Understanding 7 Cups Culture (LDP Discussion #5)
Please note: In order to successfully complete Course 1, you must respond to this post. Your comment/response should answer the questions/shows that you completed the given activity. Read the post carefully and follow the instructions given. Save your responses to a document that you can later refer to. You will need to copy/paste your response in the course evaluation form at the end of each course to show that you have done the work and to refresh your memory.
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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...
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My work matters:
I wholeheartedly believe that my contributions efforts commitment and willingness to make 7 cups a better place to be is why I am here in the first place. I like changing poeple's lives and helping them find hope that they didnt have before.
Trust:
I like to point out that trust is another important factor in keeping relationship strong and supporting each other achieving goals that matter to poeple and matter to everyone in the community. Without trust, there is no communicating. If there is no communicating, there is no sharing and learning from each other. If there is no that, its hard to stay on top of things when you dont feel supported or appreciated for all that you do.
I like that this site is fee and everyone is welcome to join. That just shows that 7cups is pure on Equality & Diversity. We are different from one another, but what brings us together and keeps as one unit is that we are all here for the same reason.
@GlenM
Work Matters - I believe the work I’m doing is changing lives out there for good, helping people, cos back when I was going through some tough times some beautiful people helped and if it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t have been alive today. So I feel, it’s important and my duty to give it back to the society.
Accountability - I think we need to be accountable for whatever we own up else it wouldn’t wake the sense of seriousness in us.
Trust - It’s kind of concrete base for everything we do on this platform and if we invoke the sense of trust in the opposite person they’d open up and that’s when we actual healing starts.
@YoungMonastic007
What ways do you think we can build better trust on here with people?
@GlenM
The guide felt so amazing to be read. It was really nice to go through this and learn about every aspect in detail.
The three things that I have learned from the 7Cups Guide and why they are important to me are as follows:
1) 7Cups trusts you and your personal growth and wants to see you achieve much more based on the strengths that you possess and not get swayed by thoughts or expectations that you might have had about yourself.
2) It’s okay to fail as long as you are working hard and trying your level best. Failures do not mean that you are a loser for life but it’s an evidence of you growing into a better person gradually.
3) Helping each other with warmth and compassion, exchanging different ideas to make the community a better place to be in, staying away from tank draining activities are some of the important factors considered by 7Cups.
@GlenM
Three main things I learned from this guide are:
-The importance of support, collaboration, and accountability to achieve goals on 7 cups
-It is okay to fail. We should not be ashamed of it and see it as an opportunity to learn
-Self-care is very important. “An empty lantern provides no light. Self-care is the fuel that allows your light to shine brightly.”
@Sunflower78652
I like your quote. Another way to look at it "you can't pour from an empty cup".
@GlenM
The three things that resonate with me the most...
1. Failure is expected. As a perfectionist, I try so hard to do everything to the best of my ability, but often get hard on myself if I don't do it the best. The reminder that failure is expected and part of growth, that's something that resonates for me a lot.I never took failure as a challenge or a growth step before - I thought it just proved that I was never going to succeed. This perspective is so helpful to me.
2. Friendliness and Conscientiousness. I see that in so many other listeners, in the support folks, and it makes such a difference in how everyone interacts, and how others are supported.
3. Caring for people with few financial resources. Having somewhere to get support and someone to listen when you can't afford to access a professional, and knowing that your being there is making a difference in that person's life is invaluable. It's so hard knowing that those who are vulnerable and suffering are unable to financially invest in their mental health.
@WonderfulRainbows2862
I think when we are young that we are so scared of failure until we get older, as we told when we are young that we end up in bad shape.
The three most important things I learned from the guide are that 7 cups help support people in financial crisis and that I care about coming from a low-income family. Failure is expected, or I hate failure I need to learn that it is only a way to grow. Fun and fulfillment is an important part of the 7 cups because it helps to move society to new levels
How important having trust and being welcoming is in any public setting, especially at 7cups. The warmth and compassion is maintained by having trust and working together
2) when everyone does work that's suited to their strengths it helps build coordination and communication, and utilizes resources
3) working together and supporting each other is essential
@GlenM
culture is characterized and knowledge of a certain group of people encompassing language, religion, beliefs, cuisine, music, art and social habits...
every individual has their own character... every character has their own culture... trust and believe in yourself... open your heart... listen to every one... give love and peace to every one... we are not only a humanbeing... the most important thing is to be able to understands the meaning of life and the way it is and how to keep on living...
@GlennM
The three thing I learned fromth guide are:
1. Equality, here at 7 cup, we new to treat each and everyone equally and respected. Having equality helps in the quality of the work.
2. Trust, we need the people to trust us with their problem, and for that to happen we need t also trust them. In every relationship be it professional or anything, trust is vital and needed for it to stand.
3. High expectations and high warmth, here at 7 cups, we have high expectations and also provide high warmth.
Yes!! Equality is so very important! We never want to treat anyone like they’re different ! ❤️ Thank you so much for your insights and your post! @kindheartedWords6803
please highlight the 3 most important things you learned from our guide and why they are important to you.
1) I learned that joy is a necessary part of being a leader, but one also needs to have serious intention to use the system that supports the 7cups goals and methods to help people live healthier and happier lives by coping with the mental challenges they face.
2) Work together with others in a way that builds a sense of community and cooperation. Friends work together better than people that we argue with openly. Finding common ground can overcome differences with others. Complimenting people when we suggest improvements to them can make a big difference in how they receive it.
3) Completing things when you say you will and performing programs at the appointed times helps everyone move closer to helping other people. When we do not do what we say we will, trust is diminished so leaders are uncertain of our commitment to the mission. Members start to doubt people care about them if someone cannot lead a discussion when they said they will. Trust that is lost is hard to regain, both individually and as a Community.
First off, I have to say how wise and knowlegable your post is. Second off, I agree with everything you’ve said! And lastly, thank you for your insights ❤️@soulsings
@blitheEmbrace27 thanks for your kind words. Trainings are a great start and experience even greater so I am drawing from my experience which makes this a little easier.
