I have worked for many different businesses and witnessed corporate cultures weather through periods of evolution and retrogression under different leadership. I have seen these businesses excel in accomplishing many goals set forth in their finely tuned business strategies for external stakeholders but at times, in terms of recognizing and improving the needs within the work environment and internal stakeholders (employees), I feel many fall short in some rather important areas.
Once, an executive director asked me, “How does a leader get people to follow?” It comes down to this. Leaders need to lead by example because the tone is ultimately set from the top and will exponentially permeate throughout. A culture of excellence will be born and further developed from a leadership team championing the pursuit of excellence. A culture of excellence begins with the tone of leadership that should resonate higher standards of diversity, equity, inclusion, ethicality, accountability, growth and development, mindfulness, kindness, and through articulation and visible action. These characteristics will contribute to perceptions of trust. People will follow those they trust.
With leadership’s articulation and visible action of the desired behavior based on competency, integrity, and benevolence; the people will follow and develop the behavior and reciprocally the behaviors develop the culture. These standards should be the set means to the end goal of further developing an agency with a corporate culture of excellence. In a culture of excellence, consistency is constant and clarity eradicates ambiguity. There is not a succinct one-step answer to achieving a corporate culture of excellence. There needs to be a willingness in leadership to recognize the issues that need addressing, acknowledge them and the need for adjustment or change, and implement improvements to internal circumstances. It is an ongoing process that requires open-ended attention and effort. It takes awareness, courage, collaboration, effort, and strong ethical people-oriented leadership to lead the way.
“Leadership is a dynamic relationship based on mutual influence and common purpose between leaders and collaborations in which both are moved to higher levels of motivation and moral development as they affect real intended change.” Joseph Rost, Leadership for the 21st Century.
Follow me here or on Twitter @NancyMuesDesign or let’s connect on Linkedin or Facebook! Share your thoughts or your own experiences here in the comment section.
Be good and do good. And remember, express yourself in any way that brings you joy and relief and share it with the world. You don’t owe it to anyone but yourself. Stay happy, healthy, safe, at peace, and happy graphics, my friend.
Thank you for stopping by.
Nancy Mues 