Culture is everything. Define your culture or acquiesce to the crowd. Failure to define your culture leaves the door open for it to be defined for you. Organizations everywhere are forfeiting their culture to outside influences who do not have their best interest at heart. Peter Drucker, the great business and leadership guru, said, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” What does that even mean? It means that culture determines your success no matter how stellar your vision, mission and strategy may be.
Nobody Does Culture Better
Nobody does culture better than Augusta National Golf Club. Augusta National puts their culture on display every year during the Masters golf tournament. Moreover, every azalea, every blade of grass, and every pine needle is positioned in a precise place to maintain the standard and culture. The drive up Magnolia Lane is designed to elicit very specific feelings and emotions. Henceforth, I hope that Augusta National continues to protect their culture, especially if it means pimento cheese and egg salad sandwiches for $1.50. Augusta National Golf Club is relentless. They will never give up any detail, even the most minute detail to anybody outside of their organization.
Worth the Fight
Your belief and your organization is worth fighting for, therefore you must protect your culture. Define your culture or acquiesce to the crowd. To acquiesce, to refuse to protest against the intrusion on your culture is in effect, giving up your organization to the crowd. There will be unintended consequences. Augusta makes no allowance for any behavior that would compromise their vision, mission or strategy. Former NBA player and philosopher John Amaechi says, “Culture (in an organization) is the worst behavior that leadership will tolerate.” Occasionally intruders will find their way into your organization. To be clear, they must be eradicated, because it is your only hope for continued success. In summary, someday I hope to be back on that hallowed ground again taking in all of the culture, inexpensive concessions and world class golf.
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