Culture + Change + Leadership

What do we mean by Culture + Change + Leadership?

How Culture + Change + Leadership show up for leaders and their organizations is what we are interested in exploring through this publication.

Each of these words has their own definition that is important to know. Giving a singular definition to Culture + Change + Leadership is not necessary and nearly impossible. We’d rather share a concept for you to utilize as you proceed.

We recognize that leading a cultural change initiative requires iterative, inclusive, adaptive, and non-linear steps taken in 360 degrees, top-down, bottom-up, and edge to edge. Through the practice of humble leadership, you are equipped to practice all forms of leadership[1].

In our increasing VUCAA (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous, and anxious) world it is unrealistic that a single person (leader, president, department head, team leader, line worker) can grasp, understand, and comprehensively reflect on what is happening around them. For this reason, it is essential that they pose questions of others to listen and gain their perspective, insight, and wisdom.

This is the posture of a humble leader who utilizes humble inquiry in their Culture + Change + Leadership.

Last year we began working with a seasoned leader who guides an international team of scientists. For the preceding three years the organization has been tracking data on internal team functioning. Every quarter they posed a handful of questions to better understand leader and team member levels of engagement, responsiveness, and openness.

Joan, the international team leader, helped craft these questions, but now wasn’t sure that they were getting the traction she was hoping for. So she reached out for help because some of the scores were trending in the wrong direction and she needed a thought partner.

Over the next month or two and through a series of open-ended questions and conversations, a picture began to emerge about what she was truly after. The data was helpful, but what she was seeking was a cultural transformation in how the team approached relationship with each other.

This may sound rather simple, but this international organization is very complex. As scientists they value data, information, trial and error, and above all else, results. Over long periods of time, these values seeped into the organization’s culture. All of which has led to wonderful effects: the organization is world-renowned for its approach to problem solving, attention to detail, and industry leading expertise. A model, especially during the global COVID pandemic was highly sought after and valued.

These values also impacted how the team members interacted with each other. When the pressure is on, people tended to double down on what they know best, the science. This same pressure had a negative impact on their relationships with each other.

This is what was uncovered. But what to do?

Alongside Joan, we began mapping out a relationship development exercise (based on Edgar Schein and Peter Schein’s Level of Relationship framework) that created space for the team to step back and shift from the left side of their brains to the right side. This shift helped to create space for team members to open up, to listen more deeply to each other, and to remember that they are humans who are also scientists.

Even though the quarterly surveys didn’t seem as important as they were before, scores increased. More importantly, teammates began to have more fun, they got to know each other a little better, and started to see behind molecules, formulas, and experiments.

If you’d like to learn more about Culture Change Leadership, please don’t hesitate to call us. We look forward to listening and walking alongside you.

Peter Schein and Lon L. Swartzentruber, EPC

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[1] Humble Leadership, Schein & Schein, 2nd Edition 2023, page 3.