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CULTURE
Transform your culture in three steps Anna O’Dea offers three ways to make your workplace a more supportive environment
CLIENTS OFTEN ask me how they can introduce initiatives in their workplace to make it a more supportive environment for their team. Being in the business of marketing, advertising and digital, I know that written content helps to develop relationships and build trust. In fact, I spent $50,000 on content to learn about what issues were really important to people at work in a bid to help develop that trust. But developing a culture that champions and rewards transparency is not as easy as writing a few blog posts on diversity. It’s about the actions you take as a business and putting your money where your mouth is in terms of reflecting how your team feels. Genuine connection comes down to how vulnerable we are willing to be with others. It is the act of sharing stories, vulnerabilities and even fears that helps bring us together. When you reveal something about yourself that is not widely known to others, you’re showing that person or audience who you really are. You’re demonstrating that you trust them. This, supported by consistent behaviour
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that demonstrates integrity, builds trust. So many impressive leaders in my network have faced adversity in different forms and balanced this with growing a business and, more often than not, significant personal challenges going on behind the scenes: sickness, loss of a loved one, trauma, and financial and emotional setbacks. These experiences, which have shaped who they are as individuals, have gone on to influence the type of leaders they are and the team they attract. I believe any business can be transformed by listening and leading by example. Here are the lessons I’ve learned since spending $50,000 to find out what’s important to my community and team.
Never make assumptions about people’s lives I’ve learned from tech entrepreneurs that one of the most common mistakes is investing in a solution without asking customers what they want. For example, when we started the #LeadingLadies series, instead of dictating the content we thought would be relevant, we asked interviewees to share their
own stories that they hadn’t had a chance to share before. We told them they had access to a blank canvas and nothing was off limits. The floodgates opened. We discovered that issues such as bullying in the workplace, racism, homophobia, sexism, parental leave and negotiating a pay raise were affecting many workplaces, and these brave individuals wanted a platform to address them. I realized that perhaps many workplaces still create initiatives without actually asking their team what’s important to them. It’s tricky for many employees to verbalize what they need without fear of consequence. I think the bravest question any leader can ask themselves is, “Have you asked your team what they need, or are you making assumptions based on your own point of view in a position of privilege?” Does your team feel they can tell you what they need, or are
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18/10/2019 3:43:45 AM