Course 1, Discussion 5: 7 Cups Culture
Hello Leadership Crew!
I hope you have been benefitting from this course. This is the last discussion of our course 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.
✒️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.
✒️ Please reply to at least 1 of your peers in this thread with encouraging or supportive words!
❗❗After posting, please...
1. Take the course exam here to complete course 1.
2. Take the leadership oath here.
3. Fill out the End of Trial form to complete your 2-week trial (Please check your email for End of Trial date.)
4. Proceed to Course 2!
🔉This post is brought to you by the Leadership Development Program, find information on it here tinyurl.com/AcademyLDP
@Hope
- Active and Empathetic Listening: I learned that true leadership on this platform is about holding a safe space for others without instantly trying to fix their problems. This is important to me because it reminds me that validation is often more powerful than advice.
- Accountability and Role Modeling: The guide emphasizes that leaders model the community's values. This stands out to me because our actions set the tone for the entire platform, creating a ripple effect of safety and respect.
- Inclusivity and Non-Judgment: Ensuring that every individual feels welcome regardless of their background is central to the culture. This matters to me deeply because a supportive mental health community must be a judgment-free sanctuary for everyone.
@Carbonara134340
This is beautifully summarized!
@Hope
keep trying to improve and work on yourself
always ask for advice when unsure
learn from every success and failure
@Hope
The venn diagram of work got me thinking about my past career choices and rethinking about my future paths, which is quite helpful and also a new idea to me.
Collaborate matters and helping others can solve problems. I'm always a loner so I need to make more efforts to connect with others.
Your work matters. Sometimes I just couldn't see the point in many things I'm doing and it's difficult for me to feel fulfilled. So learning this means a lot to me.
@Hope
The three most important things I learned from this guide are building strong communities through empathy, developing leaders instead of relying on one leader, and learning from mistakes while continuing to grow. These lessons are important to me because they showed that meaningful leadership is based on trust, collaboration, and continuous improvement. I also learned that every interaction has the potential to make someone feel valued and supported. I will apply these principles by being a dependable team member, encouraging others, and always staying open to feedback so I can keep growing as a leader and community member.
@Brightlynx77
You put that into words real well!
@Hope
✒️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.
- The first is how many people 7 Cups reaches does not have much money. This is important to me because I have seen so many examples of this, in the people who cannot afford therapy, among others.
- Another is accountability, and how important it is to manage your workload. I know this is important because not only is this applicable to 7 Cups, but also the real world. This reflects life as a whole pretty well, and I see how accountability plays into this site all the time.
- The last in expecting failure, and while that can be hard to expect, it's good to know that failure is not synonymous with not being good enough to try again. It just means you've got room to improve.
@auditjay77
Fantastic choice of things from the guide! I totally agree with you, money should never be a barrier to accessing support and connection and I'm really proud of everyone at cups who has made this a reality for so many people all over the world!
🌟 Joy 🌟
@Hope
✒️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.
High expectations AND high warmth. I think explicitly stating that expectations are high here at cups and yet not at the expense of being our warmth is very powerful. Many structures, systems, companies fail to keep both things a priority and often when scale of operations grow they lose out on the warmth that made them great in the first place.
Helping us become world class experts - As someone who has often been told to think smaller, be less bold or keep it simple I really value the encouragement and opportunities cups gives to all it's members to go BOLD! I find it very inspiring and adore that we're told to think on gigantic scales.
You expect failure - this idea feels so unheard of in most workplaces but I love it. Let's take (calculated) risks, try new things, reach for the stars! Along the way we'll make some mistakes and things won't get off the ground in the way we hoped but some things will! And it's important to appreciate the wins and learn from the losses. As an ADHDer who has loads of ideas and ample experience of failing and trying again it's reassuring to know this is valued at cups.
🌟 Joy 🌟
@Hope
The 3 things I found most important are:
- Trust – I feel trust is very important in building real and genuine relationships and making people feel comfortable and supported.
- Strengths-Based – It helped me to recognize my own strengths and use them in the right way, instead of always focusing on what I need to improve.
- Take Care of Yourself – This was especially the most important to me because supporting others is great and meaningful, but I also need to maintain my boundaries, take breaks and look after myself. Self care matters.
@SimplyCompassionate Thank you so much for sharing that! Building trust,recognizing our own strengths and taking care of ourselves are crucial,I agree. And I admire how you outlined that taking care of yourself was the most important part to you. It is very important to me as well.
Best wishes,goodluck with your 7Cups journey and have an awesome day ! You deserve it (:
@Hope
Friendless is important because it helps the members feel comfortable and like they are able to open up and talk about what is going on.
Equality is important because I am protected under the rule as I am bi and Trans and I wouldn't want myself or anyone be treated differently because of the differences.
Trust is important because everyone needs to trust everyone for a better 7 cups experience.
Hi @sunnyPineapple1469
Thanks for sharing,!
I love how you connected each value to real experiences. Feeling safe and respected is what lets people open up, and your point about trust really resonates. Thanks for being part of making 7 Cups🙏
Hi @Hope
the most 3 points I’ve liked and learned from the guide are;
1- Start with my strengths: When we work from what we’re naturally good at, we’re more effective and more fulfilled
2- Combine warmth with high expectations: Give myself and others support and kindness, while still holding a high standard. One without the other doesn't work
3- Expect to fail sometimes: You might try 12 things that don't work, and the 13th does. What matters is staying focused and keeping going.
@Hope 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.
1. Expecting failure
This is important to me because it profects from perfectionism or toxic standards. If we fail after trying hard,it's okay. We will learn a new way on how to not do things,but what matters is that we stand up and try again!
2. Inclusivity
I believe inclusivity is crucial. Judging and disrespecting someone because of their background or simply their ideas is terrible,and it wouldn't be helpful to them either. We would likely cause harm.
3. 7Cups being high-expectations and high-warmth
This is a beautiful detail of our platform. 7Cups doesn't set low expectations or act harsh towards its volunteers and users. Instead,it provides a very warm enviroment,helping everyone to strive and fullfill high-expectations. I admire that.