According to a Harvard study, a strong corporate culture increases net income by 765% over ten years. Groups tend to develop common patterns of behaviour, which play a significant role in an organisation’s success or failure. We may think of ourselves as self-contained but our emotions and behaviour are largely determined by the people around us. This is due to a part of the brain called the ‘mirror neuron network.’ We are social creatures who are programmed to mirror one another.
Who do we mirror more than anyone else? Our leaders. That’s why the biggest determinant of a company’s culture is leadership. Humans, along with many other species, have a strong, unconscious sense of status hierarchy. We pay more attention to people perceived as having higher status because they have greater potential to bestow benefits on us. Research shows that in a room full of people, we look at the leaders far more than anyone else, which is why you can predict the behaviour of a team by its leader.
That said, almost everyone’s behaviour has an impact. Much like a flock of birds flying in formation, each one responding to the movement of the others, people act in a feedback loop with one another.
So, if a lazy person joins a diligent team, do you think he is likely to become more diligent or is the team more likely to become lazy? You’d think the team’s behaviour would dominate. Unfortunately, according to a Stanford study, bad behaviour is more contagious than good. The entire team tends to become lazier.
The rotten apple really does infect the cart. That’s probably because the human brain has a negativity bias. We are twice as likely to notice negative than positive information which means we are more likely to mirror and mimic it, even when we profess to detest it in others.
The good news is that when we are conscious of this tendency, we can override it.
So, Amazing Human, the next time you notice bad behaviour, follow Ghandi’s words, and ‘be the change in the world that you want to see.’
Super excited that my new book ‘What The Future?!’ has made the Exclusive Books top recommended reads. More about that here.
Create Your Future Amazing Human!