Culture Reflects Leadership

Successful leaders know that one thing is at the core of every successful business: a strong culture. When done right, culture has the potential to be a key competitive advantage. When employees are empowered and encouraged by their company’s culture, they can move faster, solve more problems, and become more engaged in the broader goals of the organization.  These employees see how they can  make a real difference. 

Yet all too often  I hear that organizations are too busy to take culture seriously. “Culture is soft, we need to focus on results”, or “We will focus on culture after we get the launch completed”,  or, “We have free food Friday and an awesome foosball table, we’re good - right?”. Wrong.

Culture is how a community behaves and the values that unite it’s members. To be effective, communities must move with intention. 

My podcast guest this week is Arnie Malham, award-winning CEO/founder, 8-figure entrepreneur and best-selling author who helps progressive leaders create engaging and sustainable cultures within their organizations. 

Arnie Malham knows culture.  He often says he’s done it wrong enough to finally get it right. He believes that businesses become successful by creating an environment that enables and inspires employees to reach their full potential. 

In this week’s podcast, Arnie and I discuss the lessons he’s learned along the way while running many successful businesses and developing cultures where his people could do their best work.

Arnie knows that the endless pursuit of knowledge is critical to success. Leaders are readers.  Reading fosters knowledge, fresh ideas and, hopefully, a lifelong interest in learning and self- improvement.

“Business is hard. But the challenges that make business hard are more than just obstacles - they provide the foundation for building and strengthening a culture that attracts the best people to do the best work.”

In Arnie’s book, Worth Doing Wrong: The Quest to Build a Culture that Rocks, he outlines his journey through successes and failures and best practices he’s learned along the way. You can check it out here.

I’d like to leave you with a question this week: If you’re a leader, how do you prioritize culture? If you’re an employee, what does an effective culture look and feel like to you? 

Bonus question: If you named your culture, what would you call it? Arnie even named his business’ culture: Camel Culture. At Placers, our culture is called Outside-In.

Until next time, friends!