Creating a Culture of Performance

When I first started out after leaving high school I worked in the Lab at the Auckland Milk Corporation. One of my key roles was to propagate what we called Bulg and Therm. Bulg’s proper name was Lactibacillus bulgaricus. Therm was Streptococcus Thermophilus. Collectively they were known as the culture that miraculously transformed milk into Fresh n’ Fruity and Meadow Fresh yoghurts.

The important thing I learned about growing a culture was to keep out stray contaminants and ensure the optimum growth conditions were maintained. Bulg and Therm grew like crazy at 40°C and transformed the milk into a completely different substance, full of nutrients and flavour sensations. However, over time, one stray yeast cell could ruin thousands of litres of yoghurt.

Being a lab, nothing was left to chance. Professional processes and regular checks were made using lab diagnostics to confirm things were on track and action was taken promptly when things weren’t.

Ironically, many years later I have ended up pretty much back where I started – in the Lab. This time it’s a LeaderLAB where we propagate cultures that transform managers into leaders. Robust leaders who can grow the right culture and filter out inappropriate attitudes and behaviours. Inspirational leaders who create a culture where people grow and flourish.
Looking back, when I took the step up from the lab role, I learned that life is much more complex in an operational context. As the new GM Operations, I found that some of the most outstanding performers had totally inappropriate attitudes and behaviours. My initial temptation was to weed these people out, but after a day or two of reflection, I realised that doing so would put me at risk of ‘shooting myself in the foot’.
My greatest leadership success was finding the right role for most of my new crew and genetically modifying those whose behaviours were contaminating the culture. Over time I learned that followers quickly align their behaviours to mimic those of their inspirational new leader. And that bad attitudes and behaviours often reflect a lack of confidence, and/or being lead some time in the past by a poor role-model. These are aspects that great leaders can rebuild in their followers by changing roles and applying leadership development processes.
The benefits typically outweigh the cost, time, disruption and risk of firing and replacing a high performer. It takes at least two years to find and settle in an outsider who may look great on paper but have shadow-side aspects that are not easily recognisable at interview.
I also discovered that Bulg and Therm were not the best culture for all situations, and can recall using different cultures to produce cottage cheese. In a similar way, I learned that the team culture in operations was very different to the lab; as the same values were applied to fit with the functional context.
Looking back over my business career, I found each of the five company’s that I lead had different cultures (appropriate for the industry sector) and within each company the organisation’s values were contextualised in different ways, each presenting as inspirational sub-cultures.
At a personal leadership level, I have found that we are all kids at heart, regardless of age, and all find our passion when we are learning and growing. It naturally follows that a key role of the leader is to create a culture that brings out people’s passion, recognising that passionate people drive organisational performance.

Here follows the recipe for creating a culture of success in your organisation…

Makes:

o A culture of innovation and performance

o Multiple teams of high performing passionate people

o High levels of staff engagement

o A customer centric organisation that leads the field

Ingredients:

o Groups of people (5-9)

o Inspirational and courageous strategic leaders who can motivate and also make tough calls in order to maintain the quality and performance of the teams

Special Spices:

o Passion

o Wow Factor

o Inspiration

o Learning, development, coaching and mentoring opportunities

o Stretch to ‘sprout’

Process:

1. Identify team members personalities, gifts and current performance
2. Develop and document a charter setting out the team values, code of conduct, and ‘consequences’
3. Identify and rectify inappropriate attitudes and behaviours
4. Review the current state-of-market and identify opportunities
5. Evaluate what capabilities and resources are required to reach the target opportunity
6. Develop a strategy outlining the vision, mission, goals, resources & capabilities, and execution plan
7. Review the organisation structure – is it creating a culture of innovation and a focus on customer, or a culture of bureaucracy? Are the people and customers being represented around the Executive Leadership table?
8. Allocate team member roles that fit with their individual gifts and capabilities
9. Build a culture that lights the passion in the people and turns the group into a high performing team.
10. Task each of the team members to create their own teams in a similar manner
11. Check how the culture is performing on a regular basis using objective diagnostic tools to see that the fermentation process is working as per plan.
12. Take action when the values and code of conduct are falling outside of the optimum range.
13. Take time out to celebrate successful outcomes and find creative ways to keep the probiotic aspects of the culture fresh and active in order to boost the resilience of the team(s)

INSTITUTE FOR STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP

AUCKLAND | SYDNEY | SINGAPORE | LONDON

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Established 2001

Experts in preparing talented leaders to make a Quantum Leap

He aha te mea nui o te ao. (What is the most important thing in the world?)

He tangata, he tangata, he tangata … (the people, the people, the people)