joanna barclay, cpf, president, speaker, joanna.barclay ... · hi, my name is joanna barclay,...

Joanna Barclay, CPF, President, Speaker, [email protected] | www.CultureLeadershipGroup.com 1


Welcome Transformational Leaders

Do you feel your organization needs

to transform it’s workplace culture?

This e-book can help you.

What if you could learn a step by step process to build a high performing workplace culture and

shave months off of project implementation, increase employee engagement, and significantly

boost your organization’s productivity?

Interested? Read on…

Hi, my name is Joanna Barclay, author of Conscious Culture and President of the Culture Leadership Group. Over the past three decades, I’ve facilitated and participated in over a 50 successful organizational transformations with leaders in the Canadian federal government, private sector, and not-for-profit associations.

Learn the Secrets that I’ve gained over the last 3 decades!

You, too, can benefit from my three decades of experience and expertise. I’ve distilled

everything I’ve learned into online seminars, based on the book Conscious Culture. They will

teach you the secrets that enabled me to produce high performing, values-driven leadership

teams and organizations. These seminars are for leaders who want a faster, better, and more

successful way to transform their workplace culture.

Check our website for seminar dates and information products to

support your leadership development.

Practical, Hands On, Weekly Assignments

www.CultureLeadershipGroup.com/leadershipskills

www.PersonalValuesAssessment.com

http://www.cultureleadershipgroup.com/leadershipskills

http://www.personalvaluesassessment.com/


Table of Contents Preface/Introduction_____________________________________________________________ 5

Implementing a Framework for Culture Change _______________________________________ 9

Conditions for Whole-System Change __________________________________________ 12

Getting Started ________________________________________________________________ 14

Conducting a Cultural Values Assessment (CVA) ____________________________________ 14

Common Mistakes _________________________________________________________ 17

The Two phases of Whole-system Change_________________________________________ 19

Phase I—Preparation Phase — Whole-System Change_________________________________ 20

Step I – Build Leadership Commitment _____________________________________________ 21

Leadership Team _____________________________________________________________ 21

Stakeholder Analysis __________________________________________________________ 22

Environmental Scan __________________________________________________________ 23

Building Trust________________________________________________________________ 29

Step I in a Nutshell ___________________________________________________________ 32

Step II – Baseline Measurement— Cultural Values Assessments _________________________ 34

Seven Levels of Consciousness __________________________________________________ 35

Elements of measurement with the CVA __________________________________________ 38

Levels of Consciousness _____________________________________________________ 38

Misalignment and Entropy ___________________________________________________ 39

Current Cultural Values of the Organization _____________________________________ 41

Desired Cultural Values______________________________________________________ 41

Cultural Values Assessment Reports _____________________________________________ 42

Leadership Team Individual Values Assessments ___________________________________ 42

The Business Needs Scorecard __________________________________________________ 43

Walk the Talk ________________________________________________________________ 48

Consult and Engage Stakeholders _______________________________________________ 49

Step II in a Nutshell ___________________________________________________________ 51

Step III – Revisit Mission and Vision of the Organization _______________________________ 54

Mission Alignment _________________________________________________________ 55


Mission Statements ________________________________________________________ 55

Core Business Purpose ________________________________________________________ 56

Define and Develop Agreement on the Core Business _____________________________ 56

Internal and External Mission and Vision Statements ________________________________ 57

Step III in a Nutshell __________________________________________________________ 58

Step IV – Select Core Values and Behaviors __________________________________________ 61

Guidelines in Selecting Core Values ______________________________________________ 61

Step IV in a Nutshell __________________________________________________________ 63

Step V – Develop Compelling Reasons for Change ____________________________________ 65

Step V in a Nutshell ___________________________________________________________ 67

Phase II — Implementation Phase – Whole-System Change ____________________________ 69

Step VI – Personal Alignment of the Leadership Team and Management __________________ 70

Leadership and Culture______________________________________________________ 70

Full Spectrum Leadership ____________________________________________________ 71

Building Internal Cohesion and Trust in a Leadership Team _________________________ 73

Personal Alignment Programs __________________________________________________ 74

Transformational Leadership for Excellence - the TLEX program _____________________ 74

The Leadership Values Assessment ____________________________________________ 77

The Leadership Development Report __________________________________________ 78

The SDI© Suite of Tools (Strength Deployment Inventory) __________________________ 80

Step VI in a Nutshell __________________________________________________________ 82

Step VII – Structural Alignment of Systems and Processes ______________________________ 84

Systems to be Reconfigured __________________________________________________ 85

Structural Alignment __________________________________________________________ 86

Your Culture is Your Brand – Tony Hsieh, CEO, Zappos_____________________________ 87

Step VII in a Nutshell __________________________________________________________ 90

Step VIII – Values Alignment ______________________________________________________ 92

Step VIII in a Nutshell _________________________________________________________ 94

Step IX – Mission Alignment ______________________________________________________ 96

Step IX in a Nutshell __________________________________________________________ 99

The 9 Steps to Building a High Performing Workplace ________________________________ 101


Preface/Introduction In reading the title of this E-book you probably asked yourself: “What’s

up with the nine steps? Why not two or twelve?” The real question behind

these thoughts is “what is the fast lane to building my high performing

culture?” The simple answer is that there is no fast lane when we are talking

about culture. But don’t throw in the towel yet, because there is a way to

manage and successfully create a high performing culture.

The key to creating a high performing culture, as with any project, is

to start by defining a framework of thought and work progress. In Figure 1,

the framework for whole system change is defined, which provides a

guideline through the process of organizational culture change. If you will

allow the comparison: building a high performing culture has something very

important in common with building a house. When a family has a plan to

build a house, the first thing they consider “together” is what necessities this

new house should cover. Whether, for example, it should have one level or

more. Whether it should have a big enough yard to do some gardening. How

many rooms does it need, to accommodate whom and why, for what period

of time, etc... The next thing you have to acquire when you want to build a

house is a floor plan. And just like when building a house, building a high

performing culture is a process you can define in stages or building phases.

Of course, there are differences as well as similarities. In building a house,

you will need official permits. When building a high performing culture, you


are going to need the full cooperation of the entire organization. It works like

a permit. But the similarities don’t just end there. When building a house,

you have to take the opinion of the home owners into consideration. When

building a high performing culture, you will have to take the values and

behaviors of people within and outside your organization into consideration.

These examples are intended to give you some insight into the process of

building a high performing culture. Building a house is by no means

impossible. It is being done every day on a regular basis around the globe.

The same thing goes for building high performing organizational cultures.

When you break it down like this, building a high performing culture

becomes not just feasible, but also logical and indispensable. It is feasible

because it is possible to envision a framework within which to build this

culture. It is logical because not working on your culture means hanging on

to the existing way of doing things. It would mean hanging on to old methods

of doing things which are inconsistent with more modern insights. Insights,

for example, about the environment and sustainability. In our modern times,

these are arguments that all managers and corporate leaders should heed.

This includes arguments about speed, cost, technology, increasing global

dynamics and influences. Staying the same is a decision to fall behind in

today’s workplace. It also comes down to the image that a manager wants

to create: as a keeper of the status quo, or as a dynamic builder of high

performing workplaces. In other words, this “way of doing things” is

influenced not only by what the organization wants to achieve, but also by


several internal and external factors. This makes building your high

performing culture indispensable. By not working on it, your “way of doing

things” will get outdated and outlived. What’s more, your employees,

managers and leaders will think twice before staying with your organization.

How do you tackle this amorphous thing we call culture? You start by

understanding the key elements of a framework for building a high

performing culture. Organizational or corporate culture is the system of

shared actions, values, and beliefs that develops within an organization and

guides the behavior of its members. The basic elements for this framework

are: 1. Mindsets and values of the people working within your organization

and possibly the external stakeholders; 2. Behaviors; 3. Culture and 4.

Systems. These four elements are influenced by both internal and external

factors. They are also influenced by individuals within and outside the

organization and by the organization’s structure, systems and procedures.

The power of envisioning this framework and using it as a basis for

building a high performing culture lies in the capacity to create group

cohesion, which, in turn, will result in the capacity for collective action and

high performance. Group cohesion is achieved by aligning the organizational

values and the mission of the organization with the values of the people

working within the organization.

The process of building a high performing culture can be divided into

two phases: 1. the preparation phase and: 2. the implementation phase.


In the preparation phase, 5 steps will lead to a successful implementation of

a new, high performing culture:

1. Building leadership commitment 2. Conducting a cultural values assessment

3. Revisiting the mission and vision 4. Selecting core values and behaviors

5. Identifying compelling reasons for change

The implementation phase consists of 4 steps:

6. Personal alignment of the leadership team and management

7. Structural alignment of systems and processes 8. Values alignment

9. Mission alignment

The first phase including the first five steps, is about preparation and

knowing what you are doing, why you are doing it and how you want do it.

These steps are essential in preparing the people and the whole system for

the changes that are about to take place. The implementation phase, which

includes the last four steps, is where the actual changes that need to be

made over time in the system will occur.

In this E-book, we will be discussing these nine steps, step by step. The

book is divided into two parts, Part I – the preparation phase and Part II – the

implementation phase. We will start by illustrating why it is important to

have a framework to implement cultural transformation.


Implementing a Framework for Culture Change

What’s the first step that you have to take when dreaming of a new

shopping mall or a new apartment building? Spoiler alert: It’s not a building

permit and it’s not even a building plan. It all starts with the vision of one or

more individuals. And during the whole process, this vision will be the guide

to realizing a dream. Conceptualizing this vision, it becomes a framework of

all the aspects needed to transform a piece of property into an appealing real

estate with grandeur.

Leaders aspiring to build a high-performing workplace will benefit by

having a framework to guide transformation efforts. Constructing this

framework requires thinking along the lines of organization and individuals,

also along the lines of internal and external factors influencing the

organization and individuals. Superimposed on these two axes, a framework

for a high performing culture can be built. The basic components of this

framework are: 1. Mindsets and values of the people working within your

organization and possibly of the external stakeholders; 2. Behaviors of your

employees, managers, and leaders; 3. Organizational Culture and 4.

Organizational Systems and Procedures. See Figure 1 – Whole-System

Change – Four Way Alignment.

For culture change projects to be successful, a whole organizational

shift is necessary. It is the same principle as when renovating a house. You

could tackle it only cosmetically, but this would leave possible problems


unsolved. This could include a leaky roof or foundation, faulty plumbing or

electricity. It would be better to tackle all of these important features once

you start renovating. The same principle could be applied to organizations.

Tackling one aspect of the organization won’t get you to the place you want

to be. Your whole organization will have to change to achieve a high

performing culture. This process is called whole-system change. It is achieved

through a four-way alignment between the elements which are the basic

components of the framework. The areas of alignment are: personal

alignment, values alignment, structural alignment, and mission alignment.

Figure 1: Whole-System change – Four Way Alignment, shows a

graphic representation of the Whole-System Change Framework to

implement cultural transformation. Note that the whole system consists of

individuals and the organization, and can be influenced by internal and

external factors, as denoted by the floating boxes.


Figure 1: Whole-System Change - Four Way Alignment

Note: Mindset, values and behaviors can be internal – individual, but can be influenced

by external factors. Culture, systems and procedures can be organizational internal and

external and can be influenced internally by employees and externally by stakeholders

and clients. While the interpretation of the figure seems simple, it is actually complex.

This is because the relationship between the boxes outside and the elements inside the

main picture are not linear, while the total picture suggests a linear relationship.

Defining the framework as the individuals or persons within the

organization, the values that these persons hold dear and the values of the

organization, the mission of the organization and the organizational

structures and processes, leads to a necessity to align these four dimensions

in order to change the whole system. Changing only part of the system will

not lead to a high performing culture. It will only lead to stress, burn-out and

turnover which is the exact opposite of the intended goal. In order to change


the whole system, certain conditions must be met for each of the four areas

of alignment.

Conditions for Whole-System Change 1. Personal alignment: There must be an alignment between the values and

beliefs of individuals, and their words, actions and behaviors. This is

particularly important for the leadership group. It is important that

leaders are authentic and walk their talk— Authenticity.

2. Values alignment: There must be an alignment between the personal

values of employees and the stated values of the organization. It is

important that all employees feel at home in the organization and can

bring their whole selves or “being” to work – Unity leading to

transparency.

3. Structural alignment: There must be an alignment between the stated

values of the organization, and behaviors in the organization as they are

influenced through the structures, systems, processes, policies,

incentives and procedures of the organization. It is important that the

values are institutionalized— Integrity.

4. Mission alignment: There must be an alignment between the sense of

motivation and purpose of all employees, and the mission and vision of

the organization. It is important that every employee, manager and

leader has a clear line of sight between the work they do each day and

the mission or vision of the organization, so they know how they make a

difference – Motivation leading to accountability.


Values alignment and mission alignment together create group

cohesion, since unity and motivation gives a sense of purpose to the whole

group. It produces the incentive needed to achieve the common goal.

Engineering parallel shifts in all four quadrants at the same time is

called whole-system change. This is the challenging task for leaders and

requires conscious change leadership: Being aware of – and managing

change – in all 4 areas of alignment at the same time.

When the actions and behaviors of an individual and groups are in

alignment with their espoused values and behavior, we consider this person

or group to operate with authenticity and integrity. Authenticity and

integrity will in the end lead to transparency and accountability.


Getting Started

Conducting a Cultural Values Assessment (CVA) The basis for any improvement is the gathering of data. In

construction, architects and engineers will gather data on the construction

site, the requirements of the local government, and even data on the type of

weather at the building location, before any kind of planning can take place.

This information is essential in determining the sorts of material needed for

construction on this specific location. This same principle will apply when

building a high performing workplace culture. Data will have to be gathered

on several levels to determine the gap between what you have now and

what you define to be the desired high performing workplace culture. Within

organizations, individual and collective values and behaviors shape the

culture. Conducting a Barrett Values Centre Cultural Values Assessment

(CVA) with key stakeholders will provide the organization with valuable

information on the current and desired values and behaviors of its people.

The CVA is a Barrett Values Centre Cultural Transformation ToolSM (CTT) that

will allow you to assess the “intangible” values and behaviors making these

tangible. The CVA is a measurement tool with which the cultural baseline can

be established before planning for the transformation process.

For whole-system change to occur, there must be a parallel shift in

personal alignment, values alignment, structural alignment, and mission

alignment. All four relationships must change in the same direction for the


group to experience a shift in consciousness, leading to a shift in culture and

performance.

This shift can be brought about by applying a model called the Barrett

Seven Levels of Consciousness, which describes the stages of development

of an organization in terms of consciousness and commitment to the

organization’s cause. The model describes the different stages in

consciousness development within organizations. Starting with the basic

needs of the organization in Level one, which are concerned with the

survival of the organization, and ending up at the level 7 of service to each

other, to employees and to the community.

Figure 2: Barrett Seven Levels of Consciousness Model


The way to bring about this change in an organization is through

workshops, seminars and training programs that focus on personal

alignment and group cohesion (values alignment and mission alignment),

and structural alignment— changes in rules, regulations, systems and

processes, and structures of governance that reflect the values and

behaviors of the new level of consciousness.

The personal alignment and group cohesion programs will be tailored

to correspond to the levels of consciousness of the group. The Barrett Seven

Levels of Consciousness model provides the necessary insights to design

these programs. The most basic level, the physical level, is the instinct to

survive. Once survival is secured, the emotional level has a chance to surface.

Individuals will seek relationships and build on self-esteem. Only after these

conditions have been satisfied can the individual evaluate the self and the

environment. This will lead to transformational thinking, which in turn will

lead to the spiritual level of internal cohesion, making a difference, service,

and giving back to society. Before making any kind of change plan, the levels

of consciousness of the group and of the organization will be assessed.

The CVA survey tells you exactly where the group is and where it wants

to go in terms of values and levels of consciousness. These understandings

are particularly important in choosing the implementation methodologies

that are appropriate for the personal alignment and group cohesion

programs.


Common Mistakes In cultural transformation processes, mistakes are often made

because the interdependencies between all four quadrants are not well

understood.

Mistake 1: Focus only on personal alignment.

Many organizations focus on personal alignment without doing anything

about structural alignment. This serves only to aggravate the situation.

Managers and employees who have experienced a personal alignment

program will shift to a higher level of consciousness while policies and

procedures in the organization still reflect the old level of consciousness.

Mistake 2: Focus only on group cohesion.

Another mistake is focusing on structural change without carrying out

personal alignment. This limits the potential of success for group cohesion

because people enter these programs without self-understanding or strong

interpersonal skills. It would be better for people to enter the change

programs having already experienced a shift in consciousness through a

personal alignment program in Step 6.

Therefore, for maximum impact, personal alignment will precede group

cohesion and structural alignment will follow personal alignment or be

carried out in parallel. When this happens, organizations can shift smoothly

to a new level of consciousness.


Mistake 3: Focus only on leader’s personal values.

A third common mistake is when the CEO or team leader decides to

implement changes according to his or her own personal values system. If

the CEO decides that the organization isn’t performing according to his or

her expectations, they will try to implement some changes in the hope that

people will start cooperating in accordance with his/her values and

behaviors. This is a standard recipe for aversion. A values mismatch is quickly

made and misalignment is achieved, leading to cultural entropy.

Cultural entropy is defined as the amount of energy in an organization that

is consumed by unproductive work. It is a measure of the friction and pent-

up frustration that occurs when potentially limiting values show up in the

workplace, such as control, manipulation or hierarchy. This exists when

there is inconsistency or misalignment between personal values and

organizational values.

The result, unsurprisingly, is usually a bigger cost to unravel all the problems

created by the misalignments that this kind of operation will create.


The Two phases of Whole-system Change There are two phases to the whole-system change:

Phase 1: Preparation and

Phase 2: Implementation.

The preparation phase begins with leadership commitment to building an

engagement plan to map and measure the current and desired culture of the

organization. This phase culminates in the definition of a strategy for the

implementation of a whole system change program, core values, and the key

performance indicators that will be used to measure the success of the

program.

The implementation phase includes the interventions and programs

required to benefit its people on the journey to attain exceptional high

performance.


Phase I—Preparation Phase — Whole-System Change

Figure 3: Whole-System Change - Preparation Phase

Figure 3 summarizes the five steps in this first phase, culminating in a

series of three crucial questions. These “how to-“questions will guide the

planning for the implementation of the whole-system change. The answers

to these three crucial questions will be found following the five steps of this

first phase.


Step I – Build Leadership Commitment

Leadership Team This first action in transforming the workplace culture is the most

important of all the steps. It entails bringing together leaders from different

parts of the organization. They could be leaders from across the country,

around the world, or with different business functions. These leaders from

all the different parts of the organization will form the leadership team. It is

important that all of the business leaders in the organization be involved in

this process, because transforming the workplace culture touches every part

of the organization. How you do business in one function is going to impact

and touch all of the other functions that interact and operate with that

business function.

An example is the Information & Technology (IT) department. IT

typically provides services to many different functions in the organization. If

IT decides that they need to change the way that they are doing business, it

is highly advisable that they include the stakeholders that they interface with

in the change process, and ensure that they understand the reasons for the

changes.

Culture is one of those pervasive elements. It’s really the personality

of an organization. It’s the leaders that primarily influence and determine

what that culture is going to be. This is because the way that leaders operate,

manage, and make decisions, is all part of the culture.


The benefit of bringing the leadership team together is the

commitment that you create as an end result. The leaders will understand

why cultural transformation is needed which will bring them together to

start the process of building the internal cohesion of the team. It is a

leadership team. This internal cohesion is incredibly important. Some of the

factors involved in the internal cohesion include: trust and understanding,

respecting each other’s needs, communicating effectively, having the desire

to work together and collaborate, recognizing that systems and processes

might need to change that affect one another. Work processes that flow

from one department to another might need to change in this process.

Stakeholder Analysis When bringing the leadership team together, one of the first things to

do is a stakeholder analysis. A stakeholder analysis identifies the different

stakeholders that the organization and the leadership team interfaces with,

has an impact on, or is impacted by. In addition to the stakeholders, the

responsibilities that the organization has to those stakeholders are

identified. Based on this analysis, a picture emerges of all the parts of the

organization and how they are interconnected. People start to see and

recognize how the organization operates.


Environmental Scan

The starting point on your change journey is to understand your current

reality and what is driving change in your business. Conducting an

environmental scan helps a team to understand the factors that are driving

change. This is critical to establishing the overall context within which

cultural transformation occurs. There are both external and internal

drivers. They are the impetus and motivation for change, providing the

change effort’s relevance and meaning. Drivers are the purpose for those

leading the change as well as those who are going to be affected by the

change. See Figure 5 – Drivers and Directions of Change.

When change is taking place, one thing you can be certain of is resistance.

People typically do not like change, unless it is something they have chosen

to change, like a new car or hairstyle. When the IT department decides to

change your laptop or mobile device, change takes on a whole new

complexity. Communication is crucial to minimizing resistance. People want

to understand what is driving the change and how the changes fit into the

organization’s mission and vision. Having this information helps people to

commit to it. The natural response to change underscores the importance

of investing time at the front end of the change initiative to generate

awareness and belongingness to build commitment.


Figure 4: Drivers and Directions of Change

The model for change describes seven drivers for change—four that leaders

are traditionally familiar with and three that are relatively new areas of

focus. In the figure above, the familiar drivers move from what is external

and impersonal: environment, marketplace, business, and organization, to

what is unfamiliar, internal, and personal: culture, behaviors, and values.

Internal and personal drivers are rarely explored because they are

intangible in nature and organizations find it hard to measure them.

Environmental forces of change typically include: social, economic,

political, governmental, technological, demographic, legal, and the natural

environment.


Marketplace requirements reflect the customer needs and demands which

arise from the environmental forces that are affecting them. For example,

new technology will create a rise in expectations of service levels, speed of

delivery and innovation.

Business imperatives are the strategies that companies must successfully

implement to meet the market (customer) requirements. These changes

can mean rethinking the mission and vision, new business models,

products, services, and pricing. As the environment changes, it has an

impact on the customer requirements which in turn is reflected in the new

strategies that are required to adapt and be successful in meeting market

demands.

Organizational imperatives are reflected in how the organization must

evolve to successfully deliver on the new business strategies to meet

market demands. Changes can be expected in the following areas:

organizational structure, systems, processes, resources, technology, skills,

leadership competencies, and staffing levels.

Cultural imperatives are the new ways of being and working together.

Changes in the organization’s structure, systems, processes, and

management to meet new goals often mean changes in behavior that will

require management training to ensure that the staff are capable of

delivering the desired results. Whenever new behaviors or skills are


required to deliver on strategies, it means that the culture (how we do

things) will be affected.

Leader and employee behavior must change to reflect the new culture and

organizational structure to deliver on the business strategy to meet the

needs of the marketplace due to changing environmental forces. Changes

in behavior can include a different style of making decisions, frequency of

collaborative dialogue with staff and stakeholders, and tone in

communicating. In order for the culture to change, leaders must role

model the change they want to see and walk the talk for staff.

Leader and employee mindset is the collective set of beliefs, values,

assumptions which are the driving force for our behavior. The first step in

the change process is to become aware of what beliefs and assumptions

are driving behavior. Once we know what they are, we are more in control

of how we can choose to change our behavior.

“If you continue to think as you have always thought, then you will

continue to get what you have always got”. New information that is gained

from doing an environmental scan and a new understanding of the external

forces can lead to a shift in mindset. A shift in mindset can be a catalyst for

new ideas and new strategies to meet the organizational and business

imperatives.


This shift is also what is required for staff to understand the compelling

reasons for change and to behave differently to support the new strategies

and achieve different results.

The most challenging struggles identified during change deal with leaders’

and team members’ need to develop awareness, ownership, and

responsibility for the internal drivers of change such as personal behaviors

and values. This is because organizations do not change; it is the people in

them that do. For sustained success and real change to happen, the change

must begin at the base, in the mindset and values of leaders and staff.

When mindsets change, new thinking and strategies emerge, making new

behaviors possible and sparking a rippling effect through the drivers of

change.

The second action in this step is to have a look at the culture. What are

(some of) the values, norms and behaviors that will need to change to meet

these business objectives? Or to put it another way: what are some of the

values, norms and behaviors that are needed to cope with and excel at these

new business objectives.

We have a new generation coming into the workforce. Their ways of

working and their skills are different from previous generations. These skills

are the ones that organizations need to capitalize on in order to meet their

business objectives. A perfect example is social media skills. The challenge in

bringing in the younger generation is their expectation of wanting to

collaborate and participate in decision making. There are different


expectations between these younger employees and the managers. These

differences in expectations will need to be taken into consideration together

with the leadership behaviors and the management behaviors that are

desired and the mindset changes that are needed to go along with them in

order to change those behaviors. When it comes to actually changing, the

change starts with the mindsets.

Getting feedback from different stakeholders after doing a

consultation, has the impact of changing the mindset of leaders and what

they value. Consulting different stakeholders provides new information that

has the impact of changing the way leaders see their stakeholders and the

business needs. This is the mindset change of management and leaders. With

this new mindset, it is easier to change behaviors because you understand

what needs to be changed and why these changes are necessary.

An example of the impact a stakeholder has on an organizational

leader would be: “I’m hearing from your clients that you’re doing a great job

delivering services to clients and especially the value of your educational

material.” You possibly hadn’t realized the impact of your materials prior to

hearing from your stakeholders. When you understand the value of your

product or service, you can see new opportunities for using that material to

achieve some of your strategic initiatives.

When you work change from the bottom up, by doing a stakeholder

analysis and an environmental scan, you can open up whole new areas,

competencies and strategies because you now have new knowledge that you


didn’t have before consulting with your internal and external stakeholders.

The power in doing this is the new information and new awareness that it

creates and the new value-added that the leaders have at their disposal to

be able to develop strategies built on these strengths and competencies that

you didn’t know existed.

Another element that surfaces when conducting an environmental

scan is learning how your organization operates. How effectively do you

share information and achieve organizational objectives, and what changes

are needed?

Reviewing stakeholder feedback with the leadership team creates

new awareness and strengthens team cohesion. Sharing, openness and

transparency is developed, as team members share their different

experiences and challenges. When people hear different perspectives from

leaders in different parts of the organization, it helps them recognize where

their areas of improvement are to work on together.

Building Trust The third action in the first step is having the leadership team work on

building trust. Building internal cohesion takes trustworthy leadership,

common values, and a community spirit.

There are twelve basic conditions that must be met to create a climate of

trust. These are shown in Figure 5 - the Trust Matrix provided by the Barrett

Values Centre. Teams must master all of these components in order to

create a high-performing team and a high-performing organization.


Conducting a trust matrix assessment enables the team to understand their

strengths and areas for development.

If the leadership team is out of alignment with each other, the whole

organization will be at odds with itself, and cultural entropy will be high.

We have found that the biggest single success factor in building a high

performance organization is creating a cohesive leadership team. We have

also found this to be the factor that organizations struggle with the most.

Figure 5: Trust Matrix


Intent

Caring: To look out for the well-being of the organization and all its employees.

Transparency: To be clear about the motivations that lie behind all decision making.

Openness: To be accepting and receptive to the ideas and opinions of all employees.

Integrity

Honesty: To be truthful and frank in all interpersonal communications.

Fairness: To act without bias, discrimination, or injustice towards all employees.

Authenticity: To be consistent and sincere in thought, word, and action at all times.

Capability

Skills: To accomplish professional tasks with ease, speed, and proficiency.

Knowledge: To be very familiar with and conversant in a specific topic or professional subject matter.

Experience: To accumulate practical knowledge through personal observation.

Results

Reputation: To be held in favorable esteem by bosses, peers, and subordinates.

Credibility: To consistently articulate ideas in a convincing and believable manner.

Performance: To discharge personal responsibilities with accomplishment and

excellence.


Step I in a Nutshell Looking back at this step, we see that there are three actions to be

taken.

Action 1: The leadership team is brought together. It is important that

leaders from all parts of the organization participate. Once this is

accomplished, a stakeholder analysis is conducted followed by an

environmental scan. Leaders look for new business initiatives as a

result of the stakeholders’ feedback. Leaders need to get on the same

page and understand the compelling reasons for change.

Action 2: Take a look at the desired culture from the stakeholder

feedback. Note that this feedback can lead to new views on business

needs and a shift in mindsets and consciousness. The process creates

new awareness among the leadership team.

Action 3: Building trust. Connect, align, and build trust on the

leadership team. This is where the trust matrix assessment is

conducted, to measure the level of trust that leaders have in different

areas (strengths and areas for development are measured). It is

important to note that trust will lead to commitment.

In addition to these 3 actions and as part of each action it is necessary

to create and share a compelling change story—WHY do we need to change?


During this first step, a better understanding is developed for the

process involved in cultural transformation. Conversations on values,

behaviors and mindsets from the environmental scan create more

awareness and sensitivity to the benefits of mapping and measuring the

culture. Trust and confidence is built in the process of assessing

organizational culture and the value of engaging employees and

stakeholders.

All of these actions build leadership commitment and what it means to

transform and truly engage the organization.

To support the change process, it can be very beneficial to build

facilitative leadership skills. Unfortunately, the principles of being a

facilitative leader cannot be taught in this E-book. However, it is important

to learn how to design and lead focused conversations that encourages staff

to participate and share ideas. Using facilitative leader skills has long term

benefits on the results since it builds trust, unites teams and the

organization. United we stand, divided we fall. This is very true in

organizations that do not share common goals and shared values to achieve

these goals. To find out more about how to develop facilitative leadership

skills visit: www.CultureLeadershipGroup.com/leadershipskills

http://www.cultureleadershipgroup.com/leadershipskills


Step II – Baseline Measurement— Cultural Values

Assessments

Knowing ‘the how’ is an essential step before ‘doing'. Every shopper

does this instinctively. Before buying something we get information on a

series of properties of the item we want to get. The vendor and its quirks,

the quality of the product, the price, the types available, etc... Even

information on the shop assistance will often influence our choice. In other

words, we gather data in all sorts of situations, consciously or unconsciously.

This same principle of gathering knowledge before taking action applies to

organizations. The Barrett Values Centre Cultural Values Assessment (CVA)

is a tool for gathering data on the existing organizational culture.

The CVA provides data on the current culture of the organization. It

provides information to the leadership team and the organization on the

values that are important to people. Knowledge is a prerequisite to change.

What are those values and behaviors that are important to people, the

staff, employees and stakeholders? Which values enable them to bring their

full selves to work? As an organization preparing for cultural change, you

want to know what these values are, and more importantly, how they

influence your people. This is important because when your employees have

a set of values and the organization expects a different set of values, the


employee will not be able to live the values that are most important to them.

This can lead to disengagement and turnover.

One of the purposes of doing a CVA is to be able to create an

environment where people are able to bring their full selves to work. This

increases their personal motivation and performance. That’s what we are

looking for here: high performance that is values driven. Doing a values

assessment and finding out the values of people, is a valuable measurement

that will serve the leadership team. The resulting data will allow you to find

out what is important to people and their level of consciousness.

Seven Levels of Consciousness The Barrett Seven Levels of Consciousness model provides a

framework for mapping and measuring the values and behaviors that define

an organization’s culture. The model was inspired by Abraham Maslow’s

hierarchy of needs. In the model, the hierarchy of needs is transposed into

levels of consciousness.

Table 1 – Description of the Barrett 7 Levels of Consciousness

Level of

Consciousness

Personal

Actions and Needs

Organizational

Actions and Needs

Developmental Tasks

7. Service Giving selfless

service: Being

your purpose,

compassion,

humility,

forgiveness,

caring for

Creating long-term

sustainable future for

the organization by

caring for humanity

and preserving the

earth’s life support

systems.

Serving: Safeguarding

the well-being of the

planet and society for

future generations.


humanity and the

planet.

6. Making a

Difference

Making a positive

difference in the

world: Reflecting

empathy, alliances,

intuition, mentoring

and a focus on well-

being.

Building the resilience

of the organization by

cooperating with

other organizations

and the local

communities in which

the organization

operates.

Collaborating:

Aligning with other

like-minded

organizations and

communities for

mutual benefit and

support.

5. Internal

Cohesion

Finding meaning

in existence:

Finding your

purpose,

integrity, honesty,

authenticity,

passion,

enthusiasm,

creativity, humor

and fun.

Enhancing the

capacity of the

organization for

collective action by

aligning employee

motivations around a

shared set of values

and an inspiring

vision.

Connecting: Creating

an internal cohesive,

high-trust culture that

enables the

organization to fulfil

its purpose.

4. Transformation Letting go of

fears: Finding

courage to grow

and develop,

adaptability,

continuous

renewal and

personal growth.

Increasing innovation

by giving employees a

voice in decision

making and making

them accountable for

their futures and the

overall success of the

organization.

Facilitating:

Empowering

employees to

participate in decision

making by giving

them freedom and

autonomy

3. Self-Esteem Feeling a sense of self-worth: Showing confidence,

competence, self-reliance.

Fear- I am not good enough, Leads to – need for

power, authority

Establishing

structures, policies

and procedures and

processes that create

order, support the

performance of the

organization and

enhance employee

pride.

Performing: Building

high-performance

systems and

processes that focus

on the efficient

running of the

organization.

2. Relationship Feeling protected

and loved:

Resolving conflicts

and building

Harmonizing:

Creating a sense of


Family, friendship,

loyalty, respect

Fear – I am not

loved enough

Leads to – Jealousy,

blame

harmonious

relationships that

create a sense of

loyalty among

employees and strong

connection to

customers.

belonging and mutual

respect among

employees and caring

for customers.

1. Survival Satisfying

physiological and

survival needs:

Health, security,

financial stability

Fear - I do not have

enough

Leads to – control,

domination and

caution

Creating financial

stability, profitability

and caring for the

health and safety of all

employees.

Surviving: Becoming

financially viable and

independent.

The levels of consciousness relate to the basic human needs that drive

our behavior. The first three levels of consciousness—survival, relationship,

and self-esteem—relate to physical and emotional needs. These needs show

up in behaviors that can lead to causes of entropy and reduce performance.

Fears at the survival level, such as not having enough money, no matter how

much they make, will drive behaviors of greed and control. Fears at the

relationship level are about feeling that they do not belong or are not

accepted enough, which drive behaviors of wanting to be liked and

dependence on others. Fears about performance and not being good enough

will drive behaviors to seek status, authority, and competition.

At the fourth level of consciousness, transformation, people begin to

seek who they truly are, freeing themselves of fears and beliefs from the first


three levels. At the fourth level, people want to make their own choices and

develop their own voice; hence the power of facilitative leadership and its

ability to empower people who are ready to have their voices heard and

contribute to decisions that affect them.

The fifth, sixth, and seventh levels are Maslow’s level of self-

actualization. The model expands into three levels to give more definition to

peoples spiritual needs. At the fifth level, a person wants to identify and live

their purpose in life. They want to feel a sense of internal cohesion and lead

a values-driven life.

The sixth level is making a difference. A person wants to collaborate

with others who share similar values, mission, and vision. The seventh level

is about service, where a person finds fulfillment in a life of selfless service.

They operate with humility and compassion.

The seven levels of consciousness correspond to the needs that

motivate and drive human behavior. If humans are unable to meet a

particular need, their consciousness will remain at that level until the need

is met. When it is met, their consciousness moves to the next level of

development.

Elements of measurement with the CVA

Levels of Consciousness The first element of measurement with the Cultural Values

Assessment (CVA) is to find out at what level of consciousness the


organization is functioning at this moment in time. When you see people’s

personal values and where they are on the seven levels of consciousness,

you can get an impression of the personality of the organization and what’s

important to people. What becomes obvious when doing values

assessments, is that most people today are growing and motivated by

transformation and continuous improvement at Level 4. They are reaching

that level where their personal basic needs have been met. They are

financially secure, are surrounded by healthy relationships, their self-worth

and their self-esteem are supported by the necessary education and the skills

they need to do their jobs. People are now at the stage where they are

transforming, growing and developing. They are now looking for shared

vision, shared values, and trust. These are values that show up on Level 5 of

the Barrett Seven Levels of Consciousness model.

Misalignment and Entropy When comparing personal values of individuals to the current cultural

values of an organization, and you see there is a big difference in alignment,

this difference is called “misalignment” between the organization and its

employees. What often shows up on assessments are limiting organizational

values at levels 1-3 such as control, greed, manipulation, silo mentality,

internal competition, hierarchy and bureaucracy. These limiting values

influence productivity and performance, and show up in increased levels of

stress, burn out and turn-over.


The focus for organizations over the past 30 years has been on

performance, systems and processes causing them to function efficiently and

effectively.

What is happening today because of the emergence of social media,

the younger generation moving into organizations want to work with

different values such as collaboration, teamwork and trust, active

engagement in decision making and recognition for their work, which are

Levels 4 - 6. This is in contrast to where organizations are operating today,

which is more on Levels 1, 2 and 3 – with a focus on profit, client satisfaction

and systems and processes. This is causing high levels of misalignment

leading to disengagement. This, in turn, creates challenges in retaining top

talent because of the misalignment.

The limiting values that show up at Levels 1, 2 and 3 of the

consciousness model are behaviors and values such as bureaucracy,

hierarchy, control, manipulation, blame and greed. These are values that are

causing high levels of entropy which translates into low employee

engagement. The reason why they translate into low levels of employee

engagement is because these values actually create frustration and loss of

productivity.

If you are in an organization and have to constantly deal with

bureaucracy and the overhead that bureaucracy forces on the work that you

do, it drains your personal energy leading to lower performance. The impact

that values such as control and greed, manipulation and blame have on


employees is that they don’t feel that they have a sense of autonomy in

making decisions over things that affect them. This leads to feeling

disempowered, and with that feeling of disempowerment comes

disengagement.

Current Cultural Values of the Organization The second element of the measurement is finding out what the

current values of the organization are. The importance of this element of the

measurement is that it gives you the tool to measure the (mis)alignment

between values of the organization and values of the employees. This

measurement also gives you the tool to measure (mis)alignment between

values of the organization and values of the leaders, by requesting

demographic reports. It is interesting to notice that even the values of the

leaders can be misaligned when compared to the values of the organization.

Becoming conscious of this misalignment leads to understanding the source

of disempowerment and disengagement. It also leads to finding new reasons

and ways for cooperation, engagement and empowerment.

Desired Cultural Values The third element of the cultural values assessment is to envision the

desired culture. Desired values are those that the employees and

stakeholders would like to see in the organization. They are the way forward

and the antidote to the current cultural entropy causing frustration and

disengagement. Desired values will guide the implementation of strategic


initiatives and create a more sustainable future. The organization will be

higher performing, more engaged and more empowered.

Cultural Values Assessment Reports The information and reports that the leadership team and the

organization receives from doing a cultural values assessment can be broken

down by demographics. These demographics can include branch, region and

management level or employee classification. It is any dimension that makes

sense and relates to the way your organization is structured, or where you

think there might be challenges and issues with performance.

Receiving the data and reviewing the data as a leadership team first,

gives the leadership team the opportunity to develop an understanding of

what’s going on in the culture and how to engage staff.

During the debrief meeting, the team works slowly through the results

to find out what’s important personally to the leaders and to the people in

the organization. Time is spent exploring the limiting values, understanding

what is happening with the potentially limiting values, and evaluating how

they might be impacting performance. The last step is to evaluate the desired

cultural values in order to find out where focus and attention might have the

greatest impact to move the organization forward towards their desired

mission and vision.

Leadership Team Individual Values Assessments Prior to or at the same time as doing a cultural values assessment, the

leadership team members can participate in an Individual Values Assessment


(IVA). The importance of the IVA for the leaders is to understand how their

personal values relate to the performance of the organization. Personal

values influence leadership behavior which in turn influence management

behavior. Becoming conscious of personal values will allow leaders to

perceive possible misalignment with the organization’s values and with the

values of employees.

Before bringing the leadership team together to review the results of

the cultural values assessment, one-on-one coaching sessions with leaders

can take place to review their personal IVA. The IVA provides them with

information on the values that they selected and an individual report. During

the one-on-one coaching session, leaders benefit by gaining a deeper

understanding of the Seven Levels of Consciousness model and the impact

that values have on the performance of the organization.

The Business Needs Scorecard So far we’ve talked about the Cultural Values Assessment Report. A

second type of report that is provided to the leaders is the Business Needs

Scorecard (BNS). The BNS provides a different business view of the current

and the desired cultural values to help guide the organizational strategy for

long term success.

There are six areas of business needs on the score card including:

finance, fitness, external stakeholder relations, evolution, societal

contribution and culture. The area of culture is further broken down into


three sub sections: trust and engagement, direction and communication and

supportive environment.

While the seven levels of consciousness model looks at values from a

cultural perspective, the business needs score card places the values in a

business context.

It is important to examine the different areas of the business needs

score card. The first area mentioned is finance. Finance looks at the

economic health of an organization and the financial growth with values and

behaviors that have a direct impact on growth, the bottom line and the

invested interest. The fitness area of the business needs score card focuses

on performance, systems and processes. Values and behavior have a direct

impact on performance, quality and the effective delivery of products and

services. External stakeholder relations highlights the relationship with

customers and other external stakeholders. This area includes values and

behaviors that have a direct impact on the relationship with customers, the

market, suppliers and other strategic partners. Evolution covers innovation,

group development and learning. Values and behaviors represented here

have a direct impact on the development of people, processes, products and

services and the ways of thinking. Societal contribution indicates an

emphasis on social and environmental responsibility. Values and behaviors

appearing in this area have a direct impact on the relationship with the

organization to the local community and society. Culture pertains to


employee fulfillment and group cohesion. It describes how collaboratively

and collectively they are able to work together.

The area of culture is broken down into three subsections. The first

subsection is trust and engagement. It relates to employees feeling

empowered and able to contribute. It includes values and behaviors that

bring people together, build mutual confidence and encourage employees to

participate. Direction and communication is the second subsection focused

on decision making and how people communicate. It includes values and

behaviors that guide decision making and express how people communicate

and exchange information with each other. The third subsection, Supportive

Environment, concerns employees feeling cared for and treated fairly.

Values and behaviors in this area have a direct impact on how people are

treated and looked after within the organization.

Earlier we discussed the need for reviewing the cultural values

assessment data together with the team leaders. One of the outcomes of

reviewing these data reports together as a leadership team is to develop

strategies to determine how the values assessment is going to be debriefed

with the teams, staff and stakeholders of the organization. It is imperative

that the CVA results be debriefed with staff. They need to feel part of the

change process. If they aren’t included as part of the change process, then

the change will happen without their full engagement and empowerment.

This can have a negative impact on the cultural transformation, because

transformation is an internal experience that begins by shifting mindsets and


values. The best way to enable this kind of transformation is to engage staff

in reviewing the data about their culture so that they can understand and

explore the challenges with the current culture. If staff and stakeholders do

not have an opportunity to review the data, and to explore the meaning of

the data, and instead leaders tell them what they want to change, the level

of engagement is significantly lower.

Imagine you are in a relationship and both of you recognize change is

needed. Potentially there is a value or behavior that is not supporting the

relationship. For example I, as your partner, make a simple request such as:

“I’d like you to change the change the way you are treating me”. If the

partner has not been involved in a conversation to understand why the

request is being made, what will happen in nine out of ten cases is that the

request will be ignored and the behavior will not change.

To change the outcome in this example:

1. Take the time to sit with your partner and discuss the situation and

what is happening.

2. Together explore all the different circumstances around the

particular value and behavior that you are finding challenging. You

share with your partner what those challenges are, the effect that

they have on you.

3. Engage your partner in coming up with a solution.

4. Agree on consequences if the change in behavior does not happen.


This kind of conversation will have a very different kind of outcome,

because you are analyzing the situation together. You are sharing and

each person has an opportunity to understand, question and

appreciate the impact that the value and the behavior has on the other

person. There is a level of respect, internal cohesion and trust that is

created when you are able to share your inner feelings with each

other. Similar results happen in a group situation with facilitative

leadership, when the leader brings people together and guides the

conversation. The outcome results in deeper understanding, a sense

of internal cohesion and a commitment to reach decisions within the

team.

There is no substitute for engaging people in conversations that

develop new awareness and new levels of conscious thinking. The only way

that change happens effectively is when you develop new levels of

consciousness and new levels of thinking that help people to come up with

solutions to existing problems.


You cannot solve problems with the same level of thinking that

created them. Something needs to change in the level of thinking and

consciousness before new solutions to existing problems can be created.

These are the benefits that are achieved by a leadership team and a

whole organization when you debrief the results with the people who

participated in the cultural values assessment. Those who participated bring

meaning and understanding to the words and the values that were selected.

Without the participation of staff, the leadership team will be interpreting

which might lead to an improper interpretation of the values selected.

Walk the Talk Something else that debriefing the data provides is guidance for the

development of programs for personal alignment of the leadership team and

managers. It helps to answer the question of what it will mean to “walk the

talk”. Debriefing together helps to develop compelling reasons for change

and awareness for new levels of consciousness the organization is looking for


from its leadership and management. In other words, it helps them to find

out what new ways of working together would help them create the desired

culture that they are looking for. It also creates group cohesion. As teams

debrief together, they build stronger relationships with deeper respect for

each other, their communication skills mature and they begin to develop

trust in each other by sharing knowledge and experience. They identify the

changes that are necessary in the systems and processes to achieve

structural alignment and address the challenges of the entropy and limiting

values that are causing a loss in productivity and performance.

Another benefit of debriefing the CVA is identifying the key

performance indicators for values management. These are the values,

behaviors and action plans you are going to want to put in your values

program and give to managers to put in their performance plans. They are

the behaviors and values that you’re going to want to be monitoring. When

you put values and identify key performance indicators in a values program,

leaders and the managers take the cultural transformation initiative more

seriously. When culture change is tied to bonuses and rewards, and is

directly connected to actions that they need to see each other do, there is

an added incentive for being accountable and responsible.

Consult and Engage Stakeholders There are various ways to consult and engage stakeholders after

conducting the Cultural Values Assessment. Critical to the consultation

process is the level of participation and collaboration that is designed into


the process. This type of engagement is very powerful when people want

their voices to be heard. Stakeholders offer new ideas and suggestions for

improvement. These are grassroots ideas that have an impact on all

stakeholders.

The benefit of holding engagement consultations is the information that

is shared and heard by everyone. This new information has the power of

shifting people’s mindsets, values and beliefs.

With new awareness comes new levels of consciousness that can lead to

new strategies and ways of working together to solve problems and meet

goals. Another advantage of conducting the CVA with stakeholders is that it

is an engaging processes that builds relationships. When leaders are open to

hearing both positive and negative feedback from the stakeholders, it

demonstrates vulnerability that builds respect and trust in the stakeholder

relationship. Leaders show they can be trusted when they do not shoot the

messenger and there aren’t any negative repercussions for speaking truth to

power.

What really builds commitment and responsibility for actions and the

strategies to follow is when people share their ideas. This process develops

greater awareness for the power of values when they are used in decision

making. People gain strength and confidence when they see the benefits and

impact that becoming a values-based leader can have.


Values, concrete behaviors and actions give leaders the courage to

change and lead in new ways. With success comes more courage and more

strength to try new things. Having dialogue with all of the stakeholders

creates new awareness and levels of consciousness that leads to new ideas

and strategies for achieving the strategic initiatives.

Step II in a Nutshell In step II we worked on the Cultural Values Assessment (CVA). Why is

a CVA important? The CVA provides data on the current culture of the

organization. It provides information to the leadership team and the

organization on the values that are important to people. Awareness and

information are a prerequisite to change.

The CVA is a tool to map, measure and manage the current values and

behaviors of the organization. At the same time, it’s a tool to help

envision the desired culture.

o Desired values are those that employees and stakeholders

would like to see in the organization, giving you the antidote to

organizational entropy.

Using this tool, you’ll be able to determine misalignment between the

personal values of your employees and the current values of the

organization. It is important to remember that: misalignment

increases stress, burn-out and turn-over.

The CVA is a tool to help create an environment where people can

bring their full selves to work.


The CVA leads to an increase in values-driven performance.

It can help determine the level of consciousness of people within the

organization, and the level of consciousness that the organization is

functioning at.

o The Barrett Seven Levels of Consciousness model provides a

framework for mapping and measuring the values and

behaviors that define the organizations’ culture.

The CVA is a tool used to consult and engage stakeholders.

It identifies opportunities and obstacles to cultural change.

It also identifies key performance indicators for values management

such as building trust and leadership development.

Actions that are typically taken in this step are:

The performance of individual values assessments with the leadership

team.

Debriefing of the individual values assessment results with the leaders

at a one-on-one level.

The conducting of an organization wide CVA. This includes

demographics such as:

o Region

o Position

o Business unit.

It includes stakeholders as an option in the CVA.


There is a debrief the CVA with the leadership team and subsequently

with staff and stakeholders. This will provide guidance in the

development of programs for:

o Personal alignment

o Structural alignment

o Values alignment

o Mission alignment.

Having discussed this second step in detail, it is now time to turn to step

III, revisiting the mission and vision of the organization.


Step III – Revisit Mission and Vision of the Organization

When raising a family, just stating a house rule once won’t cut it. This

is especially true in the case of children. It is important to keep talking to

them, not just telling them what to do and how to do it, but also listening to

their needs and wants. Giving the kids a chance to express themselves helps

them in growing their own personality. Parents usually do this instinctively.

They also usually reevaluate the behaviors of their children and their own

values and behaviors within the household. Why would it be any different

within an organization?

Step I was about building the leadership team. In Step II we talked

about creating a baseline measurement with the cultural values assessment.

These were necessary first steps in the process of changing the culture. Once

the data is gathered, it is time for the next step in the process.

After you’ve conducted the values assessment you need to revisit the

mission and vision. Revisiting the mission and vision will give you the needed

direction to the change process. It is necessary to revisit the mission and

vision statements to ensure that they are still relevant and inspiring to the

leadership team, managers and staff. This part of the process will provide the

organization with the insight about how well you are connecting with the

personal motivations of staff and all stakeholders. It provides additional

insight on the level of engagement. This part of the process is more

important if you don’t have the needed level of engagement to be successful.


It enables you to reflect on the data gathered during the stakeholder

consultations to create strategies and an action plan.

Mission Alignment Revisiting the mission and vision enables you to formulate the

necessary changes in terms of the detected misalignments and the preferred

new values and behaviors.

Remember: Mission alignment is alignment between the employee’s

sense of purpose, role and responsibilities, and the purpose of the

organization. Achieving mission alignment means employees will value the work they do, be engaged and committed, understand how their work

supports the vision and mission, and know where the organization is headed.

Mission Statements Revisiting the mission and comparing it to the data gathered with the

analysis of the Cultural Values Assessment will provide you with the

necessary tools to formulate statements that will be presented to internal

and external stakeholders after this process. The benefits of formulating and

presenting these statements are that they can be used in the mission

program. They support mission alignment going forward as well as all

engagement communications around the compelling reasons for change.

These statements will also connect to the core business purpose of the

organization. Revisiting the mission and vision of the organization will ensure

that they are still relevant and inspiring to the leadership team, managers

and staff.


Core Business Purpose The first action in revisiting the mission and vision is understanding the

core motivations of the leadership team. By doing this, people begin to

understand what their personal motivations are and how they connect to the

mission and vision. Awareness or consciousness of your own motivation will

allow you to value the motivations of others. In this case, awareness of your

own motivations will allow you to understand your own position compared

to the mission and vision of the organization. This awareness will reinforce

the group cohesion of the leadership team, and increase the self-awareness.

Define and Develop Agreement on the Core Business After exploring the core motivation of leaders, the group discussion

focuses on identifying the core business of the organization. This is a group

discussion where agreement on the core business of the organization is

defined and developed. This is an essential part in developing mission

alignment. Agreement on the core business will pave the way for generating

the statements that the leadership team will create and present to the

organization and its stakeholders.


Internal and External Mission and Vision Statements

Figure 6 – 4 Why’s Process

The third action is to first look at the internal mission and vision of the

team for the organization, and then at the external mission and vision of the

organization.

The internal mission statement should answer the question: “How is

the organization going to grow and develop internally?” Answering this

question helps the leadership team and staff recognize they are an integral

part of the organization. It also helps them realize what will be needed

internally to motivate the organization.


The fourth action is to look at their reason for existence. The reason

for existence of any group will depend on its long term goal, and on whether

or not that goal has a purpose in the broader clientele and societal

perspective. The answer to this question will provide the leadership team

and the organization with the insight to create an internal vision of what the

organization will look like in three to five years. The leadership team answers

the question: “What do you want the organization to look like in the long

run? How do you want it to grow?” And “where do you want it to be in three

to five years?”

The fifth action is to look at the external mission and at what the

organization does for its external customers. What is the purpose of the

organization and how does it serve its customers? At this point, the result of

the stakeholder analysis is helpful. As stated before, consulting stakeholders

on their perspective of the desired services or products of the organization

will provide you with insight into the desired direction.

The sixth action is to create an external vision of the impact that the

organization wants to have on its clients and on society as a whole. How your

clients will - and how society will - look at your organization and at the

products and services that you are providing.

Step III in a Nutshell The title of this step, revisiting the mission and vision, may make the step

look like a simple one. But first looks can be deceiving. There are at least six

actions that will have to be taken to complete this step. Each action consists


of one or more parts. What revisiting the mission and vision will help you

achieve is:

• Give direction to the change process.

• Identify the core motivations of the leadership team.

• Define and develop agreement on the core business of the

organization.

Revisiting the mission and vision statements will help you to:

• Ensure that they are still relevant and inspiring to the leadership

team, managers and staff.

Revisiting the mission and vision will allow you to:

Create an internal mission of how the organization is going to grow

and develop internally.

Create an internal vision of what the organization will look like in

three to five years.

Create an external mission of what the organization does for its

customers.

Create an external vision of the impact that the organization wants to

have on society.

Actions that are typically taken in this step are:

Understanding of the core motivations of the leadership team.


Identifying the core business of the organization.

Examining the internal mission and vision

Examining the external mission and vision

• The reason for existence of the group and organization.

• The impact that the organization wants to have on its clients

and on society as a whole.

Having considered the need to revisit the mission and vision of the

organization and defined the necessary actions in this step, it is now time to

turn to Step IV, which is defining core values and behaviors that will support

the strategic mission and vision.


Step IV – Select Core Values and Behaviors

A new car is a family asset, but at the same time, in most cases, the

new car is more like the Holy Grail for the husband in a marriage. So the

action of buying a new car can be somewhat like a dance. On the one hand,

the necessities of the home are put on the scale. On the other hand, the

power, look, feel and personality that the car represents are going to be put

in the balance. Characteristics like parking space necessary for this specific

vehicle, color and others will probably be deemed secondary or supporting

values. These are the values that will be the input of discussion while

choosing a new car. There are both core values and supporting values. At the

same time, there will be things that family members don’t want to see in

their new car. Aspects that will obstruct the core and supporting values. For

example, excessive consumption of fuel. These are the obstructing values. In

organizations, similar discussions will have to take place with respect to core

values and secondary values while preparing for cultural change.

Guidelines in Selecting Core Values There are several important guidelines in the process of selecting core

values and behaviors that will support the strategic mission and vision.

The first guideline is to select values that will identify acceptable and

unacceptable behaviors. You could choose, for example, values that will

show your company’s competence, and at the same time show the clients

that you are approachable. For the client, these values will be clear and


readily recognizable. When you have the core values you want for your

organization, you must also try to envision the negative values that could

obstruct these positive values. Aggressiveness towards the clients could be

one such impeding value. Control of the situation could be another one,

especially if your employees can find ways to appreciate the input of the

client. So in selecting the core values for your organization you must take

into account: 1. core values, 2. supporting values and 3. obstructing values.

These values will lead to the desired behavior when properly implemented

and carefully monitored.

Select the values and behaviors that will mean the most to support the

mission and vision and working together to achieve your goals. Identify how

you will know when you are living the values and when you are not.

A great tip for defining the values and behaviors is to make sure to

write the behavior statements in such a way that they can be easily used in

some form of performance monitoring process.

The second guideline in selecting core values is that you want to use

values that will support the organization and the strategies in creating the

future that you want to experience. The chosen core values will represent

the mission and vision of the organization. This is where the stakeholder

views are important. The stakeholder analysis would have given you the

perspective of the stakeholders on your product and on the way your

company presents its product to the public.


The third guideline in defining core values for your organization is the

direction or indication of the direction you got from revisiting the mission

and vision. The cultural values assessment that the organization completed

will also provide key values. The values that you choose should provide

direction in decision making for the organization over the next three to five

years. These are the behaviors and values that you are aspiring to and will

support you in achieving your mission and vision.

Once you’ve selected the values, the behaviors for each value that will

support the value need to be identified. The behavior statements should be

written in a way that can be used in a performance monitoring process.

Formulating the behavior statements this way will provide support for the

key performance indicators implemented in the values program,

management performance systems, and/or leadership development

programs. For example: if Trust were chosen as one of your values, the

behavior statements could be:

• Trust is open and candid in all relationships.

• Trust will inspire cooperation with colleagues to achieve common

goals.

• Trust inspires commitment through living the values.

Step IV in a Nutshell The principal action taken in this step is defining values and

corresponding behaviors to support the mission, vision, strategies and action

plans of the organization. It is important to define the core values of the


organization, supporting values and possible obstructing values. Core values

will provide guidelines for acceptable behavior.

Write the behavior statements in such a way that they can be easily used

in some form of performance monitoring process. In short:

• Select values that will:

o Provide guidelines for acceptable and unacceptable behaviors.

o Support the organization in creating the future it wants to

experience.

o Provide direction in decision making.

• Identify the behaviors that support the chosen values.

• Write behavior statements in a way that they can be used in a

performance monitoring process.

• Select the values and behaviors that will mean the most to support

the mission and vision and in working together to achieve your goals.

• Identify how you will know when you are living the values and when

you are not.

This wraps up the step of defining values and behaviors for the

organization. It is time to move to Step V.


Step V – Develop Compelling Reasons for Change

There are some times where the argument: “My house is old, I need

another one!” could work. But in most instances, there is an underlying,

compelling reason for a family to change dwelling places. For some, the

compelling reason is that one or both partners found a job in another area.

For others, it will be that the home is getting to be too small for the growing

family. The clue to this necessity is that the family knows and understands

the reasons why this change is necessary.

In organizations there must be a clear understanding why the

organization is embarking on change. People need to be given emotional as

well as intellectual reasons for change. This is because resistance to change

is a natural human reaction that is very strong. People are tied to old ways

of doing things because that is what they are comfortable with. Their ego is

tied to the achievements of the past, the knowledge of the craft and the

certainty of their success. When you ask people to change, it takes them into

a space of unknowing and uncertainty which is not a very comfortable place

for many people.

Finding compelling reasons for change will put the organization in a

position to take advantage of future opportunities and to build long term

resilience and sustainability. Knowing why you are changing gives people

strength. Resilience is knowing what you are doing and why you are doing it.

You want to connect these reasons to people’s motivational values. For


instance: knowing change is necessary because it is going to help save jobs.

This will give people an incentive because they don’t want to lose their

relationships.

A compelling reason for change might be to take advantage of new

opportunities in the marketplace. New opportunities will compel you to

change the way that you do things to take advantage of these market

changes. That will be motivating for people who like to manage resources

and go after new opportunities. However, for people who do not like change,

it will cause internal resistance.

Another compelling reason for change is the environment. For

example, people who are principled and like to do the right thing, a

compelling reason for them might be taking care of the environment is the

right thing to do at this moment. This could be the case when waste removal

is a concern.

The results of the cultural values assessment provide significant input

into identifying the compelling reasons for change. This can include the

entropy score, the limiting values, and the impact that those limiting values

are having on people’s performance and engagement. Many of the

compelling reasons for change will be related to what people have to say

about the limiting values, and how they would like the organization to

operate.


The purpose in understanding the compelling reasons for change is to

unite everybody behind the organizational change process. You want people

to be going in the same direction and feeling positive about the change.

Commitment and alignment happen when people understand they’re

aligned, going in the same direction and moving towards the same goal. It

means that they are using the same change processes and understand the

compelling reasons for change. When people are united around the

company’s efforts for change, it is easier for the leaders to manage rather

than having to fight resistance to change, which is draining on their energy.

Having that positive energy moving forward, where everybody is committed

to supporting the change together makes it much easier for leaders to

manage.

The reasons for change must be grounded in reality and driven by realistic

optimism for a better future. This is the importance of having an inspiring

vision. It gives people optimism. If you have an inspiring vision that connects

to people’s personal motivational values, and it is grounded in reality, it will

be energizing and increase performance.

Step V in a Nutshell

The action in this step is to formulate the compelling reasons for change.

These compelling reasons for change position the company to take

advantage of future opportunities and to build long-term resilience and


sustainability. The results of the cultural values assessment provide

significant input into the compelling reasons for change. The purpose is to

unite everyone behind the whole-system change process.

The reasons must be grounded in reality and driven by realistic optimism

for a better future. Whenever you introduce change, people will want to

know why they are being asked to change.

Let people know what will be expected of them going forward. Create a

story that will help people see themselves in the new image of the future,

with the new values, behaviors and actions being carried out.

Share with staff how these changes are going to be able to help you to

remain adaptable and resilient, better able to meet the demands in the

market, and changes in society.

As you can see, the preparation phase is much more than just a few

words. It is a group of actions taken to prepare the organization for the

necessary changes to ensure a sustainable future for your company. It is only

after this thorough preparation phase that you can implement a whole

system change strategy. The steps involved in the implementation phase will

be discussed below.


Phase II — Implementation Phase – Whole-System

Change

Figure 7: Whole-System Change - Implementation Phase


Step VI – Personal Alignment of the Leadership Team

and Management

The sixth step in the process of cultural change is to develop personal

alignment of the leadership team and management. In the preparation

phase, we talked mainly about the gathering of information and the selection

of organizational values, desired behaviors and mission statements. In this

phase, we are going to address the implementation effort. We have to start

with those responsible for leading the changes which is the leadership team

and management. This is the toughest and probably the most important part

of the whole change process. How do you ensure that the leaders “walk the

talk?”

There is nothing worse than doing all the preparation work for culture

change and then when it comes to implementation (which is 95% of the

work), the role models for change refuse to do the personal development

work needed and commit to change by modeling the new behaviors, values

and mindsets. Two respectful ways of committing to personal alignment are

through self-development programs and coaching.

Leadership and Culture The culture of an organization, or any group of individuals that share

a common identity, is a reflection of the values and beliefs of the leaders.

Who you are as a leader—the values you embrace, and the beliefs you

hold— is automatically transmitted to the group through your words,


behaviors and actions. This is why organizational transformation begins with

the personal transformation of the leaders. If the leaders don’t change, the

culture won’t change.

Full Spectrum Leadership Leading yourself, and leading others is not the same thing. You must

be able to lead yourself before you can effectively lead others. Leading an

organization is even more demanding and requires an additional set of

competencies and skills than leading yourself and leading others.

Full spectrum leaders display all the attributes of the Seven Levels of

Leadership Consciousness. They master:

• Survival consciousness by creating an environment of financial

security and physical safety for themselves and those in their charge.

• Relationship consciousness through learning to communicate openly,

and by creating a culture of caring and belonging that engenders

employee and customer loyalty.

• Self-esteem consciousness by measuring and monitoring progress

towards the organization’s goals, and keeping the organization

focused on quality, excellence and continuous improvement, such that

employees feel a sense of pride in the organization’s performance, and

can pursue their professional growth.

• Transformation consciousness by becoming responsible and

accountable for their actions, learning to delegate appropriately,


empowering their executives and managers, and encouraging them to

pursue their personal growth.

• Internal cohesion consciousness by finding a personal sense of

purpose/mission to their lives; creating a vision of the future that is a

source of inspiration for everyone in the organization; and

engendering a climate of trust.

• External cohesion consciousness by actualizing their own sense of

purpose through collaboration with external partners in strategic

alliances, and enabling their employees, managers and executives to

do the same.

• Service consciousness by aligning the needs of the organization with

the needs of humanity and the planet and performing acts of self-less

service with humility and compassion that support their employees,

managers, and executives in doing the same.

Figure 8: Full Spectrum Leadership


Building Internal Cohesion and Trust in a Leadership Team Internal cohesion begins with the leadership team. If the leadership

team is out of alignment with each other, the whole organization will be at

odds with itself, and cultural entropy will be high.

The biggest single success factor in building a high performance

organization is creating a cohesive leadership team. This has been found to

be the factor that organizations struggle with the most.

There are three qualities that stand out from all others associated with

internally cohesive leadership teams – a shared vision, shared values, and a

culture of trust.

• The shared vision ensures that everyone is heading for the same

destination.

• The shared values ensure that everyone is making decisions that send

a consistent message to the organization about what is important.

• The culture of trust is essential. It increases agility and speed in

decision-making, and it builds unity in the team. Trust fosters

accountability, empowerment, and distributed decision-making, and

is fundamental in building strong relationships with all stakeholders.


Personal Alignment Programs

Transformational Leadership for Excellence - the TLEX program The TLEX program provides tools and techniques for leaders,

managers and staff to help reduce stress, increase physical and emotional

well-being, provide greater mental clarity and focus, increase team internal

cohesion and to achieve an inspiring vision.

Figure 9: The TLEX Model of Change

Organizations don't change, it is the people in them who do. Many

companies move quickly from setting their performance objectives to

implementing a suite of change initiatives. Whether it is a new growth

strategy or business-unit structure, the integration of a recent acquisition or


the rollout of a new operational improvement effort, organizational focus is

on altering systems and structures, and on creating new policies and

processes.

McKinsey research and client experience suggest that half of all efforts

to transform organizational performance fail either because senior

managers don't act as role models for change or because people in the

organization defend the status quo. In other words, despite the stated

change goals, people on the ground tend to behave as they did before. The

same McKinsey research also indicates that if companies can identify and

address pervasive mindsets at the outset, they are four times more likely to

succeed in organizational change efforts than are companies that overlook

this stage.

Leaders make vital decisions and point the way to the future, so they

need to consider their positions and responsibility carefully. But as Albert

Einstein famously said, "Problems cannot be solved with the same level of

thinking that created them."

Great innovative strength and leadership skills are the key to

producing solutions that really work in today's environment. Decision-

makers around the world must be ready to jettison outmoded ways of

thinking and create space for new ways of doing things. They must be able

to think globally and be willing to bring about fundamental change both

within their own sphere of influence and beyond it.


If it is proven to be so vital to be able to adapt to the transforming

world, and therefore transform oneself and the people we work with, the

key is to understand one’s own mind better. TLEX research has shown, that

the key for creativity, adaptive leadership and resilience is the ability of one's

mind to be in the present moment- even under great stress - a state which

cannot be achieved by pure willpower. Research shows that the human brain

is not made to do two things at once. Rather than multitasking, which would

imply performing two tasks simultaneously, humans switch rapidly from one

task to another, creating the illusion of performing two tasks at once.

Therefore, multitasking drastically reduces effectiveness. The highest levels

of performance and creativity, however, arise in a state of total focus and

alertness.

When people begin to let go of stress, they can begin taking

responsibility for more things around them. Shifts take place. People let go

of behaviors that aren’t healthy and start looking after themselves. They

recognize that being healthier and happier helps to improve the work

environment. They also develop greater awareness. They perceive more in

terms of what’s important to people and what’s important to their staff.

With this greater awareness and the way their thinking shifts and improves,

the manner in which they express themselves and how they manage also

improves.

The goal of the TLEX program is connection and creating a sense of

belongingness on the team. It is very helpful for increasing self-mastery and


connectedness, shifting the leadership paradigm and enabling leaders to

understand their power. It empowers leaders to transform personal

excellence into organizational excellence.

The Leadership Values Assessment The Leadership Values Assessment and Leadership Development

Report are leadership development programs for self-assessment and

getting feedback on your strengths and areas for improvement. Self-

awareness of your strengths and areas for development are helpful in

changing your behavior and aligning it with what the team and organization

need. Transformation happens when we receive new information and

understand what needs to change and why. It can lead to new mindsets and

values. This inner transformation then leads to outer transformation in new

behaviors.

Personal alignment is the development of self-awareness through

alignment programs to support self-actualization and self-mastery of leaders

and managers. Leaders need to know themselves and understand their core

motivations. Leaders only grow and develop when they get regular feedback.

The Leadership Values Assessment (LVA) is key in providing leaders

with this necessary self-awareness for personal transformation, and an

understanding of the actions a leader needs to take in order to realize his or

her full potential. The LVA compares a leader’s perception of his or her

operating style with the perception of their superiors, peers and


subordinates. Emphasis is placed on a leader’s strengths, areas for

improvement, and opportunities for growth.

The LVA reveals the extent to which a leader’s behaviors help or hinder

the performance of the organization, and to what extent fear influences

decision-making. The LVA also measures the personal entropy and

authenticity of a leader.

Demographic categories, such as Boss, Peer, and Team member, may

be added to an assessment in order to view responses by the relationship to

the leader.

The Leadership Development Report A second tool that is employed in the process of developing leadership

personal alignment is the leadership development report. This is different

from the values assessment in that it has 26 different competencies that the

leader or manager is assessed on. The report is a concrete way for assessors

to evaluate a leader by identifying one of four different levels of proficiency

for each competency. When the report is returned to the individual leader,

they can see how they rated themselves and how their assessors rated them.

It’s a helpful, self-directed development tool to refer back to after the

coaching session.

Both leaders and assessors are asked to rate the leader against 26

competencies/ behaviors by choosing if they are 'an existing strength',

'needs some development', 'needs significant development', or if it is 'not

relevant to role'. The competencies are:


Places appropriate emphasis on financial performance

Applies caution and control in appropriate measure

Is accessible and supportive of others

Uses effective communication skills

Maintains a focus on customers/stakeholder needs where

appropriate

Shows drive and determination

Brings experience/knowledge to his/her role

Maintains strong visibility in the organization

Promotes order, efficiency and quality

Demonstrates adaptability and is open to the ideas of others

Learns and grows from experiences

Encourages accountability through empowerment

Continuously seeks to innovate processes, practices and deliverables

Thinks strategically and provides clear goals

Demonstrates and supports teamwork

Offers constructive, regular feedback to support employee

development

Demonstrates and supports a healthy work/life balance

Displays dedication and communicates a clear vision

Shows enthusiasm and maintains a positive attitude

Displays authenticity and works to build mutual trust

Demonstrates patience

Displays empathy and cooperation


Works to ensure employee fulfilment

Serves as a coach/mentor to others

Shows compassion for others

Demonstrates an ability to handle complexity

The SDI© Suite of Tools (Strength Deployment Inventory) Working together productively doesn’t come naturally to everyone.

Fortunately, there are ways to improve interactions among individuals to

support organizational renewal and leadership development. The quality of

the relationships among members of an organization can have an impact on

its performance: people collaborate more effectively when they understand

themselves and others better, and when they recognize and value each

other’s strengths.

Building effective relationships, transforming conflict, and generating

better results is an integral part of the mindset and behavior of leaders aimed

at transforming the organization’s culture. SDI® is a suite of tools based on

Relationship Awareness®. It consists of a series of instruments that focuses

on emphasizing people’s strengths, and suggests how those strengths may

be used to improve work relationships.

Relationship Awareness training develops awareness of motivational

values and leadership skills in the area of conflict resolution. Managers learn

the motivational values of their people when things are working well and


when they are in conflict. They become aware of what happens when those

values are stepped on or ignored. This enables managers to understand

better how to anticipate, prevent, manage, resolve, and identify the reasons

why people go into conflict. For this reason, managers find the SDI a very

powerful tool.

Whether you need to manage talent to attract, engage or retain the

best, or want to build leadership skills for better work relationships, the SDI®

suite of tools can meet your business needs. Alone or in combination with

other Relationship Awareness tools, the SDI® builds self-awareness and

openness to diversity, and enhances participants’ ability to communicate

effectively and to deal with conflict productively.

The SDI® can be helpful in numerous contexts including: developing

team strengths, enterprise renewal, talent management, leadership

development, career development, change-management, coaching,

communication skills development, project management, and conflict

resolution.

For Individuals and Teams

The SDI® tool is a personal

development tool which can help

you:

Increase self-awareness

Understand what motivates you

For Managers

The SDI® has been used successfully

by many organizations to:

Manage talent successfully

Build stronger teams and

leaders


Identify your strengths

Understand yourself and others

better

Improve how you deal with

conflict

Create a healthy work

environment

Increase performance for better

results

Transform conflict

Step VI in a Nutshell

In this first step of the implementation phase, the emphasis is on self-

awareness and personal alignment programs to develop self-mastery. The

main purpose is to build leaders ability to “walk the talk”. In other words, it

helps to ensure the personal alignment of the leaders’ and managers’ values

and behaviors.

Four tools are discussed in this section:

• TLEX Program—Transformational Leadership for Excellence:

o The TLEX Program helps in the development of personal

excellence and inner transformation. To find out more about

the TLEX Program visit: www.TLEXprogram.com

• Leadership Values Assessment

o Assessment of strengths, and areas of development

• Leadership Development Report

o Assessment based on twenty-six competencies

http://www.tlexprogram.com/


• Relationship Awareness training

o Strength Development Inventory and conflict resolution


Step VII – Structural Alignment of Systems and

Processes

Step Seven in the implementation phase is structural alignment. It

includes the alignment of the structures, systems and processes for

managing people, and how the staff work together or need to be

reconfigured to align with the mission, vision, values and behaviors of the

organization. These processes and systems form the underlying formal and

informal behavior, or behavioral reward systems that support culture.

Structural alignment has a long term effect and impact on the culture

because systems and processes determine how things are done. This

translates into the brand of your organization.

On the inside of an organization, the internal employee experience is

defined by the organizational culture. On the outside, the client experience

of the organization is the company’s brand. Who you are on the inside looks

a lot like who you are on the outside. This holds true in life as well as in

business. An important question to ask yourself as a leader is: “Do you have

a conscious culture or do you have an unconscious default culture?” Are you

aware of what is driving your culture and creating your brand in the

marketplace, attracting the top talent, maximizing profit and your human

potential?


Figure 11: Culture and Brand

Systems to be Reconfigured Systems that may need to be reconfigured are decision making processes,

such as how you collaborate with your clients and your partners, and

management development programs, including leadership communication

and group facilitation methods. Other systems to be reconfigured include:

the talent selection process and development programs, new employee and

executive orientation programs, employee and executive performance

evaluation systems, and the employee and executive promotion criteria.


All of these systems are touched by the new values and behaviors that

you selected to transform your culture. Caution: If you only do one form of

alignment and not another, old systems may be left in place which will serve

to increase employee frustration. Your best talent will not hang around if

you do not take change seriously and you don’t recognize the realignment

that is required.

Structural Alignment New engagement communications and training are needed to share

the desired changes and build the competencies needed to support the plans

developed in the preparation phase with managers and staff. This is where

conscious, facilitative leadership skills play a big part in the change process.

They help to engage people in the change from the outset. This helps in

building commitment and responsibility for the new behaviors.

Building a brand today is very different from 50 years ago. With the

Internet connecting everyone together, companies are becoming more and

more transparent whether they like it or not. An unhappy customer or a

disgruntled employee can blog about a bad experience with a company, and

the story can spread like wildfire by email or with tools like Twitter. The good

news is that the reverse is true as well. A great experience with a company

can be read by millions of people almost instantaneously. For this reason, it

is very important for any company to be able to anticipate how their

employees will react at work or outside of the regular office hours. This

philosophy is utilized by Zappos (Zappos.com).


Your Culture is Your Brand – Tony Hsieh, CEO, Zappos Zappos decided a long time ago that it didn’t want their brand to be

just about shoes, or clothing, or even online retailing. They decided to build

their brand about the very best customer service and the very best customer

experience. They believe that customer service is not just about a

department. It is about the entire company.

Zappos’s belief is that if you get the culture right, most of the other

stuff—like great customer service, or building a great long-term brand, or

passionate employees and customers—will happen naturally on its own.

They believe that the company’s culture and brand are just two sides of the

same coin. The brand may lag the culture at first, but eventually it will catch

up. Your culture is your brand.

Building and maintaining the culture you desire starts with the hiring

process. Zappos does two different sets of interviews. The hiring manager

and his/her team will do the standard set of interviews looking for relevant

experience, technical ability, fit within the team, etc. Their HR department

does a separate set of interviews, looking only for culture fit. Candidates

have to pass both sets of interviews in order to be hired. They’ve actually

said no to many very talented people that they knew could make an

immediate impact on their top or bottom line. But because they felt the

people weren’t a culture fit, they were willing to sacrifice the short-term

benefits in order to protect their culture (and brand) for the long term.


After hiring, the next step in building the culture is training. Everyone

that is hired into their headquarters goes through the same training that

their Customer Loyalty Team (call center) reps go through, regardless of

department or title. You might be an accountant, or a lawyer, or a software

developer— you go through the exact same training program.

It’s a four-week training program, in which they go over company

history, the importance of customer service, the long term vision of the

company, their philosophy about company culture—and then they are

actually on the phone for two weeks, taking calls from customers. This goes

back to the belief that customer service shouldn’t just be a department; it

needs to be the entire company.

At the end of the first week of training, they make an offer to the entire

class. They offer everyone $2,000 to quit (in addition to paying them for the

time they’ve already worked), and it’s a standing offer until the end of the

fourth week of training. They want to make sure that employees are there

for more than just a paycheck. They want employees that believe in the long

term vision and want to be a part of the culture. As it turns out, on average,

less than 1% of people end up taking the offer.

One of the great advantages of focusing on culture is that when

reporters visit Zappos offices they are not given a small list of people they’re

allowed to talk to. Instead, they are encouraged to wander around and talk

to whoever they want. It’s the Zappos way of being as transparent as

possible, which is part of their culture.


The Zappos culture can be defined in terms of ten core values:

1. Deliver WOW Through Service

2. Embrace and Drive Change

3. Create Fun and A Little Weirdness

4. Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded

5. Pursue Growth and Learning

6. Build Open and Honest Relationships With Communication

7. Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit

8. Do More With Less

9. Be Passionate and Determined

10.Be Humble

Hiring the right employees is a very important tool in the process of

building and maintaining the culture you desire. Zappos’s choice is to

conduct two separate sets of interviews in hiring new personnel. Their

next step is just as important in immersing new employees in the culture

of the organization. The philosophy of this approach is that the culture of

the organization translates into the brand of the organization. This is their

selling point. Organizational values need to be integrated into the hiring

and on-boarding process. This is the step that takes the longest because

of the number of changes required to systems and processes and the

number of people involved that need to be engaged to build

commitment.


Step VII in a Nutshell Step Seven is describes structural alignment. This includes the alignment of

structures, systems and processes of management, and how the people work

together to align with the mission, vision, values and behaviors of the

organization. These processes form the underlying formal and informal

behavioral reward systems that support culture and constitute “how things

are done around here”

• Systems that may need to be reconfigured:

o Management development programs

o Leadership development programs

o Decision making processes

o Talent selection and development programs

o New employee/executive selection

o New employee/executive orientation

o Employee/executive performance evaluation

o Employee/executive promotion criteria

• Structural alignment of systems, processes, in particular with the HR

systems.

• Management systems, incentives and rewards for achieving goals are

all aligned to support the new values and behaviors

• The organizational values need to be integrated into the hiring and

on-boarding process


This is the step that takes the longest because of the number of changes

required to systems and processes and the number of people involved

that need to be engaged to build commitment. The next step describes

values alignment within the organization.


Step VIII – Values Alignment

In Step Eight, values alignment happens when the leadership team and

managers reinforce the organizational values selected to support the

strategic initiatives. Members of the leadership team and managers

communicate the newly developed values and behaviors to their employees

and teams. As with the other steps, this process can happen naturally and

unconsciously or guided and consciously. In Steps II and IV, we discussed the

development of new values and behaviors that will support the strategic

mission and vision of the organization. Step VIII is about the implementation

of these values across the organization. The purpose is for the staff to see

the values in action that have been selected as important to support

organizational transformation.

The goal of developing a values alignment process is to integrate the core

values and behaviors of the organization into the executive and employee

population. In this stage, it is important to align personal values with

organizational values. One way to achieve this is to empower employees to

bring the best of themselves to work and find alignment in the desired

cultural values of the organization. Everyone wants to feel fulfilled at work

and in what they do. Having conversations at the team level enables this to

happen.

This is where having team leaders trained with facilitative leadership skills

really pays off. They are able to design conversations that engage and


empower their people, and enable staff to share their knowledge and

experience, identify problems and create solutions together. This begins

with open, transparent communication. One of the important actions in this

phase is communicating the compelling reasons for change and outlining

how they relate to the mission, vision, values and behaviors. The intention

of the process is to explain the proposed structural alignment changes that

are happening, so people can see how their values are being integrated into

all the systems of the organization.

A values program can identify specific goals as well as the performance

indicators for which the key values are going to be used by management.

Similar to a financial budget, the culture is managed on an ongoing basis with

performance indicators being measured by managers and leaders.

Having a values program is supported by becoming a values-based leader.

Values-based leaders use the espoused values on a consistent basis,

whenever decisions are made and communicating with staff. Leaders use

the values to lead and manage, just they would other resources within the

organization. This is how cultural capital is created. The values are not

considered soft, or touchy feely, but rather supported and invested in as

another corporate resource.

Examples of values alignment in action:

Team conversations between managers and staff about the values,

what they mean to individuals, how living the values is or will help


the team and organization achieve its vision and mission, strategies

and goals.

Individuals are able to connect their personal values to the

organizational values selected.

Leaders demonstrate the values in action.

In a values alignment program, the values to be lived and espoused are

actively promoted. The values can be put on the website, on posters or on

key chains. As a result of these programs, the selected values are recognized

and understood by all. Leadership and managers look for opportunities to

reward values in action to reinforce and support the adoption of new

behaviors. Within the organization, decision making is values-driven.

Becoming a values-driven organization is celebrated and there is a conscious

leadership commitment to the programs.

Step VIII in a Nutshell

The goal of developing a values alignment process is to integrate the core

values and behaviors of the organization into the executive and employee

population. Here is where the leadership team and managers reinforce the

organizational values selected to support the strategic initiatives. A values

alignment program will:

• Empower employees to bring the best of themselves to work.

• Communicate the compelling reasons for change.


• Outline the vision, mission, values and behaviors.

• Align personal values with organizational values.

Values alignment programs and action plans are put into place to

communicate the changes across the organization and within teams. You

need to give people the opportunity to understand what the new values will

mean to them and empower staff to make the new values their own. The

goal is to enable people to bring the best of themselves to work and find

alignment in the desired culture of the organization.

• Everyone wants to feel fulfilled at work and in what they do.

• Conversations at the team level enable this to happen.

Leaders and managers with group facilitation skills enable and empower

staff without the use of power or authority to support dialogue and change

conversations. Managers are able to design conversations that enable staff

to share their knowledge and experience, identify problems and create

solutions together.

It is now time to move to the last step in the whole-system

transformation, Step Nine: Mission Alignment.


Step IX – Mission Alignment

What do people do when preparing a mission to the moon? First, they

make sure that the project is viable. However, it is even more important to

make sure that all parties involved believe in the feasibility of the project. It’s

not all about the technology. It’s more about the people, and the faith that

they have in what they are doing. The whole mission will live or die with the

people believing in the possibility of going to the moon. You need to build

commitment and trust in the project and in each other’s capability to

complete the work. All of this depends on engagement communication. This

includes communication about the vision that someone has about going to

the moon, communication about the mission, communication about the

teams working on the project, communication between the teams and so on.

To ensure success, there needs to be a strong sense of purpose and trust in

each other with all of the parties working towards the same goal.

In Step III we discussed revisiting the mission and vision of the

organization to ensure that they are still relevant and inspiring to the


leadership team, managers and staff. We define achieving mission alignment

as:

Why are engagement and building commitment for mission alignment

such important elements in the process of cultural change? The simple

answer would be that vision and mission give direction to the whole

organization. But even this simple answer is complicated in its implications.

The most important element in this process is recognizing that today more

than ever before in our history, people want to be engaged and have their

voices and ideas heard. There must be recognition that there has been a shift

in values and mindsets. The twenty-first century generation coming into the

workforce now has been raised in a home environment where they were

asked for their opinion and where they were given the responsibility for their

choices. Coming into the workforce, they have similar expectations of

contributing to the decision-making process. They want to be seen and

heard. With the experience of making decisions and being accountable for

their choices, they expect to be consulted on issues that affect them.

Mission alignment is alignment between the employee’s sense of purpose, role and

responsibilities, and the purpose of the organization. Achieving mission alignment

means that employees will value the work that they do, they will be engaged and

committed, understand how their work supports the vision and mission, and know where the organization is headed.


The benefit to leaders is the access they now have to the knowledge

that young employees bring with them into the workplace. Youth have been

trained to brainstorm and work collaboratively in teams. They live and

breathe connectivity with social media. This brings to life creative and

innovative ideas. Their strengths are our weaknesses. Having a diversity of

strengths to call upon creates high performing teams.

The link between performance and culture can be found in teams with

a high level of trust. People want to trust and be trusted. Trust is a value that

is found in high performing organizational culture. It is developed by leaders

who influence and gain the trust of their employees. A leader’s consistent

behavior based on values of integrity, respect, and openness will build their

credibility inside the organization and create a strong reputation externally

with stakeholders in the community.

Mission alignment in other words, involves the integration of the mission

and vision of the organization into the executive and employee population.

The goal is to ensure that there is a strong link between the employee’s sense

of purpose and the mission of the organization.

In order to achieve this goal, communication of the objectives that define

and clarify the vision-mission focus is essential. You want to channel the

employee’s energies in the same direction. This is the importance of Step III

in revisiting the mission and vision to ensure that you are on track, going in

the right direction and developing mission alignment.


High performance is achieved when the behaviors of everyone are in

alignment with the values. With values alignment and mission alignment,

comes collective action and high performance. People are working together

effectively with a strong sense of internal cohesion.

Mission alignment is not a static procedure. It is a dynamic program. The

staff needs to be engaged at least every 6 weeks in conversations that align

the vision of the organization with their work and contributions.

Communicating the organizational values is not a finite project. The

development of these values over time, the values alignment and the

mission alignment, creates group cohesion.

Vision alignment enables staff to deeply connect and create a common

future to collectively pour their energy into creating this future. The job of

the leader is to build a common vision with a common cause and compelling

reasons for change around the drivers for change.

Step IX in a Nutshell

Achieving mission alignment means employees will be engaged and

committed, value the work they do, understand how their work supports the

vision and mission, and know where the organization is headed. The task in

this last step is to integrate the vision and mission of the organization into

the executive and employee population. The immediate goal is to ensure


that there is a strong link between the employees’ sense of purpose or

mission and the collective sense of purpose for the organization. This is

achieved by means of the communicating the objectives that define and

clarify the mission focus and channel employee energies in the same

direction.

Mission and vision alignment ensures that everyone understands the

mission and vision of the organization and how their roles and

responsibilities help the organization to meet its goals. It is important to

connect with staff every 6 weeks to review the mission and vision of the

organization. It is normal for people to be so involved in what they are doing

that they lose touch with the organization’s overarching goal and how what

they are doing makes a difference and contributes to society.

Tips:

• People today want to trust their leaders. They want their leaders to

care for the welfare of others and contribute to making a difference in

society.

• Reminding staff every 6 weeks how they are doing this builds

confidence and credibility, which will strengthen their trust in you as a

leader.


The 9 Steps to Building a High Performing Workplace

The key to creating a high performing culture, is to start by defining a

framework of thought and work progress. The basic elements for this

framework are: 1. Mindsets and values of the people working within your

organization and possibly the external stakeholders; 2. Behaviors; 3. Culture

and 4. Systems. These four elements are influenced by both internal and

external factors. They are also influenced by individuals within and outside

the organization and by the organization’s structure, systems and

procedures.

The nine steps to cultural transformation are divided into two phases:

the preparation phase and the implementation phase. In the preparation

phase, 5 steps will lead to a successful implementation of a new, high

performing culture:

1. Building leadership commitment

2. Establishing a baseline and conducting a cultural values

assessment

3. Revisiting the mission and vision

4. Identifying the core values and behaviors that will support the

strategic mission and vision


5. Identifying compelling reasons for change.

In the implementation phase, 4 steps are taken to realize the cultural

transformation:

6. Personal alignment of the leadership team and management

7. Structural alignment of systems and processes

8. Values alignment

9. Mission alignment.

Cultural change is a complex process, and you want to keep an eye on these

four key factors to be successful:

o Personal Alignment

o Structural Alignment

o Values Alignment

o Mission Alignment

As mentioned before in this E-book, cultural transformation is not a

quick Do-It-Yourself project. It is a process best guided by a facilitator so that

the leaders can actively participate in the dialogue process and change

conversations. The nine steps presented here give you some idea of the

processes involved in changing the culture of your organization to build a

successful, high performing workplace.

joanna barclay, cpf, president, speaker, joanna.barclay ... · hi, my name is joanna barclay,...

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