Have a Good Run

It’s Friday at 3:30 pm. By now many people have begun “the countdown.” The weekend is in sight but not without getting through the slow last hours of the day. I’m a little different though. I scramble through my bag to find the right combination of clothes I need as I pack for all possible variations of Kansas winter. I check my email one last time, complete my wardrobe change, and throw in my earbuds. My office provides a safe place to do a locker room type pump-up dance when the workout calls for something challenging. Finally, it’s go time.

I head straight out the door, left onto Poyntz knowing my route in my head when I look left at the office to see our CEO walking out of my office door.

“Pat!” I thought as I quickly turned around to go back. I’d been gone the previous week and hadn’t had a chance to visit with him. I made my way back to the parking lot where he immediately asked, “How are you, how was your trip?” We engaged in a short conversation about my recent vacation activities and as we wrapped up and I headed out to the street he yelled, “Have a good run!”

It’s not until a few miles into my run that I realize what just happened. It’s 3:30 in the afternoon, I’m clearly not working, and the founder of our company encouraged me to “have a good run”?

THIS is office culture.

We talk about it all the time, we pride ourselves on the culture we’ve created. There are seminars and workshops over how to develop it, books that have sold millions of copies, obviously this is something people want. For all the chatter that goes on about how great one thinks their office culture is-this isn’t the first time I’ve lived it.

I can’t help but continue to reflect on this. I envisioned an opposite scenario I think too many people might have experienced in my shoes. They are sneaking out of the office, seen by their CEO, and think “Oh no… I’m caught.” They scurry back worried about what might be said or the backlash and resistance of leaving early. Fear about being in trouble. Maybe it’s held against them.

Now I wonder, how do I impact our office culture? What are the things we do, or can do, on a day to day basis to make the personal and professional lives of those around us just a little bit better? A flexible schedule isn’t a requirement to a happy office. Happy employees make a happy office. What are the ways you can invest in your people so that the atmosphere of the office is ranked higher than the paycheck?

There is great fortune in having an office culture that supports personal goals. Think about how this changes your mindset, engagement, and loyalty. The increase in value when you choose to support someone both personally and professionally. Maybe it’s running marathons, going to children’s activities, or a volunteer organization, you name it. How can you improve your team’s lives by encouraging them to spend time on the out of office things important to them? How do you think your culture is truly reflected in real life moments?