Building a Supportive Culture

 

Perfect as the wing of a bird may be, it will never enable the bird to fly if unsupported by the air. -- Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936)

Just like air in the quote above, support is invisible yet powerful. What makes up a supportive culture? We all sense when we are in one--and when we aren't. In this article we will clarify some factors that make up a supportive culture, enabling you to spread support in your organization.

Let's compare a couple of scenarios.

Case 1: Joan walks into the building in the morning with a smile on her face. She greets her colleagues as she walks down the hall and has a good feeling about coming in to work. At the 9 a.m.status meeting, people smile and welcome each other.

Case 2: Jerry walks into work with a feeling of dread. He hates getting up on workdays and his first thought in the morning is avoiding his boss. At the morning status meeting, participants can hear a pin drop when they walk into the room. The meeting quickly turns into an exercise in finger pointing. Success is measured on the intimidation scale.

Culture is felt, not documented. In case 1 above, the key word is "welcome." When you feel welcomed, you feel you are with friends and that you belong with the team. In case 2, being able to hear a pin drop is a dead giveaway that something is wrong. A team that lives in fear of speaking is not sharing their ideas and their …

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