After two decades in my career as a medical communications specialist, I’ve had the good fortune to work with some amazing teams and clients, as well as the privilege of delivering ground-breaking projects and impacting the lives of patients and their supporters. But even with – or maybe because of – the vast experience I have gained over time, some job opportunities that look perfect on paper simply would not be a good ‘fit’ for me, and vice versa. As it turns out, even in a role where the work suits you down to the ground, sometimes, that alone isn’t enough.
Over the years, I have studied what’s valuable to myself and others in order to establish a culture that is conducive to achieving my primary business goal: to build and maintain a team of happy people doing amazing work. Alongside fulfilling work and a sense of purpose, I realised that most of the other ‘deal breakers’ are wholly dependent on workplace culture.
In short, while in this industry content may be King, I believe that culture is Queen.
“A workplace culture is the shared values, belief systems, attitudes and the set of assumptions that people in a workplace share. This is shaped by individual upbringing, social and cultural context. In a workplace, however, the leadership and the strategic organizational directions and management influence the workplace culture to a huge extent.” −Forbes
It’s probably fair to say that most of us have born witness to, or even been victim of, a ‘toxic’ culture. This might be in the workplace, in an educational setting, in a healthcare setting, or within a family or relationship. Where in one work setting we might encounter a team of colleagues who chat, laugh, and appear comfortable and respectful in each other’s company, down the hall things can be very different – the atmosphere can be cut with a knife, someone is ruling with an iron fist, and everyone is unhappy. Which of these teams do you think produces the best results?
According to Forbes: “A positive workplace culture improves teamwork, raises the morale, increases productivity and efficiency, and enhances retention of the workforce. Job satisfaction, collaboration, and work performance are all enhanced. And, most importantly, a positive workplace environment reduces stress in employees.”
Culture – somewhat by definition – breeds and spreads according to the people and their environment. First let’s look at how NOT to do it:
Instead, it’s time to adopt more of a ‘soft power’ approach. Coined in the late 1980s by Joseph Nye in the context of foreign policy and more recently brought into the leadership metaverse, ‘soft power’ refers to attracting and co-opting, rather than coercing; leading by example instead of issuing commands; providing a sense of community and belonging that will attract and keep the best talent and the happiest, most effective teams.
In some realms of politics and industry, this type of approach could be accused of being manipulative, and indeed, this may sometimes be the intention. But in my experience, soft power works best when it is born out of a healthy respect for humanity.
Some key elements that I have seen go a long way towards making soft power work for your teams are:
Building trust: Remember that happy team from earlier? You can bet they have a healthy amount of trust between them. Not the kind of trust you get from half a day of canoeing together; the kind you get from facing challenges together and supporting each other when the chips are down. Really trusting your team for the long haul can take the pressure off you AND them.
Promoting balance: Burnout is real, and can lead to the loss of key team members, so protect your team’s work/life balance at all costs, because you need them, and so do your clients.
Engaging human to human: The Dalai Lama advises meeting each person you encounter, whoever they may be, with the understanding that you are simply two equal human beings.
Of course, no team or individual is perfect, and the pursuit of perfection can be damaging in itself (as seen above in some of the examples of how not to do it). Overall, just remember that everyone you work with has a life outside the office, so it’s important to consider the needs of the whole person if you want them to be a happy and productive part of your team.
And finally, remember that for soft power to really work for you, it has to be authentic. Look out for it within your teams, encourage it wherever you find it, and be sure to value it in new hires and seasoned teammates alike – it could be exactly what your workplace culture needs.