Happy Wednesday Everyone,
A reminder that I will be going live at 10am EST on Friday, 10.03.2025, for the weekly Cultivar Coffee Chat. Join me to hang out and chat about the intersections between life and leadership, feel free to bring your own stories and questions.
Yesterday I wrote that:
“Authenticity, life experience, and culture: all of these things are co-created, communally reinforced, or eroded, and the more we try to define them absent their impact on the world around us, the more toxic conditions become.”
and I was speaking from the perspective of an individual in relation to the world around us.
Today, let’s touch on how “the collective” might co-create, reinforce, or erode the world around us.
When I say collective, I mean community, any grouping of people that interacts regularly together and in that way is related to each other, could be work, a friend group, church, etc, I’ll focus on work for now.
When a new leader steps into a position, they often want to shake things up, make their mark. They perceive a problem with the way things have been done, and want to make changes to address said problems.
Changes aren’t necessarily improvements
The best leaders are those who come in without assumptions and ask what has been working and what hasn’t, from the perspective of those doing the work, whether they are other leaders or individual contributors.
It’s dangerous to make changes that you think will have an intended effect absent that context and experience because everything is related, and you cannot guarantee the result you want.
The famous saying of “correlation doesn’t equal causation” applies pretty heavily here.
However, even when changes are prescribed, they must still be implemented. And the culture that will or won’t institute changes isn’t solely dictated by those at the top.
Culture, leadership, and authenticity are all defined by those who live and work together.
So if a policy comes down that reduces the actual effectiveness of team performance, or the return on investment, however you look at it, the people it affects are the ones who actually get the final say.
The only time this isn’t the case is when the people comprising the culture see themselves as individuals rather than part of the collective.
When they accept fear, rather than choose fellowship (Go watch Lord of the Rings if you don’t believe me).
Most often, what drives success is not what looks good, but what is good.
What provides meaning, purpose, and connection.
From individual to individual, individual to leader, leader to leader, and leaders to higher leadership, we all choose to influence what is co-created, what is reinforced, and what is eroded.
So as a leader, or member of a team, a friend group, or even in relation to yourself, ask the following, and even ask it of those around you:
What are you co-creating:
Opportunity, meaning, and values? Or paranoia, isolation, and uncertainty?
What are you reinforcing:
community, standards, and responsibility? Or fearmongering, sycophancy, and micromanaging?
What are you eroding?
Toxicity, performativity, and narcissism? Or purpose, trust, and effectiveness?
The answers to these questions determine the course of possible futures.
Until Next Time,
- Chris
Contour Lines is my anecdotal newsletter segment that weaves whats going on in my life with my thoughts on leadership as well as personal and organizational development.
If something resonates, leave a comment, or reach out to chat - I always love hearing people’s stories.
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