Questions to Ask When Assessing The Culture

If you are stepping into a new company in a leadership position or taking a role in a new area of your current company, always assess the culture and the impact you choose to have on it. It will be critical to you being able to successfully implement your strategies.

The answers to the following questions will help you understand what you need to about the culture you have inherited and provide the foundation for making your decisions on how you choose to manage it:

1. What is the essence of what the company stands for?
2. How is it really different from it's competitors?
3. What do people who are most successful share in common?
4. What are the common traits among those who have failed?
5. Who are the 5 most respected people in the organization and why?
6. What are the characteristics of the organization's failures or missed opportunities?
7. Do you have the right people to address the issues and implement your strategy?
8. Who are the gatekeepers?
9. Who are the people who really make things happen?

As companies transition from one size to the next, I often see or hear of new and smart leaders coming on board to help take a company to the next level. The successful ones take the time to understand the culture and consider it when developing/implementing strategy. Others end up not so successful because they ignore the culture and wonder why they couldn't get things done.

Take the time to understand the culture and embrace it. You will more clearly see the road map for the most successful path to making the cultural changes "if" required for your journey of getting your company to the next level.

 

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