When silence poisons the organizational culture

A lot of us may have, in the course of our careers, sadly experienced working in what could be described as a 'toxic' organizational culture: where those leading don't encourage different ideas and/or regularly shut new ones down; where blatant mistakes are made yet not corrected; where questionable or upsetting behaviour is observed yet overlooked.
Leaders shape organizational cultures. Specifically, they play a key role in creating and sustaining environments where their team members are not only physically safe to perform the work, they also feel mentally safe to share ideas, express concerns, mention mistakes without fear of embarrassment or retribution. It is leadership behaviours that foster inclusive, collaborative and dynamic work cultures where questions can be asked, constructive arguments and discussions are facilitated, actionable feedback is given and is implemented credit for team success is shared and team members are empowered to make decisions.
If operating a "speak up" culture helps increase productivity, decrease turnover and reduce safety incidents as demonstrated in past research, leaders should consider how they get their teams to find their voice, fast, to change the organizational culture, unambiguously.

If you'd like to discuss leadership development needs in the context of your organizational culture, just contact me.