There are almost as many ways to develop an effective corporate culture as there are companies that have them. For me, the key to building an effective culture began with an understanding of the people with whom I worked. Faced with this reality, we built a culture around the strengths of those who remained, focusing on collaboration, high standards, and constant improvement.
These quickly became the governing principles of the firm, as I soon learned that team culture is much more powerful than one dominated by individuals. A diverse group of people working in collaboration can almost always produce a better-quality product than a firm that is driven by “stars.” Once the foundations of our culture were articulated, there were five key factors that we found made the culture effective.