Lots of companies talk about how important culture is, but very very few actually know how to create great culture. The best example of culture I have ever seen is the San Antonio Spurs. They have leveraged culture into 20 straight 50 win seasons and 5 championships!
Companies can learn a lot about how to build culture form the Spurs.
For the San Antonio Spurs, their culture is summed up in a quote from Jacob Riis.
"Look at a stone cutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred-and-first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not the last blow that did it, but all that had gone before."
In this one quote, they define “who they are”! It is a culture of hard work, team and trust. Read this article for more on their philosophy.
Just last year the Spurs signed the best free agent available, their biggest star and a future hall-of-famer took a massive pay cut and David West took an $11 million pay cut to play for them.
This only happens when you have a powerful culture.
Is it possible for companies to create this same effect through organizational culture?…the answer is an absolute yes! Below are 4 reasons companies need to pay attention to culture.
4 Reasons Culture is a Game Changer:
It Builds Identity: Any successful team must first know who they are. If you asked 10 different people at your company “Who is (insert company name)?” would you get 10 different answers? If you asked that same question of the Spurs organization “Who are the Spurs” you would get 1 answer. Strong culture builds a consistent identity and this is the foundation of a great team or organization.
It Builds Trust: The core to every great team is trust. Nothing supports trust more than an identity built around a culture. The Spurs know that part of their identity is “score via the pass”. To accomplish this you have to trust the person you are passing to. You want to see the best example of trust ever? Watch this video right now! Do it…you will be inspired. Notice how much they pass…Culture builds trust in your organization and trust is a key part of every championship team’s DNA!
It Builds Commitment: What shows greater commitment than someone sacrificing money! Tim Duncan cut his pay in half to allow the team to get the pieces they needed for continued success. This is the greatest example of the power of culture I have ever seen. Is your company struggling with commitment? I would venture to say it’s not a commitment problem you have…it’s a culture problem!
It Builds Success: Everyone is searching for success, many look for it in products, many in talent, many in processes, and many in other areas. If the Spurs have been an example of anything, it’s that sustained success at the highest levels begins and ends with Culture! You want to win in business…get your culture problem fixed.
Once again, if you have not already done it, commit to watch the video below…it is one of the best examples of Culture, Team and Trust I have ever seen and it will leave you inspired to take on the day!!!
To speak with Peter about walking your team through a simple process to define and implement a culture, click the "TAKE ACTION" button.