How Leaders Impact Culture

How Leaders Impact Culture

Over the years, one the questions that almost always comes up when starting to assess and change and organization’s culture is “What’s the best way to improve our culture quickly?”

While there is no ‘quick fix’ when it comes to long-term, sustainable culture change, there is one constant causal factor that always needs to be addressed in some way. That of course, is Leadership.

Many years ago, as a new department manager, I remember looking forward to conducting my first set of Performance Reviews. In hindsight, that performance review system was quite advanced and thorough. I spent many evenings diligently giving “scores” for each performance criteria.

We had to get the HR manager to review them prior to giving them. During this process, the HR manager questioned every score that was not a “three” (average). Because I had a lot, this took a long time. At the end of this process, I asked the HR manager how he would be able to find the time to do the same process with every department manager. His reply was that I was one of the few managers who did not give straight threes for every person in every category.

I was shocked. Didn’t the managers realize that by giving everyone a three they were missing an opportunity to help people improve their performance as well as recognizing and rewarding superior performance? But the problem ran much deeper. Because that was the norm for most of the managers, they were inadvertently telling employees; “Your effort doesn’t count. And, there are no expectations or consequences for your actions. ”

Not surprisingly, years later I discovered that this organization’s culture was “Passive-Defensive”.

Organizational Culture is described as the “consciously held notions shared by members that most directly influence their attitudes and behaviours”. In other words, “what is expected of them in order to fit in and survive in the organization”.[1] A particular Organization’s Culture comes from three sets of Causal Factors – leadership styles, behaviours, and attitudes; Human Resource systems and practices; and organizational structure and job design.

                                      Click here to see a diagram about How Culture Works

In reality though, everything is driven by the organization’s leaders (past and present). In my earlier mentioned organization, the HR systems were fine. The leaders simply chose to ignore them – replacing them with a bureaucratic process that avoided telling people the truth, not rocking the boat, and trying not to upset anyone.

Non-selling jobs in that same organization were designed to be small, simplistic, and repetitive. It is important to note however, that subcultures can exist within an organization, and these are also driven by leaders. I saw another department manager reward two of her two best employees by expanding their job, giving them more responsibilities and greater challenges. In doing so, she moved the subculture for her group from being Passive/Defensive to a Constructive one.

Leadership is Key

Leadership skills and qualities are essential to building a constructive culture. Effective leadership, balanced between task and interpersonal facilitation, leads to a more constructive culture and higher motivation, coordination across the organization, and better quality and adaptability.

Research shows that Improving Leadership Skills leads to a more constructive culture and a 33% average improvement in performance.[2] Because leaders have access to all aspects of the organization Leaders have a major role in establishing and developing their organization’s culture – from their attitudes, values, and behaviours to the way they use the company’s HR systems, to how they structure people’s jobs. A good leader can even make the organization appear “flatter” by instilling a sense of ownership among the employees.

The bottom line is that human beings are wired to think and act similarly as people they spend a lot of time with. That means that an organizational culture will develop and evolve on its own. If it is not driven by the management team, chances are the resulting culture will not be a healthy one.