Have you ever come across a leader who always inspired you? and still does? and may be also someone who is the worst example of leadership for you?
I am guessing that the answer is yes. Have you ever wondered how these leaders impact the company and their people? How do they impact the working environment and culture? Why are they the way they are?
Every company has a culture of its own. This a cliche, but what is interesting is to observe how these cultures develop. Many times one can find different cultures within the same company. Business unit A following one culture and Business unit B following the other culture. While it is inherently obvious that leaders impact the culture to a great extent, exactly how such cultures come into play is a more complicated dynamics to get one's head around.
Most companies follow a set of principles or a set of values to ensure that the basic grain of culture stays the same. How well is such a guideline adhered to depends both on who the company choses to be its leaders and how the company steers the leaders towards following its culture?
One comes across inspiring leaders, motivating leaders but also leaders who could be information-hoarders (and hence power-seeking), could be fickle minded (and hence changing their thoughts every second). Most people perceive leaders in a very individualistic way, however their are some leaders who are always seen in the same light by the many people.
Companies have a higher responsibility to train their leaders to live up to the values, and if the leaders don't do so; then find a way to punish or to motivate. Failure to do this leads to what we started off in the beginning. Multiple cultures mushroom within the same company leading to long term problems and a company culture of competitiveness rather than collaboration. Eventually this impacts how the processes work, leading to more non lean processes, increased politics and an eventual hit to the bottom line.
Increased transfer costs, lack of transparency and information hoarding leaders are all byproducts of a competitive culture. 'Togetherness is better', said Simon Sinek, one of the most thought provoking leadership speakers of our times. However one question that companies need to ask themselves every now and then is, 'How together are we really?'
One of the wise persons once said that sometimes it is better to let two parts of the same company drift apart and then eventually they find a path to converge. Interesting thought - yet to be explored!
What is it that can steer leaders and people in a single direction? People themselves? education? a suitable environment? policies and guidelines that reward the right behaviour and punish the wrong? all of it? Every factor plays a role here. The starting point, however, is always the hiring process. Hire the right people who match with your company values and live values in their daily life. Right people from the start help build a strong company culture and foundation.
