Dennis Foo, Business Coach and Strategic Advisor, Pu Xin Aspira Advisory | China and Hong Kong. More than 25 years of leadership experience.
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How are your strategic plan, leadership and growth road maps aligned and integrated with the organization's culture? What is critical to building an organization that can lead over the next 10 to 30 years in the marketplace?
We often hear "culture eats strategy for breakfast," a quote made famous by Peter Drucker, and since then, many business leaders and academicians have also quoted this phrase. Strategy is the road map on where to go, while culture helps you to get there. Both must work and integrate. Given that this is so critical, why is it that business leaders don't put much emphasis on it?
I recently worked with a company that wanted to know more about developing their leadership team further, as there were gaps in ownership, focus and drive in their work. They questioned whether their people were suitable for their jobs and leadership roles. They felt that the team needed more training to help them develop further.
These are good things for them to think about. But besides training, what about their culture? Is the team aware of the company's purpose, values, expected behaviors, mission and vision? How does their work align with the company's overall culture and vision?
As in most other discussions I've had with others, the response was "We have all this established in the HR policy." Yes, but how does the team respond when there is a crisis? How is it aligned with how the company operates and how the people act and think about the growth road map and strategic organizational priorities?
Why is it that we don't hear much about an organization's culture when we ask about organizational business challenges? The discussion is always centered on the competitive landscape, market, strategies, innovation, execution or people-capabilities gaps. Much less or almost nothing is said about the culture or what is needed to glue everything together: the ethos or principles that gel and get everything to work together for some higher mission or vision.
Why is that so? What should the leader of a company's key focus be? What are the key questions to ask in building the right culture? How can culture affect an organization's operations and be critical to its success, growth and future?
For many, culture is considered too subjective or is not generally understood for its impact on the business or employees' work motivation and performance. While culture is key to the sustained success of organizations, it can also be vague or confusing to elaborate on or to understand, let alone affect it fully across an organization. In most instances, too, it is considered the work of HR.
Consider the present challenges posed by the pandemic and how it gave rise to the phenomena of quiet quitting and the Great Resignation. Solving this is about much more than remuneration, work flexibility or worker empowerment; it's about company leadership and company culture. How does the organization respond to the complexities and intricacies of the changing business environment brought about by digitalization; supply chain shifts; geopolitics; climate change; social demands; people, customers and shareholders; and economic volatility? Culture goes much further than anything in a business.
Leaders need to consider culture beyond just employment or binding people together and see it as the fundamental principles for how the organization operates, behaves and strategizes by answering these questions:
Leadership: What culture do you want to build? Why does this organization exist? Who owns or should own the culture-change agenda? What are the risks of not actively managing the culture? How can the leader affect the culture for success in the organization?
Organizational Alignment: What critical behaviors must be established and communicated? What are the values and behaviors that must weave into the culture? How aligned and connected are the organizational strategies, processes and initiatives to the culture? What would the organization do if someone did not do as the culture said?
People: Are the right people on your leadership team aligned with the expected behaviors, strategies and plans? Do the leadership team members support each other in developing the key priorities for success? Is there trust, commitment and accountability within the leadership team? Are there clear communication disciplines to communicate, evaluate, debate and decide? How is the organization building its team or workforce, from recruitment to interviewing and onboarding?
Key Stakeholders: Is the culture clear and known to all customers, partners, investors, suppliers, board members and other key stakeholders? How would the organization's people and key stakeholders describe the organization's culture in 3 to 5 years? What would happen if there were issues or crises or the leader went away?
Strategic Road Map: Is culture part of the growth and strategic road map? Does the brand positioning or promise communicate what the culture is saying? Do the operating systems and processes support the culture it wants everyone to know, accept and believe? What would happen in the marketplace if the culture doesn't align with its vision and strategy? What aspects of the culture are helping or affecting the way the business operates, strategic execution and team communication?
The organizational culture journey is not a one-off thing; neither is it one that is visual or just something nice on the organization's office wall. It is embedded and fully engrained across the organization, from its vision, values, mission and brand promise to the CEO and leadership team's actions, operating systems, processes and execution metrics.
Organizational culture is about how things get done and encompasses the values, techniques and procedures based on the organization's policies. The shared values bind everyone together regardless of differences in religion, ethnicity, ideas, experiences and backgrounds. It instills purpose, a sense of value and shared commitment. It affects accountability, team development, communication, relationships, values and principles, expectations and the overall outcomes of an organization.
Culture helps support the organization's most important asset, its people, in growing further, which positions the organization for further success and growth.
What about your thinking regarding culture? What focus must you work on if your leadership team collaboration is challenging?
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