Subscribe to the Three Star Leadership Blog

The Working Supervisor's Support Kit is a collection of information and tools to help working supervisors do a better job. It's based on what Wally's learned in over twenty years of supervisory skills training.

For weekly tips and resources pointers, check Wally's Three Star Leadership Letter

Find out more about having Wally speak to your company or convention.

Find out more about Wally's coaching services.

Last week Jeff Bailey wrote a great piece in the New York Times titled: "Southwest. Way Southwest." It's an article about Southwest Airlines and it's also an article about the power of a corporate culture.

In the midst of talking about Southwest's strong and unique culture, Bailey sounds a warning:

"Indeed, as chief executives, owners and strategies shift rapidly at American companies, distinct corporate cultures — the sense of history, the best and worst impulses of an organization — are often swept aside."

That would be both tragic and bad for business. The reason is that a company's culture, people, and relationships are the drivers of long term competitive advantage. They're especially powerful because the competition can't copy them.

Deal and Kennedy famously defined "culture" as "the way we do things around here." But it's more than that.

Your culture lives in the explicit statements of your values. This is usually simple and memorable. Take Nordstrom's "rules"

"Rule #1: Use your good judgment in all situations. There will be no additional rules."

Training is the carrier of culture. GE's Crotonville doesn’t just convey knowledge. It creates relationships and reinforces values.

What you measure identifies the culture in action. Measurement tells your people what's important and how they're doing. It should match up with your explicit statements. Don't say that customer service matters and then only measure sales.

Your reward systems, especially praise and promotion, perpetuate the culture. Praise is the tool for getting people to try things and to keep doing what you want them to do. Promotion is the ultimate reward and the way you make sure that the leaders in your company have the same values.

Most importantly and humanly your culture lives in the stories your people tell each other. Southwest Airlines and Nordstrom and UPS and the US Marines all have strong cultures. But the cultures are different and so are the stories that the members of those organizations tell each other.

You don't construct a culture. Cultures grow. That's why they take so long to develop into strong, competitive-advantage-building things. They are the most powerful thing in business because they are the most human.

Wally's Working Supervisor's Support Kit is a collection of information and tools to help working supervisors do a better job. It's based on what Wally's learned in over twenty years of supervisory skills training. Click here to check it out.

Request your free copy of "Meeting the Challenges of the Boomer Brain Drain: An integrated approach."

Wally Bock has helped people learn to be great bosses for more than a quarter century. His latest book, Performance Talk: The One-on-One Part of Leadership, makes learning key leadership principles almost effortless by teaching through a story and providing lists of resources for further growth.

Click here to find out more about Wally's coaching services.

For weekly tips and resources pointers, check our Wally Bock's Three Star Leadership Letter.

Click here to find out more about having Wally speak to your company or convention.