Have I earned your effort today?” (i.e., Leaders are responsible for earning trust and aligning people’s greatest gifts with the purpose of the mission of the organization.)
Leader Effectiveness
Man-oh-man, I could write a book on the examples of this driver that were shared at CultureCon.
My highlight came from Carolynne Bernard Thomas’s session on “Fanness.” Basically, they’ve academically studied leadership to try and identify the key traits of the most effective leaders. Some leaders are great at getting results. Others are great at building relationships and being well-liked. But the most effective leaders do BOTH and become admired leaders. She then discussed that the behaviors these leaders demonstrate fall under an umbrella of “fanness” . . . in other words, being a die-hard fan of your people.
She shared so many great examples, but two of them really stood out in terms of how they are related to how we provide recognition to our people:
- Spontaneous reward and recognition. When you reward someone (doesn’t have to be big, could be a small gesture) with something hyper specific at a moment when they least expect it, people know how much you are rooting for them.
- Provide recognition of someone’s strength just prior to any performance. Before a big meeting or at the start of a project, prime a person’s motivation by recognizing specific strengths. This will greatly improve how they do and show you’re a fan. OR – assuming your presence as a leader won’t add pressure – ask to be there and cheer for your people in person during their big moments. At ADVISA, we see this every time an executive leader attends our Leadership Academy during participant final presentations. Showing up shows your fanness.
The best part? When you’re a true fan of your people, it becomes reciprocal and your people admire how you lead. This admired leadership drives incredible results.
Actionable People Data
Shauna Geraghty, Psy.D. from TalkDesk walked through exactly how her company uses their year-over-year employee engagement data to inform the strategic plan each year.
So many organizations gather employee engagement metrics, but so few know how to take action with that data on both a strategic level AND a tactical level. Both can be done and done well. A favorite take-away she shared was how this data can help you identify which key culture stories need to be told and retold in order to keep those cultural elements alive.
Systems that Support Leaders
In Dr. Andre Martin’s session, he shared examples of how companies create internal systems that help restore people’s energy. He has a method where he works with executive teams to identify and rank where energy is being sucked out of the system – and how a business can make adjustments to restore energy so people are more likely to give more effort and thus more productivity.
The tool he uses to do this breaks systems into categories: Strategy/Org Design; Interaction/Gatherings; Work/Environment; Key People Processes; and Leadership/Management. Each category lists common components to these internal systems where executives rank the impact on energy (fuel or friction). From there, leaders can prioritize changes to directly improve how work gets done.
Bringing it home
This is just a small sampling of the examples shared at CultureCon that affirm our 5 drivers of cultural competitive advantage. Everyone at the convention clearly shared a passion for the value of culture, how to intentionally build it, and impact on business results.
While that was energizing and affirming, in side conversations, attendees would comment, “I just don’t know where to start.” Since all 5 drivers impact culture and whether it’s an advantage, knowing where to start can be the initial barrier.
In side conversations, attendees would comment, “I just don’t know where to start.”
Good news…