At the Chick-fil-A Leadercast conference last week, Pat Lencioni identified 4 keys to a healthy organizational culture. Like so many other tips, they are easy to understand and accept, but they can be so hard to execute. Pat says the keys to a healthy organizational culture:

  • A cohesive leadership team, which is comprised of a group of people demonstrating mutual…:
    • trust
    • vulnerability
    • truth
  • A great sense of clarity of purpose through an ability to answer the questions…:
    • Why do we exist
    • What do we do
    • How do we behave
    • What does each person sitting around the leadership table have to do to accomplish the organization’s goals this year
  • Over-communication
    • Leadership owns the responsibility to communicate consistently, often, and with clarity. It helps keep everyone on the same page and helps others with decision-making
    • See above item
  • Put Structure in place to reinforce clarity and desired performance
    • Compensations system-reward the right behaviors and results
    • How you hire-fire-promote must support your key message and culture
    • Performance reviews processes and metrics
    • Simple structure versus a strict complex one…Institutionalize without bureaucratizing.

For a few of my thoughts on a healthy culture, read here, here, here, and here. Then, call me.  Let me know what you think.