Is Culture Stronger than Leadership?

Without exception, every company has its exclusive culture but what’s truly the importance of culture?

Preceding leadership and even strategy, a company’s culture is the foundation which other factors depend on. It may very well be the crucial factor of success or failure in businesses in the long haul. Many times, leaders placed their focus on other elements, allowing culture to grow and build naturally without their intervention. A rather risky move which may lead to a weak culture, deviated from the direction they envision to proceed forward and expand the company.

Leaders most often have a good extent of control over culture in their organisation. They are able to adjust mindsets and create an environment that allows culture to align with their business goals and thrive, in turn strengthening the organisation.

In this thought-provoking article, “Culture: Light or Lightning?” by Mark Miller from Great Leaders Serve, he explains what exactly is culture and provides an interesting perspective of how culture is actually very much like electricity. It can either be productive or destructive, depending on how it is being utlilized.

Here is an excerpt of the article:

“Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” That’s how Peter Drucker described the power of culture. Arguably, culture is stronger than vision, strategy, tenure, or even in some cases, it can be stronger than leadership.

Culture is a lot like electricity – if harnessed, it can light cities; if untamed, it looks more like lightning, setting wildfires and leaving destruction in its wake.

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Is your company’s culture tearing people down, or lifting them up?

Look out for our next post where we’ll be sharing the second part of Mark’s article. He goes on to elaborate on the things to consider when you ponder on the culture of the organization you lead.