What is the culture of your workplace? This is the same question for small business owners and larger business operations. It has been said by John C. Maxwell, the New York Times Best Selling Author and Leadership Guru, that culture beats strategy every time. Is your workplace a ‘check your smile and fun at the door’ type of place?

Recently it took me off guard during a visit to a relative start up company to hear some of the conversations about the office politics. One would assume due to the sheer massive size of Google or Facebook that these companies have taken on some of the poor cultural behavior of some other ‘old school’ business operations. The fact that a relative start up was creating political strife, silos and other dysfunctional behavior opened my eyes to certain issues.

The lack of leadership will always present itself in an organization. When leaders lead from the top and set a mindset and behavior for others to follow, these issues do not appear. If they should arise, others will rapidly step in and end the issues through teaching, facilitation of group meetings or other means, in order to set the proper tone.

There is a belief that organizations that are run by younger, more entrepreneurial types, are more in tune with the new generation of younger and more tech oriented workforce. This may not be true at all. Consider a seasoned professional who has raised a few children and has interacted with them and their friends for years all the way through and passed college into the work force. This professional, along with years of parenting may be many times more tuned into the new and younger generation than a single, ‘it is all about me’ CEO of a young high tech company.

Okay, now it has happened again, the flood gates have been opened! Who wrote the book that says everyone needs to be miserable at work?

“How’s it going today?”

“Oh, You know, same ol’ same ol’. How about you?”

“Yeah, another day, another dollar.”

How about lighting up some fireworks and make people smile at work (do not actually set off fireworks in your office, please). Yes, have a blast off meeting to start the day, one day a week. Get people smiling and looking forward to being at their job. There is no reason people cannot enjoy being productive.

Mitch Tublin is an advanced certified executive and personal coach who resides in Stamford, CT.