By Peter White
I’ll start with a quote from a music legend, Frank Zappa:
“Your mind is like a parachute – It doesn’t work unless it is open.”
With that in mind we say that its leadership that creates the culture and it’s the culture that delivers the results (good or bad). If you want different results then the leadership needs to do something to change the culture.
A culture is formed when people share the same mythologies (beliefs based on some sort of logic), so its important for a leader to understand what are the dominant mythologies within the team and why are they said.
I came across a book that I have not read for a while. “All In” by Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton. Chapter 2 talks about “The Belief Factor”, the secret sauce that makes a culture contagious. The book is certainly worth a read and in this chapter it got me thinking about how you can create a common belief (which impacts on culture).
It says ”you can’t influence belief by wielding your title and power or sending well-worded missives.”
A leader needs to understand why people believe in the things they do and how can they be persuaded to change what they think. This is where the Frank Zappa quote is important.
People believe in what they believe in for their own reasons based on what the experience (good or bad). You can’t tell them they are wrong, but you should seek to understand the “WHY”. Only then can you can you start a course of action for change.
At LKS Quaero, we help leaders to create the culture that gets the desired results. For more information, visit us at lksquaero.com or follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook.
