From 'me' to 'we': Culture, change, crisis, and leadership

Besides effectively managing operations, business development, consolidation or a strategic integration of mergers and acquisition
From 'me' to 'we': Culture, change, crisis, and leadership

Dr B K Mukhopadhyay

(The author is a Professor of

Management and Economics, formerly at IIBM (RBI) Guwahati. He can be contacted at m.bibhas@gmail.com)

Dr. Boidurjo Rick Mukhopadhyay

(The author, international award-winning development and management economist, formerly a Gold Medalist in Economics at Gauhati University)

Besides effectively managing operations, business development, consolidation or a strategic integration of mergers and acquisitions, new research by McKinsey shows that leaders have the following six broad functions. 1) Aspiration, 2) Inspiration, 3) Imagination, 4) Creativity, 5) Authenticity, 6) Integrity. When it comes to either managing culture at the workplace or leading others through crisis, leaders also need to develop the right mindset based on introspection and self-awareness which are also equally critical skills. Several studies by Sloan and HBR shows that it is the mindset, adaptiveness and change that leads to growth and at times survival.

Every organization, big or small, goes through a formative period where it is led largely by the founding vision and allows a lot of experimentation and innovation. This is also a confidence-building period, through trial and error, organizations either overcome obstacles or achieve breakthroughs and sometimes both. The second stage is the rapid growth period where the objective is to solidify what the organization is good at while also sustaining growth and gains. The third stage is a typically mature period where the strong and sustained growth needs to identify and expand to new markets while also building a name and purpose of the organization as it expands. The fourth and final stage would be the decline period where firms mostly either downsize or reorganize or go for consolidation. Klepper in his work described these stages back in 1997 by drawing references from various industries. The role of leadership, largely missing in his work, however, is central to all the four stages above. Also, when it comes to managing crises and building a new culture, the instrumentality of leadership is fundamental.

A) Leadership and culture

Culture is best defined as 'the way we do things around here. The culture of any social unit includes group norms, shared perceptions, espoused values, and a consensus around goals and objectives. At the same time, there are visible aspects such as furniture and physical layout inside the office, logo and slogan of a company. It is interesting to observe how culture changes due to a change in leadership. When a new person is appointed to run a company instead of the founder or entrepreneur doing it, the culture of the firm generally tends to reflect the history and therefore 'stories' and past 'heroes of the company plays a big role. Leaders such as Satya Nadella of Microsoft, Sundar Pichai of Google, or Tim Cook of Apple are cases in point.

For the above leaders when they took on the leadership of popular (and large) corporations, a lot of cases have illustrated how there were conflicts between what the new leader tries to impose and what the culture will possibly allow. The new leaders can work through these frictions and eventually can start introducing or imposing new values and behavioural patterns. The question that both practitioner and research would ask is whether it is possible to completely demolish the existing culture or it is only new values and norms that could be added. Fundamentally, however, the question is regardless of the style of leadership – whether it can hire the right people and help lead high functioning teams, executive both business and corporate strategy, and motivate employees over crucial and difficult periods.

B) Leading through crisis

Most often, it is the rare ability to dive and drive through the unknown against the known patterns from the past - leaders should gain new insights, work through new patterns, and determine timely and effective responses to a crisis. For example, before COVID-19, the primary function of leaders of large or high-growth firms was driving innovation, exploring new markets, and enhance market share. Immediately when the pandemic struck, the focus shifted to reducing costs while maintaining the essential – liquidity! Most firms, big or small, faced supply chain and logistical impediments, downsizing the firms and other operational challenges daily. All at the same time, working through health and safety issues, managing remote working and also sharing empathy to employees and families.

With extra foresight and strategic planning, leaders also need to identify the challenges that lie in the aftermath of the pandemic or other forms of crisis. Dealing with the initial consequences of a crisis or shock may sometimes erode critical resources, particularly for small firms. Prioritising, therefore, becomes a critical skill to have or to develop. In particular, differentiating 'urgent vs important' during a crisis when important issues become urgent and what's urgent becomes critical. The right level of delegation is an important skill that helps leaders during this phase while at the same time ensuring that no one is left behind.

During team meetings meant for containing the crisis, it is a good practice to allocate the delegation to the right people and establish who's who and who's doing what to avoid confusion and overlap of roles. Leaders need to break through the inertia for business continuity today while increasing the odds of mid-to-long-term success by focusing on the few things that matter most. And above all, listening to advisors and smart people to seek insight and information from diverse sources, and not only in-group. Effective leaders always extend their antennae across all the ecosystems in which they operate while also creating a culture of accountability and transparency during tough times.

C) Leadership and change management

Most research on organizational change, cognitive flexibility of both leaders and followers, and also managing fast change illustrates a necessary connection between the 'process' and the 'people' part of the change. These 3Cs that unite effective change leadership are a) Communicate – leaders and followers need a continual discussion on the larger purpose of the change and how it would connect to the organizational values, and more importantly establish the purpose of change by focusing on 'what' and the 'why'. While creating an urgency for change is a pre-requisite, not rushing through the 'positives' and ignoring the downsides is essential to remember. B) Collaborate – aligning organizational values with personal values is something that effective leaders constantly strive for; we can nonetheless admit that doesn't always happen. It is a level above when cross-cultural leaders bring people together to plan and execute change going beyond barriers of borders and boundaries. They should also include employees in decision making and thereby in a way solidifying their commitment to change while promoting inclusivity. C) Commit –research shows that leaders who negotiated a change successfully are resilient and persistent, and willing to step outside their comfort zone. On the contrary, unsuccessful leaders failed to adapt to challenges, started a blame culture while creating a toxic workplace environment, and were impatient with a lack of results. It is also important to point out that at this stage, leaders should also be personally comfortable with the change and it should match their values and beliefs. For example, a company might go for a strategic shift to be more sustainable and climate-friendly and unless these become embedded in the company culture (i.e., not simply to look better in the eyes of the shareholders or the society), the change may not sustain and the apathy would show eventually. So, this part is rather delicate as much as the word 'commitment' itself.

Successful change leaders remove barriers to employee success. Leaders of unsuccessful change tend to focus, by a large measure, on results, and more often than not employees don't get the support they needed for the change. This connects to the 'process' and 'people' part of Change as discussed in this article. The role of influence is not only about gaining 'compliance' but also the 'commitment' essential to drive change, and therefore includes the 'people' part of the change the most. Developing a 'reward culture' goes a long way, particularly when the immediate fire of a crisis is over the leaders must thereafter reflect and keep stock of who rose to the occasion, who struggled and why. Several organizational roles will change post-crisis and therefore leaders can strategise who they want at the table both during and after the crisis to head to the new normal.

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