Taking Your Workplace Culture to New Heights: Part I
Taking Your Workplace Culture to New Heights: Part I
11/20/18 Laura Gibbons
By Elizabeth McCormick
Your beliefs dictate your behavior and your behaviors create habits that determine your destination. You’re either going towards greatness or obscurity; there is no neutrality to your momentum. So, where are your habits taking you?
Leading your organization towards a specific destination or goal is like being a pilot of a passenger airplane – wherever you go, your company goes. There isn’t an auto-pilot setting for you if you expect to take your team to greater heights.
If you find yourself and your organization stuck, or you’re ready to rev up your engine to soar higher, it may be time to engage your discipline and do the difficult things that other leaders may not do.
Here are some habits that can help you take your organizational culture to new HEIGHTS:
Hopeful Expectations
Whatever you look for is exactly what you will find. If you expect to find problems, you will. If you expect your team to discover creative solutions, exceed their potential, come together as a team and support you, your vision, and your company goals – they will. A positive mindset is the first habit you need to cultivate and grow a winning mindset. Without it, you will fail to see what’s possible.
Action Plan: When faced with a new idea, prospect, or proposal (especially in a meeting with your team), always communicate the positives first. Encourage and engage your team members to participate in developing new ideas. Cultivate innovation by asking them to spell out the pros and cons of their ideas. Then, when they’re ready, empower them to run with it.
Eliminate Multitasking
Just because you’re busy, doesn’t mean you are productive. When too much emphasis is put on multitasking, it could lead to miscommunication, mistakes, frustration, and unmet goals. It’s not about how much you can multitask, it’s about knowing which task can multiply your results.
Action Plan: Remove all distractions and then decide which task needs your attention and
work on it until it’s done. This works for meetings too. Put your devices away and give your full attention to your team. Before you know it, they will follow your lead.
Intentional Kindness
Many people have experienced random acts of kindness, but it’s time to be more intentional in showing kindness to yourself and your team members. Become more aware of how you can encourage others, add value, meet the needs you see, and extend grace whenever needed. As you do, you’ll begin to see that spread throughout your organization and beyond.
Action Plan: Set up a charity of the month. Assign a 12-person committee with each member taking ownership of one month. Some ideas include collecting winter coats and canned food, walking as a team in a fun run or 5K fundraiser, hosting a blood drive, adopting a highway, or spending a day with Habitat for Humanity. Encourage involvement by participating.
Elizabeth McCormick is a keynote speaker specializing in leadership, sales, and safety presentations. She was recently named #4 on the list of Leadership Experts to Follow Online. She is a former US Army Black Hawk Pilot, and author of “The P.I.L.O.T. Method; the 5 Elemental Truths to Leading Yourself in Life.” To learn more, visit www.YourInspirationalSpeaker.com.
Source: Employee Assistance Report, LifeStyle Tips, Vol. 13 No. 11