Every leader knows that it is through people that the business can achieve its goals, inspiring a great vision gives the people a purpose to work towards. However, mounting up a large enough canvas with the vision spelt out by the office entrance that it can be seen by every employee is not enough. Leaders must create an enabling and supporting environment, embed values and beliefs that cultivate a culture that will facilitate the achievement of organisational goals. Many leaders are great at articulating a great vision but consistently fail at cultivating a culture that is a vehicle through which the vision is realised.
Transforming an organizational culture is about identifying the values that help the organisation show up in a manner that is in support of the greater vision, and then identifying what needs to change in the organizational context for the new behaviours to take root. This reminds me of a moment in my life where this was so visible; yet I had missed it and when I made the change, the results were astounding.
When my son was 3 years old it was an objective to ensure that he is an able swimmer as soon as possible, having seen over the years tragic stories of kids drowning mostly at home when attempting to swim with no adult supervision. At this point the goal was just for him to be able to swim, not to be the next Chad Le Clos. He was then enrolled at a swimming academy to be trained in the ways of surviving and having fun in the water. Fast forward; at 5 years old (2 years later) I attended one of his swimming lessons. With disbelief I watched as other kids in his class who have been swimming for similar period, swimming competently without the support of their trainer or supporting equipment, but my son still needed all that support. I was disheartened; like every parent, I too believe my child was able and capable of reaching the stars but 2 years later my son could not do what his peers could do in the swimming pool.
When we got home; I had 2 choices, blame the trainers for not giving him special attention or reflect on how I as his father had allowed this to happened. I chose the latter, in my reflection I realized several things that were stunting my son’s growth.
- Context
- Swimming lesson on Saturdays at 12:30pm
- Home swimming pool only used maximum of 6 times in the last 24 months
- Home swimming pool covered, unless being maintained by the swimming pool company
- Values & Beliefs
- Swimming is a chore
- Swimming was a survival skill
- Behaviour
- Attended a maximum of 2 lessons a month
- Swimming was not done most Saturdays as going to funerals, weddings and shopping was always prioritized over the swimming lessons
- I am the only one allowed to open the swimming pool, but am never in the mood or home to do so
It was clear to me that for him to become a competent swimmer, I needed to change the context, our values & beliefs and behaviours. With immediate effect the below changes were made.
- Context
- Swimming lesson on Saturdays moved to 07:30am
- Home swimming pool cover taken off every Friday and put back on Sunday evening
- More swimming play dates with his friends every weekend
- Values & Beliefs
- Swimming is fun
- Swimming is an opportunity for him to exhibit his excellence
- Daddy believes I am the future of the swimming sport
- Behaviour
- Every lesson is attended, except for when the young man is ill
- Swimming is a family activity done together
- Every training session we work towards a goal
The strange thing is that being part of this process, I did not even realise when the transformation was taking place. I woke up one day, and the young man was swimming along on his on his own, cheering his peers and challenging them in the pool.
The story may seem simplistic, but it is very indicative of what leaders do. The great vision is there but it all fails when there is no commitment to change the context, to embed new values & beliefs and lastly to be consistent in the behaviours that move the business closer to its goals.