This week I had a number of conversations with business leaders who had decided to let go of employees from their organizations who did not fit their culture. One leader said that as of now, he does not have one direct report who is out of alignment with the company culture and values. The company has 300 employees.
How did he get there? He got there by setting good boundaries. He got there by stating the company values, living the company values and requiring everyone else to do the same. At that point, who fit and who did not was a pretty easy decision. Are you tolerating too much?
If you want to have a positive business environment, it is up to you. When there are issues, you need to look at why you are tolerating behavior that is out of place with your values. The first step is to be aware of where this tolerance comes from. A lack of good boundaries can come from your first model of leadership – the family. Perhaps, in your family there were toxic members and you had no right to move them out of your day to day life, because they are family. They may have been corrected or they may have been given guidance by family leaders, but you didn’t have the ability or the authority to move them out of your life.
What was true in your family, is not true now. Now that you are aware of your ability to make change in this area, what do you want? Do you want to keep tolerating attitudes and behaviors that don’t belong in your organization?
Start with yourself this week and ask which behaviors you are tolerating in yourself that need to change.Talk to your coach or get an accountability partner and commit to specific actions that are measurable and time bounded. (yep SMART goals).
Don’t wait until you are perfect to move to assessing your team. Get clear on the behaviors that need to change and create accountability with them as well. If you are tolerating mediocrity, your company will never be the organization it has the potential to become. You are the leader….lead.
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