Hi, everybody. I’m Mike Staver. This is Mondays with Mike, a weekly video series where I answer questions from people just like you. Here’s this week’s question.
“What do you do when the culture is weakening and you feel like your job is to enrich in it and bring it back to life? I’m trying really hard to help my department. Most in my department agree, but all we really do is complain. I’ve spoken directly with leadership, and all I get is this happy-talk-denial speech. I am weary of trying but love the employees and customers in this company. What do you do when the culture is weakening and you feel it’s your job to enrich in it and bring it back to life? I’m trying hard to help. Most in my department agree, but all we really do is complain. I’ve spoken directly with leadership and all I get is this happy-talk-denial speech. I am weary of trying but love the employees and customers.”
Be the change you want to be in the world. I don’t know who said that. I don’t know who said, “Be the change you want to be in the world,” but be the change you want to be at the company. You cannot alter and change people that don’t want to be changed. If leadership is just giving you, I love this, a happy-talk-denial speech, you’re not going to shift it. You will not shift it.
I have seen companies that have had catastrophic things happen in their culture, lost a top producer, had a massive walkout, had a strike. I can name any number of things. I have sat in leaders’ offices and said, “You have a problem,” and they’ve looked at me and said, “You’re just being negative. We don’t have a problem.” I feel you. I understand the frustration, but you can’t get sucked into that tornado. Be the change you want. Be the cultural person you want. If you want more positivity, be more positive. If you want more energy, show up more energetic. Whatever it is you want, be that in your area of influence.
Now, I will tell you that you can only sit in a room being pumped full of air gas that’s negative and toxic to you before it starts to affect you. The first thing you do is be the change you want. You’ve already talked to leadership. I would’ve suggested that. You already did. Be the change you want, focus on the thing in the culture that is most important. You say you love the employees and the customers, so be really focused on providing the culture experience to customers and employees that you believe is necessary.
Finally, make absolutely certain that when the moment comes where the toxicity or the culture has eroded to the point where it’s affecting your mental, emotional, or spiritual, or financial health, it’s time to look somewhere else. Leaders that don’t really want to address cultural issues are dinosaurs, and they’re going to go the way of the dinosaur. I think it’s called extinction, unless they’re an alligator.
Hope that was helpful, everybody.
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