Organizational Culture: Lessons From A High School Musical

Posted March 28, 2010 By David Irvine and has no comments yet.

This past week our seventeen-year daughter, Hayley, performed in an amazing high school musical production of Les Misérables. Months of preparation went into this production. As these young people prepared themselves for a performance, I witnessed organizational culture at its very finest. Here it was: a group of ninety youth (from grade nine through twelve), all focused on a shared vision, all deeply engaged in the project, all passionate about their work, with high energy, and servant leadership. I sat back and just took in the buzz with absolute awe. I started to think, “What if we could create this kind of culture in a workplace?” With the right ingredients, focus, and leadership, I believe it’s possible because I’ve seen it done.

Here are some lessons from this high school musical theatre production that I believe can be applied to any organization.

1. Leadership with a vision. Merilie Stonewall, the artistic director at Hayley’s high school, had a vision to  produce this musical years ago when she first saw Les Misérables and was spell bound. Then she waited nine years after the rights became available for the special talent needed to cross the band room threshold. Everyone – from the actors to the crew and set designers to the tech staff, had a vision of the end result.

2. Leadership inspired by love. Merrilie has invested years of her life into her students at Cochrane High School. She cares deeply for her work and her students. She has never, in all her years of teaching, ever fallen out of love with her work or her students. It is inspiring simply to be around her. Merrilie’s credibility was earned long before the first audition. It’s built on her love and commitment to youth and to music. And everyone knows it.

3. Everyone’s talent was needed. Everyone in the production – from grade nine to grade twelve – contributed. Everyone made a difference. And everyone knew their important piece they played in the puzzle. When talent gets aligned with the vision, loyalty, passion, and energy is the result.

4. High standards of performance were set and expected. No one ever takes pride in doing something easy. Every person on this musical team was stretched and pushed beyond their comfort zone. Football players were inspired to sing in lead roles, work on technical support or paint sets.  Shy kids were coached out of the woodwork to bring their unique talents forward. High standards were set and reached.

5. Open communication. Conversations were going on continuously. Everyone seemed to be talking to everyone. Roles were clear and openness abounded.

6. Work was fun. Even in the midst of high expectations, everyone somehow knew that the goal of all this was to be in the moment of creative human expression. If we aren’t truly enjoying ourselves, what’s it all for anyway? Ms. Stonewall, like all great leaders, understands that the work is merely a means to a much higher end: the building of stronger, more confident youth. She, like all who watched this production unfold in the past months, knew that the experience and memory of being on this team will stay with these kids the rest of their lives.

7. Results. Results are essential as they are the ultimate measure of success. Hundreds of people in our community attending a sellout performance for five straight nights. Five straight standing ovations. It was as good of a product as you will see anywhere from an amateur theatre group. When a team produces these kind of results everyone wins, and everyone on the team knows they made a difference in making that happen.

What a vision to aspire to as we bring our passion and unique gifts to our work.

Categories: Leadership and Culture
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Authentic Leadership and Integrity (Part 2)

Posted March 17, 2010 By David Irvine and has no comments yet.

Since my last blog and subsequent e-article for March, I have had some wonderful responses and questions for delving more deeply into the area of integrity . We write extensively about integrity in our book, The Authentic Leader: It’s About PRESENCE, Not Position (pp. 127-133)*.

From my observation, there are two kinds of integrity: relational integrity and moral integrity. Relational integrity is about keeping promises, doing what you say you will do. It’s about the ability to be counted on. Relational integrity starts with yourself, being able to count on yourself to keep an agreement with yourself, whether it’s to follow through on an exercise program, finish a project on time, or sustain a spiritual practice in your life. It then extends to your relationships with others and your ability to keep a promise to those who depend on you. There can be no real credibility with others until you have credibility with yourself.

Moral integrity, on the other hand, goes beyond doing what you say you are are going to do. Moral integrity is about doing what is right. In the movie Gladiator, Caesar explained to his general, Maximus, that he would be the next leader of Rome. Maximus genuinely questioned this decision, asking Caesar why he was being chosen rather than Caesar’s own son, Comitus. Caesar summed up the importance of integrity and delivered the message perfectly when he looked Maximus in the eyes and responded, “Comitus cannot rule. Comitus must not rule. For Comitus is not a moral man.”

Moral integrity involves essentially three steps. First, you discern right from wrong, based on a strong conscience. A key question guides moral integrity: “Does your decision lead to the betterment of all constituents?” Hitler may have had relational integrity, in that he may have kept his promises to himself and others, but with an agenda to destroy a race, he lacked moral integrity. Second, you act on your decision, on what you have discerned. Finally, you make your decisions and actions public – i.e. to those affected by your decisions. As we learned back in high school biology, sunlight is the best disinfectant.

*If you would like a copy of the chapter on integrity from our book, drop me an email and I’d be glad to send it to you.

Categories: Leadership and Culture

Authentic Leadership and Integrity

Posted March 14, 2010 By David Irvine and has no comments yet.

This week I started coaching a senior executive who was recently promoted to lead a large office in his firm. He approached me for coaching to help him be accountable for living with greater integrity. When I asked him what this meant, he said:

“Reflecting on the leadership responsibility I now face made me take a careful inventory of my life. I realized that in my efforts to advance in the business, I have been neglecting my health, my spiritual life, and my relationships with my family.  Because I lack the discipline to live a life aligned with what matters, I don’t have the integrity, self-respect and credibility to influence people in the way I need to now. I want you to help hold me accountable for living in accord with my values.”

This executive gets it: integrity means being an integrated human being, and from that integration comes self-respect, credibility, and the power of sustained leadership presence. You will never get this kind of power from your position or your title.

Mahatma Gandhi said,”A person cannot do right in one department of life while attempting to
do wrong in another department. Life is one indivisible whole.” A leader will never be able to have the strength to impact others if their life is fragmented or lacking wholeness. Integrity comes from the word “integer,” which means wholeness, integration, and completeness. Great leadership cannot be reduced to technique; great leadership comes from the identity and integrity of the leader. This is why leadership is about presence, not position.

This executive’s clarity, wisdom, and courage, reminds me of a story of Gandhi, which illustrates the power of integrity in leadership. During the time Gandhi was in office a troubled mother had a daughter who was addicted to sugar. One day she approached Gandhi, explaining the problem and asking if he would talk to the young girl. Gandhi replied, “Bring your daughter to me in three weeks’ time and I will speak to her.” After three weeks, the mother brought her daughter to Gandhi. He took the young girl aside and spoke to her about the harmful effects of eating sweets excessively and urged her to abandon her bad habit. The mother thanked Gandhi for this advice and then asked him, “But why didn’t you speak to her three weeks ago?” Gandhi replied, “Because three weeks ago, I was still addicted to sweets.”

What is your experience of the effect of integrity on leadership and it’s effect on your self-respect, your credibility, and your ability to influence others?

Categories: Leadership and Culture
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Employee Engagement Surveys: The Newspaper Is Not The Whole Story

Posted March 7, 2010 By David Irvine and has 2 comments.

I’m not against employee engagements surveys. I’m just not in favor or our over-reliance on them for an accurate picture of what’s really going in a culture. Reading your employee engagement surveys is like reading a newspaper or watching the news. It’s interesting, but it’s not the whole picture. It’s a small spectrum of what’s happening. You get a sense of what’s going on, but you always have to go further if you want an accurate picture. There are very reputable organizations, like Hewitt Associates for example, that help provide a rigorous outside perspective of  your culture. Here are some suggestions for getting a more accurate, complete temperature reading of your culture:

1. Don’t rely on surveys alone to do the job. You also have to get out of your office, wander around, and be in touch with people. Ask people how they’re doing. Ask people what they need. And then listen to what they’re saying. If you use the excuse that “people aren’t honest with you when you do that,” that’s a good indication you haven’t been out of your office enough to build trust. Tom Peters had it right three decades ago when he wrote “In Search of Excellence.” Leaders need to be out of their office about 50% of the time or they just aren’t leading.

2. Shorten your surveys. People are getting surveyed out. I’ve seen employees answer low because they are angry about having to do so many surveys! Dr. Theresa M. Welbourne (www.eepulse.com) is designing employee engagement and 360 Feedback surveys that take three minutes to complete. I believe that you can get pretty much all the information you need in about three minutes. Dr. Welborne might just be on to something.

3. You don’t have to survey everyone to get an accurate picture. Television ratings are not determined by calling every single person watching TV. Pick a good cross section of people to survey and give people a break. Switch it up so you aren’t surveying the same people every time you hand out a survey.

4. Never ask a question about something you don’t know how to fix and/or you aren’t prepared to fix. Every survey question implies a promise that  you are going to take action based on the answers you get. And if you break that promise, things will get ugly. I like Mark Murphy’s (Leadership IQ) experiment as an example of how this works. Tonight at home, make some popcorn. Then ask your spouse if they want some and when they say “yes” just ignore them. Now multiply that by a few thousand and you’ll see what we’re talking about.

What’s your experience with employee engagement surveys? I’m open for learning.

Categories: Leadership and Culture, Organizational Culture
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