The top priority of leadership is to create results, increase sales and profits. Right? Maybe, as the final result. BUT results don’t happen in a vacuum. They depend on the underlying culture of the organization. Therefore, I would argue that the most important job of leadership is to create and maintain a healthy, vibrant culture to underpin sustainable performance. In this viewpoint, the essence of leadership is not about “doing,” it’s about “being.

In one company, a department’s culture shifted from “ok” to “somewhat toxic” over about 18 months, with the same people, including the manager, in the department. The manager and HR were totally baffled. Nobody knew what caused it, and the decline happened slowly enough that people didn’t even notice it until it became painfully obvious. This department works 24/7, with 3 shifts (3rd shift is a skeleton). First and second shifts each claim that the other is not doing their job.

Instead of trying to learn why the culture shift happened, which is probably impossible to determine at this point, the manager decided to turn the department around. The manager is going to give out a quick survey sheet to each worker, asking them to rate the health of their workplace on a 1-5 scale, with 1 being toxic and 5 being really great. The survey might also ask how well “their” shift does, and how well the “other” shifts do. Then the manager will hold an all-shifts meeting summarize the surveys, and invite the workers to change their attitude, which is something that only “they” can do – the manager can’t make that happen. The manager will ask if the workers want a great workplace. Assuming that they all agree, the manager will ask them to assume that each person there does the best they can each and every day and look for agreement. The manager will also remind them that no person is perfect (including the manager), so sometimes people screw up and need forgiveness. The manager will ask each person to if they are willing to increase their level of tolerance and forgiveness.

The manager will ask each worker to write down something positive about each co-worker, each week, and then the manager will read those aloud in the weekly cross-shift meeting. A corollary idea is for each person to write down what they are most proud of doing that week, with the manager reading that aloud to the group as well after all the attaboys and attagirls. People will notice major differences between their own perceptions and those of their co-workers; I expect that these differences will slowly converge over time.

One additional idea is that when a person complains about another person’s performance, the complainer and the complainee meet face to face so that the complainee can rebut the complaint. Or else say that they blew it, and they’ll do better next time. Of course, this meeting must be facilitated very carefully; there is a decent possibility of something going wrong, resulting in damaged relationships.

Do you have other ideas? How would you help the manager create a healthy workplace?

Gary Langenwalter