Culture springs from your behaviour

What does leadership of corporate culture do for a company? Organisational culture and leadership are conceptually intertwined. Leaders need to get agreement on what is important for them and their customers, and act with a personality that honours those values. Leadership of cultures is best done through behaviour.

Why does leadership of culture pay off? Companies with cultures that attract both the best employees and customers are good business. With a strong culture, employees within the organisation may operate on a more autonomous level. The cultural attributes steer them to use appropriate behaviour towards colleagues and customers.

How do you lead a culture? Culture can be changed. Find symbols, stories, rituals that can represent the values that the company owns. The most important actions leaders can take towards a more consistent culture are hiring employees based on personality and values, and giving them the power to execute.

"People don't resist change. They resist being changed!” – Peter Senge

When does organisational culture have the most impact? When leaders need to focus on culture it is either to establish it or to change it. At this point the company may have gained some maturity. Leadership of corporate culture is most effective when the company has established the structures of the company and needs to make processes happen every day and with high quality.

Who shapes corporate cultures? Selecting employees for a company is like selecting members to a tribe; they need to share the purpose and values of the existing members. To effectively lead a culture, managers should choose members by personality and reward by behaviour.

Where do customers experience culture? In organisations that have a strong culture people do things because they think it is the right thing to do. People within this culture don’t necessarily have to be in the same location. Locations and situations can have symbols and display rituals that enforce a culture. It’s the leaders’ job to find and adopt those attributes.

The leadership of culture involves some distinct action points; find common purpose and values and represent them through rituals and symbols.

Have you ever made any cultural rituals or symbols?