Resilience
The material from my reading this week could be described as exploring two sources of great power and influence: culture at the macro level, and a true leader in a resilient state.
First, let's consider the culture at the macro level. An important aspect of culture that many of us may be unaware of is that there are not only a variety of types of culture to consider but there are also multiple scales of culture to consider as well. This is important for leaders to note to avoid the risk of isolating a company's cultural assessment to a single level. A company's culture is not an island. There are factors at an entire societal level (called macro-cultures) that can trickle down to what influences a company's behavior. It is important that leaders take note of these traits.
As an example, in Organizational Culture and Leadership, Edgar Schein highlighted Hofstede's survey research which presents a few basic dimensions of macro-cultures. One of the first of these dimensions is the spectrum of individualistic and collectivist cultures. Think about how your company might be affected if the office space was based in an individualist-driven country. Many western countries, including the United States, fall into this category. The company may tout "bucking the system" and "going against the grain" of industry trends, but employees may also be found to be insubordinate and make decisions that affect the business for the sake of personal gain.
It is certainly possible that these ideas and mannerisms could be impressed by the leader of the company. However, even if the business were to possess opposite values, the company could still be impacted by these "American values" of independence to possess them nonetheless. As Schein himself pointed out, a leader does not need an extensive understanding of these factors (although researchers certainly enjoy it seems). Even still, with a basic awareness of these factors paired with some ready applications, a business leader has the chance to make a real impact for change in the company cultures they lead.
When considering macro-cultures, what powers do leaders possess against such factors? Schein's solution for leaders to leverage these maco-cultures is to invest in working relationships, trust, and task-relevant communications among diverse teams. A company's culture may be at the lowest level of relationship in society: a culture of exploitation. But with the right effort to build empathy, create cultural islands, and treat others fairly, a company can progress to the higher levels of relationship, creating cultures of recognition and positive relationship.
…invest in working relationships, trust, and task-relevant communications among diverse teams.
As Schein covers in the later topics of his work, a company's long-term culture and success are held up by the leader. Employees pay attention to what leaders notice, how they resource, how they model behavior, how they react, and how they recruit. The leader has the power to create a culture by ensuring success, instilling values along the way, and maintaining them until they become assumed and are taken for granted by the company. For example, though Steve Jobs at one point was pushed out of his own company (Apple), he was ultimately restored and hailed internally and externally as the center of their culture and values. Even his own job security was no threat compared to the power that his leadership over their culture. A leader can carry a business through just about anything with a strong sense of internal integration and external adaptation.
I really enjoy the story of Sidney Rittenberg, a man imprisoned unjustly in communist China for 6 years (and later again for 10 years) who ultimately got out and started his own business full of passion and optimism. How was able to bear such a cross? Because he was a leader. He understood that "happiness . . . is not a function of your circumstances; it’s a function of your outlook on life.” He survived it, learn from it, and emerged like a phoenix: stronger, more engaged, and more committed than ever.
