Having recently taken on the full ownership of our company, I’ve been taking stock of our assets. When I assess the agency’s strengths, I’m proud to say that our company culture is near the top of the list. This isn’t just window dressing in this business where original ideas and real, deep-level listening win the day. For us, the culture of our company is as vital to the work we do and the way we do it as our approaches to uncovering audience insights. It’s not an add on or a benny. It’s the engine.
I’m not just talking about parties and atta-boys, although those are nice. It’s about the clients we work for, and those we don’t. It’s about the values we commit to, and the consistency with which we practice what we preach. It’s also about the questions we ask to understand how someone on the team is really doing under the surface. And about the way we listen. Inevitably, people have challenges in their personal lives that affect how they show up at work. The way we support each other drives our sense of connection and that ultimately drives the work.
As I’ve said elsewhere before, this is a team sport. It’s a practice we do together. Not alone. And while working from home four out of the five days a week has presented its challenges, I think we’ve managed to reset most of the cultural underpinnings that came from always being in the office together. Though I haven’t closed the door to another day in the office, I’m glad to see that we’re making the most of the day we’re all in together each week.
A robust company culture is hard to build up, but I’ve seen the investment help us through tough times when we unexpectedly lost a big account. While it takes continuous care and feeding, like tending a garden, I know it pays for itself again and again in the human-connection quality of the work we do for clients and the outcomes delivered by our campaigns for communities across the Northwest. Conversely, a weak company culture would show up in retention, in the health and wellness of the team and for sure, on the bottom line.
I recently saw a quote by author and consultant Bill Marklein that sums it up pretty well, “Culture is how employees’ hearts and stomachs feel about Monday morning on Sunday night.” If you’re honest, that’s a daunting metric.
What’s become increasingly clear as the full weight of my increased responsibility sets in, is that while I may own the company, I don’t own the company culture. Yes, a good company culture has to be cultivated from the top, and I try to set a tone and, on a good day, have a vision about the work we want to do and the impact we want to have.
Fortunately, I also have a couple of culture champions at CK. Christina Bertalot and Kellie O’ Rourke, our B Keepers, not only usher along all our B Corp work, but they also play an outsized role in contributing ideas, energy and action to the inner workings of our humble little operation. While wearing several hats, they essentially take on the agency and its culture as their client.
Over time, however, I’ve found our culture to be its strongest – and most like rocket fuel – when the whole team feels a real stake and ownership in the culture. Like it’s theirs – which I’ve come to realize it is.
And so, our culture is an asset we create and share together. I’m very thankful to be just one of the many teammates who have an oar in the water as we race toward the challenges and the opportunities ahead.
I’m excited for what’s next.
