Culture Matters

Fall 2009

A beautiful November here in the Upper Midwest and the economy seems to be improving. We hope all of you are doing well - we wish you the very best heading into the Holiday Season!

Best regards,
Bob, Mike, Marcia, Rebecca, Diane, and Lars
KeyStone Search

FEATURE ARTICLES
In Praise of Hardship - Defining Culture in terms of Diversity
By Danita Bye
Founder/CEO of Sales Growth Specialists
Much is written about the nuts and bolts mechanics of building a strong organizational culture – how to promote esprit de corps, how to encourage your team to be more tenacious, how to see that your vision is faithfully replicated in the minds of those who follow you. It's all critical stuff, but it doesn't really touch on the foundational philosophy rooted deep in resilient and growth-obsessed cultures everywhere.... That core element is adversity. You might call it weak sales figures. Or poor morale. Or competition that won't rest until it drives you into the dirt...
READ THE ARTICLE

BEST FROM AROUND THE WEB
The world wide web offered up several articles of interest as it relates to culture, leadership and related topics. Here are a few we felt most compelling over the last few months.

Weeding the Employee Garden
By Paul Spiegelman
Founder/CEO of The Beryl Companies
Entrepreneur, October 21, 2009
A very practical and well written article on how to continually ensure your employee base fits and embraces your culture.
READ MORE

Executives are Wrong to DeValue Values
By Rick Wartzman
Business Week, October 30, 2009
This article is reaction to a troubling survey conducted by McKinsey. In the survey 763 executives were asked to identify the most important organizational capabilities and surprisingly only 8% chose "fostering a shared understanding of values" as being critical. The author, who leads the Drucker Institute at Claremont Graduate University, channels what he believes Drucker's reaction would be to this information.
READ MORE

Corporate Culture Can Give Company a Competitive Edge
By Chris Carlson
CEO of Sportech and KeyStone Search Client
Star News, October 22, 2009
Chris Carlson is CEO of a growing manufacturing company in Elk River, MN. Culture has always been of utmost importance to Chris and Sportech, and his consistent growth and results are a direct reflection of their efforts to align values and culture. KeyStone is proud to say that Sportech is a valued client!
Congrats on your success Chris and Sportech!
READ MORE

------------------------------------------------------------