Ryan Lynch has discovered the formula for building a mission-driven team culture.
“Build trust between team members, promote open feedback and celebrate mistakes,” explained the senior director of customer success at Closinglock.
These three elements, though critical to the foundation of Lynch’s team, are far from the only ingredients that go into his recipe for cultural success. But rather than decide what all of these ingredients are himself, he prefers to let his team members choose them.
“The team plays the most prominent role in building and strengthening our company mission and culture,” Lynch said.
From helping each other with customer calls to offering constructive feedback, team members are continuously shaping the culture through their actions and support of each other. And as they do so, Lynch provides them with ample guidance, ensuring they have the resources they need to thrive professionally.
“My goal for leading any team is to create an environment where individuals can work their best, be themselves and leverage their strengths to help each other,” he said.
As Lynch’s career has evolved, he has learned what it takes to build a strong team culture. And the key to this understanding is simple: treat culture as if it were a living thing.
“It isn’t something you create and leave alone; you must continue nurturing and allowing it to grow,” Lynch said.
Below, Lynch shares more about his his leadership vision and approach to building team culture, how he supports employees’ growth and why job seekers should be eager to join Closinglock.
WHAT DOES CLOSINGLOCK DO?
Closinglock is a real estate tech company dedicated to modernizing the transfer of funds and information. The company’s platform enables title companies, law firms and other financial service organizations to share wire-transfer instructions and other documents with clients, collect e-signatures and verify bank or loan payoff information.
What’s your vision for leading your team?
I’m a big believer in helping people focus on their strengths and understand the strengths of their team members. It’s impossible to excel at everything, so to succeed, we must leverage each other’s strengths when needed.
I believe mistakes are the best form of learning. A team member will learn more from a single mistake than they will from me walking them through a process. I encourage my team to make mistakes, but not make the same mistake twice.
My organizational approach is to specialize when needed yet create an environment where everyone is helping others when they can. I’m big on helping others, and I try to organize the team in a way that makes this possible. I expect my leadership team, including myself, to hop on customer calls often to help and even dig into customer support tickets.
How do you build team culture?
Building a team or company culture is crucial for success, but it requires work and commitment. The best way to do this is to define our values, develop a shared vision for the team’s future and foster open communication.
For this to be successful, I must create an environment where team members are comfortable sharing their ideas, concerns and feedback with me and others. As the leader, it’s also crucial that I do the same with the team and am transparent about my decisions and challenges. So the key is to foster collaboration, have transparent and clear communication, celebrate wins and losses, and lead by example.
Team and company culture are more important than ever. You want to create an environment where team members can do their best, continually learn and grow and are excited to come to work. Something small that reflects our team culture is that everyone asks those around them if they can offer help before they finish for the day. It’s such a small act of kindness, but it goes a long way in furthering the culture we have here.
ROOTED IN VALUES
Lynch said Closinglock’s core values — “Build Customers for Life,” “Work With a Purpose,” “Communicate with Candor” and “Lead with Humility” — form the foundation of his team’s culture. He considers it his responsibility to lead by example and encourages his team members to embrace these principles every day. “I work with the team to ensure our values are at the forefront of what we do,” Lynch said.
How do you help your team members grow professionally?
I was fortunate to have a few great leaders and mentors early on in my career who helped me get where I am today. I try to pass this on by helping my team and others grow their careers. I have become quite passionate about mentorship over the past few years.
I work with team members on their career growth by having candid conversations about what they like to do, what they’re passionate about and their short- and long-term goals. Sometimes, this is simply through discussions in the office or during one-on-ones, and other times, it’s structured by using tools like individual development plans. I work with the team to stretch their skills in various ways, but the most important thing is that they know I’m there to support them if they get stuck. That’s why I’m so big on trust; people will stretch themselves if they know they can trust me to support them.
“That’s why I’m so big on trust; people will stretch themselves if they know they can trust me to support them.”
What’s the employee value proposition for those thinking about joining Closinglock?
We’re currently hiring and plan to grow significantly in 2024. If you want to join a fast-growing company working to solve a problem that impacts everyday people looking to purchase a home, Closinglock is the place to be. The ability to make a difference in people’s lives, a fun, collaborative office environment and the ability to learn and grow in your career are all reasons someone should join us.
