TOO MANY BOSSES, TOO FEW LEADERS: Building Strong NERVES

RAJEEV PESHAWARIA

FREE PRESS; 222 PAGES

PART 2: ENTERPRISE LEADERSHIP

2.4          B-B-N: Building Strong NERVES

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There will be a time when technology and information will no longer be considered as competitive advantages.  Culture, when managed proactively and effectively can be a big source of competitive advantage.  Cultures evolve whether you do anything about it or not.  Strong culture have a dark side as well, and need to be constantly managed in order to avoid negative consequences.  Leaders need to be ever vigilant about the danger of overusing the strengths of their culture.

THE GOLDMAN SACHS PHILOSOPHY

Client’s interest always come first

The company’s asset are the people, capital and reputation

The goal is to provide superior returns to shareholders

Take great pride in professional quality of the work (achieve excellence in everything we undertake)

Stress on creativity and imagination in everything (the old way may still be the best way, but still constantly strive to find a better solution)

Make an unusual effort to identify and recruit the very best person for every job (without the best people, we cannot be the best firm)

Offer the people the opportunity to move ahead more rapidly

Stress teamwork in everything

People dedication and the intense effort they give their job

Be big enough to undertake the largest project and yet small enough to maintain loyalty, intimacy and esprit de corps

Constantly strive to anticipate the rapidly changing needs of clients

Regularly receive confidential information

Aggressively seek to expand client relationship, always be fair competitors and never denigrate other firm

Integrity and honesty are the heart of our business

Culture need to be managed proactively.  Creating or changing a culture is more about seriousness of purpose on the part of business leaders.  Proactive management of culture is a primary task of leadership, and culture will take hold when leadership walks the talk and leads from the front.  For some business leader, culture is what your people do when no one is looking.  Most culture-change efforts fail because leaders themselves lack conviction.  Leaders of an organization must decide how they want their employees to behave and how they want customers and their stakeholders to experience the organization.  The 3 simple steps to create a culture of excellence are:

1.        Define

2.       Socialize

3.       Reinforce

D-S-R: Define	The first step is to define the desired culture.  Leaders articulate a set of behaviour guidelines for everyone to follow.  Most organizations establish values or principles.  Very few manage them as a way of life.
D-S-R: Socialize	The next step is to socialize the behaviour guidelines.  Leaders must demonstrate the guidelines or values through their own behaviour.  Humans are hierarchical beings.  We take our cues from those in a position of authority. Leaders need to take every opportunity to communicate the guidelines and make people understand why they are important.  Effective socialization happen in 3 primary ways: 1.         Through actions rather than words 2.        Through training 3.         Through ongoing communication Leaders should use every opportunity to exhibit desired guidelines or values in their own behaviour.  They must show their commitment as in involving in important training programs.  Communicating the guidelines or values are important but never do too much of it.  A common mistake among leaders is that they communicate something once or twice and believe the message got through to people.  Communicators must realize that every recipient filters information through his or her own personal frames of references.  To ensure message has been absorbed is to communicate it repeatedly using different methods.
D-S-R: Reinforce	The final step towards changing or creating a culture is to reinforce the desired behaviour guidelines or values.  Leaders has to bring home the point that living the values is important

The proactive management of the organization’s Nerves is extremely important.  Ultimately, the job of the leadership team is to set direction, design the organization, and create a culture of long-lasting excellence.  From time to time, leaders must step back and assess the performance.  Strong leaders keep the lines of dialogue open, constantly asking for feedback and are not afraid of uncovering areas that need improvement.