🌍 Bold Creators Newsletter: Issue No. 11

Hey Bold Creators,

Establishing “culture” sounds abstract to many business leaders, but it doesn’t have to be that complicated.

In today’s newsletter:

Let’s dive in.

There’s a well known saying in business.

“Cash is king.”

There’s another saying that needs to be more known.

“Culture is king.”

Culture dictates the direction of your organization. Without the right system of culture, your brand will eventually plateau, become stagnant, or start moving in a direction you never intended.

Culture is defined as the shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviors, and arts that characterize a group of people or an organization.

So if we want to build a strong culture, why not use that definition as the system?

Let’s consider how each plays into a culture system.

Shared beliefs can be as simple as a mission statement.

Something short and clear that explains why your organization exists and what you stand for. Something every team member can fall back on when they’re unsure if they’re aligned with the organization’s standards.

For years, our organization didn’t have a mission statement. We knew we probably needed one, but at our size, everything seemed fine without it.

Eventually, we learned that “fine” was not enough. The culture we wanted only worked when we were in the room. Without a central definition, anyone could define the mission on their own, leading to division and frustration.

Our mission statement became:

“Our culture is built on putting people first, staying consistent in everything we do, and creating exceptional, welcoming experiences.”

It’s simple, and it allows our beliefs to be shared at every level of the organization.

Values are the core beliefs and standards that guide your people when they make everyday decisions.

Your core values should be the embodiment of your organization. They help define what is important and what is non negotiable. People will notice quickly when you do not live them. If your guests don’t trust what you say you stand for, that’s a problem. If your team members don’t trust it, that is an even bigger problem.

An organization cannot ask people to believe in values that leadership does not consistently demonstrate.

Over time, customs become traditions.

These are the daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly routines that people begin to associate with being part of your organization. A daily checklist. A weekly leadership call. A monthly outing where leadership gets together and doesn’t talk about work — just life. A quarterly book club. A yearly Christmas party.

Showing up for graduations, weddings, or important moments in the lives of your people.

Eventually, your team becomes excited to invite you into those moments because supporting one another has simply become part of what your organization does.

And do not forget incentives.

Give your team something to strive for. Everyone loves the opportunity to win.

The behaviors demonstrated by your strongest leaders will eventually become how your staff and your guests experience your brand.

Internally, we have something as simple as a hashtag.

#standard

When someone does something above and beyond, upper management may recognize it with that hashtag. Because it is not thrown around constantly, it means something. Newer team members quickly learn that getting that message in the group thread is almost a rite of passage. It represents an above exceptional job.

That is culture being reinforced through behavior.

But behaviors and customs are only half the equation. The other half is how those behaviors get delivered — the art.

Every company has SOPs.

For us, making a sub has a specific process. That is the science of our business.

But how we choose to interact with the guest is the art. It is an art to make someone feel like they are exactly where they need to be. The best brands understand that the product itself is rarely the entire product.

Look at Apple. Their product isn’t just technology.

Apple sells a shared experience between you, your friends, and your family. Blue message bubble versus green message bubble. We’ve all been there. That feeling of being part of the same ecosystem is part of the product.

Even Apple’s mission speaks to the experience:

“To bring the best user experience to customers through innovative hardware, software, and services.”

That is the difference between selling a product and creating an experience.

In our organization, we have a saying:

“We do not sell subs, We sell smiles.”

We sell an experience. We sell the art of making memories. We are not simply putting meat and cheese on bread.

The sandwich is the product. The experience is the brand.

When shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviors, and the art of the business all work together, you start creating a culture that is genuine, truthful, and capable of bringing out the best in your team and your guests.

Culture isn’t just about people. It shows up in every department and how we manage the smallest line items on the P&L, and how we make everyday decisions.

Culture shows up everywhere. Culture is everything. Culture is king.

In January we are running the first Bold Creators Business Intensive. Different than our July Retreat, this will be a smaller, focused group where we go inside several Ugandan businesses to walk alongside owners, find the bottleneck, and help them solve it.

Here is why it matters. 78% of Uganda is under the age of 30. The talent and the drive are already there, but what’s missing is mentorship. That is the gap you would be filling.

Next year, Intensives will only be available to alumni of our July Retreat. So we’re looking to build a great team to establish this new experience.

Email me at [email protected] by this Saturday, Sept 5, to reserve your spot.

Did someone forward you this email? Subscribe here to receive our next email newsletter on the first Tuesday of the next month.