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The Director's Special Cut: The Naked Leader - Part 5
Leadership of Culture...

By David Taylor

Published: Friday 12 July 2002

The Naked Leader - Part 5 align=left HSPACE=10>

Columnist David Taylor, in this final extract from his first book, considers how we must change our teams and working relationships...

Recapture The Magic

Go into any new company, one that is just starting out. Witness the enthusiasm, energy and excitement as the founders discuss their dreams, shape their future and make their plans a positive reality.

Feel the culture of a new project at its launch - a new team comes together for the first time, full of hope and expectation at the success ahead of them.

Experience a company as it grows fast. See the ideas, instinct and imagination flow through everyone involved, like a collective heartbeat of inspiration. It is a healing process, providing an atmosphere of certainty in the destiny that is being shaped by constructive forces.

Go into any large company, one that has been established for a while. Introduce a management initiative, call it total quality anything, or continuous improvement, or worse still, business process reengineering, then stand back and watch. The blame starts slowly at first, then grows, fast. It eats its way through an organisation, freezing new ideas, initiative and action in its wake. It is like a virus of negativity. War breaks out as everyone focuses on saving costs, avoiding failure and rooting out anyone who dares to make a mistake. It is a harming process, providing an atmosphere of inevitability in the disaster that is being shaped by destructive forces.

It is no-one's fault of course, rather a harsh reality - when organisations reach a certain size they stop looking at how to expand and actioning ideas that will drive the company forward, and instead start to look at cost savings, process improvement and efficiencies.

Most of these companies have forgotten why they exist, and have certainly lost sight of any sense of compelling destiny. Their corporate imagination becomes totally utilised in survival through mistake avoidance and problem solving. People become scared to make any decision, take any actions, and conformity becomes all-pervasive. The positive spirit that was present all those years ago has died, and the soul of the company is black.

These are the companies that said you can never sell insurance over the phone, that direct banking was sure to fail, that shouted with pride that no-one would ever make money over the internet.

It will be organisations that drive forward with a positive, compelling and visionary agenda that will thrive in the future. And their spirit will soar.

Everyone writes about Cultural Transformation. Academic tomes have been written on the subject. The question is, are you brave enough to do it, in reality.

Real cultural transformation requires openness, honesty and trust, and can only be developed by throwing out the traditional culture of blame and investing time in building a positive, transformed environment.

This is the antidote to negativity, and it will dramatically increase staff loyalty, motivation and retention.

Cultural transformation means different things to different people and what works in one company may not in another. It is important to set your own transformational agenda, and to focus on the issues and needs in your environment.

A good starting point is to revive, review and restate your organisational objectives. Ensure they become a set of deeply held beliefs that guide you towards meeting your aims while trusting and respecting each other.

Involve everyone in deciding a code of ethics and values for the future. This will help secure ownership and commitment across the whole team. Be consistent - if, as their leader, you once stray from these values, you risk losing your followers.

Values such as openness, trust and loyalty are usually high on the list of companies who have started on this exciting path. One I worked with recently even included fun, and why not? In many departments people seem to be actively encouraged to leave their personalities, and sense of self, at home in the morning.

Combine this with widespread and sincere effort to encourage and develop people through coaching and support. This will promote involvement, real empowerment and personal growth by strengthening people's inner belief systems and self-confidence.

These are some ways of starting towards the aims of cultural transformation, to create a community of purpose where people enjoy work, where they utilise their talents to best effect because they want to, and where they are recognised and rewarded for the contributions they make.

Cultural transformation addresses the very heart and soul of a team, department or organisation. It is a prerequisite to success in the new global economy, where our people are our only unique currency.

When successful the rewards - personal, team and corporate - are enormous. It can, however, be a dangerous path - for such action, although most people and companies know it is the right thing to do, is still very rare. It calls for thinking way beyond the old management competencies of planning, organising and control. It calls for visionary thinking, persistent resolve and a laser focus on success. Above all else, it calls on you becoming a true leader - the big question is, are you ready to step forward and make that difference?

How your team perform, and are perceived, in your organisation depends more on the identity, attitudes and behaviour of your people than on any other single factor. It is time to liberate their aspirations, their potential, and to ignite the human spirit.

We hope you have enjoyed this serialisation - let us know your thoughts by posting a Reader Comment.

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