What is Success Culture? Success Culture is the ultimate work environment where everyone is achieving personal and professional success by being so aligned with what really matters in an organisation: people. How to create it? First look at the current culture.

Identifying Workplace Culture and the Meaning of Success

Culture is like your compass and your rock. It’s your actions based on your mindset and beliefs. It’s that passionate and sometimes daredevil guide challenging us to be better than our best. It’s that feeling that leaves you frustrated on the days you feel lost and elated, when the possibilities seem endless (your compass)…

…And it’s the small daily actions that are sometimes mundane, that are seemingly insignificant, but always consistent, always solid and always amazing in their ability to connect to you to others (your rock).

This applies individually, for groups and organisationally and is built from small, cumulative actions performed consistently. And exactly the same goes for building / creating success.

Let’s clarify again: Your (individual or group) actions, based on mindset and beliefs, performed consistently is what creates your culture (compass + rock) and your success (or failure).

What success means to each of us is very specific to everyone and every team. For example at What’s Your Edge? We define our group/organisational success as knowing your intent, the ability to put learning into action, sticking to it, all the while helping others.

Is Your Workplace in a Culture Crisis?

Want to know how well your team or workplace culture is going? These are all signs of a workplace in culture crisis.

Complaints (from team members, leaders and customers), teams working in silos, no fun or laughter, suspicion, mistrust, lack of creativity and innovation, good people leaving, bad people staying, low morale, margins not increasing, defensiveness, blame and personal success (at the expense of others).

Other red flags of poor culture:

• Fixed mindsets
• No accountability
• Unhappiness
• Poor habits
• Little connection
• People not meeting their targets
• People who aren’t aligned to their goals
• People who don’t trust each other or their leaders
• No desire to learn
• Low engagement
• Poor productivity
• Little interaction
• An inability to articulate the behaviours required for success
• Reluctance to ask for, or provide feedback.

Remember: Your engaged individuals (your teams) are your culture. If your people do things like each other, consistently, then you have a culture.

How to Dissolve Toxic and Drive Success

We know that greater, personal and organisational success comes when you unite and support.

So if you want to dissolve the toxic behaviours, achieve business KPI’s and build Success Culture to get your competitive edge, you need to work TOGETHER from the top and from the bottom simultaneously.

And you need to follow these 5 Principles (M.A.G.I.C) of Success Culture.

M = Mindset

Much like a philosophy, a mindset can act like a guiding principle for behaviour.

A = Accountability

Whatever (personal or professional) success I want to see I must take ownership of it. I must be accountable for change and be the one to make a start, no matter how small.

G = Gratitude

“What are you grateful for?” Gratitude has been clinically researched as one of the first steps to happiness, every person wants to be happy, every organisation wants happy people.

Happiness comes before success. Success will follow happiness.

Taking a moment to be grateful can have a grounding effect, makes people present to values and behaviours that influence actions. It also has an amazing effect on lifting our spirits – making us smile, perhaps laugh and works as a fantastic icebreaker for connecting ourselves and each other.

I = Individual Habits

From little things big things grow. Culture change starts with individual choice to be the (cultural) change each person desires to see in the workplace.

Every decision matters and every decision is made in the moment. Each of us has a choice to make the right decision and although these can often be boring, the most successful people and organisations know that they must master the mundane. Successful people do what unsuccessful people don’t want to do. Your daily habits are what make a success culture.

C = Connectedness

Cultural and organisational success comes hand in hand when you focus your business on the needs of your people, from customers and employees to suppliers, shareholders and the wider community.

Research demonstrates that people want to belong, they thrive with and through others.

Getting connected with your team and them with each other is a fundamental element of Success Culture.

M.A.G.I.C underpinned by Time

We all know there’s no such thing as overnight success. Success (like failure and problem solving) does not just happen. It develops progressively over time. When you work it to your favour, toward a goal or ambition, taking small steps consistently, every day, change will happen. Time is part of your M.A.G.I.C.

Conclusion

I have had decades of experience transforming work culture and what I know for sure is if you want a Success Culture in your organisation you need to bring your people together. Get your teams sharing about themselves, what they value, what they read or listen to or follow and when they are comfortable with each other, get to work on strategic initiatives – with the M.A.G.I.C – that will drive the business forward.

Deep down everyone wants to be successful. Everyone is seeking direction, motivation, inspiration, change, and is excited to learn. Once you tap into this you have the fuel for organisational Success Culture.

Want to hear more about our M.A.G.I.C strategies? Contact me, I will gladly share them with you.

Gab x