Christopher-Connors

Christopher D. Connors

For organizations to be competitive, they must have peak performance at every level. This peak performance involves three major components: strategy, culture, and people. Leaders typically are great at strategy and planning. They usually have HR, TD, and L&D staff to lead and manage the people component. What they generally do not have is skill in understanding, defining, and leading a cultural change or transformation. And yet culture establishes the identity for an organization. While business and market needs are constantly evolving, culture is what drives the actions that are rooted in its core values. While the strategy sets the direction, it is the culture that determines the actions needed by employees for execution and results.A primary thought leader in the culture arena is Edgar Schein. In his classic work Organizational Culture and Leadership (1992), he states that culture is the primary source of resistance to change. He says there are three components involved:ArtifactsVisible symbols, structures, and processes, including dress and languageEspoused valuesPrinciples that guide strategies and goalsBasic assumptionsUnconscious, taken for granted thoughts, beliefs, and feelings/valuesOn a recent ConnectSpark webcast for ATD Forum members, Sam Shriver, executive vice president for Research and Development at the Center for Leadership Studies, and Tim Tobin, vice president of Franchisee Onboarding and Learning at Choice Hotels, shared their ideas on culture and how it can serve as a lever for organizational results. Dr. Shriver stated, “Culture is how you behave when you don't know what to do. It is the natural, normal pattern of behavior in response to unforeseen circumstances.” Dr. Tobin added, **“**The language of an organization that is built up over time through rewards and punishment represents the values. What gets rewarded? What gets punished? Culture is the actions behind those words.”Role of Leaders in Guiding High-Performing CulturesAccording to Dr. Tobin, the role of leadership in defining, sustaining, and transforming culture is critical. Leaders set the stage and take the temperature of the culture. Then they make decisions around what is working and not working. How can we do things differently?In the American sporting landscape, few have succeeded quite like legendary Duke University head basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski. Great players come and go, but the constant at Duke has remained a winning culture built on rock-solid values, buy-in from all members of the program, and powerful camaraderie.“Don’t take your culture for granted. There needs to be a constant renewal of values that lead to camaraderie,” Coach K has said.People associate words like “tradition,” “respect,” and “leadership” with the Duke basketball program. Duke is viewed as a program that does things “the right way.” This is because Duke players are empowered to make leadership contributions all the time. The secret to Duke’s success isn’t the tradition. It’s the coaches, staff, and players that make a commitment to excellence each day. This begins at the top with a fearless leader who focuses first on a positive, team-first culture that continues to drive game-changing results.Another leader who understood his power in guiding a high-performing culture was Herb Kelleher, co-founder and former CEO/chairman of Southwest Airlines. He innately knew and practiced the philosophy of putting people first. He realized that he could not connect with all his customers directly, so he started purposely building authentic relationships with his employees, his immediate circle. This modeling has a profound trickle-down effect. Stories have been captured over and over again about his personal concern for employees and their families—and the actions he took to demonstrate that caring. The company he created serves as another prime example for how the culture leverages and promotes high-performing employees who are aligned with the strategy and take responsibility to accomplish the mission.Role of Talent Development in Promoting and Influencing a High-Performance CultureBusinesses are looking for results. While training is important, it’s not about the process to get there; it’s all about what value or return the training will yield for the organization. The culture (actions) should be aligned with organizational goals, mission, and values. All training should reflect the desired culture, especially the execution of direction, alignment, and daily actions of the people. To get an organization to make a behavioral change, the training should be geared toward the culture the organization wants.Talent professionals have the opportunity to influence and enable a high-performance culture. Many times, talent leaders focus on building a “learning culture.” While this is important, it should be part of the bigger culture piece. Our influence is evident in how we interact as business partners, the way we design learning experiences, and the suggestions we make as we advise colleagues. We can move beyond learning, to focus partnering with others for the greater good of the system—and impact culture with a capital C.How are you directing your efforts toward the organization’s North Star in your daily work and actions?

Christopher D. Connors

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