Leadership Culture

Leadership Culture – What is leadership culture, which type does your organisation have, and how can you improve it?

Edgar Schein (1985) defines Leadership culture in an organization as being comprised of three elements: Basic assumptions, value and artifacts – with basic assumptions being the most important and in-grained element, and artifacts being the most superficial and easy to change.

Basic Assumptions in Leadership Culture

Basic assumptions evolve in a company after an action is repeatedly performed. These basic assumptions become part of our perception of our collegues and processes, and are so pervasive, they touch upon thought processes such as;

1. What we pay attention to.

2. What things mean.

3. How we should react emotionally.

4. What actions we should take in reaction to day-to-day events.

If you’d like to see a demonstration of different assumptions in action, then I’d ask you to imagine the reaction a Bailiff would have to someone objecting to pay them, and compare this to the reaction a small industrial company would have to someone objecting to pay them. To the bailiff this would be an ordinary and unsurprising occurrence – and they would feel little wrong in continuing to hassle the non-payer for money. On the other hand, a small industrial company would be concerned about maintaining good relationships with customers, and would approach the situation far more sympathetically. Neither reaction is necessarily the universal ‘right’ way to handle this occurrence, this is why different cultures form in the first place.

Values In Leadership Culture

Values are a less permanent form of leadership culture, and thus are more easily changed than assumptions.  Values reflect consensus in the organisation as to how things “ought to be done”. Examples of popular values are:

1. Equal opportunities for all employees regardless of age, race, religion or sexuality.

2. Employees should strive to produce high quality work.

3. Employees should always pursue challenges and opportunities for growth.

Values sound like ‘lip service’ items, but to take ‘pursuing challenges’ as an example – in professional services firms, it is genuinely frowned upon for a member of staff to attempt to stay in their comfort zone and not wish to be promoted further. Values are those beliefs that are commonly held across the company.

Artifacts In Leadership Culture

Artifacts are the most ‘obvious’ and present manifestations of a business’s culture. These include manifestations such as

1. Mission statements.

2. Procedures.

3. Methods of communication.

4. Technology used

5. Business strategy, such as level of customer service

Artifacts are proactively constructed and sculpted, and hence can be controlled easily by management. If however, artifacts that have been over-managed can become in-congruent with the employee’s actual culture – and their influence over organisational culture becomes minimal.

How Can A Leader Change The Leadership Culture?

What this theory demonstrates is that the basic assumptions in a company’s culture need to shift to improve the culture as a whole. This can only be changed through leading by example. This means you need to improve your own leadership skills and display them confidently. If you want to quickly improve your leadership skills then I suggest you check out a cheap product that other leadership professionals and I recommend to our clients: The Ultimate Leadership Guide.

Leadership Characteristics

Defining leadership characteristics is not simple. This is because each leader has his/her own characteristics. However there are some common features required for an exemplary leader. A typical leader should know how to influence their team members to work harder and committed to achieve the overall organizational goals. A leader can be either task oriented or people oriented. Task oriented leader will be interested in training, performance and in winning. Whereas people oriented leaders will concentrate more on inter personal relationships.

1. A leader must have the characteristics which he/she wants to incorporate into his/her team. Discipline, self confidence etc are the essential qualities of a leader. As he/she is the role model for the followers, his/her movement will be keenly watched by others. Therefore a leader must carefully behave in a way they wish to be emulated.

2. Leaders are not born and they are made by hard work. Hence hard work and intelligence are the important leadership characteristics. A leader must take decisions after analyzing each and every aspect of the situation and must be able to use common sense in accomplishing complex tasks. They must also know how to select right strategy to tackle the situation. Adaptability to various situations and willingness to accept changes are crucial to leadership success.

3. All excellent leaders regularly invest in themselves. Leaders have often sought out useful leadership books and learning material that will help them along the path to happiness and leadership. These days, many e-courses tend to be rather disappointing, but if you don’t like the idea of having to read through 30 leadership books then you should take a look at The Ultimate Leadership Guide . Its an excellent base upon which you can build your personal development – and contains the core teachings from 30 top leadership books. I use the electronic version which sits on my desktop, to constantly refresh these principles throughout my working week. Doing so multiplies the effectiveness of literature because being able to re-visit means you’re far more likely to remember infomation and find ways to apply it.

4. A good leader must be able to motivate his/her team members to get success. They must create task excitement and confidence in accomplishing a task. They must be easily approachable to his subordinates. A great leader is one who is a master in the art of communication. He/she must be ready to listen to the words of his/her team members. Two way communication is therefore essential in leadership.

4. A leader must be able to push the entire effort of his team members. They should have the capacity to use the full potentiality of the members. They must give opportunities to the team members to prove their leadership skills. A good leader should motivate his team people to use the opportunities correctly.

6. A great leader is one who guides a team and not rules the team. Providing a trusting and open environment to the team members is one of the crucial leadership characteristics. They should offer an environment to the team members where they can learn and grow. An excellent leader will have the strong sense of vision.

Apart from the above characteristics mentioned, a good leader must have the following characteristics:

7. Self esteem. Self esteem is an important quality of a leader which will help to face tough challenges.

8. Need to achieve. a leader must be goal oriented and must be able to strive hard to achieve the goals. Heshe should be ready to take risks. A good leader is one who takes moderate risks and not extreme risks.

 

8. Screening for opportunity. A leader must have the ability to screen the opportunities as useful and useless. They must also be able to grasp any small opportunity missed by their competitors.

9. Optimism. A good leader must be an optimist. They should be able to see problems as challenges. A great leader will always view an obstacle as a way to new direction.

10. Courage. An outstanding leader is one who has courage to face challenges. Risk-taking is a crucial characteristic of a leader. They must be able to make changes and to accept changes.

Success With Organizational Leadership

As a Marine Aviator, business owner, and consultant, I have dedicated many years to honing my leadership and development skills – both organizational and personal. In my experiences I discovered three simple principles that, when properly applied, will make your leadership journey incredibly rewarding.

• Number One – it is all about you

• Number Two – it is all about them

• Number Three – it is all about the organization

I confirmed these proven principles in interviews with over one-hundred successful leaders. Here is an overview for you.

Organizational Leadership Principle Number One – It is all about you.

You must make the conscious choice to accept the leadership role. It is not enough to occupy a position of leadership (as defined by a box on the organization chart with your name on it). In fact, many people have made the choice to lead, exercising vast influence, without being in a so-called “leadership” position. In making the choice to lead, you take responsibility for yourself first, which means you must commit to working on your own personal and professional development. If you cannot, or will not, lead and develop yourself, you cannot lead and develop others. You must recognize that you will take some hits in your visible leadership role but you must also not shy away from them. You must realize that your decisions may not always be popular, but understand this comes with the territory. You will discover the rewards of leading are well worth it..

The three essential elements of this first principle that you must master are:

• Integrity – Do you deliver on your commitments?

• Technical competence – Do you understand the tasks?

• Setting the example – Are you a proper role model?

Once you accept the first principle and embrace these three elements you are ready to move on to the next principle.

All excellent organisational leaders regularly invest in themselves. Leaders have often sought out useful leadership books and learning material that will help them along the path to happiness and leadership. See Leadership Training and Leadership Coaching for details of programmes help mere managers become highly effective leaders..

Organizational Leadership Principle Number Two – It is all about them.

In this case, them refers to those we lead. Your purpose as a leader is to engage and motivate your employees to bring 100% of themselves to work, every day. As their leader, it is your responsibility to create the right environment for them to motivate themselves and to exceed your expectations. Your focus should be on helping people perform more effectively and efficiently. This helps them become more productive and advance in their careers. It also shows them that you care about them.

The three essential elements of this principle are:

• Self-awareness – Do you know what you do well?

• Taking care of people - Do you look out for them?

• Developing new leaders – Do you help people advance?

Applied properly, this principle will help you in the long run as your employees become more efficient, more productive, and more effective. They will require less supervision–which brings us to principle number three.

Organizational Leadership Principle Number Three – It is about the organization.

There are unethical and misguided bosses who think the organization exists to support them. This arrogance ultimately brings failure. We come together in associations or businesses to accomplish something that we could not accomplish alone. Your employees give you their time and you compensate them with standard benefits. As a leader within your organization, you must recognize that you are part of the organization, but not the organization itself.

Investing your ego and ambition in your job is fine–to a point. In the extreme, this creates an overbearing autocratic leader. The truly effective leader knows he or she is an active member within the team and always works to better the team. Real leaders have a forward looking orientation and work to build the culture of their group. It is the insecure leader who wants their successor to fail. Any leader who fails to support an employee–for any reason–hurts the organization, therefore violating Principle Number Three.

The essential three elements of this law are:

• Commander’s intent – Where are we going and why?

• Culture and Values – What makes this place tick?

• Practice – Do we work to get better at what we do?

Clearly, there are many layers to each of these laws. But the first step to higher leadership effectiveness is to make the choice to be a leader. Then, focus on your people and help them succeed. Together, you can successfully advance your organization into the future you articulate. Once you embrace these three laws, you are on your way to becoming a truly successful leader and you will create a thriving organization as you navigate your way through the tumultuous sea to the land of new opportunities – new opportunities not seen by many.

Author: Wally Adamchik, Founder of Firestarter Speaking and Consulting, helps organizations apply the leadership philosophies he learned in the Marines, and refined in business, to their pursuit of excellence. Read about his book at http://www.noyelling.net and leadership development.

Leadership Coaching

All excellent leaders regularly invest in themselves. Leaders have often sought out useful leadership books and learning material that will help them along the path to happiness and leadership. These days, many e-courses tend to be rather disappointing, but I’m pleased to recommend one e-course that is still respected by leadership professionals such as myself: Best Year Yet®. It is an on-line goal orientated leadership programme, which provides you with core habits, a new way of thinking and an ability to act on the things you have planned for to make you successful. it can be a self-directed learning programme, or you can opt for the support of a dedicated ‘on-line’ or ‘face-to-face’ coach.

About Leadership Coaching

Leadership coaches are experienced individuals whom charge wealthy clients between $50 and $500 per hour for their services. Similar to consultants – leadership coaches will analyse your personal situation and problems, and us their own tools and experience to produce solutions.

Coaching and Leadership have always been intertwined due to the very personal nature of leadership, and how it is best taught through either self reflection and literature, or through having a guru.

Is having your own leadership coach all that its cracked up to be? Or are they just overpaid individuals who simply tell you to get up off your chair and speak louder?

Is It Worthwhile?

I personally believe that, like consultants – leadership coaches are worthwhile for medium to large organisations where even tiny incremental changes at the top can increase profits by 5 figures or more. Without this scale, leadership coaches can drain resources at perhaps a time when budgets are tight and cash flow is poor, so choosing the right leadership coach and right level of coaching intervention is very important.

Is There A Cheaper Alternative?

A fresh alternative to expensive traditional leadership coaching is to join the private membership club of one of the world-famous personal development gurus. You’re going to get the same quality of material and ideas, and in much higher volume, which however means that YOU have to decide which pieces of knowledge are relevant to your situation to act on. There are several exclusive communities out there, my favourite being Patric Chan’s Success Trace Private Membership Club. It’s just £3 for the first month and £10 GBP thereafter which means that a years membership to – quite frankly – an impressive resource, is available a a price lower than one hour with a face-to-face leadership coach.

Alternatively, you can sign up to a proven coaching programme ideally suited to the Leadership-expert™ global leadership audience. Full details are given here.

Conclusion

Leadership coaches are becoming more prevalent now that companies are becoming leadership orientated and aware that autocratic leadership is not always the most appropriate way of running a business. Looking at the other options in a thorough and methodical way is something a standard CEO is not trained for. This is where leadership coaches really come into play.

If, for now, you just want to opt for self-directed learning, then I encourage you to subscribe for free to access the wealth of leadership training material I have published on the site and in my monthly newsletter, with the primary objective of helping you to become an authentic and accomplished leader.

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