How do you create a positive team culture? What is your role on the team and how do you contribute?
We talk about making our office the place you want to be for personal and professional fulfillment. And why not, we spend more time working than any other activity including time with our family. A team’s culture should reinforce the company’s core values, and be shaped with input from the collective group. When there is a clear vision and buy-in from all key members, it fosters an environment of support and success.
It’s never been about the ‘what’ I do for a living, but more the ‘who’ – who do I get to interact with, learn from, help develop, share in wins or support when challenges arise. We celebrate succeses together, and lean on one another when things do not go our way. It is not about being the hero or carrying the burden alone. If it were, we would not need a team.
But what does a successful team look like? It is about defining your culture – ‘Who’ we are as a team. Take time to discuss and identify your team’s collective strengths: what character qualities do you display, what is important to your personal and corporate values? We drive more creative solutions together than when we work in isolation. It is critical to produce an environment where ideas are welcomed. It is even better when you can have challenging conversations – always in the right manner – to ultimately deliver the best possible idea, solution or outcome. That only comes when there is trust and respect.
Once you have a better understanding of ‘who’ you are as a team, determine ‘how’ you want others to view your team. How you show up is equally important. What impression do you create? Are you collaborators, visionary doers, intellectually curious? However you define yourselves, be certain it is authentic. You will not be able to fully own or live up to anything less.
So we know ‘who we are’ and ‘how we show up’. Now, ask ‘what’ is it we deliver and ‘why’ do we do it? The ‘what’ is important as it reinforces both the ‘who’ and the ‘how’. Is it trust, actionable insights, strategic direction, flawless execution, influential leadership? The ‘what’ helps to further refine your team’s brand, and you need everyone’s dedication to deliver against this promise.
The avereage person will spend 90,000 hours at work over their lifetime. That is over 10,000 days at work, with only an average of 602 vacation days spanning your career. So ‘why’ do we do it? Yes, we want to take care of our family and have some level of financial freedom. But hopefully there is more to it than this. We do it to achieve winning results, to deliver against our commitments (to ourselves, our team and our organization), to grow, learn, develop, lead.
What is your team’s culture? How do you fit into it? What is your role? It is important each person understand the value they bring, and how they contribute to the collective group. When there is a clear purpose and accountability – both from the organization and the individual – it can be tremendously fulfilling. There becomes a level of trust and support, and that foundation lends itself to success.
Why do YOU walk through the office door everyday? Are you doing all you can to make it the place you want to be?
Lynn Murray
*Director of Sales, Walmart –Edgewell Personal Care
*Title and company of the author reflect their position at the time article was written.
The opinions expressed here by guest bloggers are their own, not necessarily those of Stout Executive Search.