What is Culture...and Why Does it Matter?

The subject of culture continues to be one that I grapple with and encounter on a regular basis in my coaching and consulting practice. The reality and challenge of culture comes forward from a number of different angles - leaders not appreciating how their actions or inaction foster a dysfunctional or low-performing culture; lack of consensus throughout an organization on what the culture is or should be resulting in a whole series of competing subcultures; a need for an organization's culture to adapt to changing external realities; a lack of appreciation for how legacy systems confound an imperative for change that is being communicated by a leader. The examples are myriad of how culture needs to change, but how unprepared or unaware we might be about what culture is and how we impact effective shifts in culture to support goal achievement. 

                                     

In my career as a leader, learner, executive coach, and consultant, I've gathered a few gems of knowledge (if not wisdom) along the way related to culture change. Included among those insights or lessons are included a need to persevere through adversity with optimism and energy, a commitment to celebrate milestones and achievements even in tough times, a need to continuously develop one's own leadership and the leadership skills of your team, and the necessity to balance work with one's whole life.

So much food for thought, but for this blog, I choose to focus on one key question: Is there really a recipe for culture change, particularly at an organizational level? So being either bold or foolish I'll take a crack at the question.

First, I believe there is some value in defining what we might mean by the term culture. Being a creature of our time, I googled the term and came up with the following (amongst a variety of definitions): "...the total of the inherited ideas, beliefs, values and knowledge which constitute the shared bases of...action..." and "...the total range of activities and ideas of a group of people with shared traditions, which are transmitted and reinforced by members of the group."  I've highlighted what I think are some key elements of the definition and upon which I will touch in this blog. 

The phrase Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast is probably familiar to most of us and reflects the very real challenge in moving an organization forward or changing its direction. As many an executive will attest to, you can have spent countless hours and money on developing a world class strategy, putting together and delivering a slick internal marketing campaign, and engaging all manner of expertise and external resources, and yet find that after a year (or less), you have made no progress on your lofty goals - and may actually have taken your organization a step or two backward. The culture of the organization - its inherited ideas, beliefs, values and knowledge - can be a very effective barrier or block to your plans. 

So instead of developing the glitzy strategy, or restructuring the organization, or implementing new processes or systems, why don't executives focus on organizational culture? My perspective is it often appears easier to tackle structure and process than culture. One can implement structural and process changes in a far shorter timeframe. Quick or easy, however, doesn't equate to effective. Such initiatives can certainly disrupt the organization and give the appearance of action, especially to those looking at the organization from an external perspective (e.g., shareholders, community leaders). Cultural changes take a much longer period of time to realize a more intense and sustained effort. Unfortunately, too many leaders (and too often a variety of stakeholders) don't have the patience for these types of efforts. We want instant solutions and instant results.

The term inherited also implies something that is built or created over a long period of time. And it will take just as long to mold, alter, or modify this reality, as it took to create. Moreover, it's critical to understand that, for the most part, this set of shared ideas, beliefs, and values have worked for the organization or key stakeholder segments. It doesn't mean life has been easy or great. But the organization has survived, it has accomplished something, some element of progress has been experienced, and the organization's staff believe it works and/or is good enough. If it ain't broke don't fix it. If it ain't broke why change it?  So suggesting there is need for change or trying to initiate big cultural change will not come easily or without effort. 

One of the first key steps in changing culture is to define the characteristics of the new culture and why it is important to shift to this new set of beliefs, behaviours, and practices. This is the leader's role. The leader has to achieve clarity for self as to the where, what, and why of culture change. If the leader doesn't have a clear idea about this preferred future and the necessity of this new path, a change in culture will be a non-starter. Clarity of vision is critical to to overcome resistance and inertia. 

Just as important as defining the new desired culture will be the concrete actions that a leader and the organization as a whole must take to reinforce and support the shift. This includes steps such as recruiting, hiring, retaining, rewarding, and promoting individuals who will, by their behaviours and actions, develop and reinforce the tenets of the new culture. People build culture. Focus on cultivating the right people.  Make a long-term commitment to them. They become the proverbial stones thrown into the water, with ripples emanating out from them and influencing the behaviour of others.

Communicate, communicate, communicate. Along with that comes the importance of leadership visibility and reinforcement - by word AND action - of key organizational values and expectations. As a leader you are being watched all the time and people will rapidly determine whether you hold the values of the new culture sincerely or merely as another fad of the moment. Your energy, your perseverance, and your consistency is going to be critical to success.

Make sure all processes and systems of the organization are aligned and supportive of the culture you are trying to create. If you are marketing the organization as one that prides itself on innovation but have an incentive system that rewards everyone at the same level regardless of performance, then creativity is not likely to be sustained. If you are asking for daring and bold initiatives but your performance management systems actually reward a risk management mentality, you may make stuttering steps forward. If you are touting yourself as an organization that fosters empowerment and employee participation but have a human resource system that tolerates old-style management practices, you will quickly short-circuit your efforts.

As leaders you also have to ensure your own personal words and actions are aligned with the corporate culture you say you are trying to build. If you set yourself apart from what you are expecting of your staff - do as I say, not as I do - you will have compromised your leadership credibility. You won't be able to retain your best leaders or get the kind of change you were expecting or hoping for. In addition, you have to have patience for this effort; you have to be in it for the long haul. Culture happens through long-term, consistent behaviour and effort. The best and most successful organizations build from within and stay true to their core for years.

Rome wasn't built in a day. Neither is the culture of your organization created or changed in a fiscal year.  And building a new temple to the gods won't keep the barbarians away from the front gates. Only strong and vibrant citizens/staff working from the same page will ensure long-term success.

________________________________________________________

Greg Hadubiak, MHSA, FACHE, CEC, PCC

President & Founder - BreakPoint Solutions

gregh@breakpoint.solutions 

www.breakpoint.solutions 

780-250-2543

Helping leaders realize their strengths and enabling organizations to achieve their potential through the application of my leadership experience and coaching skills. I act as a point of leverage for my clients. I AM their Force Multiplier.

Defining Leadership

The beginning of 2022 finds me on the cusp of more opportunity and creativity.  I am working on a series of leadership development modules for several organizations.  The topics to be covered will range from a coach-approach to leadership, to the foundations of strong teams, through to performance management.  One other subject near and dear to my heart will be the foundations of personal leadership.  For many years now, and prior to becoming an executive coach and management consultant, I have devoted considerable study, time, effort, and thought to leadership, what makes a leader, and how to further hone leadership.

I have seen other authors or pundits put together their top list of what qualities or strengths great leaders possess. The listing I offer below has some similarity to that approach but perhaps goes a bit more off road.  I am interested in leadership qualities to be sure, but hope that I have gone a bit deeper in distinguishing the core of what leadership is - from my point of view - as compared to the notion of management, for example. 

Leadership requires self-awareness. What does that mean?  In my view, this relates to the understanding of one's own strength and weaknesses and having a regular practice of evaluating growing edges. This appreciation and drive to self-evaluate requires a healthy dose of humility and a willingness to explore personal bias and blind spots. If a leader is not prepared to face and understand themselves, they will be less effective in understanding the capacities of the teams and organizations they lead.

Leadership is visionary. Leaders know what needs to get done. And they experience this vision and future state both for themselves and for their organizations. Leaders can read the tea leaves, appreciate potential and possibility, see a new or better way, and feel passionate about what lies before them.  Moreover, this vision isn't abstract in conception. This vision is understood at a visceral level. This vision is not created in a series of spreadsheets or models. While those might be useful tools or supports, leaders are far more apt to tap into the emotional and even spiritual aspects of a vision - they can literally see, feel, hear, taste and smell the future!

Leadership is, and must be, expressive. A vision that is unexpressed, poorly articulated, or not understood by others, doesn't lead to action. If others cannot be brought on board or do not appreciate the power and possibility the leader feels for the future, we have a dream of one that is likely to go unfulfilled.  So leadership – good leadership – means being able to take a vision out of one’s head and articulate it to others in a way that they can understand and powerfully engage with. 

At this point, I want to make sure there is no confusion about being articulate, passionate, and committed to a cause and the notion or quality of charisma or being charismatic. Charisma for me too often equates to superficiality and insincerity. Effective long-term leadership success can use charisma (personality, charm, presence) as a tool, but it doesn’t long stand without supporting substance. 

Leadership sees the big picture and plays the long game. The comparison to a chess grand master may hold true here. A key distinguishing variable between leadership and management is how expansive the view is for each. Management is more often focused on a select number of variables within a defined period of time; e.g., I know what tasks I have to accomplish today, which staff I have available to me, and what problems I might encounter.  

Leadership has a more expansive view. A good leader contemplates execution and realization of their vision considering a host of factors and variables, how those variables might interact to support or confound each other, and is often looking to a future laid out months and years ahead. Like a chess player, they see the whole board, see how each move might impact the next, and anticipate several moves ahead.  They have a long-term systems view.

Leadership is about change. Leaders are good at anticipating change as might be expected from a chess master. More importantly, they also are often (or always) initiating change as they evaluate and make sense of the big picture view they have been forming for themselves on behalf of their organization. They have a view on challenges and opportunities, initiating change to mitigate one and realize the other. This change effort can manifest in any number of ways – creating a sense of urgency, seemingly tireless energy and passion, and a dynamic and flexible mindset. Creativity, innovation and out-of-the-box thinking can also characterize this leadership change mentality.

Leadership is about capacity building.  Because leaders see potential, understand or perceive the shifting environment around them, and appreciate that change will be necessary to both survive and thrive, they are constantly looking to develop new skills and capacities in their organizations. They believe a couple of things about capacity building. First, the strengths that helped you achieve success in the past will be insufficient, if not irrelevant, to survive and thrive in a new future state.

Second, they have a commitment to leaving the organization in a better position then when they found it.  This includes building bigger and better capacity in their followers, investing in training and development, succession planning, and building new leaders. This has short-term benefit in supporting voluntary and committed engagement amongst staff. More importantly, it builds resilience and capability in the organization to overcome adversity and reach new performance heights.

Leadership is about discipline. Author Jim Collins (Good to Great) has dissected organizations trying to distil what separates good companies from great companies, and what allows great companies to continue on that path. More than one of his concepts applies to effective leadership as well. Discipline – in thought and action – is one of those concepts.

Leadership is able to pull all of the variables noted above together, sort the wheat from the chaff, keep in mind (while still challenging) their capabilities, and stay focused on their preferred vision. Good leadership is able to stay focused in the face of distraction that too often masquerades as opportunity.  Leadership is not distracted by the next shiny bauble. Leadership understands its core competencies and/or is prepared to undertake the necessary investment to do different. In short, leadership knows that success is based on making sound choices, sticking to its core values and strategies, and setting up supports and systems to drive success.

Leadership is about courage. None of what we describe above comes without a very strong dose of courage. Leadership requires developing a comfort level with ambiguity and a near daily confrontation with doubt and fear. 

You might consider a comparison between leadership and being a weather forecaster. Rare is the day when anyone gives us 100% certainty on any weather-related fact. We lament but prepare for the possibility that a 60% chance of partly cloudy skies might turn into drizzle or a momentary downpour. Leadership operates within similar shades of grey. Leadership must interpret, with imperfect data and imperfect lenses, what the future may hold and try to prepare accordingly. There is always the real and tangible risk that they may decide incorrectly.

Leaders must have the courage to act despite this uncertainty. Seeing what needs to be done, understanding the forces at play, anticipating the chess moves of organizational life and the business environment are all well and good. However, if this knowledge or intuition are not put into action, then this insight is worse than useless. Inaction is action where no decision becomes a decision. The environment or others will choose a path for you. 

Leadership is selflessness. Finally, I come to a personal philosophical belief that all good leadership is fundamentally about being selfless. I appreciate the challenge that might come from others on this point!  However, I believe that truly impactful leaders are NOT solely or primarily focused on their own success.  Rather, they are ambitious for the success of their teams, organizations, or businesses. Make no mistake, they are competitive and they want to win. Will they accept or appreciate personal accolades or glory should it come? In many cases, yes. But that personal recognition or reward is NOT THE motivating factor for their efforts. They want to win for the benefit of the bigger cause. They want to build capacity and realize potential for their organization. They want to see foundations built and a legacy for success established that lives beyond their leadership tenure.  

There you have my perspective on leadership. There you have some insights and snippets into what is starting to coalesce into various leadership development modules for 2022 and beyond.  

For me it really is all about leadership!

________________________________________________________

Greg Hadubiak, MHSA, FACHE, CEC, PCC

President & Founder - BreakPoint Solutions

gregh@breakpoint.solutions 

www.breakpoint.solutions 

780-250-2543

Helping leaders realize their strengths and enabling organizations to achieve their potential through the application of my leadership experience and coaching skills. I act as a point of leverage for my clients. I AM their Force Multiplier.

The Great Return?

August 24, 2021. At this point in much of North America, we are seemingly resetting for the umpteenth time as we continue to navigate the ongoing saga and impact of COVID-19. The desire and longing for a return to normalcy - the pre-COVID times - is heavy on all of us. Levels of exhaustion, frustration, anxiety, and anger ebb and flow with the fall and rise again of COVID cases. Businesses in all shapes and sizes and in every sector have been similarly been trying to pivot, reconfigure, respond, and stay afloat through all of this.  

At the beginning of this saga back in early 2020, many of us probably operated under an assumption that we could batten down the hatches, stiff upper lip, and ramp up our reserves for a few days, weeks, and maybe even a month or two. But as each successive wave has come and gone and come again, we are increasingly pushing our personal and organizational resilience beyond all reasonable expectation. And maybe that is the key word after all to explain some of our more challenging behaviors and responses since this all started - expectation.  

Regardless of who we are - pro or anti-vax, pro or anti-mask, pro or anti-lockdown - our expectations of what should or should not happen have continuously been confounded.  

Earlier this summer, as I worked with a number of my clients, there were a variety of plans in place to resume on-site operations, meaning that there were expectations that staff were going to return to their normal places of business, offices, or workstations. Some of this was going to coincide with the start of the school year or the start of the next business quarter, all around or about September 1, 2021. Even before the fourth wave of COVID was starting to ramp up in Alberta and Canada, staff in some businesses were pushing back on coming back to their former work environments. A variety of reasons were offered to justify the hesitancy (or even outright refusal) to return to the office - immuno-compromised, child care issues, fear of public transit and potential to acquire COVID, cramped office space, cramped common areas including elevators, etc. Some client organizations have since allowed for voluntary or graduated returns as of September 1. Others have postponed re-launch to October 1 or even into the new year.  Others have been adamant that the return plans remain on schedule. 

Certainly some of the motivation behind a drive to get back to the "office" comes from a desire to return to normal. For some, there almost seems to be a perspective that we shall just force normal back on COVID; we will compel normalcy through force of will and determined leadership. If we think positive thoughts, positive things will happen. In other circumstances, there is a strong belief that those who work at home are really not working.  

What I believe is missing from these assessments, plans, and actions is a much more thoughtful, purposeful, and considered evaluation of the organization's strategy, goals, and culture. There are too many organizations that seem to have a blind belief that bums in seats = success or productivity. Against what metrics? I will certainly grant that the challenge of maintaining organizational culture and team cohesion are manifold in a virtual, Zoom-based environment. Beyond that, some leaders seem to be operating from a standpoint that if I cannot lay eyes on my people at any point in time, I can't TRUST them to be giving me their all.

I would suggest that, as a leader, if you can't trust your staff in their remote work environments, you probably did not have trust in them when they were around the corner from you in the office. I would suggest that, as a leader, using presence in the office as a proxy for productivity was a failure to measure such adequately (if at all) in the past.

I'm not suggesting that a return of an office or work environment is wrong. Rather, I am suggesting that there should be a much more thoughtful, considered, and intelligent evaluation of that option as it relates to the overall strategy of the organization. What will the presence - or absence - from the workplace gain or lose the business? Do we need all or some staff back? Do we need all of our work space as it was in pre-COVID times? If we don't really understand productivity of staff at this point, how do we get a better handle on it now? If you really want to be so bold, ask these leadership questions of yourself - how important are our staff to the achievement of our goals and what am I doing to support their ability to deliver on those goals?

True leadership is not simply about ensuring control over other people. True leadership, in my estimation, is generating and responding to change (planned and unplanned), understanding all the forces at play, having a big picture view, playing the long game, and supporting/influencing others to contribute their best efforts to understandable and shared goals.  

Physical presence in an office cannot and should not be confused with commitment and productivity on the part of your people. I have worked with far too many people who simply put in time at the office while dutifully maintaining a 9-to-5 schedule. In too many other ways they had already retired on the job.  

My recommendation for this present time and moving forward through the continued challenge of COVID is to then get well-grounded in your organizational strategy and objectives, truly understand what it is going to take to succeed despite COVID, and perhaps engage your valued staff as allies in getting there - regardless of or despite where they work.  

A productive return to work is not going to come from simply calling out the troops (or prisoners?) on to the parade ground on September 1. A productive return to work - COVID or no COVID - is going to come from understanding your strategy, understanding productivity and effectiveness, and creating an organizational environment that supports your valued staff committing their time and energy to the cause. 

It's not simply about eyeballing your staff across the hall.  It's About Leadership!

_________________________________________________________

Greg Hadubiak, MHSA, FACHE, CEC, PCC

President & Founder - BreakPoint Solutions

gregh@breakpoint.solutions 

www.breakpoint.solutions 

780-250-2543

Helping leaders realize their strengths and enabling organizations to achieve their potential through the application of my leadership experience and coaching skills. I act as a point of leverage for my clients. I AM their Force Multiplier.

Resurrecting Deming - Again!

Over the life of my career - 25+ years as a public sector leader followed by another 9 years (so far) of executive coaching and management consulting - I have had the privilege to work with a multitude of organizations and leaders in a variety of sectors.  What is somewhat surprising in that leadership journey is how many lessons stand the test of time despite how much we believe the world has changed.  What is far more disappointing, however, is that too many of us continue to make the same wrong assumptions, arrive at the wrong conclusions, look to the same tired "solutions", and experience the same level of frustration that things don't magically get better.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again... 

- and expecting a different result

I'm certain the quote above is one that you have heard many times before and perhaps even used yourself when trying to make your own compelling point.  And it's been around for as many years as I can remember in this or altered version.  So why doesn't remain true and compelling?  What are we failing to learn from our mistakes or more importantly why are we failing to learn from our mistakes as leaders and as organizations?

One of the things that I have come to believe is that you cannot discover these "lessons", learn from those experiences and do different if you lack some form of humility and courage.  

As leaders, it can be far easier on our personal or egos to blame others around us or for a mistake, failure or even disaster than admit that we missed the signs, signals and harbingers of doom.  

Beyond that, we have to recognize and own our larger responsibility as owners, creators and keepers of the systems and processes that our staff have to work with (more on that below). 

And finally we have to demonstrate a commitment to ongoing learning and model a sincere  willingness to really hear what others have to say about what is and what is not happening as it should or we expect for the organization. An unwillingness to be that open or honest can at best reflect naivety, maybe insecurity, and at worst pure arrogance.   

In 1991 to 1993 I had a formative experience and experience through my master's degree.  Through my studies and an internship I had the opportunity to learn from two organizations implementing total quality management.  Through that I became exposed to the work of Dr. W. E. Deming and I further explored his teachings through my thesis on total quality management.  It was eye-opening and his principles really struck a chord with me at the time.  Over the succeeding years I have come back to his basic principles more than once.  I have learned from other leadership guru's as well, but Deming's perspective has had continued value for me.  I want to touch on only a few of his 14 Points with the belief that these have much to inspire those in leadership positions - or those looking for good leadership.

Point Seven - Institute Leadership. 

Dr. Deming calls upon management to lead rather than manage.  Simple statement but what does it really mean for us as leaders?  Well I'm pretty confident that if you were to talk to many of frontline staff and management personnel outside of the executive suite they would provide you with countless examples of where they felt they were being "managed", not "led".  This bias towards "management" is without doubt enhanced by the pressure on organizations to perform and achieve better results.  A typical management response is to exercise greater control and oversight to make sure results get better.  More often than not efforts of this nature only seem to put more barriers in the way of getting good work done - more reports to generate, more signatures to get, more unreasonable timelines to meet, multiple and conflicting demands, and failure to hear and act upon input and recommendations from staff. 

Point Eight - Drive Out Fear.

My past leadership experience is certainly laced with a belief that fear might be an effective tool of leadership.  And maybe it can be in the short-term but not if you are trying to create a high-performing organization for the long-term.  With fear in an organization there cannot be open communication, innovation, and teamwork - and these are all required for an organization to achieve the full measure of its potential.  To my now evolved mind (😀), leadership of any organization - and at all levels of the organization - must actively model open communication, encourage appropriate risk taking and innovation, and promote teamwork from the executive suite through to the front lines of operations.  With fear in place an organization shall continue to squander the full potential of its people and the organization to the detriment of those it purports to serve.

Point Ten - Eliminate Slogans, Exhortations and Targets for the Workforce.

Everybody needs to measure performance.  Deming did not intend, nor do I suggest, that system performance not be evaluated on an ongoing basis.  Rather, what Point Ten addresses is the notion of trying to assess an individual's  performance without reference to an understanding of the system in which that individual works.  If an individual is prevented from achieving higher levels of performance by a system (that management has created or allowed to be created) then performance managing an employee, setting new targets for them to achieve, and giving them "motivational" speeches will have little impact on performance.  It is far more likely that such efforts will actually cause frustration, demoralization and reduced performance.  

Deming's red bead experiment is a great illustration of this principle - given an equal number of red and white beads, an employee is tasked with collecting only white beads with an employer-provided scoop or paddle.  Inevitably, the employee collects some red beads in their assigned task.  As a result of "failing" in their assigned task, the employee may be given further direction by their supervisor, there may be encouragement to do better, they may be applauded if their red bead count has gone down, or they may be chastised if their red bead count goes up.  Regardless, their individual effort and various interventions at the personal level will have no impact on actual outcome.  It's like expecting employee engagement scores in an organization to go up simply by saying that the target should be 10 out of 10 on the next engagement survey.  Only by leadership changing the system and the organizational environment will better, more consistent results be achieved.  I see a strong correlation between Point Ten and the need to Drive Out Fear from an organization as noted earlier.  In fact, I believe that what leaders often create by exhortations to do better is an environment in which results and information are hidden through fear rather than discovered.  And only by discovery can we improve.

Point Twelve - Remove Barriers to Pride of Workmanship.

In this Point, Deming was referring to unclear expectations, lack of timely feedback (or any feedback), lack of training and support, and systems that focused on short-term results rather than long-term goals.  Staff and front-line managers are often frustrated by multiple tasks or changing priorities (see Point Seven) as leaders change focus or react to external stimuli without, it seems, giving due regard to long-term objectives or stated core values.  And unfortunately, more than one of us can relate to the fear that the performance evaluation process creates in us - either as provider or receiver of the experience.  Too often this is because we establish the evaluation process as a one-time event, not as a continual process of discussion, engagement and opportunity.  There is a need too to ensure that the evaluation process becomes an opportunity for leaders and staff alike to identify and invest in skills and intellect.  It is also a great opportunity for leaders to model desired behaviours and reinforce common goals.  On this latter point, I firmly believe that there must be a high degree of visibility and sincere engagement with internal audiences on par with leadership visibility and engagement with external audiences.  Without the kind of internal alignment that comes from such effort the ability to deliver on commitments to external audiences and customers stands on shaky ground.

There certainly is more gold in Deming than I have covered here.  In addition, what this hopefully reinforces, is that we don't need to go looking for "new ideas" on leadership.  There already exists a lot of knowledge - and common sense - upon which to enhance our leadership.  Make it so!

_________________________________________________________

Greg Hadubiak, MHSA, FACHE, CEC, PCC

President & Founder - BreakPoint Solutions

gregh@breakpoint.solutions 

www.breakpoint.solutions 

780-250-2543

Helping leaders realize their strengths and enabling organizations to achieve their potential through the application of my leadership experience and coaching skills. I act as a point of leverage for my clients. I AM their Force Multiplier.