It’s easy to talk about company culture, but it’s not easy to define.

Defining “good company culture” isn’t easy, but most people know it when they see it. 

Furthermore, it’s easier to define what makes a bad company culture than what makes a good one. Bad company cultures are often rife with secrets, lack of transparency, and an attitude of every person for themselves. But good company cultures are often good in a variety of ways. A strong culture in a financial law firm will be different from a strong culture in a creative firm because culture depends partly on industry or niche.

Whatever industry a business is in, strong company culture depends on talented and committed leadership, up and down the organizational chart. Not only can leadership coaching improve company culture, so can leadership speakers, by inspiring and helping the overall workforce understand their company’s leadership.

Leadership Coaching and Company Culture

Leadership coaching helps leaders identify goals and map out the objectives that will get them there, and it also instills accountability, ensuring that leaders “walk the talk.” Successful leaders use their behavior as a positive example, and when frontline employees see this regularly, they’re more engaged. After all, if a leader demands that people work overtime to meet a deadline, but then skips out the door at 4 p.m. because they have a tennis game, how likely is it that the employees left behind will give their best efforts?

Leadership coaching provides an objective viewpoint to leaders that they may not have otherwise, helping them see themselves as others see them, and helping them understand how and why they influence actions in the people who report to them.

Leadership Speakers and Company Culture

“Inspiration” may seem like an odd thing for a company to invest in, but in fact, it makes practical sense. Leadership speakers can touch on topics that aren’t usually brought up in day-to-day operations. The combination of industry knowledge plus hard-earned wisdom can be tremendously powerful to a jaded workforce. Tapping into employee inspiration and giving them “permission” to use it is accomplished by carefully selecting the right leadership speakers, creating buzz surrounding the speech, and encouraging attendees to ask questions and put what they learn to use.

Find ways to keep the conversation going after your leadership speaker has left. 

Keeping the “mojo” going after hearing a leadership speaker can be accomplished in many ways, through discussions on the company network, or creation of an electronic idea or suggestion box, followed by a deliberate attempt at keeping the discussion going. Otherwise, you risk employees seeing the leadership speech or speeches as little more than a “feel-good” effort on the part of the company brass.

Leadership Isn’t Reserved Only for Designated Leaders

A combination of leadership coaching for top leaders and leadership speakers for the entire workforce can work together to help create an environment of leadership consciousne12ss. It’s important for employees to see opportunities for informal leadership in their day-to-day tasks and interactions and to feel that it’s OK to take those opportunities. Examples could be someone who takes new hires under their wing to help them find their place or someone who sees where a process could be altered and takes the necessary steps to make that happen.

If nothing else, we all lead ourselves in how we approach each day, and how we hold ourselves accountable. When leadership coaching and leadership speakers inspire even better self-leadership, the difference in company culture can be measurably better.

Decades of experience have taught me the real and measurable value of leadership coaching and leadership speakers. The years have also taught me the overwhelming importance of strong company culture. After all, people don’t usually leave bad jobs, they leave bad managers or bad environments. Companies that invest in their culture can expect to see both immediate and long-term improvements in employee engagement, as well as lower turnover and higher morale. Clearly, leadership coaching and leadership speakers combined as part of an effort to improve company culture pay off.

If company culture and leadership culture interest you, I invite you to check out my books, which cover these and other relevant topics in greater depth.

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