How does leadership influence the culture of an organization?

1. Walk the Talk People observe what you do, not just what you say and the values of the leader, not just what they say, While Enron C.E.O. Kenneth Lay and his management team were stealing from shareholders, many of his traders were laughing how they were going to bankrupt little old ladies for their heating bills. This is the toughest part of leadership. Having worked with people who wrote books on the subject, I can tell you that often times their actions did not match their words and the affect was that a number of people had no respect for them. When you say you are going to do something, you need to follow through and do.

2. Rewards and enforcement are a function of ethics.

We value what we recognize. How are people rewarded or recognized? For instance, if you want collaboration and teamwork and then reward people for 'hitting their numbers' then their energies will be on what they are recognized for. Jim Goodnight from SAS enforces that people only work37.5 hours a week because they will be burned out if they work late hours and are therefore less productive. If 'yes' people are promoted, then the culture will see that conforming is the only way to succeed and you will create a hierarchical culture.

3. Be Passionate Passion is contagious and people like to be part of it. As the saying in the Marine Corp. leadership program goes, "People will follow you because they have to or because they want to and who do you want with a gun at your back?" When you inspire people to make change, you literally reprogram their brains and they will take ownership to ensure success.

4. Get Networked with the Organization Many senior leaders are very removed from the front-lines, which is literally where the tire hits the road. These are the people who ultimately create the culture. Many leaders really only interact with their direct reports, which gives them a skewed sense of what is going on. What is really happening at the front lines of the organization? Who are the enablers and resisters in the organization? That is the one advantage of promoting within the organization - they know the people. Of course, the problems within the organization may call for new leadership. Either way it is important to be networked in the culture. There is the culture you have and the culture many leaders think they have.

A number of years ago, I heard this story from a client. He was upset that the organization was getting rid of their smoking rooms because smoking was being banned by law from the entire building. "Even though I don't smoke," he told me. "I was amazed by what was happening in there. People were really talking without regards to title because they had one thing in common - an addiction. One day a Senior Vice President came to me and told me about this guy he was talking to who had a number of very good suggestions regarding labor relations he wanted to implement. He asked me who he was, I looked it up and found out he was part of the custodial staff. He was literally the janitor."

Leaders need to remove the layers around them and build in "smoking rooms".

5. Communicate clearly It may sound like an obvious statement but in the absence of clear communication there is unclear and informal communication, i.e. gossip. Gossip can undermine any change and have a negative impact on the culture. People appreciate honest and straightforward communication, even when it is negative. The worst part is not knowing.

Hi All

True, honest, and effective leadership has got the potential to transform a sick industry into a flourishing best place to work, as we have seen scores of examples in the past, in that aspect.    

Vijay

AMO

Leadership sets the trend

And stimulate activity

Wise leadership is everything

The company leadership are the ones that have the biggest influence on corporate culture. Whatever they start doing and promote will soon become a tradition or a habit within the organization no matter if we are talking about positive or negative habits or attitudes.

That's why whenever a company wants to change, or re-shape the culture the main influencers and the ones that should be deeply and actively involved in the process are the leadership of the company.

 Culture Dramatically Impacts the Success Rate You Achieve

The culture of your organization dramatically impacts the success rate you achieve. I am not just talking about one particular project when I say this. This goes for all the projects going on inside the organization. All culture means is in what manner things are performed in the organization. Culture will affect projects in many ways.

 Are Your Processes Good?

 Make sure your organization has effective processes in place for the people to be guided by. This will be the most important factor in the success of a project. When your organization uses an effective project-management process, it will have success more often on any of the projects it undertakes.  The whole project team typically understands how to develop and go by a plan, and should know how to utilize the general processes to successfully scope out changes, deal with issues and effectively cope with risk.

 Control

 Some organizations have the processes mentioned above but their people do not follow them. Simply put, control is the function of management to see the people are doing the things they should be doing. If the organization's management structure is searching out projects and involved in them, and your project managers are making sure the necessary processes are being followed, then the organization will be more successful. On the other hand if each of the project managers are left on their own and are only supported in a disorganized fashion, you will be at risk for failing big time.

 Training

 There are those organizations that do not do a good job training their project managers. Their overall training is usually not the best either. When your project managers lack the proper skills, you will be more likely to fail than to succeed.

 What their Roles Are

 When the organizations are successful the people understand what their roles are with the various projects and the duties they are supposed to perform. This not only involves the clients, but the stakeholders and sponsors too. The sponsors need to watch over the quality of their project in the organization. If the project manager is left in a vacuum when the projects are going on then the organization will not have success on a continual basis.

 Culture plays the more major role in whether your organization can be successful with its projects. If the projects are not finished in a successful manner, the project managers are not the ones to blame. They are working within a culture that is not supporting them enough in their efforts. All of top management must evaluate the effectiveness of the culture involved with the failing projects. If the culture does not change the project managers will continue to have a hard time succeeding.

 Your organization structure could hamper you from having success too. This structure usually sets the way for how effectively you work on the projects and how well you can share resources with other organiza

Successful/effective leadership which comes top-down will have the power and influence to change almost anything and everything in the organization