The little things that give you insight into the culture

Posted by  Mark Schenk —June 16, 2007
Filed in Anecdotes

The anecdote below, told by a participant in a recent workshop, really made me stop and think. There are lots of lessons it, not least of which is that seemingly innocuous actions can have a big influence on a person’s decision to join an organisation.

A friend of mine had applied for a fantastic new job. Everything went well during the interview and selection process and the organisation sent her a letter of offer. She turned down the opportunity because the letter of offer was sent to her at 11pm on a Friday evening by the person who was to be her new manager.

It also reminds me of dedicated (workaholic) people I have known or worked for who put in long hours but have no expectation that their staff do the same, and tell them that. The only catch is that their behaviour has a lot more impact than their words…

Mark Schenk About  Mark Schenk

Mark works globally with senior leadership teams to improve their ability to communicate clearly and memorably. He has been a Director of Anecdote since 2004 and helped the company grow into one of the world’s leading business storytelling consultancies. Connect with Mark on:

Comments

  1. Matt Moore says:

    To reinforce that final sentence, managers say a lot of things (often contradicting what they said 5 mins ago). Their staff observe what they do and follow that as a more reliable guide than words. Of course, this can work to the advantage of a manager who wants to convey a single idea to their people – they just have to do it…

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