Leadership and Life Essentials: Thorugh Fresh Eyes - What Your Team's Culture Reveals About Your Leadership

Now, picture this.

You've just hired someone new.

They've been with you about a month now.

They're learning names, figuring out where the things are, settling in.

And then one evening, a friend asks them, so what's it like working there? Now, imagine what they would say.

New people see your culture through a different lens than employees who've been around longer.

They haven't quite gotten used to it all yet.

Everything's still new, so they notice everything, and they see things through a different light.

Maybe they'd say, nobody really says what they think in meetings.

That usually points to a leader who doesn't invite disagreement, or who doesn't handle it well when it shows up.

Maybe they'd say, everything has to go through the boss.

Now, that points to a leader who hasn't let go of control, or who's a micromanager.

Maybe they'd say, people actually help each other out here.

That points to a leader who's made collaboration part of how things get done.

Or maybe they'd say, you don't really want to be the one who drops the ball.

That points to a leader who reacts strongly when things go wrong.

Every one of those answers sounds like it's about the team.

It's really about you as the leader.

So your new hire will hear the welcome speech, they'll read the values on the wall, but they're really paying far more attention to behavior, yours and everyone else's.

Simon Sinek defines culture as values plus behavior.

Brene Brown says you need to operationalize your values.

What are the behaviors that demonstrate that value? What it all means is that behavior is critically important.

That's where your values actually show up.

When I was growing up, I heard, as I'm sure many of you children of the 80s, do as I say, not as I do.

Now, that doesn't fly anymore.