leadership culture - a case study using a leadership culture survey

7/30/2019 Leadership Culture - A Case Study Using A Leadership Culture Survey

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Flexibility,Agility,Innovation(Part2)LeadershipCulture ACaseStudyUsingTLCsLeadershipCultureSurvey

ByBobAndersonFounder,CEOTheLeadershipCircle

Lastmonth

we

discussed

how

The

Leadership

Circle

can

be

used

to

create

amore

innovative,

flexible,andagileleadershipcultureinanorganization.ThisLeadershipQuarterlydiscussesPart

TwoonthistopicacasestudyexampleofhowTheLeadershipCultureSurveydescribes

preciselywhatisneededforaspecificorganizationtobemoreagile,flexible,andinnovative.

ACaseStudyinBriefIwasrecentlyaskedtoconsultwiththeseniorteamofalargeglobalcompanywithrevenuesin

excessof$10billion.Iwasintroducedtothisteambyoneoftheconsultingorganizationsthat

usesTheLeadershipCircleassessments.TheyhadjustconductedourLeadershipCultureSurvey

withthetopthreelevelsofthisorganization.Theyaskedmetositinonthesurveyfeedbackand

interpret

the

results

with

the

senior

management

team.

I

knew

very

little

about

the

organization

andsoIconfinedmycommentstowhatIsawinthenumbersoutlinedinbriefbelow.

TheLeadershipCultureSurveyOrganizationalReportGraphicforthetop80managersinthis

organizationisdisplayedinFigure1.AcompletedescriptionoftheLeadershipCultureSurveyis

beyondthescopeofthisarticle;however,abriefintroductionwillaidinunderstandinghowthe

resultsinthiscaseservedtoinitiateaverypowerfuldiscussionabouttheorganizationsability

toagilelyandflexiblyinnovate.


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Figure1:LeadershipCultureSurveyOrganizationalSummaryReportGraphic

TheLeadershipCulturesurveymeasures31dimensionsofanorganizationsleadershipculture.

These31

dimensions

are

grouped

into

eight

Summary

Dimensions

and

are

displayed

in

Figure

1.

Thesurveymeasuresboththecurrentculture(thecultureyouhave)andtheenvisionedculture

(theoneyouwant)oneachofthesedimensions.Withabrieflookattheresultsdisplayedin

Figure1,itbecomesobviousthatthecurrentdepictionoftheLeadershipCulture(ingreen)is

verydifferentfromthedesired/optimalCulture(theRedLine). Thecurrentleadershipcultureis

slightlymoreReactivethanCreative(a45percentilecultureoverall,justbelowthenormfor

leadershipculturesmeasuredwiththisassessment),whiletheoptimalcultureisdescribedas

veryCreative(anearlytop10percentile,highperformingculture).Clearlythissenior

managementteamissayingthatinorderfortheirbusinesstothrive,theyneedtomakea

significantshiftintheywaytheyareleadingthebusinessfromReactivetoCreative.

Tounderstand

the

story

of

how

these

results

relate

to

innovation,

flexibility

and

agility,

we

need

tolookdeeperintothedataathighestandlowestsubdimensionsmeasuredinthesurvey.In

theLeadershipCultureSurveyreport,the31subdimensionsaresortedfromhighestpercentile

scoretolowest.Ihaveselectedoutthetopandbottomoftheseliststoelucidatethekey

patternsintheresults.Asimplelookatthedatatellsaveryclearandcompellingstorythathas

everythingtodowiththisorganizationsflexibility,agilityandinnovativeness.Theseresultsare

listedinTable1andTable2.


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Thestrongestinfluencesinthecurrentleadershipcultureofthisorganization(topleftofTable

1)suggestanoverlyconservative,cautious,bureaucratic,andevenpassiveculture.Thedriving

energyistogoalongtogetalong(Belonging)andnotrocktheboat.Thiscautiousculturemay

bedrivenbyatopdown,aggressive,ifnotarrogant,influenceonthisleadershipteam.Whatis

mostmissingfromtheleadershipcultureofthisorganization(bottomleftofTable1)isaclear

andboldvisionofitsfuture,andvisionthatisbeingtranslatedintoacustomerfocusedstrategy.

Inaddition,thisorganizationlackswellrefinedsystemsforexecutingonthosestrategies.Inshort,theseniormembersofthisorganizationaresayingthattheyaretoocautiousand

conservativetobesustainable.

Table1:CurrentandOptimalLeadershipCultureStrongestInfluencesintheCurrent

LeadershipCulture StrongestInfluencesintheEnvisionedLeadershipCultureConservative 61% SustainableProductivity 91%

Passive 55% StrategicFocus 90%

Belonging 54% Decisiveness 87%

Autocratic

52%

Teamwork

87%

Arrogance 52% PurposefulVisionary 86%

Critical 51% CourageousAuthenticity 85%

WeakestInfluencesintheCurrentLeadershipCulture WeakestInfluencesintheEnvisionedLeadershipCulture

SustainableProductivity 43% Arrogance 22%

SystemsThinker 43% Autocratic 20%

PurposefulVisionary 42% Critical 19%

Strategic

Focus

40%

Conservative

18%

CustomerFocus 39% Passive 18%

InthecolumnontherightofTable1istheenvisionedculture.Thiscolumndescribesquite

preciselywhattheseniorleadersinthisorganizationknowtheyneedtomovetoward(upper

rightofcolumn)inordertoestablishandsustainhighperformance.Theyneedwhatisatthe

bottomofthelistontheleft.Inotherwords,theyknowtheyneedtotaketheweakest

elementsintheirleadershipcultureandturnthemintostrengths.Theyneedtobecomeabold

(notconservative)purposeandvisiondrivenorganization.Theyneedtogetgoodatworkingas

ateamtodevelopstrategy.Theyneedtodesignorrefinetheirsystemsforexecutingonthe

strategyexpeditiously.Theyneedtodevelopthecapabilitytobecourageous,honest,anddirect

with

each

other

in

order

to

make

the

tough

decisions

that

will

move

those

strategies

forward.

In

ordertodoallthis,theyneedtosignificantlyreducetheconservative,bureaucraticthinkingthat

iscurrentlydrivingtheorganization.Theyalsoneedtoreducethearrogantandcriticalwaythat

theyengageoneanotherinordertohavethekindsofconversationthatwillallowthemtowork

togethereffectively(noticethattheseelementsmovefromthetopoftheircurrentculturelist

onthelefttothebottomoftheoptimalculturelistontheright).


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Table2summarizesthebiggestgapsforthisorganizationbetweentheircurrentleadership

cultureandtheiroptimalleadershipculture.Iftheycanclosethesegaps,theywillbewellon

theirwaytowardbeingaflexible,agile,andinnovativeorganization.

Table2:BiggestGapsBetweentheCurrentandOptimalLeadershipCultureBiggest

Gaps

Between

the

Envisioned

Leadership

Culture

and

the

Current

Leadership

Culture

StrategicFocus 50%

SustainableProductivity 48%

PurposefulVisionary 44%

Conservative 43%

SystemsThinker 42%

Decisiveness 41%

Teamwork 38%

Thesimple,yetpowerfulviewsdisplayedabove(whichcomeoutamoreextensiveLeadership

CultureSurvey

report)

provided

windows

into

the

secret

conversation

that

this

leadership

team

washavingwithitselftheconversationthathadnotyetmadeittothemeetingrooms.Asthe

topmanagementteamexploredtogethertheimplicationsoftheseresults,theynaturally

movedintoaconversationabouttheirbusinessthattheyhadbeenwantingtohave,but,for

onereasonoranother,couldnot.Theywereabletoacknowledgethatthepatternsinthedata

accuratelydescribedtheunsustainablewaytheywereleadingandthattheyneededtobecome

muchmorecreative,innovative,bold,strategic,andagile.Afterthemeetingtheycommented

thatitwasoneofthebestmeetingstheyhadeverhadasaseniormanagementteamandthe

CEOtookmeasideandthankedmysaying,Ihavebeentryingtoteethisconversationupfor

sometime.Nowweareinit.

This

example

shows

how

the

rich

assortment

of

well

researched

Creative

Leadership

CompetenciesandReactiveLeadershipStylescombineintheLeadershipCircleassessmentsto

establishaveryclearpictureofhowthis(orany)leadershipteamcancreateaculturethat,by

anymeasure,wouldbecharacterizedasflexible,agileandinnovative.

ThisisthesecondofathreepartseriesonhowtheLeadershipCirclecanbeusedtocreatea

moreinnovative,flexible,andagileleadershipcultureinanorganization.Theprevious

LeadershipQuarterlyincludedPartOneonthistopicanintroductionintoFlexibility,Agility,and

Innovation,andhowthesethreequalitiesareessentialinaleader,despitenotappearing

explicitlyonTheLeadershipCircleProfile.ThenextLeadershipQuarterlywillcontainPartThree,

whichexploreshowTheLeadershipCircleassessmentsaredesignedtoembedthishigherorder

capabilityintotheconsciousnessoftheLeadershipsystemoftheorganizationtoenhancethe

complexityof

mind

of

the

leader,

and

the

organizations

leadership

system,

to

be

well

matched

tothecomplexityofbusinesschallenges.

leadership culture - a case study using a leadership culture survey

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