Culture plays a pivotal role in the story of any startup. Create and cultivate a culture conducive to high-performing behavior and values-aligned talent, and great things can happen. Here are seven tips that can help you codify your startup's culture and bake it into the foundation of everything you do.
Culture Design 101: Behavioral Specificity > Wordsmithing Values
Open any company website and read what they value— it could be in their ‘About Us’ page or on their ‘Job Descriptions’ pages. Likely, you will find single words or catchy phrases that describe their culture, who they are, and how they operate. However, if it is not clear what specific behaviors your company values and expects, then people are left to their interpretations and personal biases of what behaviors are expected of them.
Values Fulfillment: A Simple Way to Determine Core Values, Grow Self-Awareness, and Connect with Others Effectively
One way to grow your self-awareness is to clarify and articulate your core values. Understanding your— and others'— core values can lead to several benefits:
Clearer and more confident decision-making.
Inspired action-taking.
Ease of identifying the right stakeholders you want to partner with— investors, employers, advisors.
Better trust and alignment with people in your life— colleagues, reports, partners, family, and friends.
Greater personal satisfaction and fulfillment.