Diele Consulting LLC

𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐏𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐂𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞?

Much goes into what makes up a company culture. Certainly, company values, attitudes, behaviors, and the employees all play a part in that make up. But ultimately, it is the company leadership that either intentionally drives the culture or allows it.

So, how can poor leadership demotivate employees and impact culture? Let’s look as some common demotivators:

• 𝐌𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐬𝐬, 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐣𝐨𝐛. The real reason people quit their jobs is because the managers charged with ensuring their employees' success doesn't care enough to meet their needs as valued employees.

• 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 / 𝐓𝐨𝐱𝐢𝐜 𝐞𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. When there is any type of harassment or toxic behavior. It not only impacts the person getting mistreated, it also impacts others that witness that type of behavior.

• 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞. While some overtime is required with many jobs, continuously pushing people for extended periods leads to burnout, more mistakes, and more absenteeism.

• 𝐋𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. Employees need to understand what is expected of them to be able to perform their best. When the company direction is unclear, it leads to confusion, frustration, and poor decisions.

• 𝐔𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. No employee should have to guess what their responsibilities or expectations are. Clear communication is required to ensure the employee and manager are on the same page.

• 𝐌𝐢𝐜𝐫𝐨-𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. Constantly overseeing every detail of an employee’s work can make them feel mistrusted and undervalued. Eventually employees will stop thinking. All creativity and enthusiasm will be lost.

• 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞. A team is only as strong as its weakest member. When weak links are permitted to exist without consequence, they drag everyone else down, especially the top performers.

• 𝐋𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐧𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠. Nothing kills the excitement of bringing in a new employee than having no plan or training to get them started. Their enthusiasm turns into frustration, when left to flounder on their own.

• 𝐋𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡. When management disregards their promises or commitments, it comes across as disrespectful and uncaring. If the boss doesn’t honor their commitments, why should everyone else?

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐚 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞? 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐛𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐞𝐬.

Inside-Out Quality
It is easy to say that culture matters. But why does it matter? More specifically, why does it matter for quality improvement? Let’s explore this a bit deeper.

I believe there is an internal essence of quality, an inward nature. It is a fire that stirs inside some individuals, where they strive to keep elevating their performance. This fire continues to burn, so that even when their work is not perfect, they remain driven toward perfection. Certainly, not everyone has that fire. But by developing a great culture, you have a significantly better chance of sparking that fire, compared to a negative culture that smothers the flame.

The well-known author Stephen R. Covey compared an outside-in approach to quality to an inside-out approach. The outside-in approach is driven by outside influences, like management directives and “program of the month” scenarios. But the inside-out approach is internally motivated. As Covey stated, “you can hire the hands and backs of people, but they volunteer their minds and hearts”.

People become inspired when they work in an empowering and supportive environment. When they feel a sense of purpose and accomplishment. When employees are deeply committed, it becomes “their” company. “You create the spark”. It starts to build an internal determination that drives them to do their job to the absolute best of their ability. When this happens, you have successfully created a team that feels engaged and focused on doing their best work. It becomes contagious.

Inside-Out Quality is about the people doing the work and how much of their heart and soul they choose to put into the final outcome. When individually and collectively people feel connected to a company’s success, great things can happen.

Can you imagine an entire workforce with a burning desire to do their very best?