Effective Leaders Echo the Corporate Culture

Dale Howe, Leadership Consultant, Mentor, and Life Coach.

Leaders that echo the corporate culture produce a harmonious work environment.

There are many, many philosophies of corporate culture and leadership. Each focuses on particular styles or skills. Understanding the distinctive qualities of current, emergent, and previous cultures allows the manager to lead more effectively by avoiding leadership styles that are inconsistent with the corporate culture.

Discovering Corporate Culture

Several years ago, I took a position as the new Executive Director of a plateaued nonprofit. The directors stated that they wanted to expand the constituency and the services that the organization provided. However, whenever I presented ideas for new strategies, the Chairman disapproved and the other board members sat in silence. After a few board meetings, I realized that the directors echoed the corporate culture but I did not. My inexperience in leadership had led me into a patriarchal corporate culture. My options were:

• resign and find a corporate culture the was more like mine;
• adopt that culture and maintain the status quo; or
• invest years of work in order to bring about change.

I decided that it was time for me to invest the time to learn how to adapt to cultures and how to lead people into healthier corporate cultures.

Corporate Culture Defined

Corporate culture influences every aspect of a firm’s activity. It has been described as:

The way things get done around here (Marvin Bower, quoted by T.E. Deal and A.A. Kennedy, Corporate Cultures: The Rites and Rituals of Corporate Life, 2000).

A pattern of shared basic assumptions that the group learned as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way you perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems (Edgar Schein, Organizational Culture and Leadership , 1992).

Pervasive, deep, largely subconscious, and tacit code that gives the "feel" of an organization and determines what is considered right or wrong, important or unimportant, workable or unworkable in it, and how it responds to the unexpected crises, jolts, and sudden change (BusinessDictionary.com). New books, such as, Tribal Leadership (Dave Logan, John King, & Halee Fischer-Wright, 2008) and Transparency (Warren Bennis, Daniel Goleman, James O'Toole, 2008) focus on the issues of identifying corporate culture and encourage leaders to develop cultural intelligence (CQ).

Emerging and Receding Cultures

Corporate cultures emerge from the larger social context, either in agreement with the dominant culture or in reaction to it. As long as the surrounding culture is healthy and able to resolve problems, the corporate culture will be an extension of it. However, if the surrounding culture is unable to resolve its problems, the corporate culture will reflect a new solution or revert to older patterns. These emerging and receding levels follow a predictable pattern of cultural development, which will not culminate in perfection but will continue to develop indefinitely ( Clare W. Graves, "Human Nature Prepares for a Momentous Leap," The Futurist, 1974).

People are drawn to a value system because it "feels right" to them. The self-evident truths are called memes; a word created by Richard Dawkins to describe "a unit of cultural transmission, or a unit of imitation" (Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene, 1976).

The Best Corporate Culture

One corporate culture is not inherently better or worse than another. Each has its own set of strengths and weaknesses. The strengths arise from its ability to solve problems that other corporate cultures are unable to address. The weaknesses arise from its inability to see the problems that it has created by its own priorities. Each culture rejects the others (because of the inherent weakness of each culture) and tends to believe that its own values are the best.

While all cultures serve a purpose, one culture may be a better fit than others when considering its position in the marketplace. Corporate cultures perceived as "very different" are labeled "old fashioned," often marginalized, or at best, limited to niche markets. Organizations with "slightly different" cultures are seen as innovative, insightful, trendsetting, and avant-garde.

A note about the seventh culture: The seventh level of cultural development recycles many of the values of the first culture but globally rather than locally. The eighth level will revisit the second level but again globally rather than locally. Cultures one through six comprise the first tier, seven through twelve comprise the second tier, and so forth. Each tier takes a broader view of human development.

Conflicting Cultures

The value systems of the organization and the leader must fit together like a "hand in glove." A leader’s personal culture that conflicts with the organization will be unsuccessful or even destructive to their leadership style.

Leaders tend to prefer their personal culture and reject cultures that are different from their own. They reject previous cultures because they recognize the weaknesses of the culture and they reject subsequent cultures because they do not understand them. Furthermore, some leadership cultures stand in opposition to others.

• Expert-type leaders oppose Survivor-type leaders because Expert-type leaders seek order and meaning, whereas Survivor-type leaders live by instinct.
• Achiever-type leaders oppose Elder-type leaders because Achiever-type leaders seek change, whereas Elder-type leaders seek to maintain the status quo.
• Peer-type leaders oppose Warrior-type leaders because Peer-type leaders seek reconciliation, whereas Warrior-type leaders seek winning at all cost.

Solutions offered by a leader will "feel right" to the group but is likely to be rejected by the other cultures. For example, in dealing with adversaries:

• survivors let them perish.
• elders assimilate them into the community.
• warriors kill or enslave the enemy.
• bureaucrats negotiate a treaty.
• achievers outperform their competition.
• peers lobby for sympathetic legislation.
• catalysts resolve the motives for aggression.

A corporate culture composed of first and second tier values is weakened by the first tier’s rejection of the second tier’s "lofty ideals" and the second tier’s frustration with the "narrow-mindedness" of the first tier.

Analogous Cultures

Alternating cultures reinforce one another because they value self-expression and self-sacrifice, respectively. Survivor, warrior, and achiever leaders are individual-oriented and seek self-expression. Elder, expert, and peer leaders are group-oriented and value self-sacrifice.            

Similarities in analogous culture may cause confusion when observers seek to identify the corporate culture. For example, elders, experts, and peers all value family relationships but for different reasons. Elders value family because of blood relationships; experts value families because it is an orderly way to raise children; peers redefine family as "those who care about me." On the other hand, survivors devalue the family because it draws on limited resources; warriors devalue the family because it restricts self-indulgent behavior; achievers devalue the family because it includes responsibilities that might limit opportunities.

Caught or Taught

Corporate culture can be caught or taught. In most organizations, the culture is unstated and must be discovered by observing the behaviors of its members. Cultural Intelligence (CQ) "involves using your senses to register all the ways that the personalities interacting in front of you are different from those in your home culture yet similar to one another. Only when conduct you have actually observed begins to settle into patterns can you safely begin to anticipate how these people will react in the next situation." (P. Christopher Earley and Elaine Mosakowski, "Cultural Intelligence," Harvard Business Review, October 2004)

Expressing Corporate Culture

Corporate culture is formally expressed in vision statements, mission statements, philosophies, and statements of core values. For example, Whole Foods lists its core values as:  

• selling the highest quality natural and organic products available
• satisfying and delighting our customers
• supporting team member happiness and excellence
• creating wealth through profits & growth
• caring about our communities & our environment
• creating ongoing win-win partnerships with our suppliers.

In 2006, CEO John Mackey spoke at the Tribal Gathering of Whole Foods Market. He described the model of cultural development discovered by Clare Gravesand expanded by Spiral Dynamics. He stated, "I believe Whole Foods Market is a Yellow, Integral organization [seventh level]." Few organizations adopt this corporate cultural , which makes it a valuable case study.

The Next Step

Professionals are typically introduced to leadership during their experience in the culture of bureaucracies (i.e., educational institutions), which emphasize positional authority. While positional leadership remains a valid means of building an orderly society, the predominant culture of Corporate America has moved into free enterprise. Further, the culture of the interest group is growing quickly, especially among younger generations, which often comprise the largest group of new employees in an organization.

Professionals who are struggling to grow their firm to the next level must:

• identify their corporate culture and discern whether there is any discontinuity between the corporate culture and culture of their marketplace;
• identify their personal preferences for leadership style and discern whether there is any discontinuity between the corporate culture and their preferred leadership style;
• decide whether the corporate culture, their leadership style, or both need to be changed;
• create a plan for change.

Finally, even small professional service firms will have a spectrum of cultures within the workforce. Leaders must develop the "cultural intelligence" needed to discern and motivate individuals based upon the worker’s cultural rewards.

Dale Howe is an accomplished leader, mentor, life coach, and public speaker. He serves a variety of professionals who seek to become stronger leaders and provides mentoring in the Professional Leadership Program at the University of North Texas. As a communications professional, he frequently speaks to attorneys about leadership issues, creates and presents trial graphics, writes Visual Persuasion (a newsletter about courtroom visual communication), and is a member of the Demonstrative Evidence Specialists Association. Previously, Dale provided leadership to plateaued and declining nonprofit organizations in order to renew their vision and mission. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Education and was conferred a Master of Theology from Dallas Theological Seminary. The scope of Dale’s leadership is international to interpersonal.