Everyone who comes in contact with a strong culture feels it. Customers develop unique relationships with these companies. So do employees.
As a result, a strong culture is like a shield. It insulates a company from economic turbulence.
Why?
Because a weak culture is purely transactional. On the other hand, a strong culture is transformational.
And while transactional is fragile, transformational is anti-fragile. While a transactional culture sits atop a foundation of sand, a transformational culture sits atop a foundation of granite.
When difficult economic times create difficult working conditions in a transactional culture, they cut at its very foundation. Short-term economic self-interest – transactional self-interest – is the glue holding it together. And it melts easily, especially in hard times.
(Recruiters from other firms often attack it with a blowtorch. This is why transactional cultures feel like revolving doors).
On the other hand, what holds together a transformational culture?
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Its members feel like important pieces of “a winning team on an inspiring mission”.
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Its members feel like they belong in the organization; it feels like family.
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Its members feel like their role offers them the chance to self-actualize and grow.
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Its members feel like the universe has called them to serve these customers.
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Its members feel like they are cared for by the organization and their peers.
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Its members feel like they have a voice, and a purpose, in the organization.
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Its members feel like they derive deep meaning from their work.
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Its members feel like they can trust the organization to support them.
Which of these, if any, do hard economic times threaten?
None. If anything, hard times can strengthen these pillars of transformational cultures. By weathering the storm, surviving the turbulence, and living to sail another day.
And that’s why strong cultures – transformational cultures – survive hard times.
If a transactional culture is a ship at sea that gets swept up by the storm, a transformational culture is a ship at sea with a deep and immovable anchor.
The Culture Club
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