CULTURE.

One of the primary tasks of leaders is to 'lead' culture. Culture can be defined as many things, but primarily it is the shared beliefs, practices and traditions of a community, organization or institution. At the most fundamental level, culture just is "the way we do things around here." Most leaders have heard the aphorism, "culture eats strategy for breakfast," but why is this? What does this mean, practically, beyond being a pithy thing that leaders say. Culture is seated in the vision of an organization. Vision paints a comprehensive and detailed picture of the destination which includes culture - the vehicle to get there. Strategic direction, goals and objectives provide the roadmap to the vision endpoint, but if our car (culture - the vehicle to the change destination) is broke down… WELL… “we ain’t goin’ nowhere” - at least nowhere fast. So where there is vision with a clearly defined culture, strategy is worth more. Stated differently strategy is worth "less" (although not worthless) where culture is absent or not well defined. (Telein) Culture represents the collective commitment, whether implicit or explicit, to behaviors that are consented to (covertly or overtly) within an institution. The most effective leaders and organizations are intentional about defining behavioral norms and codifying culture within the support and evaluation systems of their institutions. #LeadCulture

Image by peoplecreations on freepik