Why do some companies stay on the path of greatness while others can’t seem to find their footing?  Sometimes, it’s empassioned and compelling visionaries who set the tone for the entire company and pull everyone toward that future (i.e., Steve Jobs).  Other times, a mutually driven passion pervades everyone from leadership thru the rank-and-file (i.e., Procter & Gamble).  In either case when all pull in the same direction and assuming direction is accurate, extraordinary success is quite possible.

Companies succeed when everyone is fully committed — all buy in, know what must be done, know what success looks like, and are never satisfied.  All share a sincere respect toward each other, an aligned vision, and a seemingly intuitive way of doing things correctly the first time.

We call this ‘corporate culture.’

Corporate culture is the added ingredient that makes teams perform better.  Companies that enjoy a strong culture often enjoy extraordinary success.  Because when you boil it all down, companies are actually in the people business.  It’s people who run the machines, procure the supplies, do the analyses, sell the products, fix the breaks, pay the bills, and more.  When companies can count on these people to get things done well, quickly, and without supervision, full potential can be achieved.

In sports, the New England Patriots define NFL excellence.  Even though the team is getting older, has no more star players than anyone else, and features non-revolutionary offensive and defensive schemes – they keep performing at an extremely high level.  Their culture of excellence is what keeps them at the top.

The New York Jets, on the other hand, are an example of cultural disaster.

I bring this up because B2B marketing is first and foremost about relevancy or ‘why you matter.’  But before you can matter to the market place, you must first matter to each other.  Culture is the glue that keeps everyone pointing in the same direction at all times.  If the leader is not there to guide, it’s culture that points the way, drives success, and finds opportunity.

What’s interesting is that corporate culture is rarely extolled as a core competency or an acknowledged corporate asset (like ‘goodwill’).  Yet ask anyone who’s been involved with a corporate acquisition and they’ll tell you it’s the successful merging or assimilation of disparate cultures that determines whether the new enterprise will thrive.  Any CEO will tell you the same thing.  Without sincere and earnest commitment of everyone to a common goal, success is much harder to achieve.

Given the importance of culture to corporate success, it seems odd that many companies do not do a better job of developing and nurturing it.  Much like revered trade secrets (corporate IP), culture is the glue that converts these trade secrets into higher margins, new markets, new products, and accelerated sales.

So how do you develop and leverage culture?  First, you must define it.  What is it that makes you so good at what you do and so committed to the cause?  What purpose does your firm serve beyond commerce?  All people want purpose in their lives, and defining the role they play beyond corporate overhead goes a long way toward doing that.

Second, isolate the tenets that are the backbone of this purpose.  Break it down into themes that all can appreciate, believe, and want to strive toward.  Third, communicate these tenets relevantly and believably to everyone.  Fourth, make training a top priority — not just about how to do the job, but why and for what purpose.  Most importantly, make sure leadership walks the walk.  If leadership is allowed to live by a different set of rules, culture is greatly undermined.

Those who grease their cultural skids are best positioned to enjoy long periods of success.  Those unwilling commit to building and maintaining a culture of excellence will see their corporate machine seize up.