Belonging
To me, work cultures are no different to social cultures because we are humans interacting for a shared purpose. We may not notice the cultures we exist in until something is different.
The culture can be felt, ‘the smell of the place’ and it can make the difference to whether we feel accepted and a sense of belonging or not.
ADJUSTMENTS
Like me, there are many people in minority groups or identities who avoid micro-aggressions by making a number of micro-adjustments. Adjustments that are compensations, self editing and behaviour that takes a huge effort to manage just to fit in. I wear a jacket and heels, I pronounce my name very clearly or for restaurants I just give an 'easy name'. This made me think about an episode of Friends. Check out the clip here and just see how Rachel adjusts to fit in...
We experience the corporate culture when we start a new job, join a new team or new company, and we notice it because we seek belonging and acceptance. But it quickly becomes invisible again..
Today, we face challenges in business and society which ask us to rethink our cultures. This is partly because, we can see some of the cracks and their impacts more clearly now, but also because the pressure on the economy and businesses means that we need to think hard about what the future holds to survive in business. More organisations recognise the need for employees to be their true selves at work, and if we can be our true selves at work and feel like we belong, we feel more productive and happy in our workplace.
Connect better human to human
Change. Many organisations are in the middle of or embarking on culture change, to blend a variety of workplaces (home, office, bit of both), inclusion and equality is no longer something nice to aim for but the reason why your best employees will be at their best and stay. And we want our workplaces to be a place there people can belong and feel psychologically safe to speak up.
Through my experience over many years of working on organisational and culture change, I have found that leaders with humility, curiosity and inclusive interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence are the biggest asset in culture change.
The impact of a human leader is experienced in the culture in teams, departments and the whole organisation.
What if we are different?
Our differences make us interesting. Where you grew up, where you studied, how your parents or guardians raised you? How you experience art and nature? Beliefs about what is right and wrong, what is polite or not, what is kind or not. The list goes on…
These differences influence what we carry with us into a conversation, when we stay in our own perspective we limit our ability to ‘walk in another persons shoes’
But I believe that we never really leave our own shoes… rather we stand with our foot in our own world and step the other foot over an invisible boundary into another person’s world.
Stepping in and out of the invisible boundaries
Not everyone feels like they belong
Most of the time we don't even notice the cultures we experience. But if you have ever felt excluded from a group you quickly notice the culture, it is natural that we would then make some effort to adjust to it.
Read my previous article Humanise your culture
Read my more in-depth article "Culture Intelligence- questioning the obvious'
Recommended read:
Belonging At Work: Everyday Actions You Can Take to Cultivate an Inclusive Organization by Rhodes Perry
