Managing Excellently
Wisdom Cafe took frequently asked questions of participants in the Manager Mastermind Group and sought answers from UCB colleagues who have been awarded an Excellence in Management award by the Berkeley Staff Assembly (BSA). The Managing Excellently series is a compilation of these responses meant to help all staff on their aspiring or current management journeys.
How do you set or model a team's culture?
Teal Sexton, Regional Director, Berkeley SHARE
2022 Excellence in Management Award Winner
Setting a team's culture is very intentional. From the very beginning, be clear about your vision and purpose, your expectations, and priorities, and how you'll recognize and support your team. It starts by being a leader who serves. Treat your employees the way you hope they will one day treat you if they grow to become your leader. Act out your values, show up the way you expect others to show up, and create a space that fosters collaboration, healthy risk-taking, great communication, empathy, and support. Provide clear pathways for career progression and ensure that you follow up with employees, with regular opportunities for promotion, project work, and appropriate salary increases.
Sustaining a great culture takes creativity and humility. A leader should always be willing to pitch in and provide a helping hand no matter the size or scope of the task at hand. Building a culture where employees can show up authentically, feel comfortable asking for help, and be inspired to pitch in takes active listening, proactive communication, and consistent engagement. It is important to recognize and celebrate the contributions of each team member and each team collectively. It is equally important to listen to concerns and take on difficult tasks when they arise. The leader is a model and must address challenges without delay. This shows it is okay to be accountable for mistakes as long as you are honest and work to correct what happened, then prevent it from happening again. Be human, realistic, calm in the face of challenges, and fun whenever it is appropriate. Advocate for your employees to maintain a healthy work/life balance. This builds inspiration, cooperation, and trust - essential elements for a thriving culture.
Karina Saravia-Butler, Communications & Program Manager, Office of Environment, Health & Safety
2022 Excellence in Management Award Winner
I believe modeling consultative and supportive qualities in leadership is imperative. By consultative-- I mean considering your team's viewpoints and consulting your staff to gather input and ideas rather than directing top-down. By supportive-- I am referring to tuning into your empathy and demonstrating support for team members as both employees and individuals. We are all people and we all want to feel valued, no matter where we are in our career journey. Nurturing open dialogue, good listening skills, situational humility, and emotional intelligence all add to this. I think modeling these qualities can help build a sense of comradery as well as set the tone for both professional and interpersonal growth. Moreover, this is the foundation of trust. Ultimately, building high-trust teams makes the wheels turn toward success.
Holli Griffin Strauss,
Assistant Dean for Finance & Administration, Division of Social Sciences
2022 Excellence in Management Award Winner
Ahh, the buzz phrase "team culture", we hear it a lot. From the great resignation to quiet quitting and whatever wave comes next, team culture will continually be an identified driver. I believe team culture is created and cultivated by all members of the team collectively. Values, attitudes, and acceptable behaviors are defined by customary group conduct and not necessarily what is documented as policy. Team culture, for better or worse, is proved through actions, actions generally led or allowed by the organization's leaders. A statement of community or culture is irrelevant if the actions taken, or permitted, by leaders and managers are counter to any documented statement. True team culture is lived, not written.
As a manager, I try to represent the inclusive and people-first environment in which I want to work. Modeling considerate behavior is an initial step, but building trust is the objective for a fostering and respectful community. While not all decisions and actions by leaders can be transparent or offer an explanation, when they can it is an opportunity to deepen the team culture. For example, if a new process or policy is issued, providing context on the realized benefits will reiterate that the organization is looking out for employees and the team (doing the right thing, if you will). This is opposed to sharing a process or policy with a "this is the new rule, so follow-it" type of correspondence. I also try to share information that I know will help others. If I become aware of something that will improve or help my team, or a colleague, I share it. This too demonstrates that we are looking out for each other. Ultimately, building trust that leaders, managers, and colleagues approach their work, and each other, with generosity and thoughtfulness paves the way for better team culture.
