“Amazing things happen when you make people feel they are valued as individuals.”
– Herb Kelleher, President Southwest Airlines
When the Catalyst and BW partnership began, senior leadership had a lot on their plate to execute on an ambitious business strategy while also understanding that they needed to put equal emphasis on creating a culture that would support that strategy.
They were seeing the early signs of not doing this. The cracks showed as challenges in cross-functional collaboration, constant fire drills, command and control approaches to management, and employees feeling disconnected.
Catalyst leaders had a strong vision for the desired culture to create a high performing organization and one where people loved to work; however, they needed a partner to translate it into something that would be scalable, sustainable, and teachable to all leaders and employees.
What is culture?
Culture is the organization’s personality, and it exists whether the CEO and her team intentionally define and focus on it or not.
Culture is how things are done, spoken about, and valued, and it affects every aspect of how the organization operates. It either propels the company forward or slows it down.
A strong culture is one where the core values are intensely held and widely stated. To enable continued sustainable growth, it is essential for an organisation to ensure that its culture is fit for its future. In essence, a corporate culture starts with the aggregated value of its people. The power generated then fuels the forward propulsion of the company.
Why is it important?
The most successful companies in the world are those which make their entire team feel like they are a critical and integral part of the company’s success. This requires creating a culture of accomplishment and sharing in both the ups and the occasional, inevitable, downs.
A corporate culture is truly cemented when the whole company feels like it has a purpose. A good vibrant corporate culture demands a strong leader, who, in turn, needs committed followers and an entrenched environment where positive cultural influences can be nurtured. This, as you will see, captures the essence of culture as is experienced at Catalyst.
What’s at stake?
A Case Study: Catalyst Clinical Research
Led by its newly appointed CEO, Nick Dyer, a people-oriented executive with a passion for building and growing strong customer service-orientated teams, Catalyst developed a strategy in 2018 that included Mergers and Acquisitions as a major component of its element to drive growth strategy.
Recognizing that the company would need a singular “corporate personality” from mid-2019, the executive leadership team, led by Nick Dyer and CFO Patti McNamara, started to define the culture and values that would be required to make the company successful in the broadest sense. In doing so, the ELT recognized the importance of defining an “intentional culture” rather than allowing its culture to simply evolve.
“The Executive Leadership team understood that a company can run aground after a period of growth if behaviours and values are not carefully shaped and reinforced to reflect the service culture being promised to employees and customers.”
Following a robust discussion of the common experience and commitment to servant leadership by the ELT, Catalyst engaged Brilliance Within Coaching. The purpose of the engagement was to help the company crystallise the ELT’s intentions into a robust framework that soon thereafter became the C3 Catalyst Core Culture Framework, a framework for sustainable growth that is now firmly in place at Catalyst.
The resultant C3 Framework has, since March 2020, become synonymous with the Catalyst brand.
- A focus on fostering employee initiative, drive and empowerment.
- Creating an overall ‘family spirit’ where “we” is more important than “I”.
- Working with and extending Catalyst’s existing Purpose, Vision, Mission and Values.
- Using common language and tools consistently.
- Creating a community of leaders and expanding the pool of coaches.
The results have been profound. Since the partnership began, the company has:
- $100 million in revenue;
- 2% staff attrition;
- Staff growth to 700+;
- Serving 120 customers; and
- Been named in the Fast 50 and Inc. 5000 lists
Culture is the backbone of your company. If you’re interested in learning more about C3 and how to build a healthy, thriving culture that will propel your growth, feel free to reach out to me.