By definition: The distinctive ethos of an organization that influences the level of formality, loyalty, and general behaviour of its employees.

I have never consciously appreciated how important culture is………until now.

This morning I was lucky enough to catch up with Mark Rowland, Mark started Styletread in Australia and recently sold it. As the Chief Happiness Officer at Styletread he managed to create an incredible culture. I had the pleasure of visiting the Styletread offices just over a year ago and it was amazing, the minute you walked in there everyone was smiling and I am not talking the fake – I love it here – smile you can see right through. There was a sincerity and genuine happiness in everyone I met.

Who better to lead by example than Mark, he is always beaming! When I was leaving their offices I was asked to take a marker pen and write on the wall – What made me happy today? I was actually taken aback by this question and had to think about what I should write, don’t get me wrong, a lot of things make me happy but what was the one thing that made me happy that day! It was only 10am! I cant remember what I wrote in the end but as I walked out of there not only did I have a spark in my step, I knew that in order to grow my business and achieve the success I know it can, it was going to take more than just raising funds and a lot of hard work. I needed the right people! I needed to create a strong corporate culture.

When you look at a number of successful companies across the globe; Google, Amazon, Zappos and more close to home RedBalloon; like it or not they are all built on a solid value base with a big focus on establishing a culture which you either fit into, or you don’t.

I think back to my recent post about Creel Price and the culture he and his business partner created at BluePrint Media, they actually managed to sell their business at a premium purely based on the incredible culture they had established.

As I sit here I am reading as much as I can about creating company values and developing a solid and sustainable corporate culture. A place people love to work and want to work.

There are a number of great resources available:

http://www.zapposinsights.com/
http://deliveringhappinessatwork.com/
http://www.redballoon.com.au/corporate/articles

Our journey is just beginning, I promise to share it with you all.