If anyone has tried to influence change in any organization, it can be a challenge and often times very frustrating. We say all the right things, we do all the right things to get our people on board and we don’t see the results. And to make matters worse, we try to make a change to our corporate culture and it’s like trying to push a rope up hill. 

Why is change, especially cultural change so difficult? In order to answer this question, we must understand what “culture” really is. Culture as it relates to an organization is really how the people conduct and behave themselves. This behavior is derived from practices, customs or traditions that are allowed and therefore, created over time. I believe this is where the phrase, “I don’t know, this is the way we’ve always done things” comes from. Because culture is developed over time, it is much more stubborn to make any changes to it. 

To further define culture, it can be simply broken down into two types - good and bad.  Good culture fosters relationships and sustains growth. This type of culture should be protected and preserved by leadership. Bad culture, on the other hand, can easily strain relationships and impede growth. This should be quickly identified and addressed by leadership. 

So why is it so difficult to change culture? If people make up your culture then the answer is simple, people don’t like change.  As humans, we are creatures of habit and it is in our nature to resist change especially if we think the change will in some way harm us. Many times we will resist it just for change sake because of our rebellious nature.  Culture changes, or changing the way your people behave, can be even more difficult because usually they have been allowed to behave a certain way for a long period of time. It is important as leaders to know what we allow we actually encourage.  

In my own professional experience, I have been faced with 2 significant events where I was directly responsible for changing culture. First was when I served at an orphanage in Mexico as the Mission Director for 2 years with a mix of 30 staff members from primarily 3 different countries. My second experience was coming back to NAVIS after my mission term and changing, what was then our “customer service center”, into a “reservation sales center”. As the leader in both instances, I found myself combating with cultural barriers that made it seemingly impossible to influence change.  In both cases, I learned a lot of leadership lessons but I also learned something about the attempt to change culture.    

I learned that it takes time.  Yes, that’s it! Probably not the answer you wanted to hear but it is true. The act of changing culture is more of a process rather than an event. I wish I had the magic answer to get instant results, but unfortunately it is not that easy. You CAN and WILL, however, see results over time but it requires a strong commitment from leadership and a consistent message to your people. What I can tell you is what will shorten the amount of time - considerably.

BUILD TRUST

Trust is essential to influencing people in any way. If you don’t have this built as a foundation, you won’t be successful at influencing change. As leaders, we need to work hard at building rapport and trust with our people every day.  Remember, our people are watching how we behave so it is very important to lead by example. Be authentic and lead through acts of service rather than just words and you will build trust with your people. If employees are inspired by their leader’s actions and trust is established, there will be less resistance to change.

BE PROACTIVE

The longer we wait to address a negative behavioral pattern the harder it is to change.  Catch them quickly and address them with your people with care and you will speed up the process. Don’t allow the behavior to be rooted too deep before addressing it because it may be too late to influence any change to it. Be sure it is a consistent pattern before addressing the behavior.  Hiring people that fit your culture in the first place is the first step to being proactive.

BE ALIGNED

To foster good culture, it has to start from the top. Leaders need to exemplify good cultural behavior for our people to adopt and follow. The purpose of any change needs to be clear, and communicated just as clear throughout the entire organization. In this regard, the management team needs to be in strategic alignment in order collectively influence cultural change. Don’t be afraid to start out by simply asking your executive team “what kind of culture do we want?” in order to get aligned.

BE STEADY

Unless you are willing to run the risk of losing your staff and starting over, try to avoid implementing too much change all at once. As leaders we tend to think we are super human and we travel at the speed of light. Not only is this speed unsustainable, it is also detrimental to the team.  Humans can only handle so much change at once before they break. As a good coach, certainly stretch your team, but also know where this breaking point is so you can pace your team’s progression properly.

BE CONSISTENT

Nothing slows down change more than inconsistencies. Mixed messages from management, lack of follow through, and exceptions that become the rule are guaranteed to slow down the process. Be deliberate when it comes to sending a consistent message or fostering a certain behavior that creates good culture. Make it meaningful to your people by communicating the “why” clearly and consistently so they adopt it as their own.

BE WILLING TO DO THE RIGHT THING

There will be times when certain individuals on our team are paddling in the wrong direction or not paddling at all and dragging their feet in the water. As the protector of good culture, it is our responsibility to hold these people accountable and coach them. If you have done all that is possible to correct this behavior and you find there is not a change, it’s probably time to turn in their paddle. In short, if you can’t change the people, change the people.