Creating Company Culture

How is “Culture” created within organisations? Well, if we start from the bottom and work our way up, staff look to their bosses and replicate what they see and what they specifically replicate are the “behaviours” that they see, the “how” things are done. This works its way up the food chain and what companies end up with is a company of people behaving in similar ways to the people at the top which, in turn, becomes the “unspoken rules about how we do things around here”, otherwise known as “the culture”. This is great if you’re at the top. You don’t have to figure out the culture, because everyone is going to copy you so your way becomes the culture…or do you? Many executives aren’t aware of either their own behaviours or that their behaviour has a huge impact on the company’s culture. They often don’t get the connection between, for example, the company always being in “fire-fighting” mode and the fact that they never take a step back and look at problems before diving in. So, many of the organisational challenges that companies face are often generated by the company’s culture. So, should executives/small business owners be more aware of their organisation’s culture and their own impact on it? Well, if the culture isn’t causing any negative impacts on the company’s ability to successfully deliver its objectives, I’d like to know the name of the company so that I can invest in it. If the culture is causing unnecessary problems which is impeding the company from being as successful as it could be, then increasing the Executive Team’s individual and collective self-awareness could be the best investment the organisation ever made. What do you think contributes to “company culture”?