Excerpt of Forbes – By Izabela Lundberg

Did you ever think about why and how some teams or organizations are more successful than others?

Despite many talent similarities ranging from education, training, background and years of experience, to name a few, organizations get very different results in performance. 

Is it leadership, talent, organizational structure or something else that is the determining factor in high performance? The short answer is culture.

Culture is the bones of an organization, the fundamental elements, like traditions, rituals, language, story and communication style, combine to make us, “us.” Culture is the driver behind everything you do as an organization. It is a catalyst for how decisions are made and how business gets done.

And this can be negative or positive. Culture doesn’t care which one it becomes. Every organization has a culture, healthy, toxic or anywhere in between. The culture you get depends on the quality of leadership.

How you show up as a leader sets the tone for everyone else to follow. But if your organization is going to have a culture in any case, I recommend you do your utmost to develop a champion culture. The best way to do that is through an emotional commitment to excellence of all team members every single day.

Why is this critical? Because research shows that the number one reason for the Great Resignation is a toxic culture due to poor leadership. […]

Champion culture boldly seeks to understand and address fear in the workplace, the most powerful driver of a toxic culture. Understanding and addressing fear can unlock massive potential at every level of your organization, thus creating a champion culture throughout.

Here are the different kinds of champions you can encourage in your business:

• Individual champion: A brilliant all-star business player who brings trustworthiness, discipline, competency and a high performance and impact mindset demonstrated through emotional intelligence and capacity. These are the most needed and some of the most desired traits. […]

• Team champion: A brilliant, all-star, high-performing team made up of individual champions operating effectively and collaboratively. Creating an environment of shared purpose, trust, openness and willingness to admit and correct mistakes are critical in a champion culture.

• Organizational champion: The organization operates in a high-performing culture with the flagship of transformational leadership aligned with organizational vision, mission and goals. Integrating strategy, systems and structures is essential in developing a champion culture. 

• World champion: High-impact culture, leading through exceptional legacy leadership, demonstrated accountability, integrity and transparency. This is not only reflected in their talent, customers or leadership, but also through the adoption of ESG global standards of operation organization-wide, driving the successful growth of the organization through continued business value.

Read the full article: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2022/05/09/why-champion-culture-is-needed-more-than-ever/?sh=2c1017ec5c85