More Stories from the Naked City
How the office culture impacts sales.
I once worked for a company whose management had fallen into the doldrums concerning managing the culture. They had become indifferent to what was happening despite knowing it was becoming a major challenge to the company’s existence. The office manager, the former sales manager and a few other key managers were sabotaging the owner’s key planning by divulging confidential information to sales personnel, or the warehouse team. The impact was detrimental to key initiatives that would have helped the company be profitable. Having advance knowledge of changes, the sales team and or the affected departments would have a resistance strategy in place before the planned announcement of any change. Often, in fact, key people would approach the management team and let them know the plans had been leaked forcing a change or a reversal of plans. By not working to eliminate the key sources of the leaks, the company appeared ineffective and became paralyzed over time. What resulted were no key changes and the eventual sale of the company. The saboteur’s ran the company by default. Indifference equals acceptance.
The saboteur’s became the management team and the culture over time unraveled completely. When you have saboteur’s running the company, their own devious characters and lack of integrity seep down into the culture itself, because they stood for cheating, the company became a pack of cheaters and back stabbers. No one told the truth. Support departments lied to cover poor support habits. Assignments and obligations were routinely ignored. No one cared. The sales team abused the inside people and arguments ensued. One could feel the tension in the building. The saboteur’s in fact, worked hard at showing that they had more power than the owners. They delighted with glee over making the owners seem impotent. Minutes had to be taken at meetings to ensure that anyone who did have an assignment would have their name associated with the task to ensure it ever got done….and this was instituted by me to get the team to do anything productive. I was there for about three years and was told by long time employees that it had gone on for years and years. I witnessed purchasing, the warehouse and customer service lie to avoid the wrath of the saboteur’s. Sounds crazy doesn’t it? Imagine the saboteur’s, who had severe character flaws, ran the company. Their lack of integrity was caused by a deep seated lack of self esteem, a void, which they filled by playing power head games.
How does a company promote a healthy culture, I hope you are asking by now? Management has to take stand against certain behaviors especially for a lack of loyalty and discernment from all managers in key meetings. It should be a written policy of zero tolerance for any leaks from management about company plans. If a leak occurs, find the leak and plug it. Plugging a leak may mean terminating someone that you think is key and you will discover that you can exist and thrive without disloyal and power sick people. Let them heal their deep seated character flaws in therapy. By being diligent, the culture remains healthy.
Eventually this company had to be sold… at the time of the sale, I watched these saboteurs’s scramble to gain power with the new owner. He was oblivious to what had transpired in the previous ten plus years and actually took in their version of events. Imagine how the culture is in the new company today? And remember the old saying “birds of a feather flock together” so my guess is that the acquiring company did not have a healthy culture either and I have heard this about them.
It is not easy to manage a company culture. It takes a real effort to really see what is happening. Naturally in any company there are people hungry for power and I can remember my days at a bank where the culture was about title and I too wanted a title until I awakened to what that chase was doing to my own integrity. Once that occurred for me, I realized true power and authority comes from taking a stand for doing the right thing for the business and the owners …not for the satisfaction of ego.
Take a stand for a healthy culture as it helps sales grow. A healthy culture is supportive of helping customers and the sales team. The employees waste little or no time on political games and lies.
Look around… are you taking a stand? If you stand for nothing you will fall for anything.
What do the decisions you make daily say to the staff? Who do you surround yourself with? Is the truth told? Can you be told the truth without defending? Are there battles between managers? Are people afraid of certain managers or you? Are your managers loyal and discerning?
Get help from someone who is outside the culture if you are not sure. If these questions unsettled you some, perhaps you need that outside perspective.
Indifference = Acceptance….do something.
Gratefully yours, Steve
