Does Culture eat Strategy for breakfast?

We had a great knowledge share  by the legendary Monica Graham on what’s more important in a business - culture or strategy? - and came up with some interesting insites - or what I call “gems”

What you think about in your business becomes the actions you take, and those actions lead to your business habits, which go on to shape how you conduct business (your business character).

And that shapes your business destiny.... and ultimately your business culture.

As a business yoy need  to be very careful about what you as a Business think about and focus on. 

In our BBG Thinktank that followed - facilitated by BBG facilitator, Judith Rose Max , the answer we came to after much discussion and collaboration was 

Leadership eats strategy and culture for breakfast 

Have you thought about where your business wants to be in 6 months, a year, or 5 years?

Have you thought deeply about how to get there?

Have you thought about what type of culture you need in your business in order to set yourself up for success next year?

So, the question to ask is 

What is leadership?

Join Maxwell says “leadership is about influence - nothing more - nothing less

Monica shared with us a McKinsey model on Influence - on how to change mindset and behaviour 

The 4 steps are

1 Role Model 

Your business is a reflection of you. 

If you think above the line - so will your team 

If you have a spirit of generosity - so will your team. A leader will attract people who share the same values.

2. Fostering Understanding and Conviction

Show people that you care - capture their hearts - and they will share with you their minds.

It’s the soft skills, relationships and collaboration - the humanity - that will enable you to survive and thrive as a leader and ultimately as a business 

3. Develop talent and skills. 

In this crazy world of technology and Murphy’s Law” - things are changing at a rapid rate. With machine learning and AI providing the technology  providing  the “heavy lifting”  and “precision” - those that will survive and thrive will be those that will be able to learn how to learn. 

Your business will attract the brightest and best teams if you provide an organisation that provides and encourages continuos learning and training 

4 Reinforce with formal mechanisms 

• Systems and processes are key 
• Have formalised Onboarding sessions
• Continuous training is key 
• Have formalised accountability sessions
• Share wins
• Reinforce your culture
• Get your team to use the tools that you have (Referron or hubspot or salesforce or Act ) . 
• Reward and recognise outstanding behaviour 

Monica shared with us a video on 

“the importance of living above the line”

Monica spoke about the importance of teams having an owners mindset

• Where cash is king 
• Act now
• Be accountable
• Challenge and respect
• Have clear discussions and outcomes and
• Be fit for purpose 

I had the privilige of being in the KLT hotseat  -  which to me was of massive benefit - as I had the insights and assistance from 7 amazing humans!