We’ve enjoyed insights from some great business experts since starting our ebook and blogging journey a decade ago.
One of those experts is international executive coach and leadership trainer Kevin Catlin, and it was a delight to welcome him back this year to help launch our new podcast, Let’s Talk Business with James Price.
One of Kevin’s areas of expertise is understanding and developing a positive business culture.
During the podcast he gave some tips around how to help a team that may be struggling with a poor culture. (This culture discussion starts at 31:30 in the video version.)
Kevin’s key takeaway is that the answer to what makes a great team culture will change with every team, but you need to involve the team itself in determining what is missing and what needs to change.
Taking the first steps
In our ebook Surfer dudes, janitors and the Ritz-Carlton – Lessons in leadership and business culture we asked Kevin a few questions about how to create a great culture:
1. What is the key ingredient in a successful business culture?
KEVIN: I believe culture starts at the top. You cannot create a great company culture if the owners and the senior managers are not living it themselves.
2. What are some first steps for changing a business’s culture?
KEVIN: Step 1 is desire. Culture shift is not possible without a true aspiration to do so.
Step 2 is to get some measurements of where you are now and an idea of how to measure where you are trying to go. (There are a variety of methods used to measure a business’s culture. It may involve staff surveys, anonymous testing, analysis of staff turnover rates and exit interview feedback, and so on.)
Step 3 and beyond changes so radically from organisation to organisation it cannot be packaged into a specific process. Each company will have very different ways to move its culture – see below for an example.
Pike Place Fish Market
The Pike Place Fish Market is a fish market in Seattle, Washington.
In 1986 the owner and his team, with the help of a business consultant, decided Pike Place Fish Market was going to become ‘the world famous Pike Place Fish Market’.
They determined what they would have to do, how they would have to look, act, breathe and whatever, to achieve this.
They came up with four things:
1. We will create a place where play is prevalent
2. We will be there for every one of our customers
3. We will make their day
4. Choose your attitude.
The result was that Pike Place Fish Market became, and remains, hugely successful. They sell more fish than you can shake a stick at and are featured as experts on culture transformation. How?
Well, they have taken a decidedly unglamorous job, like selling fish, and made it fun. Made it feel important and bigger than selling fish. Made each of these young people believe that by living the culture of ‘play, be there, make their day and choose your attitude’, they were special. All by buying into the culture and throwing some fish around while hooting and hollering.
They also hire toward these ideals so, if you can’t ‘buy in’ to these ideals, maybe working at Pike Place is not for you. But for the next guy, who likes to connect with people and will buy in, it’s perfect.
My company has shown these guys at work as a way to explain self-sustaining culture to everyone from Microsoft to the CIA. Brilliant!
A quick word about money...
It is vital to make sure that as your culture improves, so does your bottom line. I’m not a mercenary, but I don’t believe in improving culture just for an exercise – I want it to translate to an identifiable jump in profitability and quantifiable wellness indicators of the company as a whole.
More insights from Kevin Catlin
You can follow Kevin on LinkedIn for more pearls of wisdom, or check out the Insight Strategies blog.
If you would like advice or support about any aspect of business management – including leadership and developing a positive business culture – contact the JPAbusiness team on 02 6360 0360 or 02 9893 1803 for a confidential, initial discussion.
