I remember in my first role as a HR Practitioner. My excitement, enthusiasm and commitment to the mission and objectives of the business were second to none. I exercised my discretionary effort like a text book case study and no challenge was too big to take on.
Over time, however, the culture of the business came into play and it became obvious that for managers to survive in the organisational culture they had to:
- protect their turf
- compete for resources
- expect blame and opposition from other quarters
- expect bullying even by other senior managers
- operate without much support.
- anticipate that any feedback would be problem focused and critical in nature
To say the culture took its toll on staff and leaders was an understatement and over time I too literally gave up and contributed to the high attrition rate, leaving the business disillusioned and in worse health than when I had come on board.
Looking back to look forward is a useful exercise and there is much learning from that time in such a difficult culture. I dedicated my working life as a Human Resources Manager and as a Business and Leadership Coach to create workplace cultures focused on building trust. Interestingly I have found that the cultures that allow people to flourish reap many wider benefits across the business which ultimately improves bottom line results.
I work with business leaders to create an organisational culture that help people to thrive and to grow.
Using a business improvement process created by Judith E Glaser commonly referred to as “C-IQ”, the healthy organisations we create has in place a culture that:-
- is inclusive of each person – allowing and recognising open sharing of opinions and innovative ideas – even those that challenge traditional views and status quo
- shifts from judging and criticising to appreciating and rewarding
- shifts from limiting aspirations to expanding aspirations
- explores a vision for success for each person
- shifts from withholding to sharing information and power
- Shifts from a knowing mindset to a discovery mindset
- Shifts from dictating to developing –ie from a command and control mindset to one of partnership and empowerment
- Shifts from protection to synchronising and integration, cross-pollinating ideas and organisational wide sharing and discovery.
Ultimately the organisational culture leads to partnership and sharing rather than one trying to manipulate people out of fear and blame.
Today I am impressed with the many businesses I work with and there obvious commitment to their people and customers yet I still find startling examples of businesses where the staff and customers are suffering the effects of a culture that creates negativity, blame and lack of accountability.
C-IQ or Conversational Intelligence ® is the life work of Judith E. Glaser and her company the CreatingWE Institute. Judith is a leading Business Consultant, Coach, author and public speaker. I had the pleasure of completing a year-long Coach Certification process in C-IQ with Judith and her fabulous team.
My clients love the C-IQ framework and its many accessible tools. They report that C-IQ has a significant impact on their leadership capability and organisational culture in increasing trust, deepening relationships and connections across the business. Leaders become clearer in their leadership identity and increase intelligence in relation to their communication and how it impacts others. They understand what it is to lead with care, candour and courage.
To explore this framework more deeply I am inviting you to join me in a free introductory 45 minute presentation to your business leadership team either in person at your workplace or through a live a webinar.
Click here to register your interest. You will never see “words and language” in the same way again.
Robert Stocks
Director