A Cautionary Tale for Leaders of Institutions

This fire service is revered by its community.

This police service is too.

The large public company in the region employs 15% of the population and is revered as well.

The university that serves the catchment area is in the same boat.

But insiders of all four tell a different story.

Sadly, their stories are similar.

The other people who tell a story similar to the insiders are, albeit a minority, members of the community who interact with these community ‘stalwarts’.

Essentially their story is this:

• “Our culture is toxic.
• We have problems with abuse of power, entitlement, self-interest and silos.
• We are run by warring internal power groups.
• We feel we need to pick a side and keep our heads down.
• When we are in the public we put on a brave and united front. But it’s just a front.
• When we are operational, often only seen by the people involved, they too often criticise us.
• Fortunately, our media department sheds a better light and we keep up appearances.
• If Four Corners did an investigation, a very different picture would emerge.”

As a leadership consultant who has served a range of institutions, I understand how and why these stories arise, and more importantly what to do about them.

Here are some realities:

1. No one intended the culture to become like that, it just evolved, unseen at first, until something drastic happens, such as a worker suicide, or bullying charge goes public, or a fatal accident.
2. The culture becomes like that because senior leaders, the holders of the wisdom:
   1. become too removed from the action and
   2. are confronted with political complexity and funding constraints.
   3. They don’t delegate effectively.
   4. They don’t monitor effectively.
3. The training academies of those institutions are not seen as crucial and important and are treated as a compliance.
   1. Few members joined, universities excepted, to become trainers and educators in their field, but operators and leaders.
   2. Hence there is a reluctance to serve at those academies and too often, unsuitable and often unwilling members are sent there to serve.
   3. The example they set and the treatment they give trainees can be the breeding ground of toxicity, instead of the right culture.
   4. Universities have their own breed of toxicity.
4. In institutions it is important to remember that:
   1. the head is their headquarters,
   2. the heart is their academy and
   3. the arms and legs are the operational components –
   4. and they all need to support each other and be consistent in their values and competencies.
   5. If they fight each other, they destroy each other, like warring conjoined twins.

What to Do

The quickest, most effective and efficient way is a top down start, cascading to a whole of institution approach in as short a time as possible without loss of effectiveness and efficiency.

1. Senior leaders of all branches of the institution come together and agree on the current reality and desired outcome.
2. They implement an organisation-wide review and reset of the values, so that all members have ownership of them. These are the rules of the game – how we speak, decide, act and treat each other, all stakeholders and assets.
3. Develop and implement a change process that is people centric, that suits the institution’s highest purpose and values and operations, with a top down commencement.
4. Roll out the change process across the institution with a unified focus on:
   1. Headquarters communication and behaviour.
   2. Operational competencies and interaction with stakeholders.
   3. Improvement of academy members, activity and culture.

The degree of success will largely depend upon the degree to which the senior leaders can let go of their ego, their fixed mindsets, including their fears, habits and ignorance.

Essentially it means the senior leaders must keep learning. 

What got them to where they are, will not keep them there in good shape, nor create an honourable legacy.