Our purpose is to help you and your organisation improve. We want to help you enhance relationships AND reduce the cost of low performance.
To do that, though, we need to get honest about the health of our organisations. The fact is, we’re all suffering from illnesses in our work culture, and the first step to wellness is identifying the problems.
We’re going to take a quick look at the viruses that affect the health, vitality, and productivity of our organisations, teams, and even our family relationships.
Here’s the first virus:
The Culture of Resistance.
When infected with the Culture of Resistance, organisations find their “go-to” people and rely on them to produce results. In these organisations, people look to others to handle the tough decisions.
The leaders are responsible to drive change while the rest sit back, expecting them to do all the work.
It’s why they get paid the big bucks, after all, right?
Here’s the unwritten rule that’s communicated to workers: “We expect you to do you least and drag your feet.”
Have you ever done of an engagement survey? Did it actually help you?
Probably not!
The notion of engagement connects very strongly with this virus, The Culture of Resistance.
We create the very conditions that cause people to create less than their best. Without knowing it, organisations encourage workers NOT to live up to their potential.
It’s staggering, isn’t it?
Daniel Yankelovich performed a study in the workforce where he asked, “How many of you do just enough for your job to survive? To not get the sack?”
Forty-four percent – nearly half the population – said this statement described them. That’s a reflection of the disengagement that’s really happening.
People aren’t offering any extra effort in their jobs. Instead, they’re only working to a boundary condition to survive.
We often find that this plays out in our lack of accountability conversations.
The Cost of a Culture of Resistance
Every time this happens, there’s a tax on our ability to execute on a superior level. Not only do we fail to execute our job now, but we lose the ability to innovate consistently for the future.
This is a cost that bears down on our organisations, whether it’s healthcare, policing, commercial enterprise, or construction. The particular industry makes no difference. The fact is, this virus is alive and well and it affects us all.
As a leader with influence, the question you should ask yourself is, “How significant is this virus in my organisation, and what can I do to influence its reduction?”
Are co-workers and peers resisting engagement, and are you passively encouraging it?
How can you close a gap between where the virus is today, and where you need it to be for your performance moving forward?
As a leader, your job is to influence how people think, feel, and act. Start by assessing if/how the Culture of Resistance is affecting those around you.
