The importance of a no-jerks, no-toxics work place & culture

Courtney [a real leader, who built and led a pioneering engineering org at salesforce.com] made a great point about toxic people. Their continued presence makes people not trust the leadership of an org, whether that org is a team, group, business unit or company. Therefore, they are fundamentally toxic to the entire org / company and mission.

When I worked at SuccessFactors, we lived by the no a-holes, no politics, transparency up, acceptance of people for their strengths & who they are rules, and it worked. People came to work energized and motivated and we could attract and retain people and worry less about a compensation arms race because we removed the political & jerk tax from daily work life, people could focus on their work and connect with their teams. It was amazing how it worked right through going public and being a pretty large company. These are some key parts of the philosophy that we signed onto when joining. People were proud of these. It made for a fierce camaraderie.

• I will demonstrate respect for the individual; I will be nice and listen to others, and respect myself. I will act with integrity and professionalism.

• I will help my colleagues and recognize the team when we win. I will never leave them behind when we lose.

• I will be transparent. I will communicate clearly and be brutally honest, even when it’s difficult, because I trust my colleagues.

• I will always be in sales and drive customer satisfaction.

• I will have fun at work and approach my work with enthusiasm.

• I will be a good person to work with—I will not be an asshole.

• I agree to live these values. If my colleagues fail to live up to any of these rules, I will speak up and will help them correct; in turn, I will be open to constructive criticism from my colleagues should I fail to live by these values. I understand that my performance will be judged in part by how well I demonstrate these values in my daily work.

Bob Sutton is a good management thinker --> http://www.amazon.com/Asshole-Rule-Civilized-Workplace-Surviving/dp/0446526568

His blog re evidence based management --> http://bobsutton.typepad.com/my_weblog/the_no_asshole_rule/

Wootric [does] a great job of expressing a personalized set of values for their company --> http://blog.wootric.com/nps-startup-values/