My Thoughts On Work, Culture, and Building My Company | Ep 231 - Build with Leila Hormozi

Summary4 min read

Podcast Summary: Build with Leila Hormozi – "My Thoughts On Work, Culture, and Building My Company | Ep 231"

Release Date: January 22, 2025

In Episode 231 of "Build with Leila Hormozi," host Leila Hormozi delves deep into the intricate dynamics of workplace culture, leadership, and the foundational elements required to build an unshakeable business. Drawing from her personal experiences and extensive expertise in scaling businesses, Hormozi offers invaluable insights into cultivating a thriving organizational environment.

1. The Significance of Company Culture

Leila opens the discussion by emphasizing the profound impact that company culture has on both employee satisfaction and business success. She contrasts her experiences in workplaces with varying cultural atmospheres to highlight how culture directly influences daily work life.

"Culture is built through a thousand details strung together, not any one big thing." [05:42]

Hormozi underscores that a positive culture can make employees excited to come to work, fostering productivity and loyalty, whereas a toxic culture can lead to dread and high turnover.

2. Leadership as the Pillar of Culture

A central theme in Hormozi's discourse is the pivotal role leaders play in shaping and maintaining company culture. She posits that culture mirrors the leader's characteristics and behaviors.

"Culture is a reflection of the person at the top. So if you want a certain kind of culture, you need to be a certain kind of person that emulates that culture." [02:15]

She elaborates that the culture will never exceed the leader in kindness, directness, or work ethic. Therefore, leaders must embody the values and standards they wish to see throughout their organization.

3. Building and Reinforcing Culture

Hormozi provides a strategic framework for establishing and nurturing a desired company culture. She outlines three essential steps for leaders aiming to shift their organization's cultural trajectory:

a. Resetting Expectations and Taking Ownership

Acknowledging shortcomings is the first stride towards transformation. Hormozi recounts a personal moment of realization where she recognized the need to revamp her team's culture.

"When I realized that the culture owned by my teams was not good, I called a meeting and I put together a slide deck and I explained, hey, I fucked up. This isn't the culture I want." [12:30]

By openly admitting faults, leaders can set a transparent foundation for cultural change.

b. Amplifying Communication

Consistency in messaging reinforces new cultural norms. Hormozi emphasizes the importance of repetitive communication to embed desired behaviors and values deeply.

"I doubled communication. So I said, okay, we've got one huddle a week. We're doing two. And in every huddle, I'm reinforcing that new culture." [15:10]

Increasing the frequency of meetings ensures that the cultural directives remain at the forefront of daily operations.

c. Establishing Consequences and Accountability

Setting clear expectations also involves delineating the repercussions of deviating from the established culture. Hormozi advises informing team members about potential outcomes if they fail to adhere to new standards.

"If you can't figure it out in a matter of time, then that means you can't be on the team." [18:45]

This approach not only holds individuals accountable but also ensures that the team remains aligned with the organization's overarching goals.

4. Embracing a Fluid and Dynamic Culture

Recognizing that culture is not static, Hormozi discusses the natural ebb and flow of organizational culture. She likens it to a pendulum that continuously adjusts to maintain equilibrium.

"Culture is not static, stagnant. It exists almost like it. It's like a pendulum. It swings, it goes maybe a little this way. Then you're like, oh, it's a little too far. I'm going to bring it back this way." [22:05]

This analogy serves to remind leaders that maintaining culture is an ongoing process, requiring constant vigilance and adaptability.

5. Building Teams Through Culture

Hormozi differentiates between mere teams and true communities. She asserts that a genuine team is a cohesive group that upholds shared principles and standards, independent of direct supervision.

"I don't think a team can be built without culture, because a team is a group of individuals that abide by certain principles, a code of conduct and standards, whether the coach is there or not." [25:20]

This perspective highlights the enduring strength of a well-cultivated culture in fostering independent and resilient teams.

6. Accepting Imperfection and Fostering Growth

While striving for an ideal culture, Hormozi acknowledges the inevitability of imperfections. She emphasizes the importance of learning from mistakes rather than expecting flawless adherence to cultural norms.

"Nobody ever has a perfect culture where everybody at every point in time acts in alignment with it." [28:15]

By adopting a mindset of continuous improvement, leaders can navigate cultural challenges with resilience and foresight.

Conclusion

Episode 231 of "Build with Leila Hormozi" serves as a comprehensive guide for leaders aspiring to cultivate a robust and positive workplace culture. Through candid reflections and pragmatic strategies, Hormozi illustrates that culture is a dynamic, leader-driven facet of business that, when managed effectively, can propel organizations toward unparalleled success. Her insights equip listeners with the knowledge to not only build but also sustain a thriving company environment that inspires and retains top talent.

Notable Quotes:

"Culture is a reflection of the person at the top. So if you want a certain kind of culture, you need to be a certain kind of person that emulates that culture." [02:15]
"I fucked up. This isn't the culture I want." [12:30]
"Culture is not static, stagnant. It exists almost like it." [22:05]
"Nobody ever has a perfect culture where everybody at every point in time acts in alignment with it." [28:15]

This episode is a must-listen for entrepreneurs, managers, and anyone interested in understanding the foundational role of culture in building and sustaining successful businesses.

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Transcript1 lines

[00:00]
A
I'd been in a job where I had a great culture and I looked forward to coming to work every day. And I'd been in jobs where I had a terrible culture when I felt like I dreaded work every day. And I said, if I'm going to start a company, I want it to be a place that makes people's lives better and makes them excited to come to work, rather than the opposite. I always wanted to have a company with a great culture. I did not always have the skill. Culture is a reflection of the person at the top. So. So if you want a certain kind of culture, you need to be a certain kind of person that emulates that culture. The culture will never be kinder than the leader. The culture will never be more direct than the leader. The culture will never be harder working than the leader. And so the leader has to emulate the culture. Like you are the source. You have to reinforce the culture. A lot of people feel bad reinforcing something that isn't performance based. And I realized that I have to pick apart the little things that don't align with the culture, because if I don't draw the line, who does? Culture is built through a thousand details strung together, not any one big thing. Most companies, if somebody got up and said, fuck you all, I hate you, that would go against their culture. And so it's just like, to what degree are things acceptable or not? And that's what culture is. Culture is not static, stagnant. It exists almost like on it. It's like a pendulum. It swings, it goes maybe a little this way. Then you're like, oh, it's a little too far. I'm going to bring it back this way. And the goal is always to get it in the middle, but it never remains in the middle. It's always slightly moving. And so it's fluid. It's not something that's going to be the same forever. And that's not a bad thing. You can make money without having a culture. I think building a community, building a team. I don't think a team can be built without culture, because a team is a group of individuals that abide by certain principles, a code of conduct and standards, whether the coach is there or not. And so you can have people that work for you and you can have employees. That's not the same as having followers, people who actually adhere to the culture when you're not in the room. Leaders in the company are expected to be the most potent source of culture and of values. And so they need to be the ones to tell everyone what that looks like. So somebody's trying to shift the culture of their organization. There's really three steps, in my opinion, to do that. The first is that you have to reset expectations and take ownership over what currently is the culture. So when I realized that the culture owned my teams was not good, I called a meeting and I put together a slide deck and I explained, hey, I fucked up. This isn't the culture I want. It's not the culture I think you guys want. Here's the culture that I want, and here's the culture that's going to get us to where we need to go. So I reset expectations. The next thing I did is I repeated the crap out of myself over and over again on every meeting possible. So I essentially, how I did it is I doubled communication. So I said, okay, we've got one huddle a week. We're doing. We're going to do two. And in every huddle, I'm reinforcing that new culture that I already let them know about when I set the expectations. The next thing I'm going to do is I'm going to inform people of consequences if they don't adhere to the new culture. And I'm going to let them know ahead of time, if you don't like this, if you don't like the direction we're going, I respect it. Just let me know. So you let people let you know if they want to opt out, and then you say, okay, great. Now, for everyone else who has agreed to stay, right, we're not holding anybody prisoner. They've all said, yeah, I want to be here. We say, okay, cool. So here's the new standards I hold you guys to. Here's what happens if we don't. I'm going to let you know, I'm going to work with you on it. But if you can't figure it out in a matter of time, then that means you can't be on the team. And so you have to reset expectations, reinforce those expectations, and inform people of consequences if they don't meet the expectations that they agreed to. And I would say what goes with that is it's never perfect. Nobody ever has a perfect culture where everybody at every point in time acts in alignment with it. Why? Well, I would say because most companies are not run like the military, right, which is essentially by authority, and it's extreme authority, and there's lives at risk there. To expect that one would have a perfect culture is to expect that people can perfectly control themselves at all points in time. If people could have absolute, complete control over themselves at every point in time and make the perfect decision at every point in time, they would. But they don't. And so don't expect perfection. Expect that people learn from their mistakes.