The Ultimate Win: An Unusual Plan to Transform Your Company Culture
“Culture eats strategy for breakfast” -Peter Drucker
Poor or even average company culture will never yield sustained great results. To fulfill any vision of significance, culture has to be a priority. Because people make up company culture, the greatest way to transform a culture is to transform the lives of its people.
We don't live life in a vacuum. So, true transformation has to go beyond the workplace to speak to the needs of the whole person. To this end, the following is unusual but can be a transformative 4-Quarter, culture transformation jumpstart.
It’s worth noting that life is better caught than taught, even within our companies. As leaders, we set the tone. So, we must be active and appropriately vulnerable participants to achieve desired results. If not, the following will fail:
Quarter 1: Customize this 4-Quarter Plan
Cultural change isn’t easy and requires dedication. To this end, after developing a vision for your culture (and with your direct involvement), you will want to assign a key leader the responsibility of developing and executing the following:
Consult Experts (if needed): Mindset, Exercise, Nutrition
Create a Culture Assessment Tool
Create 45 minutes of Daily Reading and Discussion Time (For those concerned about productivity decreases, please note that, “the average worker is only productive for two hours and 53 minutes” of an 8 hour day -Inc Magazine)
Institute a Weekly Reward System
Read the Suggested Books that Follow in Advance
Develop a Communication & Roll-out Plan
Quarter 2: Create a Healthy Lunch and Walking Plan
Read and discuss, Atomic Habits by James Clear
There’s a correlation between poor diet and lack of exercise to poor performance and depression. Studies have shown that one of the best ways to change our psychology is by changing our physiology. By establishing “tiny” habits like healthy lunch and daily walking, we begin changing mindset and emotions, which have a compounding effect both at home and at work.
Quarter 3: Implement a No Negativity Policy
Read and discuss, It Takes What it Takes by Trevor Moawad
According to Moawad, “...saying something out loud multiplies those odds by ten. If it's negative, it's four to seven times more powerful. So when I say negative things out loud, it's 40 to 70 times more likely that that will happen–or cause a result that won't be good for me–than if I just didn't say anything.” I’m not suggesting you develop a culture lacking rigorous dialog or ineffective feedback, especially when trouble arises. But, there’s an empowering way to do this using what Moawad calls, neutral thinking. So, no more negative language.
Quarter 4: Implement Daily Affirmations
Read and discuss, Mindset by Carol Dweck
According to the National Science Foundation, an average person has about 12,000 to 60,000 thoughts per day, 80% are negative and 95% are repetitive thoughts. To combat this, each team member should identify their most frequent disempowering thoughts and replace those with daily affirmations at least 3 times per day with an accountability partner.
The ultimate culture and company win will happen when we touch our people holistically, where our companies become the place for total transformation and elite performance. This transformation necessitates that we, the leaders, be the example. Remember, life is better caught than taught. Perfection isn't expected. But, being a model of the mindset and behavior that we want to see, along with an inspiration to which people aspire is what will transform culture.
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Ian Watts, the Founder of Milestone Business Acquisitions, is a Small Business Investor, M&A Advisor, Coach and Author from the East Side of Detroit who achieved his dream of building a multi-million dollar business by the age of 26. Ian has raised millions in capital, launched multiple businesses and helped countless business owners to transform their thinking and business approach through private coaching and consulting. He is a "Small Business Junkie" who desires to, "...be what he didn't see" as a young business owner.
Ian has offered to provide free strategy sessions for up to 5 Investable Mastermind members. These are free sessions (valued at $500) where he can discuss:
Mindset
Leadership Development
Business Growth
Healthy preparation for business sales
To schedule your free strategy session with Ian, please click the link to his Calendly here:
https://calendly.com/ian-watts/investable_strategy_session