Founders, Take a Look at Your Baby — What Culture is It Going to Grow Up With?

July 21, 2011

So compare your company to a baby.  You want it to grow up strong and succeed in life.  You will raise this baby in a culture you believe in.  Why would your company be any different?

 

When I work with management teams in our portfolio and offer them operational support, one of the first things I look at and observe is the company culture. I have come to the conclusion that there are three distinct types:

Power Culture
I define this culture as one where the executive team is highly directive in all aspects of the operations. There is no room for idea sharing or change management. Direction is in the hands of the executives and employees are responsible for executing that direction. Teams seem to be micro managed and uninspired.

Supportive Culture
I define this culture as a “warm and fuzzy” one. People are challenged to only do their best and that is good enough. Goals may exist but there is generally a lack of consequence and creativity.

Performance Culture
I define this culture as one where each and every employee has transparent goals and is empowered to challenge each other to achieve them. There is a high degree of accountability between teams and departments to achieve targets.

Which one are you?

In the many companies I have seen grow to great companies they all had a Performance Culture.  The exits were high, the morale was high, and the revenue was high!

SVP Marketing & Sales

<strong>Brian Zimmerman</strong> was a Partner at OpenView from 2006 until 2014. While at OpenView he worked with our portfolio executive teams to deliver the highest impact value-add consulting services, primarily focused on go-to-market strategies. Brian is currently the Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at <a href="http://www.5nine.com/">5Nine Software</a>.