3 qualities of a high-performance work culture
Adobe Stock
I sat down recently with Mark Miller, VP of High Performance Leadership at Chick-fil-A, and asked him to describe the components of a high performance culture. He responded with a list of three qualities that must exist to create a performance work culture. Mark's response is transcribed below.
Quality 1 – Alignment
Mark says, "You need to have the vast majority of people in alignment with the cultural aspirations—that's one indicator of strength—not how bad the leaders want it, but how much do the people actually buy into the cultural aspirations."
Quality 2 – Performance
Mark told us, "You have to have performance over time. Now we all have ups and downs and there's the business cycle and there are factors outside of our control, and we understand that completely, but a high-performance culture is a culture that enables performance—see some people are confused, they think culture is the goal. Culture is not the goal,culture is an enabler of performance."
Quality 3 – Continuous improvement
Mark clarified by saying, "There has to be a continuing focus on improvement because without that, any performance that you've achieved and any strength of culture that you've been able to eke out—it's in jeopardy because dynamic cultures, thriving cultures, high-performance cultures are never static."
It seems to me that Chick-fil-A is serious about culture. They're dedicated to high-performance leadership development. And if you've visited one of their restaurants it's not hard to see the high performance, no matter where you engage.
Now you may be thinking, Chick-fil-A is huge with lots of resources. Do not fall into that trap. The Chick-fil-A culture started with one man, Truett Cathy, and his ability to pass it to someone else has made this organization the gold standard.
And, it starts with you!
Are you cultivating a high performance culture?Your ministry's culture is directly related to your ministry's success. Focus on these three components, and your team will thank you later.
 | Rodney Cox serves as president at Ministry Insights International and has written and spoken extensively on the strengths movement as it relates to leadership and teams. His life's work has been dedicated to strengthening Christian relationships within the workplace, marriages, and families. Learn More » |
More on Productivity and Time Management
- Business growth barriers: the real reason your business isn’t growing (by Christian Muntean)
- Seven signs you don't value your time (by Carey Nieuwhof)
- 3 practices for planning for tomorrow without worrying about tomorrow (by Jordan Raynor)
- Stop chasing growth: how business stabilization can triple your value (by Christian Muntean)
