Passing the Baton AND the Culture

High-performing family businesses are often built with powerful cultures driven by the personal values and charisma of the founder.  When the fast-growing business crosses the 50-employee mark, the culture begins to diminish.  The charisma of one person simply cannot sustain a large team, especially in multiple offices or locations.

It doesn’t have to be this way. There are many large corporations (Southwest Airlines, Chick-Fil-A, The Container Store) that intentionally built a reproducible culture; multiplying their founder’s spirit into every part of the organization.  This is how it happens.

• Codify a unique, sticky phrase for each key value, five or six at most.

• Put the sticky phrases on the wall and let the team help you sharpen them.

• Repeatedly tell the legendary origin stories of these values.

• Recruit for and reward the behaviors that accelerate the culture you want to build.

• Hold people accountable for counterculture behaviors. Even, and especially, the high performers who frequently get a pass.

Over the last 15 years, XM Performance’s most transformative impact on our clients’ businesses has been when we help teams get this right.

How is your culture? (Download this culture self-assessment.)