Nick Powills: Culture Eats Financial Gain for Breakfast, Then Spits It Out and Creates It

I have learned a lot of lessons this year (as I do most years), but there is one that I seem to be thinking about more than others—culture, and its impact on happiness and financial gain.

Culture is not something that can be created alone—it has to be developed through the sum of many parts. And the truth is, even when culture is headed in a great direction, a bump in the road can derail the momentum. 

Culture has several layers. The layer of vision and the layer of people seem to have the most impact.
The layer of vision is created by the visionary of the company and supported and monitored by the leadership of the company. The combination of core values and visions set and then executed upon are so critical to the success of culture within a business. One cog in the wheel goes rogue and the wheel starts to hiccup. When the wheel starts to hiccup, negative energy can materialize.

A clear vision and purpose will help your team understand the value of what they are doing. They are not just coming to work for a paycheck; rather, they’re working on their career in order to have an impact on the vision and the journey. People need to feel included. They have to feel as if they are a part of the dream. They have to feel respected. But it must go two ways.

The visionary and the leadership must hold the next layer accountable, and that layer needs to hold the next layer accountable, too. Without accountability in the workplace, careers will only be born for superstars; but the middle is wherein lies the largest opportunity for a company to positively impact lives.

I have this theory about how culture gets derailed. Let’s say that you make 15 hires. Five are great people—superstars. Five are middle-of-the-road—cuspers who can be easily influenced. And five are bottom—not necessarily all the wrong people, but some are wrong people and some are just in the wrong seats.

What happens if the bottom five hit a level of frustration? What do you do when you are frustrated? You find an outlet for blowing off steam. Where do you do that? To other humans. What happens when you do that with other humans—if those humans don’t encourage a solution—is this: Negativity starts and if it sits too long without solution, cancer is formed.

Cancer within an organization can derail people—not just the bottom five, but the cuspers. Cuspers can be influenced. If culture is strong, then they get influenced positively. If culture is turbulent, then they get influenced negatively.

If they get influenced negatively, now, your bottom five turns to a bottom 10. With a bottom 10 and a top five, now you are in trouble. Why? Cancer looms and the superstars will get tired of the negativity. They want a career and hate that there is poison floating around the culture.

Then what happens? Half of the superstars bounce—not because they hate the vision, but because they hate the situation. The good news with superstars is that, should you find remedy and momentum again, they can potentially be boomerangers (those who leave and come back).

If your vision is protected by the leadership, then the middle five get influenced up and now you have 10 great people—some superstars and some on the verge—just needing enough experience and opportunity to ignite. This is great culture.

Why does the derailing happen? Bad hiring.

Bad hiring can crush a business. When there are holes in the guardrails, a business ends up saying yes to people who are only mildly passionate about the vision. Mildly passionate or empty passion hires are risky, because they haven’t actually bought in. A few speed bumps and they turn. Thus, open conversation, coaching and protection of the vision is essential.

Culture ends up being the most expensive threat to a business. A bad culture at a restaurant and the customers are treated to a subpar experience. A subpar experience leads to neutral or negative reviews. A three-star rating leads to a limited chance at success.

Financial gain, therefore, lives 99% in the culture. Without great people, a business cannot become great. It’s the biggest hole where money opportunity exists.

Put culture first and the rest will follow.