It might be time to dispel the demons in your organisation's culture. But if corporate culture is a direct reflection of leadership, what if YOU'RE the demon that needs to be exorcised?
Energy, resourcefulness, productivity and value: if the culture of a business has turned stale, static or downright toxic, it can say goodbye to possessing any of these attributes.
21st century CEOs understand that the unseen subtleties inherent in the culture of their organisation can be the difference between smooth sailing and becoming the next Enron.
But what if you're the problem? Corporate exorcism starting from the top could be both unavoidable and necessary!
In 2004, the National Australia Bank (NAB) suffered $360 million in foreign currency options trading losses. The PricewaterhouseCooper (PwC) analysis discovered that it wasn't bad luck or a change in the wind that caused the NAB's phenomenal loss.
Instead, PwC found the culprit to have started at the hands of an overarching culture that had become inherent in the NAB.
This had become a voiceless, soundless part of the NAB's culture. The NAB found itself unerringly forced to shape up or suffer the consequences.
Even more painful than the NAB's loss for the shareholder population was the fall of Enron in 2001. The collapse of the world's self-dubbed 'coolest company' and one-time sixth largest corporation in the United States, came with a whirlwind of controversy, criminal charges and convictions.
Ultimately, the investigation suggested failures within Enron came as a result of 'a flawed idea, self-enrichment by employees, inadequately designed controls, poor implementation, inattentive oversight, simple (and not so simple) accounting mistakes, and overreaching in a culture that appears to have encouraged pushing the limits'. In other words, cultural exorcism starting from the very top was highly in order, but the problems remained ignored until too late.
Downward shifts in corporate culture, in almost every case, stem from the echelons of management and leadership. In the case of the losses for the NAB and the breakdown of Enron, for example, the ingredients in the cauldron of corporate collapse were subtle but powerful. Simply add:
- A manager or leader,
- A lack of accountability,
- A pinch of dishonesty,
- An overdose of personal power,
- A mixture of arrogance and egocentricity,
- A touch of blindness or lack of vision...
... and corporate collapse is on the menu tonight!
Of course, it's difficult to negatively judge leaders who find themselves and their corporations suffering from such lapses. Pressure is simply a part of the discourse of the corporate world.
In the furious drive to achieve high levels of ambition and competitiveness at all costs, leaders can understandably find themselves caught up in the 'power bubble' trap - in having achieved the heights of their own career objectives, the triple zero income and the expenditure portfolio to match, they lose perspective and replace it with arrogance. Obviously, this fails to make for a positive culture in business.
A company's culture is a reflection of its leadership. This means that a dishonest, ego-driven leader will, by definition, lead the culture of its organisation into a downward spiral. The further down the spiral the leader and their company is, the more difficult it becomes to climb out.
Leadership values traditionally incorporate foresight and a level of wisdom to be able to anticipate unseen forces coming beyond the horizon. When a leader is ready to face themselves and the culture they've created, it becomes that much easier for them to re-take their position as a true leader.
The first step in the performance of a corporate exorcism is undoubtedly the most difficult: admitting that there is a problem. Companies and leaders who are ready to face themselves in the mirror will often find reflected back the unerring answer. The aspects of the leader's approach just might deliver the antidote to a cultural breakdown, or it might be enough to catch the breakdown before it happens.
The second step may be to obtain outside help, such as an individual leadership development program. Programs are available that measure the intangible aspects of a leader's approach that contribute to culture. These include:
- Vision
- Accountability
- Responsibility
- Personal power
- Commitment
- Honesty
- Self awareness
Intercepting or exorcising the demons in the culture of an organisation is a rigorous process of self-reflection. It also involves allowing the time and space to review the process of decision-making and to decide upon the best course of action to take. If the leader is ready to look deep into their corporate soul, they may be saved before an exorcism is even required!
In a world where success is measured more by what we own, what we drive and where we live, rather by who we are, leaders in business must find themselves struggling at times to maintain accepted and expected levels of compliance, ethics and governance in the face of pressure. Especially in the cases of the NAB and Enron, the slide in corporate culture came through the channels of leadership over a long period of time.
Exorcising the nasty cultural demons is a process that must begin at the very top in order to be felt at the bottom. Only then can the way be made for a culture that produces happy, productive staff, satisfied customers, and a resounding, energetic vibe of success!
Sources:
- Pricewaterhouse Coopers (2004) Investigation into foreign exchange losses at the National Australia Bank.
- Board of Directors, Enron (2002) Report of Investigation: Special Investigative Committee of the Board of Directors of Enron Corporation.