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Posted on Oct 13, 2014

10 Behaviors Expected From An Inspiring Culture

10 Behaviors Expected From An Inspiring Culture

10-Behaviors-Expected-From-An-Inspiring -ultureMany businesses claim to produce innovative products or creative solutions. But what’s it like to work there?

Some companies are known as “sweatshops.” This is common term used in service-based businesses, such as law firms, accounting practices, and advertising agencies. They hire young, bright talent, eager to tackle the world’s biggest challenges. Then after a few years of working 80-hour weeks and a ton of grueling work, these people are burned out and leave – paving the way for the next batch of workers.

Other companies are known as “buyers of innovation.” They may sponsor sweatshops in lower-cost countries to invent new products. Or they might simply buy up smaller companies that have promising new innovations. Their culture is more geared to marketing new products and services than creating them.

Then there are companies known for having an “inspiring culture” where teams work together to create real innovations. These are environments where employees are valued and respected for who there are vs. what they do. The employees of such companies take delight in working together to make a positive difference in the world around them.

Ideally this last type of organization embraces Inspiration as a differentiating value.

Two Inspiring Cultures?

Two companies that promote the value of Inspiration are Aetna, a huge health insurance company, and Ecolab, a global leader in water, hygiene and energy technologies and services.

Here’s how these two companies define or reference inspiration.

  • AetnaInspiration – We inspire each other to explore ideas that can make the world a better place.
  • EcolabWe find inspiration and energy in what we do and how we do it. In growing, learning and celebrating together. In making a difference and serving the greater good.

So how do we know if these companies truly live this value? We’d see it in their behaviors.

10 Behaviors Expected From An Inspiring Culture

In a truly inspiring culture, we would expect to see many (or all) of the following behaviors:

  1. A caring culture. The old adage is still true, “People don’t care about how much you know until they know how much you care.” In an inspiring culture, there’s a genuine interest in people.
  2. A focus on opportunities. While issues and problems exist in every organization, people in an inspiring culture see opportunities in every challenge.
  3. Timely encouragement. Real breakthroughs often come at a point when problems seem insurmountable. This is the exact point encouragement is most needed.
  4. Always sharing. There’s no hording of information. Inspired people are always sharing from both their knowledge and experiences.
  5. Positive people. Those who know how to inspire others continually feed themselves to stay positive. They surround themselves with people, information, and environments that they find inspiring and motivating.
  6. Vulnerability. It’s easier to connect with those who openly share from their failures (and successes). Knowing that others also experience failure can be very inspiring.
  7. Lots of storytelling. Facts tell. Stories sell. People learn best from parables, encouraging others to develop their own inspiring story.
  8. Healthy confrontation. Just as a good teacher challenges their students to stretch, an inspiring culture encourages everyone to stretch their best. While it can be uncomfortable at times, it leads to better outcomes – and better people.
  9. Good communication. The ability to inspire others requires effective communication skills. This includes verbal and non-verbal, and all forms of written communication, such presentations and reports, and even emails and texts.
  10. More doing than talking. Rhetoric alone achieves nothing. Inspiration in action is contagious and leads to more action.

The culture test for businesses such as Aetna and Ecolab is this: do their employees demonstrate any or all of these behaviors? If not, then something needs to change. Their leaders need to either encourage and reward behaviors that align with an inspiring culture, or they should embrace a different value.

 

Do you think Aetna or Ecolab have an inspiring culture?

What other expected behaviors would you add to this list?

 

Today’s value was selected from the “Creativity-Uniqueness” category, based on the e-book Developing Your Differentiating Values.