Culture Transformation and Structure

The journey of culture and mindset shift in any organization starts with a single step of courage.

Courage to challenge the status quo and be the change, embody the change.

Mindset and Behavior is often considered to be heavily influenced by cultural perspective and idea of identity we have; it may also differ between people from the same culture.

Hence, it needs to be dealt with caution, care and openness. It needs flexibility, space, authenticity and collaborative environment and above all empathy

But doesn’t the first difficult step of initiating the change can be taken only by following the structure, being hierarchical and imposing a certain way of showing up?

How do u nudge an entire organization towards change and transformation without setting some rule. Does the clan culture really work when u you want to move the needle?

In my opinion, to start the change in an organization even if it is bringing a culture of trust and empathy, the first step starts with a little bit of thrust and hence drawing those structure and rules.

So where do u stop the hierarchal style of leadership and move towards Adhocratic style.

It all starts with the leadership. An authentic leadership identifies the non-negotiable leadership traits for bringing in cultural shift, these are:

·       Courage

·       Consistently keeping an eye on the bigger picture

·       Being perceptive – The acute ability to perceive the unspoken needs and both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation of the individuals in the team can go a long away in navigating the messaging as per the sensibility of the individuals and team

I won’t be saying anything new when I mention this, and that it starts with leading by example.

Both collective and individualistic societies have one common thing and that is, seeking a purpose in everything that we do. We may or may not be conscious of it, but it drives our behavior. And when we see our leaders exhibiting a behavior that reflects a strong sense of purpose, we follow along.

Leaders who may ‘mandate’ doing a certain course on empathy and mindset shift may seem like an autocratic leader but when they couple the mandate by being perceptive and courageous, everyone in the organization can see the bigger picture and purpose and like I said before, we humans thrive on finding a purpose.

So, one of the first step of culture shift comes from by having those structures and difficult conversations.