We all have opportunity to influence organisation culture or any other culture wherever we are, positively or negatively. I was recently reminded of a scene in the classic movie “Gandhi”. It goes something like this, a lady brings her son to Gandhi and asks if he could talk to him about the dangers of taking sugar in his tea. Gandhi asks her to bring the young boy the following week. When she returns with the young boy, she’s curious and asks Gandhi why he asked them to come the following week. I remember Gandhi sheepishly responding and telling her that he was still taking sugar and needed to stop before he could help her son.
As I reflect on why this scene had an impact on me, I realise that it’s the thought that between Gandhi and the concerned Mother, only Gandhi knew he was still taking sugar and he was not ready to influence the boy to do something he was doing. This sums up the concept of integrity for me, where integrity is about walking the talk. It could also be summed up by the phrase practice what you preach.
The challenge of leadership is to model the family, business or organisation culture. There’s something about a leader who is doing what they’re asking others to do that conveys authenticity and has greater impact, than that of a leader who asks those they are leading to do what they don’t do. This is usually noticeable this with things like how people treat each another, how people conduct themselves, etc.
If you want to positively influence the culture of your sphere of influence, begin noticing tendencies that irk you and follow this up by taking an audit of who you are - your language, your triggers and reactions, your responses. A great addition to this audit is to ask others within your circle to give you honest feedback, do all you can to receive it without being defensive. Review where there seems to be discrepancies with what you thought of yourself, then make a decision on what you want to work on to become the leader you really want to be. Recognise that this is a journey, so take one step at a time. Before you know it, the culture around you will begin to turn for the better.
