Leadership by Culture Management
Christine McPhail (<mailto:cmcphail3@comcast.net>)
In times past, good academic preparation, basic people skills, and a fair amount of good luck enabled leaders to be effective at their institutions. In today's challenging times, however, leaders also need the ability to understand and manage the culture of the institution. This culture consists of the myths, rituals, stories, rites, and language through which human meanings and values are transmitted from one generation of an organization to another.
The extent to which leaders are effective largely depends on how well they are able to correctly assess and manage the culture of an organization. If they do not manage the culture, the culture will manage them.
A new leader's task is to assess the culture of an organization and determine how to navigate through it. Navigating the culture of an organization is a lot like climbing a mountain. Mountain climbers must know something about the mountain; they must be able to set their bearings and understand how to navigate up, down, across, and around the terrain. In the same way, leaders must know something about the culture of the institution, establish their bearings, and understand how to navigate through the various layers of the organizational culture. This article discusses the five stages of leadership by culture management.
Stage I-Preparation
Failure to understand and work within the culture of the organization is likely to create a great amount of difficulty for a new leader. Prior to assuming the job, new leaders are encouraged to take the time to familiarize themselves with the organization. During the application and interview stage, they should study the history, mission, vision, and strategic plans of the institution and keep a journal of all interactions with college or district personnel.
In preparing for an interview, they should request copies of board minutes, faculty and student newspapers, catalogs, schedules, planning documents, and various college and district reports. They may even visit the campus incognito to interact with people without the stress of the interview process. Assessing the institution in advance becomes a tool to help them keep their bearings later on. This advanced preparation places them in a take-charge position instead of leaving events to happenstance.
Stage II-Connection
An essential skill of a leader is the ability to connect with the people within the organization. A variety of techniques can be used. One approach is visibility-meeting and talking with people.
New leaders should greet all constituent groups as early as possible on days when they are not under pressure. That way, when times get stressful, leaders have already made the connection. These connections give leaders bearing. Just as mountain climbers use a compass to set their bearings on a mountain, new leaders use different constituent groups to gain perspective on the traditions of the institutions. Developing a sense of the ways of the institution is fundamental to making a connection with the people within the organization.
At Kings River Community College (CA), for example, a Dean's Advisory Committee was established consisting of representatives of various student organizations on campus. It met once per month without a formal agenda. Students talked freely about their life on the campus and felt they had an advocate. Their feedback was used to improve and expand services for students.
A similar approach was used at Cypress College (CA) to reach out to the constituent groups. There the President's Advisory Committee, consisting of representatives from faculty, staff, and student groups, provided voices about the culture of the organization. A major positive outcome from this structure was the establishment of rules of behavior for implementing shared governance at the college.
Many leaders attempt to change the culture of the institution before they get connected. The concept of connection is very important when attempting to create institution wide change. Basically, connecting with the culture of the institution means getting a feel of the organization - who has the power and how it is used, work styles of employees, roles and relationships, values people live by, and the way things get done around here. When progress has been made at the connection stage, there is a personal relationship established with the leader and followers. This means that the leader has acquired an understanding of the culture that will provide a bearing for deeper levels of involvement throughout the institution.
Stage III-Involvement
Leadership of an organization brings with it many obligations and expectations. Some of these are demanded by the daily schedule, which signals to leaders what they should be doing and when and where. To many leaders, involvement in all levels of college events and activities is a major challenge and comes with a heavy price. Others accept high levels of involvement without question.
Just as mountain climbers understand that pacing and timing are techniques that are required to ascend and descend a mountain, so must leaders acquire the ability to estimate an appropriate level of involvement. They must understand that over committing can be hazardous to their health and careers. When mountain climbers encounter a hazard such as a cliff or avalanche, they find a way of walking around it without losing their overall bearing. This detour is sometimes referred to as a "dogleg" In mountain climbing, this process allows climbers to travel farther and avoid dangerous risks.
In the same way, when confronted with multiple challenges and demands, leaders must create a dogleg that will help them travel further, navigate through the culture of the organization, and manage their level of involvement. To do this, leaders must first determine how their time will be used. This step requires that they be aware of the rituals, systems and structures, traditions, and ceremonies of their institution. They can then become personally involved in those areas most critical to their duties, those that are necessary for executing their vision. Second, they must empower others to assist in areas where their personal involvement is less critical. Once leaders' need for involvement is adequately met, they are in the position to move to the next stage of culture management: stimulation.
Stage IV-Stimulation
As leaders learn more about an organization's culture, they are likely to be motivated to change it. This pattern of culture management is being played out every day in community colleges. For example, leaders at the 12 Vanguard Learning Colleges - Cascadia Community College (WA), The Community College of Baltimore County (MD), Community College of Denver (CO), Humber College (Toronto, Canada), Kirkwood Community College (IA), Lane Community College (OR), Madison Area Technical College (WI), Moraine Valley Community College (IL), Palomar Community College (CA), Richland Community College (TX), Sinclair Community College (OH), and Valencia Community College (FL)
are serving as incubators and catalysts for the Learning College concept by working to build values that place learning first throughout their institutions. These colleges are developing and strengthening policies, programs, and practices across their institutions with a focus on the five project objectives: organizational culture, staff recruitment and development, technology, learning outcomes, and underprepared students.
The leaders at these institutions are stimulating the culture to change processes, and they are establishing new traditions; they are writing new stories and changing the way things are done. Obviously, they had to undertake considerable preparation to lead their institutions to become learning colleges. By stimulating the organizational culture, these leaders are able to create new visions and vistas for themselves and their institutions.
Stage V-Execution
One of the most common concerns in the literature on community college leadership is that leaders are not able to execute their visions. Because community colleges are becoming increasingly complex, it is difficult for leaders to state and manage a vision of things to come, then revise the vision in light of changing events and circumstances. Dramatic examples abound of community college leaders who have been forced to leave their positions because they were not able to effectively align their vision with that of the faculty, staff, and governing board.
Many obstacles stand in the way of leaders' ability to execute their vision. The most glaring is the leader's inability to effectively manage stages 1, 2, 3, and 4. Leaders must articulate their vision for the institution before they arrive, connect their vision with that of others in the organization, find an appropriate level of involvement, and stimulate an environment where others can accept their vision. The vision must be stated and reinforced over and over again. The purpose of the ongoing process of stating and discussing and debating the vision is to buttress and develop the most critical factors in the development and management of the vision: connecting it to the shared assumptions, beliefs, and values of the various internal and external constituencies of the institution. Leaders must work with others within the organization to make a shift in the cultural norms of the college to the new vision. Throughout the process, leaders are working to create and maintain an environment that supports their vision-a shared vision.
Although both established leaders and new leaders must position themselves to handle the unexpected, most problems occur when a person is new to an institution. It makes sense to anticipate some of the potential pitfalls in order to avoid them. Learning how to manage the culture of an institution using the five stages is an effective way to prevent problems.
Leadership by culture management is an evolving process of development and growth. It is based on the conviction that leaders must understand and manage their interaction with the culture of the organization. If leaders desire to continue to develop and improve, culture management is a powerful engine for moving to a higher plane of leadership.
Christine McPhail (<mailto:cmcphail3@comcast.net>) is the Coordinator of the Community College Leadership Doctoral Program at Morgan State University, Baltimore, Maryland.
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Dr. Susan Salvador
Office for Student Services
10/22/2002 |