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The departure of key leaders who played a pivotal role in launching a company can signal a significant shift in organizational dynamics, making it challenging to maintain a strong and cohesive culture. When facing such transitions, companies must take proactive steps to ensure that the core values and ethos they’ve worked hard to foster remain intact.
Below, Forbes Coaches Council members explore actionable strategies they would recommend to a client if their organization were grappling with the departure of influential leaders who helped turn the company into what it is today. From effective communication to investing in employee development, these measures can help a company navigate such transitions while maintaining a strong culture.
1. Talk To Your Employees, And Realign If Needed
If a company’s brand is what clients feel, then culture is what employees feel. Culture is bigger than a few key leaders. Although leaders need to set the tone, create the vision and be role models for the desired culture, employees must buy in and act consistently. If the culture is changing, I would talk with employees to find out why and gather ideas to realign the company’s actions with its intent. - Robin Elledge, Janus Coaching + Consulting
2. Set And Convey Clear Goals To Employees
I would suggest my client do an integration activity to set and convey clear goals to all of the people in the company, explaining how important having a strong culture is to increasing engagement, achieving good results and promoting good relationships among team members. Additionally, it would be necessary to choose new change agents among the leaders who help the company keep its strong values. - Paula Vidal Castelli, Paula Vidal Castelli Intl., LLC
3. Find And Address The Gap Between Words And Actions
Culture is more about actions than it is about words. Even though it is very important to have a clearly defined set of values, vision and expectations, words alone will not create and maintain a strong culture. So when leadership changes cause a culture shift, it is critical to assess and figure out where the gap between words and actions occurred and address it by making appropriate corrective changes. - Lillit Cholakian, NewGen Global Leaders
4. Reaffirm Your Purpose And Values
Revisit your organizational purpose and reaffirm both it and your values with your people. Establishing psychological safety so that people can be vulnerable, encouraging them to share their feelings and to surface issues quickly, and involving your people in finding solutions will demonstrate inclusivity—which engages your people. Ensure your decisions are aligned with your purpose and strategic direction. - Ricky Muddimer, Thinking Focus
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5. Engage Employees In Conversations About The Culture
An initial step is to discover why key leaders are leaving. Concurrently, or soon thereafter, use the processes that are in place to engage employees in conversations about what they love most about the culture and observations about how it is shifting. Should there not be a rich dataset of valuable information, bringing in a third party to lead a discovery process may yield deeper insights. - Carol Geffner, CB Vision LLC.
6. Talk About What You Stand For More Often
An indicator of a strong company culture is that even if the leaders or people change, what the organization itself stands for won’t change. You can call that purpose, core values or even philosophy. The essence is more important than the jargon. If what you stand for is talked about more often, and made more accessible and commonplace, it’s more likely that your strong culture will remain intact. - Vinesh Sukumaran, Vinesh Sukumaran Consulting
7. Identify And Enlist Leaders To Be Culture Champions
Identify leaders who understand the culture, and have a deeper dialogue with them to enlist them as culture champions. Articulate the company’s purpose, key values and future trajectory. Communicate authentically about the exit of key people in line with values. Consistently showcase and recognize employees for demonstrating a positive culture; share key messages through senior leaders and culture champions. - Vandana Vishnu, Center for Creative Leadership
8. Ask ‘What’ And ‘Why’ First
I encourage starting by asking “what” and “why” first: What’s the reason key leaders are leaving? Are departures shifting the culture, or is it the other way around? Either way, this is a great time to assess whether your remaining leaders are authentically engaging with your employees in support of your vision, values and brand promise, and evaluate if it is time to revisit or clarify your company’s “why.” - Barbara Anne Gardenhire-Mills, Purpose-Filled Solutions & Evolutions
9. Celebrate The Features That Represent Your Culture
I would double down on company values. Values drive behavior. Ensuring values are embedded in both formal and informal ways will keep the culture alive. For example, performance management needs to include discussions on values. On an informal basis, I would recommend finding ways to employ or even celebrate the symbols, language, norms or artifacts that have historically represented the culture. - Eugene Dilan, Psy.D., DILAN Consulting Group
10. Build Trust Through Transparent Communication
Culture shifts are not always a bad thing. As a company evolves, so will its culture. The client should focus on a key component for keeping culture intact and building trust. Engage in transparent communication where everyone can unpack existing ways of doing things and contribute toward a plan of action to enhance them. Trust, above all, opens the door for endless opportunities for growth. - Kurline J Altes, KURLINEJSPEAKS LLC
11. Perform An Org Analysis To Identify Focus Areas
Address the change and shift in the culture. Identify the potential impacts of this change. Do an org analysis to identify the areas that should be focused on, and then utilize your change and communication plan to engage with your people and reassure them of how you will address this change. - Joshua Miller, Joshua Miller Executive Coaching
12. Focus On Communication, Values And Systems
Culture shifts, often marked by changes such as founding leaders leaving, require attention to three key principles: First, foster open, honest communication to build trust. Second, focus steadfastly on core values and mission to maintain identity. Third, align systems and structures with the organization’s vision. Implementing these ensures a stronger, more positive workplace culture. - Dr. Flo Falayi, Korn Ferry
13. Mold A Relevant Culture For The Company’s Next Phase
I believe the existing strong culture will not stay intact; it must evolve to stay relevant. Maintaining the status quo is not a good approach. New, onboarding leaders will want to be able to mold a relevant culture for the next phase of the company. To make their mark, they should focus first on strengthening what works well in the culture and not jump into fixing what they don’t like or think is broken. - Isabelle Claus Teixeira, Business and Human Development Consulting Pte Ltd
14. Have Respectful, Frank Discussions
Leading a strong culture is a contact sport. The core values should be restated and defined. New leaders should live these values and spread them throughout the organization. Have respectful, frank discussions to fix problems and reset the culture. Promote resilience during transitions to strengthen the foundation. Maintaining the past while going forward requires unwavering determination. - Lawrence Henderson, BOSS Consulting
15. Consider Why Early Leaders Are Leaving
Leadership shifts are not always a bad thing. If founding or early leaders are leaving, has growth or learning plateaued for them? Some leaders and professionals love the startup phase, but the adult phase is not as fun or exciting. Companies, like humans, have different stages of growth. As a company grows, leaders and culture will shift as the old and new meld to evolve. - Jodie Charlop, Exceleration Partners
16. Revisit The Mission And Values; Update If Necessary
When there is a big change, it’s up to the new leaders to embody opportunity versus negativity or loss. Clarity of focus and communication is key. First, revisit, reemphasize and (if necessary) update the mission, vision and core values so that all are clear. From there, invest in communicating with your team. Encourage ideas, input and constructive feedback that reinforces agile growth and progress. - Meridith Alexander, G.R.I.T. Mindset Academy
17. Listen Aggressively To What Is (And Isn’t) Being Said
Culture, in its simplest form, can be defined as “the way we do things around here.” If culture is changing and leaders are leaving, then open and honest communication with remaining employees is critical. It’s best to be inclusive rather than exclusive. When seeking input, listen aggressively to what’s being said and also what’s not being said. Then, act carefully with intentionality. - Steve Shrout, Steve Shrout Coaching
