Posts tagged as:

Culture

Netflix takes culture seriously

9 August 2009

Extract from the Netflix “Reference Guide on our Freedom & Responsibility Culture”
The shaping of culture is a critical leadership responsibility, as I have discussed on many occasions. One of the best examples of this is the observation made by Lou Gerstner, the former IBM CEO who is credited with its turnaround, in his book on [...]

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Leaders live in fish bowl!

2 August 2009

Photo by lover1969
"Leaders live in fish bowl and are always being watched. They should always be conscious of that fact and take advantage of it." – Gene Klann

Leaders are being watched all the time. Every gesture, action and word is being closely observed. In a New York Times article, “He Wants Subjects, Verbs and [...]

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How leaders embed and transmit culture…

15 June 2009

 
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Culture is often defined as “the way we do things around here”. Organisational culture is the leaders responsibility as “culture is the shadow of the leader”. If this is true the question is how is the culture embedded and transmitted by leaders? Edgar Schein in his book “Organizational Culture and Leadership” provide [...]

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Leadership is about trailblazing new trails!

6 October 2008

 
 
Photo by law_keven
 
“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

If you have ever been on a farm you will have noticed how cow paths that zigzag across the land. These cow paths are create by cows, who  are creatures [...]

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How leaders shape an organisation’s culture

29 June 2008

When Jason Fried from 37signals was asked "How did you create the culture at 37signals?” he answered as follows:
"You don’t create a culture. Culture happens. It’s the by-product of consistent behavior. If you encourage people to share, and you give them the freedom to share, then sharing will be built into your culture. If you [...]

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Leader: Are you purposely shaping your culture?

16 March 2008

An organisation’s culture can be a source of competitive advantage or a huge obstacle to achieving it’s objectives. The importance of culture really struck me after reading Lou Gerstner’s book "Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance?" In his book Lou Gersner, the former CEO and Chairman of IBM, reflects on the turnaround he orchestrated during his [...]

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Culture is the shadow of the leader….

14 March 2007

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a Leader” – John Quincy Adams
It’s primarily the leaders actions that inspire people to do more, to be more and to learn more. It’s the actions of the leader which leads to an organisations culture. In a [...]

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Sheepwalker?

20 February 2007

Photo by burak yilmaz

Seth Godin has a great post on “Sheepwalking” which he defines as:
“..the outcome of hiring people who have been raised to be obedient and giving them a braindead job and enough fear to keep them in line.”
This is true of many organisations today, looking for people who can “fit in”, get with [...]

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High performing cultures share five key values

3 September 2006

An article by William C. Finnie provided some insight into five key values that support high performing cultures of companies like GE, 3M and Johnson & Johnson. The five values discovered by Dr. Robert Lefton, co-founder of Psychological Associates, who works with Fortune 500 companies using behavioral science to provide business solutions, are:

Openness and candor: [...]

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Culture Drives Success

24 February 2006

Fast Company Now has a short but intersting article on the importance of culture in driving organisational success.
“I came to see in my time at IBM that ‘culture’ isn’t just one aspect of the game – it is the game.” – Lou Gerstner, Former IBM CEO, credited with its turnaround
The article suggests the following steps [...]

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