It's Tuesday at 2:00pm! (PST Time: I live and work from Southern California)
Greetings to you!
Each week I send out a short leadership blog that's called "Tuesday at 2:00pm". The purpose of this is simply to provide a brief thought on leadership that you can read and think about in just a few minutes. I send it out every week at 2:00pm (PST) and encourage you to make an appointment with yourself to pause and think about the thing I'm writing about.
Russ...
LEADERSHIP QUOTE:
"Culture eats strategy for breakfast." Peter Drucker
What does this stir up? Either write me HERE or comment at the end of the blog post HERE.
A LITTLE BIT DEEPER:
Last week, while attending a Board Meeting, someone threw this quote out, and I've been thinking about it over the past few days.
Peter Drucker was an Austrian-American management consultant and he's called the "father of management theory". His writings and thoughts have influenced leaders and organizations for decades and his book, "The Daily Drucker" has been an inspiration for me for years.
I'd like to spend some time talking about Organizational Culture this next month. If you've learned something or seen something, please share it with me. When it comes to this topic, I'm a student, but having been a part of a number of organizations over the past 40 years, I've seen the difference a defined culture can make, and I agree with Drucker that while strategy is important, it's the CULTURE that truly drives an organization.
Patrick Lencioni, in his book, "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team" is really addressing CULTURE. I've shared earlier that I wish I had found this book earlier, but once I did, these principles became a staple.
Lencioni teaches that these 5 things contribute to a healthy team and a healthy organization. I encourage you to read the book to get the full context:
#1) BUILD TRUST
#2) RESOLVE CONFLICT
#3) COMMIT AS A TEAM
#4) HOLD EACH OTHER ACCOUNTABLE
#5) FOCUS ON RESULTS
When you look at this list, or revisit these 5, which one impacts the CULTURE where you work the most?
DEEPER STILL:
Culture can be SEEN and FELT.
This past week, Gina and I had the opportunity to visit one of our favorite places on the planet, El Refugio in Quito, Ecuador. This is a retreat and training center that Youth World launched almost 25 years ago, and it's always good to walk back on the over 300 acres of this property outside of Quito.
I've always felt the culture at El Refugio, but this time, it slapped me in the face.
The staff that we interacted with we're excited to have us there, were expectant of what we would experience there, and we felt welcomed.
They were ready for us and had thought through the programming with intentionality and we were led through a number of team building experiences that forced our Board to interact, work together and engage.
The property looked good... you could feel the "pride of ownership" and while the property sees lot's of groups and retreats taking place, it was taken care of and in good shape.
Simple things, but these all point to a culture of service, a culture of facilitation and a culture of partnership as El Refugio has created a space for teams, businesses, churches, youth groups, schools and leaders to connect, to find space and to hear God's voice clearly.
The CULTURE was evident.
Thanks Jim & Suzy and team for a great experience and a great reminder.
What do people say when they come and see your organization? Your business? Your programming? Do they see it? Do they feel it? Build that culture because it's what people will remember.
Things I'm Reading, Listening To and Watching This Week:
Gina introduced me to Donavon Frankenreiter this past week and I've enjoyed listening to his music. I'd never heard him before. Check him out!
The Daily Drucker is much of Druckers work in bite-sized portions!
Patrick Lencioni's Book: The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
I shared about a fiction series I had been reading... 12 books in The Gray Man Series... well, they just came out with the 13th, and I'm back at it: The Chaos Agent
I had a number of people encourage me to watch The Bear on Hulu. I finally watched the first season while traveling last week. The story is compelling with lot's of leadership lessons inbedded. Language is rough but I really enjoyed the story.