“Leadership is the capacity to get things done through others by changing people’s mindsets and energizing them into action.” – Noel M. Tichy, The Leadership Engine “We are made wise, not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility of our future.” – George B. Shaw

Programs

Leading Culture Change Initiatives

Changing the underlying culture of an organization is unquestionably the most difficult change for a leader to initiate and successfully carry out. And it is often crucial for turning an organization around.

What is Culture? Culture consists of the values, beliefs, assumptions and habits that form relatively consistent patterns in organizations and tend to govern what comes to be thought of as “normal” behavior and thinking. For the most part culture exists subconsciously; it’s “the way we do things around here”.

Why is culture so hard to change? Many leaders start with enthusiasm and abandon the effort long before any of the changes begin to take hold. Some reasons why so many culture change efforts fail are:

• Culture is often difficult to identify and describe; leaders get tired of trying to understand it
• Far too many leaders exempt themselves from change; rather, they mandate the changes for others and, once having done so, encounter the devastating effect of malicious compliance
• The day-to-day crisis existence distracts everyone from addressing the deeper cultural issues; and most leaders are far more comfortable managing the daily crises
• Creating culture change is hard work and requires persistence and consistency over a long time

Requirements for Lasting Culture Change

• A compelling Vision that energizes, excites, and motivates a critical mass of people in the organization to make necessary sacrifices and stay the course
• A fierce, ego-bruising, and thorough understanding of the Current Reality to ensure change happens where it is most needed
• A willingness on the part of the leaders to initiate the change effort with themselves first
• Consistent, persistent, and patient leadership from the Senior Leadership Team to stay on message while encouraging others to make the shift
• A concrete and specific plan for transcending the Current Reality and achieving the Vision
• Skillful ability to welcome and handle resistance and lead the people through difficult transitions

We are experts on people
The Gilburg Leadership Institute method takes into account the employee’s needs for security and safety when change happens at the cultural level. Here, leaders need to be both patient and persistent, showing gratitude for the old ways while demonstrating excitement for the new. GLI consultants bring expertise in crafting a comprehensive plan to move organizations from one set of cultural norms to another.