Many factors drive organizational success, but among the most important are the people. A thriving culture provides motivation and unity and can accelerate results. As leaders consider options for growth, they overlook the importance of culture or lack the skills to address culture-building issues effectively. Today we interviewed one of the best team-building and business development experts to uncover the keys to developing a winning culture.
Top performance coach Jordan Montgomery is the go-to guy of business executives, sales organizations, entrepreneurs, and professional athletes who desire to reach the peak of their performance and build successful teams and organizations. Jordan has developed several top sales teams. In this article, he shares two strategies to accelerate your growth by improving your culture.
Building Culture Through Vulnerability
Jordan often uses a quote by Craig Groeschel to illustrate the importance of vulnerability in building a culture that says, “We may impress people with our strengths, but we connect with people through our brokenness.” In other words, leaders often make the mistake of pretending they have it all together when they can connect and build more genuine relationships with their team when they are not afraid to show that they are human and make mistakes. This permits the team to fill in where the leader lacks and gives them permission to try new things and learn from those mistakes. Craig further elaborates on this point and says, “people would rather follow a leader who is always real than a leader who is always right.”
Leadership that is authentic and vulnerable is key to a thriving culture. This point is backed by Brene Brown, a researcher and thought leader in human connection. She has conducted thousands of interviews which suggest that the key to social harmony is through vulnerability. This does not mean being weak or submissive. It means replacing “professional distance and cool” with uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure. Opportunities for vulnerability present themselves to us at work every day, and it is a leader’s job to lean into these opportunities to create an environment of genuine connection.
Clarity of Externalization
Another key to building a thriving environment is a leader willing to set a clear, concise vision for their team. Jordan’s favorite quote illustrating this point is from Robin Sharma, who said, “Everything is created twice, first in mind and then in reality.” In other words, for your team to grow, they first have to see it in their minds.
The hallmark of a great leader is consistently sharing their vision with their team. Research has found that a goal becomes ten times more likely to happen if you verbalize it than if you had just kept it in your mind. This is the power of vision casting and, specifically, externalization.
