Sam pulled out his phone and started typing “break bread.” He said, “I hope you don't mind, I want to take notes on your ideas.”
“I don't mind notes at all. They show you're a good student and value the information. What I do mind is how you take them. It seems ‘old school,' but I brought something for you.”
Brian pulled out a gold-colored notebook and slid it to Sam.
“What's this?” asked Sam.
“That could be the most important business book you ever own.”
Sam flipped through the pages.
“But there's nothing inside? Lemme guess; it'll be my most important business book after I fill it with your lessons, right?”
“Bingo, kid. Call me old-fashioned, but I believe writing notes is better than typing on your phone. Once you ‘think it and ink it,' you've made that idea more real.”
“I didn't bring a pen,” said Sam, frowning.
Brian reached into his coat pocket and produced a pen like a magician pulling a rabbit from a hat.
“Voilà! I've always got pens with me. My old coach said to have a pen and paper because your mind might forget, but the paper would always remember. Now,” said Brian pointing at the book, “when you said there was nothing inside, that wasn't true. One of the pages isn't blank.”
On his second pass, Sam still found nothing.
“Okay, what's the trick?”
“No trick, Sam,” Brian said opening it to the first page. “It's the next lesson: culture's hard to see if you don't know where to look. What's on that first page?”
“Well, I do see that tiny dot.”
“And what else?” quizzed Brian.
“I see it's blue?”
“And?”
“Nothing?” offered Sam.
“That's what most people see, Sam. Especially with culture.”
“A blue dot? I don't get it.”
“The blue dot represents the ‘little troubles' bringing you down – your problem with Dana or the deal you missed. It can also represent the minutia of the products Stamina produces,” said Brian. “You see those dots every day. But what people can't see is all the white space that surrounds the dots in our lives. We get so focused on the dot, we forget the white space. The culture of your business is that white space, and like most leaders, to you it's invisible. And when something's invisible, it gets no attention.”
Sam nodded.
“As your culture coach,” continued Brian, “my goal is to help you see things you never saw before. Because I'm ‘old school,' I can't change the dots in your life. But I can help you change your culture surrounding those dots.”
“I won't forget that one.”
“Let's not forget to break bread, either,” smiled Brian. “Before your next lesson, you owe me a bagel and coffee. So get me an everything bagel and a latte.”
While standing in line, Sam thought about the blue dots in his life, and felt hopeful Brian could help with them. He returned with their food.
“Here you go. You didn't say what size latte, so I went with the biggest.”
“Good move, kid. Can't go wrong with overdelivering, right? Now, for your first quiz as a cultural apprentice. What did you see in line?”
“What do you mean?” asked Sam.
“You said you've been here many times. So, tell me about the culture of Arthur's.”
“You're talking about the white spaces, right?”
“Yes,” replied Brian. “Tell me something you saw and how it made you feel.”
Sam thought and said, “One thing was how the girl behind the counter knew the first name of the person in front of me. That was cool. And the way everyone was smiling and said ‘thank you' made me feel good.”
“Nice,” said Brian. “Anything else?”
“Something that made Arthur's special to me was ordering a half dozen bagels and having the server throw in an extra one. Like our little secret or something. I loved that about this place and I saw they're still doing it.”
“After all your visits, that was your first view of Arthur's ‘white spaces,'” smiled Brian proudly. “Don't worry, you'll get better at it. Like gravity, culture isn't something you see. It's something you feel. Culture's like your business's life force, and just like a life force makes the grass and your hair grow, the culture can make your business grow too.”
Sam took a note in his golden notebook.
“Whoa,” sighed Sam. “That was deep. Is culture tough to implement?”
“Don't worry, kid. Culture can seem complex, but I'm going to break it into simple pieces for you. Over years of teaching culture, I've learned not to overwhelm people.”
“Thanks,” said Sam. “You're a great teacher. Where do we start?”
“We start with the first of the three Bs of culture … Beings.”
Sam wrote the word.
“Since you're aware every business has a culture, you're ready to learn the three things that determine how a culture looks, acts, and feels. What you mentioned about Arthur's wasn't about the bagels – it was about the people! Simply put, you can't have a culture without people. So, before a business concerns itself with ‘what we make,' it should focus on ‘who we are.'”
“Makes sense,” said Sam. “Does having the right people always lead to a great culture?”
“No. Creating a great culture would be easy if it wasn't for the people!” said Brian with a laugh. “You need great people, but getting those people to create a great culture takes work. You must understand your people are the centerpiece of your culture – and those people fall into one of two categories.”
Sam bulleted the numbers.
“The first category is Culture Crusaders,” Brian explained. “These people are the ones who not only determine the culture they want, but are also tireless champions of that culture. As CEO, you must be a Crusader. It's your responsibility to create and uphold the culture at Stamina. Most leaders, unfortunately, are taught less about culture and more about delegating. The one thing a leader should never delegate is their culture. But this happens all the time.”
Sam said. “That stings. I haven't been much of a Crusader.”
“That's okay, kid. That's why you're here. Since I've convinced you to stop ‘owning” Stamina and start ‘leading' it, it's up to you to set the culture and embed it into your business. Embedding your culture starts with Crusaders, but maintaining that culture relies on the second category of Beings: your Culture Custodians.”
As Sam took notes, he said, “When I hear ‘custodian' I remember high school. Custodian was a fancy name for ‘janitor.' Does this next group deal with taking out the garbage?”
“Not exactly, but you'll learn one subgroup of Culture Custodians don't take out the garbage, they feed off it! Although the word ‘custodian' can refer to a person who cleans a building, I use a different definition – a custodian's someone who has a responsibility to look after someone or something. A Culture Custodian is responsible for looking after your culture.”
“Got you,” said Sam. “So the Culture Custodians look after and uphold the culture the Crusader has created?”
“In a perfect world, yes. But perfect cultures would be easy