Understanding 7 Cups Culture (LDP Discussion #5)
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Hello Leadership Crew!
We are wrapping up the first course today with our last discussion on culture. Look for more instructions in this post to take the final evaluation for the course to your graduation. Once you have this course complete, you will be 20% done the Leadership Development Program. Good work!
Let's start by looking at the wikipedia definition of culture:
--Culture (/ÃkÃltÃÃr/) is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.[1]
We take culture seriously on 7 Cups because it is the heart of how we operate. A wise person once said: You teach what you know, but you reproduce who you are. We can have all of the best training content we want, but if our culture is not strong, then we will not be successful in growing a thriving, compassionate, community that will make a global impact.
Every organization has a culture whether by design or by default. When culture (including values and mission are not called out or made explicit, the organization defaults to an implicit or unstated culture. The unnamed culture is not always great for the end users or the community. An example of a common and implicit cultural rule or norm is that the person that makes the most money or the organization is the most important. People that work in this organization then, naturally, because it is the culture, start organizing themselves around ways to make more and more money. The ones at the top of the hierarchy are the ones that make the most money. 7 Cups cares less about money and more about compassion. We call out compassion and celebrate compassionate people because that is central to the work we do.
Please read our guide here to deeply understand our culture. We have made it explicit because we believe it is important to help us all be accountable to what we stand for and believe in. As leaders on 7 Cups, you will be models that emulate our culture and values.
One theme you'll notice in our guide is that it is very proactive, which is the opposite of reactive. We act first, we design first, we implement first in order to make an impact. Companies that react allow events to shape them; we instead try to focus on where we can have influence and shape events before they shape our community.
Part of being proactive is critical because building culture online is more challenging than building a culture offline. Offline interpersonal and group relationships are easier in a number of ways. People are generally much better behaved when they are right in front of you and it is easier for people to sync up and work towards a common goal. Online cultures have less of these natural strengths so you have to be extra proactive to build a strong culture. Look at most communities on the Internet. Unfortunately, they tend to devolve and become less than safe places with a lot of hate, sexual, and harmful behaviors. Our training system, the badges, word filters, moderators, etc. (dozens of behaviors we do) are all designed to proactively build and reinforce our culture so that we do not experience this same kind of entropy. Internet culture can be like an escalator going down. You have to be very proactive and take 2 or 3 steps up at a time to maintain and strengthen gains. As a leader on 7 Cups, you will be part of that group that gets behind us and enables us to continue making forward momentum.
That provides the broader background context to why we care so much about our culture and values at 7 Cups. They are core to our work.
To help make it more real, in this post, please highlight the 3 most important things you learned from our guide and why they are important to you.
After posting, please...
1. Take the course exam here to complete course 1.
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4. Proceed to Course 2!
This post is brought to you by the Leadership Development Program Team, find out more information about the program here.
That was a very informative and interesting guide!!
1. 7 Cups is strength based.
Although I think I knew this on a subconcious level before, just reading it made me realize how true of a statement that was. Through all its different programs and training, and leadership opportunities, it really gives everyone a chance to help our community in a way that lets their own strengths shine.
2. 7 Cups reaches people regardless of financial need
One of the most amazing things about this community is that you don't need to pay a cent and yet you interact with amazingly kind people and both get to help and be helped.
3. 7 Cups is fulfilling
This one stood out the most to me, because as a listener, just talking with a member and helping them work through a problem is one of the most rewarding experiences ever. It's a pure feeling that you can sometimes get from very few other things.
@GlenM
The Main 3 Things I have learned from this would be-
1 Accountability - Many do not take accountability for their actions which is so needed to be a better more productive person and someone who can be admired and have people believe in them !
2. Failure- Knowing we can fail at something but get back and start again and work on what we failed at and also remember we can succeed at many other things.
3. That everything shared and I just read over and learned from is so important all of it not just 3 but every bit of what 7cups stands for and believes in !! Believe in US!!
To me, the 3 most important values that I learned from this guide are my work matters, accountability, and collaboration.
1. My work matters. I think it's easy for people to believe that because they are only a jigsaw piece of the entire puzzle, they don't make as much of a difference as a collective. It's important to remind ourselves that our contribution to 7 Cups is amazing; we're making a difference by being an individual and helping others.
2. Accountability. One of the things I love about 7 Cups is that I get to make rules for my schedule. At the same time, with great power comes great responsibility; it's important for us to respect other people's schedules and deadlines as well as ours.
3. Collaboration. I admit, sometimes I feel like I don't have many peer interactions on 7 Cups because I spend most of my time actively listening to members. Nevertheless, taking this course with other people has made me feel like I am part of a team! Not to mention, the chatrooms are so helpful and supportive.
@GlenM
Three things that i learnt are;
1. Honesty
One of the leadership qualities that define a good leader is honesty. When you are responsible for a team of people, it is important to be straightforward, you always need to remember to lead by example.
2. Confidence
Another one of the leadership qualities, is having confidence. As a leader, it is your responsibility to maintain the team morale and keep moving forward. Keep your confidence level up and assure everyone that setbacks being looked into. By staying calm and confident, the team would not worry as they put their trust in you.
3. Commitment
Showing your commitment sets the example for others to follow, and leads to greater loyalty and respect for you as a leader. Set the tone of commitment, and others will follow suit. Remember that if you expect your team to work hard and produce quality work, you would need to lead by example.
Thank you, Asruu
@GlenM
Thank you so much for the opportunity!
Three things I learnt from the guide:
Trust is community is very very important!
Being accountable on what we do is needed.
Working on the things we are good and love doing makes it more enjoyable for us and fruitful for the community and I think this is the big one I got from whole of this <3
@River
Totally agree with you, always working on our strength and weakness.
The three important things Ive learned from the 7cups Guide and why they are important to me:
1. Trust: Its very foundation things in our life. This binds one to another. Makes things better and fluid with mutual trust. Being in such an environment is always less stressful and more fun
2. Believe in Equality: Another major point is equality. Being biased or partial can cause a sense of negative feeling. Spreading equity and believing in it gives everyone an equal opportunity and platform to showcase themselves. Everyone one is born unique and we should accept one as they are. Appreciate their skills and positives things irrespective of where they come from or who they are.
3. Take Care of oneself: Very important as we often forget this point as we indulge or focus on anything. Things can seem very exciting and we could overly focus on things. This makes us forget about our own needs. We should know when to step back or draw the line. Focus on our wellbeing. For we are not at our best then we cant do our best.
@GlenM
High Expectations and High Warmth - I find this the most important out of all that was listed because it makes everyone accountable. I work for a company that is "high expectations" and very little warmth and interacting with my higher-ups is draining some days. Having both provides a sense of trust within the community - it makes you feel like people want you to succeed, do better, be happier, and less like a number or a robot.
We Expect Failure - For me, it was really important for me to see it written down that we won't always get it right. It was gentle reminder that not everything will always work and that's okay.
Accountability - I like that this was placed directly after "We Expect Failure" because it's reminder that even though everything won't work all the time, we still have to hold ourselves accountable for what does and doesn't work. We should still be mindful of what we're doing to contribute to the uprise or downfall of what we're participating in and actively work to make changes.
Culture is really big to me because if a place does not have a good culture, it makes it hard for people to want to be there. Three important highlight from the guide are:
Trust: If people have trust in our website, it will make them more comfortable and confident in returning to the website in the future and recommend the website to their friends. We celebrate behaviors that grow trust and we impliment security programs to make sure that 7 cups is a safe place that people can come.
High expectations and high warmth: These two factors are extremely important because everyone wants to feel loved and cared for. If we are not setting high expectations and expressing warmth, people are less likely to come back or feel as comfortable while they are here. This is the most nurturing environment that leads to the most growth.
Investment: This is one of my favorite factors because I feel like without investment, there is minimal growth. If people do not feel like they are being fed, they will not have a drive or purpose to keep going longer, faster, or harder. Being invested in and noticed will make people feel great and do great things
@GlenM
Three of the most important things I learned from this guide is trust, because it allows ourseleves and the community as a whole to work together to complete the goals we set in place, colaboration because working together is a key part of success in any community, and accountability because we must grow from our abilitity and level of success we have based on the projects and activities we complete.
The 3 most important things I learnt from the guide is:-
1) Trust. Trust is the core strength of 7 Cups that drives the whole process forward. Trust is important to me because it increases a sense of hope and accountability to reach our goals and outcomes more seamleassly.
2) Conscientiousness - is the biggest indicator of success. Although it is interlinked with trust because you trust the person in getting the job done. It is important because there is faith in finishing the tasks and solving the problems on time without being distracted.
3) Self-Efficacy and Mastery - There is growth and new learnings at 7 cups which gives you a sense of confidence to adapt and grow more. The growth process with accomplishments are important because it gives you a sense of belonging at 7 cups and in personal life. Because your work is mastered over a period of time, you gain a sense of value.
