Power of Culture

I’ve been urging you recently to consider the power of culture in how you lead. I’ve asked you to think about the leadership culture you’re building, to recognize the enemies of that culture, to use tools like story and your vision of the future in building that culture, and to deal with anything that works against that culture on your leadership team. In this Leading Thoughts, I want you to know the imprint of the cultures that have produced you.

Leaders must be self-aware. This doesn’t mean self-absorbed. It means they should know themselves well, see themselves clearly. They should understand what cultures have shaped them and thus conditioned how they lead.

Let me give you an example from my life. I grew up the son of a military man. I was also deeply involved in sports all my early years. Even today, much of my work is with members of the military and athletes. These cultures have deeply shaped me. As a result, when I speak or write, I tend to use stories, jargon, and metaphors from the military or sports. They spring naturally from my mind.

These work well for most people today, but do my sports and military allusions have meaning for the artists I’m called to lead? Or the tech genius who loves chess and yoga? Or the gifted musician who runs my video unit? Do I inspire the women on my team with these references? In other words, has the imprint of my cultures limited my leadership capacity in some way?

You’ve seen similar negative examples. We’ve all known church members who can’t seem to break out of “church-speak” on the job. We’ve known southerners who can barely make themselves understood during negotiations in NY. Then there are the stories about how American slang almost scuttled that deal in Tokyo when Japanese executives misunderstood and took offense.

Not long ago, a mother wrote a hilarious article about her horror when she saw the photograph of her daughter’s championship volleyball team at the White House. There, next to the president, were twenty girls in flip-flops. At the White House! With the President! Mom was incensed. Those girls had innocently carried their casual girl-sports culture into the nation’s most prominent residence. They simply couldn’t navigate any culture but their own. Sorry mom!

What about you? What cultures have shaped you? What cultures make you who you are? Artistic? Jock? Stage? Wealthy? Blue collar? Happy blue collar? Bitter blue collar? Tight and nervous corporate culture? Casual? Too casual? Surfer? Flip-flops or wing tips? Flip-flops or killer high heels?

Your goal is twofold. First, know what has shaped you. Make it a positive. Draw from its best. Use humor to make it appealing. Have fun with it. Be who you are. Second, push beyond your native cultures. Master new cultures. Develop ease in any culture. Show respect. Show honor. Be yourself. Don’t be imprisoned or intimidated.

Leaders understand cultures. The ones that made them. The ones they must enter in order to lead. They ones they build in order to succeed.

Master cultures. It’s an art of leadership.

That’s it. Have a good weekend.

Stephen