We were ending the second day of my leadership coaching program in Beijing, China. As we began to debrief around the room, Pierre, one of the managers, paused to share a horrific experience he had just a week earlier.
“I received some disturbing news from our corporate office. During last month’s quarterly senior leadership meeting, Chan, one of the VP’s, had a heart attack in the middle of the meeting. Of course, we called an ambulance immediately. Within minutes, he was rushed to the hospital.
“As you can imagine, everyone else in the meeting was extremely concerned about Chan. And yet, the meeting continued. Reports were reviewed. Business plans evaluated. Priorities re-affirmed. Team performance and scorecards assessed.
“An hour passed. The hospital called the office to share the devastating news. Chan had died moments after arriving at the hospital.”
While there’s nothing worse than the sudden and untimely passing of a good person, here’s what I found most troublesome about this horrific story. The administrator from the hospital asked one of the other VP’s in that meeting, “Who would be the proper family member to contact and let them know about Chan’s death?”
Ten people were in that meeting. Some of them had worked together for over 12 years. And yet, when the hospital administrator asked how to contact Chan’s family, not one person in the room had an answer.
No one really knew who Chan was. They knew him as an employee and a peer, but certainly not as a human being. It’s a disturbing story, but it’s one we can all learn from.
What’s Your Company DNA?
Think about your company. Think about your team, your peers, your customers. How much do you really know about them, personally? How much time and attention do you invest in fostering a deeper connection with people?
I can’t think of anyone who would want to work at a company like Chan’s. The sad truth is, there’s a good chance most people already do.
When Company and Personal Values Clash
Companies and leaders with good intentions struggle to break free from the monotony of their current business because they face the daily pressures of metrics, performance expectations, quotas, employee challenges, customer needs, deadlines, hiring, forecasting, emails, impromptu meetings, employee development, reporting—the list runs on.
It’s a global epidemic. Companies collapse a great culture with great results. Not true. These two ideas are mutually exclusive. While results are critical for business success, you know you have a great culture when your work complements your life, you are honoring your values and enjoying the ride to attain business objectives.
Assessing Your Culture and the Measurable ROI of Coaching
How would you describe your workplace? Would you describe your managers, as world-class, transformational leaders and coaches? Do you define a great manager by results and the color of their scorecard? Here are 15 questions to assess your company culture, leadership and coaching effectiveness.
- Do you have more turnover than your industry average?
- Do you struggle with departmental silos or creating a cohesive team?
- Are your managers spending 70 percent of their time putting out fires or developing, observing, and coaching their people that generates consistent, measurable results?
- Is everyone on your team achieving their quota and business objectives, and not just the few top producers who managers rely on to hit monthly goals?
- Are your direct reports seeking out coaching from you, coworkers and peers, both in and outside of your department?
- Do you view your team as direct reports or peers and coaches? Do you seek out coaching from others, regardless of their position or tenure?
- Is everyone in your company learning how to effectively coach and leverage a proven coaching framework through a formalized coaching program?
- Are your salespeople authentically coaching rather than selling to your customers?
- Are you effectively developing a talented bench of future leaders? How do you know?
- Do you work in a safe, transparent, and trusting environment fueled by innovation and positivity, or a fear-based, result driven culture?
- Are you retaining your top talent?
- Are you consistently crushing your sales targets, gaining market share and growing at your desired pace?
- Do people come to work happy and fulfilled because you all want to be there?
- Do you work from a place of intention or reaction? Do your company priorities seem to be changing daily?
- Is everyone committed to holding themselves and others accountable to coach, sustain and reinforce the culture you want?
These are just several questions to assess your culture and the impact great leaders make, so that you can be honest with yourself about the type of leader you are, and the culture you create among your team and organization.
Choose a Culture of Intention or Reaction
Most companies would admit their culture is driven by results and not by people. It’s an occupational hazard when every person, manager, team, department, and organization has a target on their back.
Instead of having your culture define your people, have your people define your culture. Then, effective coaching can become a choice and a consistent habit that aligns with the way people collaborate, engage and positively communicate with one another to achieve business objectives. When this becomes the new normal, that’s the sign that a healthy coaching culture has emerged.