Leaders and Culture

Last week I ended the post with a question - 'Are your frontline leaders ready?'

This is the reason I ask.

The relationship between culture and leadership is, in my mind, clear. When you have a strong culture, leaders are built in that culture and understand how to lead according to the organizational purpose, values, and strategy. When you have strong leaders, they reinforce the culture, and create new leaders that do the same. It becomes self-reinforcing.

This, of course, can also work in the reverse. Unfortunately.

We all have stories of strong leaders pushing against bad cultures. We've seen strong cultures ruined by bad leaders. Sometimes, there are good intentions that result in poor outcomes. For example, leader selection based on technical knowledge only. Someone assumes a leadership position because they know the most about the product, the platform, or the service. Certainly they must be a great leader. We know this not to always be true. My point is not to devalue technical knowledge. Nor is it to suggest strong technical experts can't be amazing leaders. It's mostly to suggest that, at times, it is an inexact science.

So, how do you ensure a more intentional leadership culture?

Start by asking:

• Do we have a formal leadership standard?

• Does that leadership standard align to stated corporate values?

• Are our corporate values integrated into broader performance management?

• Do we value technical leadership or business performance over other dimensions?

• Do we have a succession plan / planning process?

The answers to these questions will get you started on the path of creating an intentional leadership culture.

How are you creating a culture of leaders and leadership?