This is the second in a series of posts by Virtas Partners co-founders Tim Czmiel and Neal McNamara. (Read their first post: When Corporate Culture Encourages Great People to Leave)
A strong corporate culture engenders trust. People in the company trust that their colleagues will have their backs, and that the company’s leaders will put the best interests of their people ahead of their own interests. They trust that those who step on others to try to climb the ranks will be shown the door out. More than anything, they trust that the company’s people will continue to share a commitment to do the right things, the right way, all the time.
That kind of culture not only provides the winning environment for strong people to succeed spectacularly, it provides a healing environment for good people who have been wounded in the past to trust again—so they, too, can succeed spectacularly.
Too many good people have been hurt in the past, in their personal or professional lives, leaving them tethered to anchors that keep them from soaring to new heights. They keep their wounds hidden but it affects their behavior. They avoid taking reasonable chances, going the extra mile or standing up for what they know is the right decision. Why does this happen? Most often because they work or have worked in a culture that encourages people to take the credit for the contributions of others and where leaders don’t take accountability for company or team failures.
How can a leader actively work to help heal someone who carries scars from past wounds?
- Encourage, recognize and appreciate great work, original thinking and collaborative teamwork.
- “Own” decisions as the leader and take responsibility for failures.
- Take an active interest in each person individually. Let them know you care about them as a person, not just a cog in the company machine.
- Encourage people throughout your organization to share their ambitions and dreams, and what they deeply value. Let them know you want to help them to succeed both in their work and their outside-of-work goals.
- Allow flexibility to provide the space each person needs to develop these ambitions. Most people will respond to generosity and understanding with outstanding effort—e.g., grateful they can attend a child’s important event, they work all the harder to deliver for their employer.
- For those carrying scars, privately assure them that you want to help them get past whatever has left them wounded. Encourage them to go deep within themselves to acknowledge the wound and share with you in complete confidence how it occurred. Assure them that this type of hurtful behavior will not be tolerated in this organization.
These simple leadership behaviors can go a long way in enabling wounded people to begin to trust again. When these behaviors become consistent habits of the leader and are not undermined by lapses in civility under stress, a culture of trust, kindness and mutual respect will permeate the organization.
Leaders who live these values will look for and welcome extraordinarily talented people who have been damaged in the past in another organization. As they become healed over time and learn to trust again, they will take off like eagles because they have something to prove. And they will become some of your most powerful ambassadors for your firm’s culture and brand.