New Eras Need a New Culture - Part 3

A Better Solution

During the Covid crisis we had an extraordinary opportunity. A few years before Covid shut everything down where we live, Athens, GA, my wife and I downsized and moved into a two-bedroom apartment is one of the loveliest parts of town – Five Points. We are within walking distance of a dozen restaurants, the best bakery in Georgia, the best chocolate shop in Northeast Georgia, a grocery store, 2 pharmacies, and much more. Plus, we’re just half a mile from the University of Georgia campus. It you like human energy it is a great place to be. Within the apartments are graduate students, young professionals, and a few people like us who decided to downsize later in life. Over time we created a wonderful intergenerational community of friends.

When Covid shut everything down, a few of us in the apartments made a decision. We were outside talking one day and someone said, “We don’t need to stay locked up in our apartments. Let’s get together on the lawn, social distanced, and check-in to see how everyone is doing.” What started as an idea to save our sanity quickly turned into a community of about 15 people from ages 21-90 who met every day for 150 days. When it was not raining, we would sit in a big  circle on the front lawn discussing current events, philosophy, theology, and of course Georgia football. When it was raining, we would stand on our porches for a few minutes and catch up. We shared meals, celebrated Easter, had birthday parties, and had more fun than everyone else in town.

 It was there that I learned some important facts about many people entering the workforce today. Most of them don’t want to be managed or motivated. It’s a bit of an archaic model to them. But they do want to be developed. If you create an environment where they develop and grow in their role something important happens. They become more emotionally invested in the work they do every day. It was a eureka moment. The problem is not the people entering the workplace today. The problem is that we have not adapted our work cultures to build the workforce we need today. We’re still trying to retrofit a performance culture into an era that is radically different than the previous eras.

 Growth Cultures

Leadership in the 21^st century is a different animal. Remember Reality #1 from the last chapter.

The speed of change is accelerating, and it is not slowing down.

The world, the workplace, and the workforce have all changed and will change again. You are not going to decrease the speed of change. That’s not in your control. If anything, it will just get faster. There are those who think that they can turn back the clock – but they cannot. What is in our control, however, is how you adapt and develop your team to meet the challenges that you face. Continuing to build Performance Cultures using leadership models built on managing and motivating will not create the workforce and the work culture you need to thrive today.

You can’t modify them enough, because they were designed for a different era than the one we live in today. They actually create the opposite of what you need today - more turnover, lower morale, and lower performance. What we need today are the best decisions everyday everywhere that drive growth. That requires a Growth Culture and a leadership model based on development.  In a Growth Culture your job is to:

Meet people where they are, and take them where you need them to be.

 No one comes into your organization as the complete package. Even with a great resume, great references, and great interviews, there is always “some assembly required.” They will have some of the mindset and skills that you need, but it is very rare to find people who come fully assembled and ready to go.

You definitely need a great, thorough interview process so that you hire the best qualified people you can find, but don’t expect perfections. There is always “some assembly required.” The expectation that they should come fully developed when they join your team is fantasy. People can’t see what you see, know what you know, believe what you believe, and want what you want when they walk in the door. Your job is to develop them into the team you need for the growth you want. 

It is also pure illusion to think that people will manage and motivate themselves to become the team member you need. Some will, but not many. Most people only begin to manage and motivate themselves when you help them develop the behaviors of growth, and that requires a new work culture – A Growth Culture.