Why Directors Should Give a Damn About Culture
Why Directors Should Give a Damn About Culture
In this short opinion piece, John Bell, ex-CEO of Jacobs Suchard, echoes my own opinion on the role of culture in business performance:
“Culture is one of the most important determinants of business performance.”
~ John Bell
In my own vernacular, and as a (much humbler) ex-CEO myself, this translates one-for-one to:
“Organisational mindset is one of [if not the] most important determinants of organisational effectiveness.”
~ Bob Marshall
– Bob
Think Different
Bob – agree entirely: culture and mindset shape everything else. Something I have observed is that the CEO’s perception of what the culture should be (and what it currently is!) may be entirely different from the employees’ perceptions. These differences tend to be obscured; for example, staff questionnaires will ask questions like “Do you understand the need for change?” or “Is the culture changing for the better?” without articulating what change is being considered, or what a ‘better’ culture would be like! This assumption of consensus makes the feedback meaningless (or worse – the received message may be the opposite of the intended message). In other words, the Director giving a damn about the culture isn’t necessarily a good thing.
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