WHAT YOU FEEL: you don’t have the time to babysit and police everyone’s behavior but you see problems with your culture

PERSPECTIVE: You must have hard and fast rules that you enforce without exception.  It starts with you – the way you respond to these rules will be how your organization views their importance.  Here they are:

• Being Late. Entrepreneurs are constantly on the run from one activity to the next.  Unfortunately, being late not only disrupts the meeting or call that you are attending, but it creates negative perceptions.  First, being late shows a lack of respect for the people you are meeting with.  Second, being late is a telltale sign of a poorly managed organization.  If the leader isn’t organized enough to be on time, can he or she manage the business?

• Yelling, Talking Over People and Cutting People Off. Many times in meetings I felt that we were wasting time and that I was already past the issue.  This caused me to cut people off and say “got it.”  It got so common that it became an office joke.  Don’t do it.  Raising your voice is the same.  I know what you are saying, “but we just lost our biggest client.”  Your people want to see you calm, cool and collected, especially when things are going wrong.  Do your best to avoid these things.

• Making Exceptions for the Leader/CEO. One of the most damaging behaviors of a young company is preferential treatment for the leader.  When the rules apply to everyone but the leader, it sends the message he or she is above the law and undermines the faith that the leader has the teams’ best interests at heart.  On the other hand, when the CEO is the one that holds herself accountable first and foremost, it sends a message that everyone is in this together.

• Negative Comments About Customers. Speaking of customers in a negative light creates a message within your organization that can spread.  It causes employees to think it is acceptable to blame customers versus coming up with creative solutions to problems.  When you do finally realize customer success is your success, you will find it hard to undo the part of your culture that has people walking the halls talking about dumb customers.

• Comments About Employees. The same is true when it comes to employees.  If you have engaged employees, you will have satisfied customers.  There will be times when the skills of employees are deficient or employees leave the organization.  There are also the day-to-day frustrations that come with managing employees.  In these interactions, make sure that you speak of employees with respect.  Even if they are not meeting your expectations, every employee sees how you speak about other employees.

In the chaos of your venture, there are certain behaviors that are unacceptable and unless you eliminate them, they can wear on your team and establish a toxic culture that can be hard to undo.

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