Culture, an organization’s unique identity, can be described in many different ways.  While each culture looks different, great cultures can create new possibilities. They are often filled with people who share a contagious enthusiasm to connect, solve, create, and bring new ideas to the world. They also understand clearly that they are not perfect, but are committed to continuous self-improvement. A great culture can truly become a strategic differentiator.

Unhealthier cultures, on the other hand, can be troublesome and even damaging in many ways. They can negatively impact our work, they can slow us down, they can suck the energy out of us, and in some cases they can put our organizations at risk. When describing a culture that needs help, we might hear things like: Our culture is nice, but no one really trusts each other. I’m afraid we have a culture of fear. Our culture is friendly but everyone operates in silos. We have a passive-aggressive culture.

It’s enough to want to give ourselves a Vulcan Mind Meld.  

When we describe our culture in a negative way, there is often a tendency to blame and disassociate ourselves from it.  It’s as if the culture is the Borg: a separate entity that doesn’t include us. [Just in case you’re not a Star Trek fan, the Borg is an alien species that become cybernetic organisms and function as drones of the Collective where no single individual exists. Yes, it’s pretty cool.]  We often blame culture as being the barrier or “issue” that gets in the way of doing good work, developing talent, building the next generation of leaders, and helping us achieve our purpose as an organization. But our culture is not somewhere out there. It’s each of us. It’s a diverse collection of our individual behaviors and actions that blend together to make a unique organizational finger print. Since we are all the culture, we all need to take responsibility for it.

Here are four ways you can make a difference in building a healthier culture:

1. Make Culture part of your Prime Directive.

If culture doesn’t come up when you talk about your strategy, you’re missing a critical element. If you are deliberate about really (really) embedding your culture and values into the fabric of your strategy, you will invest and pay attention to the right things. Think of it this way: If companies can fall to their knees and collapse because of culture, they also have the potential to make huge and meaningful contributions to the world because of culture.  

2. Explore strange new worlds.

Working with different functions and divisions across an organization can sometimes feel like everyone is on a different planet. A great way to break down the silos is to…break down the silos. Bring people together. Connect and build teams cross-functionally so that individuals can step into each other’s shoes. This can often help us to appreciate differences and see what’s important from where others stand. Encouraging people to talk openly about the problems, frustrations, barriers – and all the ways to make things better, will provide a sense of freedom and ownership to create positive cultural changes.

3. Boldly go where no one has gone before.  

If you’re responsible for creating the systems and practices that enable your people and culture, you have a lot within your control. Embrace it. Influence like the wind. Talk about what’s working well and protect it. Ask the big, bold questions: What’s really causing the pain? What (do we think) is standing in our way? How are we hurting ourselves? How can we make a difference? Figure out what needs to change and change it. The fact that something has never been done before makes it that much more exciting and important.

4. Journey into the Final Frontier.

If you’re on the Board of an organization and you’re reading this, you can make a big contribution here. The Board has a great opportunity to shape, influence, and reinforce an organization’s culture through the leadership and oversight that it provides. Boards are evolving every day, transcending conventional boundaries, and paying more attention to organizational health. Add the topic of culture to your next Board agenda and have a healthy debate about the Board’s contribution and impact. My guess is that it just might be an interesting and productive conversation.

Captain Jean-Luc Picard once said, “What we leave behind is as important as how we’ve lived”. The health of our culture and the future prosperity of our organization depend on each of us. Regardless of the role we play in our organizations, we can all make a difference in building, strengthening, and preserving our culture. No one is immune here and that makes all of us the owners and the beneficiaries.

If we believe that our organization’s purpose is important enough and we are willing to take one brave step forward to improve our culture, then Jean-Luc would have 3 important words for us.

Make it so.

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Audra August is a Principal, Succession & Talent Planning with Knightsbridge Leadership Solutions.  Audra works with organizations to build strong leadership capacity. Her areas of focus include succession management, team effectiveness, and organizational development. Audra can be reached at aaugust@knightsbridge.ca and @AudraAugust on Twitter.