The further I go in leadership, the more I realize the importance of culture. What adjectives would you use to describe the culture at your place of business? Energetic? Creative? Lazy? Apathetic? Focused? Exciting? Fun? Authentic? There are lots more adjectives that we could choose from, but culture directly correlates to the results that we’re experiencing. The more time that you have in leadership, the more you realize how you prefer to lead and how you prefer to be led.

I’ve been in environments before where I was micromanaged. There was a lot of control and a lot of accountability. I’ve also been in situations where there was a lot of control and not a lot of accountability. I was told what to do all the time, but nobody was checking in to see how things were going. I’ve experienced other contexts where there wasn’t much control or accountability. Management didn’t seem to care what I did for better or for worse. My favorite environments to work in however, are environments where there is low control and high accountability.

Let me flesh this out a little bit. Low control means I have room to breathe. Management wants to know about my unique passions, gifting and wiring. They want to know what I feel called to do and their goal is to see me successful in fulfilling that. They are going to give me guidance when it comes to the overall goals and focus of the organization, but they are also willing to give me lots of room to experiment.

In this ideal cultural setting, they also will provide high accountability. They want to know what I feel called to do and they are actively engaging me in conversation as to what that looks like. Once some agreed upon objectives are on the board however, they are going to hold my feet to the fire to accomplish what I set out to do. At this point I’ve completely bought into the process. When I sit down for a performance review, it’s no surprise as to what the expectations are and whether or not I’ve met them. I agreed to them and decided to push forth in the direction that they are holding me accountable for.

This is an empowering environment to work in. You feel liberated to follow the call on your life and you have the added benefit of having leaders over you who care deeply about whether you’re excelling or not.

What kind of leadership culture do you prefer to work in? I would love to hear your feedback.