Evolving Your Organizational Culture
Create a culture that allows everyone - including the bottom line - to flourish.
I grew up, from Cadet to Chief, in a culture of taking orders. There was a clear chain of command that everyone was expected to follow. Anyone who did not take orders potentially threatened the safety of everyone on the force, which is why any dissent was punished.
When I became Chief, I redefined the chain of command. I gave my team permission to speak up and share their input. Not in all situations, but in the ones where they were the best authority. By increasing their sphere of influence, we began shifting the culture of policing.
The culture of any organization is a living and breathing organism. You cannot see it in the tangible sense but you can feel the gravitational pull when someone acts outside of the norm.
It’s exactly this type of ‘out of the norm’ behavior that you must invite to shift culture. But you must do so in a way that moves the entire organization forward, in the direction you want to go.
In this empowering and engaging talk you’ll gain insight into how to:
Encourage individuality by way of respectful dissent and diversity of thought (When you do this, everyone flourishes.)
Create an environment where everyone belongs
Direct the culture shift towards the vision you’ve identified without being overly controlling and micromanaging
Influence culture over time in a sustainable way that invites everyone to evolve
