Creating The Right Culture [Leadership Thoughts]
What we really want is a culture of Kingdom growth and Christlikeness, not just a program for people to attend. Here’s the rub. When we create a program, it does give people something to grab hold of. It is helpful. Very helpful. However, it can never be the end-all. There must also be a culture developed in which the right things grow, no matter what program is going or missing in a given week or month.
Culture is created by the following:
The heroes we celebrate
The words we use
What we praise
What we tolerate
What we remove and refuse to tolerate
What insist upon / work on
My friend Shayne Harnett has a huge garden that she works on every year. It’s beautiful. Like anything “Harnett” it’s big. I’m talking maybe 75 to 100’ long, maybe even more. As I was typing this little leadership lesson, I recalled a moment a few summers ago when I said “what’s this?” and she said something to the effect of “Oh I didn’t plan that this year. That must have grown up next to … That’s in the same family as … plant so when that pepper …” and she was pleasantly surprised by the vegetable I was holding. In fact, the entire time walking through it, she seemed elated at her harvest, “Oh, look at how many cucumbers we have! Oh, be sure to take a whole basket of tomatoes. There’s dozens of them everywhere!” Here’s the takeaway. When you create the right culture, the right things grow. She did the work to pull the weeds (you have to address the problem in your own work or those you’re collaborating with). She and her husband nurtured the soil with fertilizer. They planted the seeds they wanted. They knew what they expected and removed what they didn’t. We can learn so much from this as creatives and culture creators.
I’ll elaborate a bit on my list:
The heroes we celebrate
When you celebrate someone publicly for doing something you highly value, it creates a sense in that group of people “THAT is highly valued here.” If you celebrate Johnny in front of your entire team and say “Johnny has never missed a deadline and always comes in a few minutes early. We are so glad we have Johnny here with us!” Your entire group gets the message: Reliability matters in a big way, here!
The words we use
When we repeat our values and vision statement, it creates a sense of “we’re going in this direction for this reason” Do that intentionally, repeatedly and you’ll create a culture where everyone remembers WHY you exist in the first place.
What we praise
When we use phrases like “Thank you for your compassion and patience when you spoke with that angry person. It showed so much grace and Christlikeness. I’m so proud of you.” Everyone gets the message: Kindness is supremely important.
What we tolerate
If you don’t care when people show up late or with a bad attitude, then it sends a message, “Bad attitudes are tolerated here.” Care enough to confront. Yes, one bad apple DOES ruin the entire basket.
What we remove and refuse to tolerate
When we remove a broken system that was frustrating everyone, it creates a culture of excellence. When we remove a person who is consistently going against the value structure you’re aiming to create, you actually create clarity around those values and a threshold of excellence.
What insist upon / work on
When you stay focused on the goals that were already determined, yet flexible on the methods, you create a culture of efficiency and innovation. For example, We are doing a mission trip this fall. We decided to change day 4 of the trip to be xyz after speaking with … This gives everyone a better experience.That kind of language says, “We are committed to accomplishing the end goals. However, we are open to small changes if it means a better experience for our church members (people you’re serving) etc
Let me illustrate this to you. Something I’ve said from the stage dozens of times is “I love when I hear about how our group members brought meals and built a wheelchair ramp for their friend in their group because that’s the real kind of love that Jesus teaches us to have for one another.” Because I’ve said this over and over, now I can’t keep up with the number of times people do practical expressions of love for one another - outside of my planning. It’s a culture we’ve created.
As far as my staff goes, I’ve consistently celebrated innovation, risk-taking, collaboration at our staff meetings. Because of that, my team knows they are free to experiment and try new methods of leading (men/children/teens…) to follow Jesus together. They know the MISSION is lead people to follow Jesus together. They know the methods are up for grabs (as long as they don’t violate clearly defined protocols or budget limits). Because of this culture I’ve intentionally created, my team knows that failure isn’t fatal, so they’ve tried new things and done so often! In trying new things, they learn, in learning, they iterate. In iteration, they improve, and in improvement, we succeed in serving people well and leading them and their friends and their relatives to follow Jesus together.
As far as Kings Home Properties goes, I’ve made it clear what’s important to me repeatedly to my staff. (what is tolerated or not tolerated. What is excellent or not allowed) In doing so, the homes remain squeaky clean, and guests return with raving reviews. Likewise, at Christmastime, I give my cleaners a bonus check. Why? What you celebrate establishes a culture. I hand-write a note thanking them for working so hard to keep KHP homes looking so good!
Which one will you implement to build your discipleship culture?