Below I share a note I posted over at Facebook a couple of years ago. I’d love to hear your thoughts about the culture you’ve created in your business and/or your life – and what you find valuable about it for you.

Today I’m celebrating my grandson’s bravery in climbing a tree for the first time.

I also want to encourage you to celebrate, out loud, the people in your sphere who best express the values you most admire. Post it on their wall, send them a card… whatever. Just take action TODAY to to tell someone specifically what you’re appreciating about them right now!

CULTURE. It has a variety of meanings. I find that fact alone quite interesting, yet for this note let’s focus on the following meaning:

the set of shared attitudes, values, goals and practices that characterizes an institution or organization.

I was recently encouraging a friend to join Facebook to make staying connected with her friends and family easier. She balks at the idea. From what I can understand, the very idea of putting up a profile online makes her feel unsafe in some way. As I’ve pondered the conversation we had I realize that though this is a very dear and long-time friend of mine, in many ways we come from and currently live in different cultures. (And frankly, I rejoice in the realization that this doesn’t mean we can’t be friends )

You see… culture is not only the larger environment that we happened to be born to… like the Country, Race, or Religion we were surrounded by at our moment of birth… and it’s not static. It’s the environment we live in right now. It’s the environment we play in, the environment we work in and it’s an environment shaped by our state of mind. Yet if we’re not mindful… we may let our state of mind be shaped by our environment. So why not seek out (or decide to create) the environment that best supports the state of mind we choose?

It’s a bit like the difference between experiencing ‘life happening to us’ and taking responsibility for being at cause for the life we’re experiencing. It’s an identity.

For instance, I have an amazing group of ‘friends’ at Facebook… sharing resources, asking questions, inspiring me with videos and willingly sharing authentic moments of their lives. The energy is high, the generosity amazing, the authenticity rings loudly and the predominant experience for me is love… growth… expansion. That’s all simply part of the culture I experience in my little neighborhood at FB… and I realize it’s not necessarily the culture in other ‘neighborhoods’ in the larger community.

It’s the same at our workplaces. What is the culture where you work? Who is setting the tone? Is it an environment you look forward to being in frequently? Did you take the time to get a feel for the culture before you decided to participate there?

I think those are valuable questions. And there are variations on those questions for those of us who have our own business. Regardless of what our specific business provides… we all need other people in order to be successful. The culture we develop can and will determine how fast our business grows and how well we hold that growth steady.

We thrive and feel alive in a culture that is a ‘best fit’ for us. In the years I owned and operated a Child Care home, I provided a STRONG well-defined culture of child-driven curiosity that encouraged having fun, experimenting, being listened to, getting messy, natural consequences… that was certainly NOT a fit for all. And yet the families that found it a fit stayed with me a long time and I would certainly like to think it was a win-win.

Today I partner with a company that also has a strong, well-defined culture that ideally is infused into my team and we are all part of an industry that I was initially attracted to because of it’s culture which is based on simplicity, growth and win-win. It took me awhile to really understand the value of a strong and clearly defined culture and how it impacts the health of my business. I’m thrilled I now realize that by letting people know what we value and what makes it valuable, those who don’t share enough of those values to the same degree will see the contrast right away and move on to something that floats their cork. And isn’t that perfect??!? Yes!

So my question is… What kind of environment are you promoting? Life duplicates for us whatever thrives in the environment we provide. So whether it’s the group of friends you’ve gathered at Facebook (or any community) or the clients/customers you serve, or the team you’re building in business… are you clear about the culture YOU find most conducive to healthy growth? When you’ve clearly defined it you don’t have to worry so much about your ‘safety’ like my friend mentioned above… because you’ll know that those who ‘don’t fit’ simply won’t survive (or even find you) and the ‘wrong’ people weed themselves out.

with love and laughter,
–Mary K

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EXPECT MIRACLES!

p.s. Curious about some of the characteristics of our culture that makes my company, Send Out Cards, thrive? Here’s a sample:

1. We are generous
2. We focus on giving to give vs. giving to get
3. We send cards daily to celebrate individuals in our lives
4. We have fun
5. We operate out of integrity. (We do what we say and say what we can do)
6. “The Crusade is bigger than the deal”
7. It’s not just about the money – we are changing lives one card at a time
8. We do the right thing
9. Send Out To Give!
10. We always strive for a win-win

Remember – Cards Touch, especially when people can touch them!

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