You set the bar for bad behavior

💌 231 words ⌛ 1 minute

You need to be aware what version of yourself you show in your organization. Ask yourself: Are you behaving as you expect others in your organization to behave? Are you tolerating behavior from others that harms the organization? This is what becomes the culture of your organization.

Why it matters: People don't look for the best in you. They take your worst behavior and use at the baseline for their own behavior. The things that you do or not do as a manager count as accepted and approved behavior in your organization.

Dig deeper:

• The biggest lever you have on your culture is recruiting. Fresh people bring fresh ideas and don't know most of the old stories. Look for the character traits you want to see in your organization.

• Culture is shaped by every day actions inside in your organization and by stories - not by values printed on a flyer.

• Look for the stories people tell in your company.

  • Are these the stories you want people to hear?

  • If not, what can you do to create better stories?

• Aware and unaware people copy the behavior of the people they look up to, be it leaders, parents, or other role models.

Homework; what are some behaviors you need to think about?

— Daniel

P.S.: Take a look at TRIZ from liberating structures. It will challenge your own behavior quite a bit.