How leaders influence organizational culture

This is the first in a series of articles I intend to post derived from academic assignments and insights I have gained through the 'Organizational Psychology' degree I am pursuing. While the tone and format of the writing will often be academic in nature, I believe there are tremendous opportunities to apply these ideas in the workplace setting. I look forward to hearing from and engaging with you all on the content and ideas! -Mike

How leaders influence organizational culture

Organizational psychologist Anthony Klotz coined the term, “the Great Resignation,” to describe the record numbers of employees quitting their jobs in 2021 and the existential threat it poses to employers. There are many who feel that the answer is for organizations to foster better cultures. But what can leaders do given how complex and dynamic culture is? While most leaders recognize the importance of culture, many do not understand the influence they have and how they exert it. Drawing from relevant topics in social psychology, this paper will discuss how leaders influence culture through their vision, their behavior, and the structures they create and sustain.

Definitions

A leader is someone who, “influences others in a group by establishing a direction for collective effort and then encouraging the activities needed to move in that direction to attain the group’s common goals” (Yukl, 2006; Turner, 2005; Zaccaro, 2007, as cited in Branscombe & Baron, 2017, p.409). Leaders often exist near the top of a hierarchical structure where members of a social group hold different rank, status, and influence, with some superior and others subordinate (Fiske, 2010; Magee & Galinsky, 2008; Mazur, 1985; Zitek & Tiedens 2012; as cited in Koski, Xie, & Olson, 2015). This results in leaders having disproportionate influence over group attitudes and behaviors (Hogg, 2001).

Organizational culture has many dimensions and elements, but is ultimately about the patterns of thinking and behaving that are recognized and espoused by a group (Laker, 2021). Maslach and Leiter recognize six areas of organizational life which are related to culture: sustainable workload, feelings of choice and control, recognition and award, a sense of community, fairness respect and justice, and meaningful and valued work (Maslach & Leiter, 1997). Leaders should consider all of these elements when thinking about how they create and reinforce culture.

?Leader’s influence on culture as a visionary

?Leaders influence organizational culture by defining a set of values, beliefs, and assumptions about how things should be done (Schein, 2010), and socializing those amongst the group. Organizational values may vary widely. For example, a self-focused leader might espouse values of wealth, power, pleasure, and winning. Alternatively, an others-focused leader might espouse values of helpfulness, responsibility, social justice, and compassion (Grant, 2013). Whatever they are, these values have the power to become the explicit social norms of the group and its culture. Taken one level further, a shared vision—one which evolves from the leader’s individual vision and establishes an overarching goal and common identity—can be one of the most powerful cultural elements to motivate group behavior (Senge, 2006). Without clearly defined and recognized values to help guide them, an organization can fragment and go in different directions (Maslach & Leiter, 1997).

?Perhaps even more important than defining the elements of the culture, leaders influence culture by communicating those elements in various ways. The most straightforward way might be to simply write and publish a document defining the organizational philosophy, creed, and charter (Schein, 2010). Stories are another powerful tool which leaders can use to create and convey culture, telling about important events, people, and identity (Gardner, 2011). Stories may be more effective than explicit definitions at changing people’s attitudes because they engage our heuristic processing mechanism and can be easier for us to make sense of. Regardless of how they do it, leaders must make this repetitive communication of culture part of their daily routines (Senge, 2006). Every meeting, email, and interaction is an opportunity to reinforce values and culture through the words, tone, linguistic style, and even body language that the leader uses. Even little things such as the use of the word “we” instead of “I” can have a meaningful impact on follower perception (Steffens & Haslam, 2013). Sharing of these values is critical in developing individuals’ sense of organizational identification, which ultimately leads to their commitment to the group and doing what is in the group’s best interest (Tavares, van Knipenberg, & van Dick, 2016).

Lastly, leaders should consider how exactly they and their communication might come across to group members. Messages will be most persuasive if the leader is well liked, attractive, credible, and perceived to be part of the group (Branscombe & Baron, 2017). The more charismatic the leader is, the more likely followers might be to adopt the leader’s vision, values, and culture.

Leader's influence on culture through behavior

In addition to defining and communicating it, leaders influence culture through their behavior. Social psychologist Edward Schein recognizes leader behaviors such as attention giving, reactions to critical events, resource allocation, role modeling, reward allocation, and promotion as the primary way leaders embed their beliefs, values, and assumptions (Schein, 2010). Leaders who espouse the desired culture and reinforce or correct the behavior of others (instrumental conditioning) provide normative and social influence which contribute to group conformity. It is critical that a leader’s behavior is consistent with what they have espoused. If employees believe that leaders are hypocritical and not committed to their ideals, they may become bitter, cynical, or feel betrayed (Maslach & Leiter, 1997). Divergent behavior may lead individuals to reject the vision entirely (George, Sleeth, & Siders, 1999).

?In order to understand why behavior is so important, leaders must have a basic understanding of social psychology. By nature, people compare themselves to others when there is no other objective measure of comparison. This is known as social comparison theory. (Festinger, 1954 as cited by Branscombe & Baron, 2017). Given their typical position in the hierarchy, and people’s tendency to focus on high-status and high-influence people, (Foulsham, Cheng, Tracy, Henrich, & Kingstone, 2010), a leader’s behavior and the culture it reflects is especially relevant as a benchmark for social comparison. Leaders must also be aware of how their behavior might vary between individuals within the organization and the different messages that might send. Leader-member exchange (LMX) theory hypothesizes that leaders adopt different behaviors with different subordinates, leading to high-quality relationships with in-group members and low-quality relationships with out-group members (Dansereau, Graen, & Haga, 1975 as cited by Conte & Landy, 2019). A leader’s success and the resulting culture might be measured by the percentage of high-quality relationships the leader has (Conte, 2019).

?Leaders must hold themselves and others to the standard of behavior they expect. Normative focus theory suggests that norms influence behavior only to the extent that they are salient to people at the time (Cialdini, Reno, & Kallgren, 1990 as cited by Branscombe & Baron, 2017). According to this theory, individuals may act as if they are above the predominant culture and that the social norms and values don’t apply to them. This may be particularly prevalent among senior and more powerful members of a group who feel less pressure to conform (Branscombe & Baron, 2017). When this happens, sub-groups or even notions of an in-group and out-group may form, fracturing the cohesive culture and group identity. Solomon Asch showed that when it comes to group conformity, unanimity is a critical element in maintaining social pressure (Asch 1959, 1956 as cited by Branscombe & Baron, 2017). The implication for leaders is that they must ensure consistent behavior from everyone in their organization if they want a cohesive culture to exist.

?To see the connection between leader behavior and culture, one needn’t look further than the startup company—whose culture is almost by definition modeled on leader behavior. Companies like Uber are renowned for their aggressiveness and prioritization of results above all else, much like their founder Travis Kalanick who put his personal success and interests first (Mahdawi, 2017). While this relationship might be more pronounced in startups, it is equally relevant for all organizations.

Leader’s influence through structures, systems, and symbols

?A final way in which leaders influence organizational culture is through the structures, systems, policies, and symbols they create, adopt, and maintain. Schein recognizes these as the secondary reinforcement and stabilizing mechanisms of organizational culture which formalize the values espoused by leader behavior (Schein, 2010). These elements reinforce culture through the explicit and descriptive norms they establish and the symbolic social influence they provide. Organizational structures that make it easy to recognize people, for example, will reinforce a culture of recognition. Those which make individual learning a priority will naturally see more growth and development. Symbols such as office layouts and décor, employee benefits and perks, and nearly any visual display can prime individual’s schemas, reminding them of the culture and the values they represent and the behavior which is expected of them. Together, these structures, systems, and symbols may serve as a way for the leader to indirectly influence and sustain a culture long after they themselves have left the organization.

Conclusions

?Psychologist Howard Gardner defines a leader as an individual who affects the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of a group through their stories of identity and embodiment of those stories (Gardner, 2011). Given our definition of culture as the collective thoughts and behavior of a group, what are leaders if not architects of culture? To be effective in the modern workplace, it is critical that leaders recognize their role in shaping culture. The values they define and communicate establish the explicit social norms of the organization. Their daily behavior reinforces those norms by providing a social comparison for group members to follow. And lastly, the structures they implement facilitate the desired behavior and provide a constant reminder of the expectations of the group. Put simply, “the communication of culture succeeds when the leader’s values, beliefs, and standards of behavior appear in the entire fabric of the organization” (George, Sleeth, & Siders, 1999, pp. 557-558). By understanding and appreciating the power and responsibility they have to influence organizational culture, leaders can be more self-aware and deliberate in the way they carry out their roles.

References

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Mahdawi, A. (2017, June 8). Uber embodies the toxicity of start-up culture. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/08/uber-embodies-the-toxicity-of-start-up-culture

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