Climate and culture

During our early out last week I was able to spend some time with all support staff at RPS. Our discussion focused primarily on the climate and culture within our schools. We also spent some time discussing The Fred Factor (this year's book read for all support staff). Here is my PowerPoint:

Climate/culture from mmcneffnd

So goes the culture, so goes the company.

It is interesting how quickly you can see and feel the climate and culture of an organization. A person can get a feel of 'how things are done around here' the moment they enter the organization's doors. Unfortunately, some of us have been exposed to toxic cultures that you can see and feel. Toxic cultures encourage isolation and actively work to halt the advancement of the organization. When toxic behaviors are allowed to flourish, people tend to do things that are right for them, and not right for the organization.

In a weak culture, we veer away from doing "the right thing" in favor of doing "the thing that's right for me." - Simon Sinek 

It begins with the leader and what he or she is willing to tolerate. The leader can ignore, participate in, or actively seek out and address toxic cultures that may exist in our organizations. As Peter Drucker said, "culture eats strategy for breakfast." We could have the greatest plan for improvement, but if we don't address our climate and culture nothing will matter. When we actively address culture and climate our organizations become better.  When a culture changes from a place where people take something for themselves to a place where people love to come to work - it's a wonderful thing.

The more energy is transferred from the top of the organization to those who are actually doing the job, those who know more about what's going on on a daily basis, the more powerful the organization and the more powerful the leader. - Simon Sinek 

Building a strong culture and climate takes work and it doesn't happen by accident. There has to be commitment from the leader and also from the people within the organization. High levels of trust must exist between the leader and people within the organization. We have to actively seek out unfiltered feedback from people about our climate and culture. We can't expect to see things from the clouds. If we rely only on information fed to us instead of going down to see for ourselves, we may have a completely different perception than those actually doing the work. We all play a role in creating a positive climate and culture for our students, but the leader's role may be most important in changing the climate and culture within a school.

What you permit, you promote. What you allow, you encourage. What you condone, you own. What you tolerate, you deserve. - Michelle Malkin

So goes the culture, so goes the company...