Organizational culture is important for success. However, it is tough to quantify and track, which makes it intimidating but a necessary challenge faced by leaders. How can organizational leaders shape culture? Before answering this question, let us understand what is organizational culture and why it is important.
Organizational culture and its importance
It is a collection of assumptions, beliefs, norms, and values that guide all activities and mindsets within the organization. It impacts every aspect of business, such as how people communicate with each other, how teams and departments collaborate, norms associated with work-life balance, and much more.
A robust organizational culture is financially beneficial. It impacts people’s motivation, which influences their efficiency and quality, ability to achieve goals and employee retention. An innovative culture nurtures creativity, which can result in new products or finding inventive solutions to problems.
How do leaders influence organizational cultural transformation?
Leaders must put in the effort to craft an organizational culture but often, they cannot directly communicate with each employee. Therefore, leaders must influence organizational culture from a higher level. Here are three ways to do this:
Aligning mission, purpose, and vision
Leaders must ensure every employee is aligned with the overall organizational mission, purpose, and vision. They must also ensure every individual comprehends how their jobs contribute to the organizational success.
Inspiring confidence during challenges
How leaders react during difficult times largely impacts organizational cultural transformation. How they pivot company goals, do they panic, keep everything under wraps, or communicate transparently sets the tone for the team members. Ensuring the people know that their leaders consider their well-being and security a top priority and are able to endure crises is important.
Learning from mistakes
To nurture an innovative organizational cultural transformation requires leaders to embrace and learn from their mistakes. They must ensure employees are not punished or chastised for mistakes and are encouraged to understand what went wrong and what went right.
Impact of leadership training programs on organizational culture
Leaders can use several ways to create a people-first and positive organizational culture. The relationship between leadership and organizational culture impacts everything and a leadership training program enables participants to develop the necessary skills to foster a positive work environment and culture.
Company core values
These are potent statements of company goals and bind people together within the organization. Participants can learn ways that help them to establish shared principles. Additionally, they are offered effective strategies that enable leaders to model the company’s core values, conduct clear and frequent communications, and make informed decisions.
Create pathways for success
Leaders who demonstrate that mistakes are opportunities to learn and a growth mindset can positively impact organizational culture. CEO training programs offer different strategies for leaders to create pathways for success and provide opportunities for their people to successfully grow and thrive to achieve organizational goals, mission, and vision.
Drive influence
Organizational culture is impacted by communication patterns, leaders’ behaviors, how they handle setbacks or wins, and conscious and unconscious biases. Authoritarian or controlling leadership styles are no longer accepted by employees. Empathetic and enabling leaders are impactful and the best CEO training programs help participants acquire soft skills, such as emotional intelligence, higher understanding, and building shared values to motivate employees and drive organizational growth.
Address evolving expectations
Leaders have an in-depth knowledge of the organizational workings. However, they must have their fingers on the pulse and use relevant ways to keep the company functioning smoothly. The work environment is constantly changing and evolving and leaders must recognize the shifting expectations. Training programs teach participants effective ways to be in touch with employees’ needs and build an ecosystem that encourages collaboration to enable people to work in the new hybrid work culture.
Executive leadership is organizational culture and effective CEOs understand their responsibility to shape and reinforce the culture to ensure the company thrives in the dynamic work environment. Leadership training enables them to be attentive to articulating and embedding values that encourage adaptability and versatility.
In our view, leadership should begin at the upper echelons. Learn more about how your leadership can change and improve the existing culture of your business by joining Pragati Leadership’s CEO Training program. Connect with us now to access CEO coaching services that nurture a healthy corporate environment.
