Cultures and You

Culture is defined as the behaviors and beliefs characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age group. In companies, people talk about the organisation culture which could be one of creativity, fun, family or innovation.

If your family, friends and colleagues could describe you to a room full of strangers, what would they say about you? What would they say about the cultures you have created as defined by the choices you make every day?

There’s something to be said for the culture in our homes, workplaces and relationships.

Culture in the Workplace

About twenty years ago, I came across a phrase in an article that helped shape my career. It said, ‘my job is to do my job well and make my boss’ life easier’.

This meant that I had to consider what would make my manager’s life easier and help alleviate their stress.

I made a choice to always do great quality work, keep my promises and to meet any deadlines.

I also committed to bringing a positive atmosphere to my workplace and see my colleagues as family.

These choices created a culture of excellence, teamwork, love, kindness and friendship.

Culture and Friendships

When it comes to my friends, I try to create a culture of trust, commitment, honesty, love, and dependability.

This means my friends can count on me to be there for them at all times and to be non-judgemental.

They see me as a safe place and soft landing while trusting me to help them work through any challenges.

Culture and Faith

I have invested a lot in building a culture of faith, having the right mindset and language that encourages and builds people up, calling people into their identity and not calling them out.

Without a clear sense of our identity, we can’t define the right cultures for the different spheres of our lives.

My identity as a child of God serves as the basis for every culture that I have embraced or created. My hope is that people are always impacted in the right ways by being in my life.

Culture and Family

In my family, I grew up in a culture of love, joy, hope, honesty, discipline, fairness, positive mindset, dependability, generosity and kindness.

Consequently, we didn’t shy away from challenging each other, having difficult conversations, and addressing issues rather than brushing them under the carpet.

We didn’t take each other for granted or take advantage of each other.

The culture we grew up in meant we knew we had to be there for each other and for other people. So we had to learn to build ourselves up so we had something to offer others.

I have now carried this culture forward with my own family, adding my own unique touches.

As we start this week, take some time to consider the cultures that define you in your home, marriage, faith, work and friendship settings.

Are the cultures enabling you to build the life you want? Are you proud of the cultures you have built? Have they made you the kind of person that people want to hang around and talk to?

Will the cultures you’ve embraced help you leave behind the right legacy or fulfil your life purpose?

If you don’t know what cultures to cultivate, how about a kingdom culture of faith, hope and love, a culture of forgiveness and letting go of the past?

Or perhaps you want to create a culture of kindness, generosity and being a voice for the voiceless.

You may want to create a culture of dependability and trust that enables you to be there for others in their most vulnerable and difficult times.

The important thing is to remember that we are to love our neighbours as ourselves and any culture that helps us to live out this truth will be a good one.

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