Cultivating Culture

The concept of organizational culture has been on my mind this last week. I had a couple of informational interviews recently and they asked me what I was most proud of when I had run my business. For those that may need context, I ran a virtual training support and consulting business for almost 7 years. I responded that although I was always pleased with the excellent service we provided, I was most proud of the culture we had built. I say “we” because although I had vision for what it could be, “I” could not build a culture alone. I set up systems that supported the culture I envisioned, but it was the people that moved it into action.

For instance, I knew that being an all-remote company that focused on providing excellent service would require us to place a premium on morale and connection among our workers. No one provides great service when their company doesn’t take care of them. Additionally, a large reason that I started the company was so that I could have more flexibility to be with my family and I wanted to provide that same flexibility to those who worked with me. This means we strongly valued autonomy and efficiency because no one had time to waste. It also meant that we acknowledged that those who worked with us had families and a strong motivation towards relationships. Thus began the foundations for our company culture – we expected excellent performance, provided support and connection, and created as much autonomy as possible (all while being remote).

I’m happy to say our culture exuded the highest standards for performance AND was a place where we gathered to laugh, play, support, and cry with one another. The feedback from our clients regularly illustrated just how incredible our folks were. Not only were my workers providing the service that was expected, but they were also going above and beyond to help content land and facilitators look good. Even as I write these sentences, my memory is flooded with clients asking me to relay their thanks and in return seeing our contractors smile while shrugging their shoulders and saying it was no big deal. I think of the joy our internal team had while packing welcome boxes and annual thank you boxes. My heart is full as I think of those who served on our engagement and mentoring committees. They regularly came up with incredibly creative ideas that connected and supported our pool of remote contractors. I smile as I think of how quickly and cheerfully people would respond and step in if one of our folks had a last-minute emergency. Not only would the gig be completed with flair, but often extra check-ins were made to be sure the person with the emergency was doing ok too. Lastly, my chin lifts a little when I think of the gumption my folks moved forward with when I would ask them to kick it up a notch with a new project or process. As a whole, they regularly blew me away.

From day one, I was very intentional about what it would be like to work for us and I knew I didn’t want the work itself to dictate our atmosphere. As the years continued and the role of leadership stretched me, I felt the weight of stewardship grow stronger and I found myself changing for the better as I learned to lean on and trust the people who worked for me. This means there was a lot of reflection and growth that had to be done on my part as I strove to make sure I wasn’t getting in the way of the culture we could have. I knew that I needed to provide my workers with the standards of excellence I expected in their performance, but I also wanted to be sure to show anyone who worked with me that I was grateful for them and their contributions. This meant that my budget for development and hiring was as big as my budget for celebrations, connections, and consolations. It also meant that we had committees, roles, and processes in place to focus on celebrating and elevating our people. It also meant that when I messed up as a leader, that I held myself accountable and was transparent to my folks about where I went wrong and how I planned to do better. I found these accountability moments, though difficult, to be the most rewarding as I was taken aback by the kindness and encouragement I received from those who worked with me. You’d be surprised how much that can mean to a leader who is trying to do their best and knows they didn’t measure up.

Our culture did not happen by accident, we had to fight for it in our leadership, in our processes, and in our attention. Although we weren’t without our troubles (there were plenty of HR issues for me to deal with too), we had an incredible organization with beautiful individuals. As I told the folks in my informational interviews, there are so many people from work that I consider dear friends. I know their pets, their kids, and what their bedrooms look like. I just don’t know how tall they are… When I closed the business, the hardest part was knowing I would not see these incredible people regularly anymore. However, I know that if I am to start something new and need a team, they’ll come running. Isn’t that incredible? The thought humbles me as I think of the beautiful and talented souls who worked with me. No matter the amount of time I had with them, even those that were hard for me, I’m grateful to each and every person who joined me in the crazy adventure of business ownership. Even more so, I’m grateful they shared themselves with each other and in doing so, created a culture that most companies dream of.