strategy-culture-leadership-talent-dergelcfo

People in many organizations are well-intentioned wanting to do their best. They come to work to give value for the money they get by achieving what they think are their goals.

The problem is that those goals, in many cases, are enclosed in silos, are not aligned and even, sometimes, define contrary directions thus reducing the company’s work effectiveness.

To correct for that, there are many things we should do, but it is because of this multiplicity of measures that we lose sight of those most critical. The challenge is to focus on the most important.

If called to choose only one measure for the company to work upon to improve, what should it be? Indeed, I would have great difficulty in making a choice among (a) leadership, (b) culture, and (c) strategy given, of course, that there is a strong interrelation between them.

Leadership is of the utmost importance, but in more mature organizations, it tends to become more laisses-faire.

Strategy, even when excellently crafted, may rest its success in the hands of the people who implement it.

Culture is responsible for cooperation, for the right behaviour, for bringing responsibility as well as enjoyment at the workplace, for teamwork, for providing missing connections, for motivating for the common good, that is, the company good.

Faced with a choice, the management guru Peter Drucker said it with felicity “Culture eats Strategy for breakfast”.

So, if I had to choose only one factor to focus on for changing a company for the better, what should it be?
Answer: Culture!