One of my favourite quotes about culture comes from an aurthor called Michael Henderson. Henderson is an anthropologist who works within corporate US. The quote is –

“people ask me why culture is the new thing in business. I tell them actually, business is the new thing in culture.”

Managing and transforming your culture might be new for you, but culture is something that’s been influencing lives in and out of work since the dawn of time.

Henderson’s book “Above the Line” is a good read. It’s a term you’ve probably heard before. Working above the line. So I wanted to briefly touch on it here. It’s a simple concept that helps your people to understand what you want them to do in addition to what you don’t want them to do.

Working above the line means that your culture is going to be on track to create success and high performance in your business. Leaders who stay above the line create highly effective teams delivering great outcomes for their clients.

Leaders that teach their teams to work above the line have increased customer outcomes and loyalty.

Above the line behaviours include:

Open to change/ideas
Curious and courageous
Learn continually
Listen and seek to understand
Seek and provide feedback
Question their beliefs
Help others to best their best
Creative/innovative
Seek solutions
Find better ways
Are accountabe
growth mindset

Below the line behaviours include:

Become defensive
Closed to new ideas
Need to be right
Don’t share knowledge
Avoid risk/conflict
Find fault and obstacles
Ignore/deny
Do nothing
Wait for others to act
Make excuses
fixed mindset

Clearly you could add more and more to these lists but my advice is alway keep it simple. When introducing something new it’s better to go less than more. You can add words as you get further into your transformation program.

PS: there are the behaviours that don’t even make the list – eg: bullying, harassment, discrimination, and violence – there is no tolerance for this behaviour at anytime. Get rid of it from your workplace through deliberate action.

Watch this video to learn more: https://youtu.be/fLqzYDZAqCI

Your transformation journey needn’t be a cumbersome afraid. Start with simple concepts like this and build on them.

FREE DOWNLOAD – Start your business transformation today by downloading your free “Culture Engineering” eBook

Carry on culture warrior!

Michelle

You can learn more about how to transform your culture in Michelle’s new book “Culture Inc: creating a business that delivers results and people love.” Available now.

About the author:

Michelle’s dream is a world where all people feel safe and valued for their unique qualities and strengths. By challenging the status quo, she helps business leaders to discover new ways of working and create great places to work and do business.

Leveraging her interest in people and business development, she traded in her accounting career to pursue her undergraduate and graduate degrees in human behaviour, organisational development and ethics. In 2013, after holding a range of senior management positions, Michelle started Synergy IQ a boutique business consultancy firm which specialises in leadership, culture, and business transformation.

An accredited leadership coach, change manager, and culture profiler, Michelle’s professional associations include Change Management Institute, Human Synergistics, Hermann (HBDI), AHRI, the SA Writers Centre, and the Leaders Institute of SA.

Michelle is a speaker, consultant, entrepreneur and the author of “Energy Vampires Suck”, “Unearthing Vampires”, and “Culture Inc: create a business that delivers results and people love”.

Find out more here. www.synergyiq.com.au

Contact Michelle at michelle@synergyiq.com.au

Books available through Amazon, online and in good bookstores.