Leadership Cultures and Their Effect on the Organization – Finale

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For the last five posts, I’ve detailed six different leadership cultures. You may have seen yourself or your organization in one of these cultures. Unfortunately, many leaders don’t understand that they are in a particular situation. But, it falls to the organization’s leader to determine the type of leadership culture that exists. Unlike the overall organizational culture which can be driven by different influences, the leadership culture is usually a direct result of the senior leader’s style. Therefore, it should be easier to change.

Leaders should:

1. Look at the organization and ask these questions. Some of these may be difficult to answer, or the answer may be difficult to accept, but the leader must be brutally honest.

a. Do people in the organization effectively interact?

b. Are people looking for ways to improve their jobs and the                              organization?

c. Do subordinates feel free to bring problems to their leaders?

d. Do leaders hear of problems from subordinates or do those subordinates make an effort to keep problems quiet?

e. Is it clear who the leaders are in my organization?

f. If the senior leader died tomorrow, who would lead the organization and would the transition be smooth?

2. Compare the answers with the descriptions of the various types of leadership cultures to see what culture exists in their organization.

3. Discuss the results with the leadership team. This is probably one of the most difficult steps because it may mean admitting that you need to change your leadership style. But a sign of a good leader is the ability to make course corrections when they are required.

This post is taken from the mini-book Leadership Culture and Its Effect on Strategic Planning and Leadership Development. Learn more at http://www.planleadexcel.com/Products/copypreptolead.html.