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How to weave WOW culture into your organisation in just 5 steps


Enhancing leadership success with WOW culture

Back in the day, leadership was about hitting benchmarks without having concerns about how the workforce is affected.


Leading people was about forcing them to do their responsibilities regardless of their well-being.


However, this is a story from the past.


Today, the culture inside your organisation determines success.


It matters that team members share a positive set of values, goals, attitudes and practices to create high-trust environments that are conducive to high performance and high engagement.

This can be made possible by adapting the WOW culture.


This was most formally coined by Zappos, the American online retailer who took an ordinary business and made it extraordinary. 


While their core operation is a call centre—which is not necessarily sexy or exciting—they thrived by building a culture that WOWs from the inside out. 


But what does it mean to WOW?


It means having the overriding mindset of delivering a great and memorable experience in everything the organisation does. 

This includes delivering memorable experiences to team members, suppliers, clients and basically anyone the organisation interacts with.

It builds trust and accountability between the leader and the team and provides a space for them to be vulnerable and take risks.

For Zappos, it meant delivering WOW through service by training employees to be real and use their best judgement.


What are the benefits of adding WOW to your organisational culture?

Providing a great experience in everything you do as an organisation provides a wider space for success, trust and growth.


Having a WOW culture inside your organisation gives you an edge when recruitment, employee retention, team engagement and customer satisfaction. 


Retaining great staff and hiring team members who are aligned with your organisation’s core values surely reduces unnecessary costs and boosts productivity in the long run.


Seeing that your team members are expressing positive engagement towards one another will yield positive customer feedback as well. 


Happy customers are likely to give positive reviews and referrals if they witness an authentic and great experience with your organisation.


Once you adapt the WOW culture, you’ll be surprised with not only your growth as a leader but also the success of your organisation.


Incorporating WOW culture into your organisation

When it comes to culture, there is no "one-size-fits-all" model.


The key is for organisations to bring out their unique personality and shared spirits. Here are intentional ways to weave WOW culture into your organisation: 


1. Recall your company’s core values & behaviours.

What are your core values as an organisation? This will guide you on how you will make others feel when they experience working with you. For example, Nordstrom values “doing the right thing”. Their return policy is famous for allowing customers to return virtually anything anytime without a receipt.


2. Communicate your company’s higher purpose. 

When do you feel most valued and appreciated? This will guide you on why your organisation serves its clients. As for Airbnb, its purpose is to let people feel that they “Belong Anywhere.” They also host “Airfam” dinners where a small budget is provided for employees to host cultural dinners to create more connection between them.


3. Incorporate gratitude into your work habits to support your employees.

Make your team feel recognized, rewarded, and appreciated at work. Introduce the WOW culture into your organisation by giving welcome packs to newly hired team members or leave handwritten “thank you” notes for your team members from time to time.


4. Redesign your organisational systems to align with your company culture.

Once you are clear with your organisation’s values, purpose and mission, you can now make the necessary changes in your systems to boost the productivity of your team.


5. Transform the way you see, do, and be together!

Witness how the culture and environment inside your organisation becomes truly authentic, strong and purposeful.


To becoming a successful leader,

Kath


P.S. Whenever you’re ready, I can help you develop high-performing and supportive teams, find fulfillment in leadership, and create a healthy work-life balance through executive coaching.


To get started, you can book a FREE 30-minute Leadership Success Discovery Session with me. Every month, I open up my calendar for a handful of leaders to have a 1:1 session with me.


On our call, we dive into actionable strategies to uncover your mindset and leadership gaps and identify your growth opportunities in the next 90 days.


There’s only a limited number of spots, so go check if there are available spaces left 👇


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