Leadership and Corporate Culture

What is Leadership?

Why is the Leader Important to An Organization?

Levels of Leadership (Jim Collins, HBR, Jan. 2001)

Highly capable individual Contributing team member Competent manager Effective leader – catalyzes commitment to

and vigorous pursuit of a clear & compelling vision, stimulate high performance

Executive – builds enduring greatness through humility and professional wills

What are the Leadership Traits of Highly Productive Organizations?

Leadership Development

Leadership skills

Management skills

Communication skills

Problem identification and solving skills

Strategic development and execution

skills

Leadership Strategies for Productivity Improvement?

Leadership Commitment(Donald N. Sull, HBR, June 2003)

Strategic frame

Resources

Processes

Relationships

Values

What Is Corporate Culture?

Definition of Culture

Observable

• Artifacts and behaviors: symbols, awards,

stories, heroes, slogans, ceremonies

Not Observable

• Values and beliefs

• Underlying assumptions

Purpose of Culture

Organizational socialization

• Formal

• Informal

Behavioral conformity

• Values and beliefs

• Behaviors

Dominant Orientation of Culture

Market and financial-oriented: defined in terms of

customers needs and financial performance

Materials- or product-oriented: defined in terms of

the material it works with or the product it makes

Technology-oriented: defined in terms of the

technology that it uses

People-oriented: defined in terms of how employees

are hired and treated

“Best” Values

They have a “grab-you-by-the heart” quality

They often precede and drive strategy

They are put into place by living them

They enable people at every level to become leaders

They are consistent with the everyday values to which most people aspire

They get managed as proactively as strategies, plans, and budgets.

Robert Waterman, Robert Waterman, What America Does RightWhat America Does Right

What Are the Foundations of A Productivity-Focused Culture?

Strategies to Create A Culture for Productivity Improvement?

Managerial Culture Reinforcement Actions

The behaviors managers measure and control

Managers’ reactions to crises

Modeling and coaching of expected behaviors

Criteria for allocation of rewards

Criteria for selection, promotion, and

termination of employees

Actions to Change Culture

1. Change people’s behaviors through reward,

training, policies, etc.

2. Justify the new behaviors using new culture

artifacts: stories, symbols, rituals, heroes.

3. Communicate the new artifacts widely and

consistently

4. Hire new employees who match the new culture

5. Remove employees whose behaviors deviate

from the new culture values

Making Radical Change

Anticipating,

exploiting, and

creating

“breakpoints”

Paul Strebel, Paul Strebel, BreakpointsBreakpoints

Organizational Transformation Process (John Kotter, Leading Change)

1. Establishing a sense of urgency

2. Creating the guiding coalition

3. Developing a vision and strategy

4. Communicating the change visions

5. Empowering employees for broad-based action

6. Generating short-term wins

7. Consolidating gains and producing more change

8. Anchoring new approaches in the culture

Strategies to Help Employees Embrace A Change Initiative?

Senior Managers

Middle Managers

Front-Line Staff

Organizational Design for Productivity Improvement

Simplify

• Reduce the number of layers

• Reduce and eliminate bureaucracy

• Empower employees Promote cooperation and information sharing

• Teamwork

• Cross-functional teams

• Knowledge and information sharing systems