Timeout for Leadership-your one-minute leadership idea

Game time adjustments #13

Can you press the culture reset button?

Fact:   Sure, you can.  But it is not easy!

Periodically, you must.  I am convinced that we all know when this is necessary, yet I have to ask, why are we reluctant to do this?    Perhaps changing the culture is just too hard?  Perhaps we are just not up to the challenge?  Perhaps the reason a reset is needed is because the problem, is you?  Think about it.

We can take a lesson from our professional sports leagues.  When a team sees a need for this cultural reset that I speak of, they just fire the coach.  And most times when the head coach is fired, everyone associated with the head coach is politely (and at times very impolitely) shown the exit door.  I have had the opportunity to see this first hand at the NCAA level.  When the house is cleaned, it is really cleaned, including the secretarial and support staff.

But schools and organizations do not work that way.  Maybe they should?  And yes, I am a former principal saying this.  You see, I believe that the team takes on the head coach’s personality.  Likewise, a school will take on the personality of that principal.  People will eventually stop hearing the boss’ message.  The team has been there and done that.  The principal can only go to that special half time rallying speech so many times.  When the team stops listening, it is time for the boss to go.

I have to go to my archives to share one of my favorite stories on this topic.  In 1987 Alcoa, the huge aluminum company, hired Paul O’Neill as the CEO.  Perhaps he was a surprise choice to become CEO, but O’Neill set out to change the culture at Alcoa. It needed it.  He focused on one area:  workplace safety.  He was led by three simple questions.  They were:

• Is every person treated with respect and dignity?
• Is each person given the things that they need to make a contribution?
• Is each person recognized for what he or she does?

At the start, people scoffed at his intense focus on workplace safety. People did not get it.  People did not understand his attention to detail.  However, he drummed it home.  He was relentless.  He was visible and accessible.  He practiced what he preached.  Everything was about safety.  This focus showed that he cared about his employees’ well-being. And as a result, there was a positive shift in worker-boss relations, and an increase in creativity and innovation.  The workers began to feel valued and that their opinions mattered.

O’Neill’s laser-like focus on safety slowly spread to other areas.  The entire organization changed.  It was not easy nor was it always pretty.

People at Alcoa now felt valued.  They felt respected.  The CEO demonstrated that he cared.  For the sake of time and space, I hopefully merely whet your appetite about Paul O’Neill’s story at Alcoa.  One thing for certain is that when he took over, he pressed the cultural reset button and it worked.

Is it time for you to press that same button in your school or organization?  If it is, and I a convinced that you will know it, hit that button and get going.

Good luck!