SAVE | EMAIL | PRINT | MOST POPULAR |  RSS | | REPRINT
|
Last Word: 360-Degree Alignment
May 19, 2009
By Stephen R. Covey
Q: From your perspective, what is the root cause of today's global economic crisis?
SC: There is no question that poor judgment and greed for years have created deep vulnerabilities in the global economy. But our deeper and more fundamental problem is that most government, business, education, and nonprofit organizations in this country and around the world are mired in Industrial Age mind-sets and systems, even though we live in a Knowledge Worker global, interconnected economy.
Q: What, then, is the solution to the downturn?
SC: First, to build new structures and systems that embody principles of transparency, accountability, and total integrity. And second, to get out of thinking that all the important decisions must be made at the top and into building a culture that taps the creative thinking and initiative of people at every level of the organization to solve the organization's greatest challenges.
Q: What do you mean by "culture"?
SC: Culture represents the mores, norms, and values of a particular group. I have found that if you have enough people who are informed and who trust each other and interact synergistically, the values they come up with will be timeless, universal principles. Then if they would build those culturally based principles into the structures and systems, we wouldn't see people being rewarded for selling toxic assets.
Q: What role can human resources professionals uniquely take to influence a profound culture shift?
SC: They need to think and talk strategically and introduce top executives in the throne room to 360-degree information regarding how aligned the culture is with its vision, mission, values, and strategic goals. Then the human resources professional will know the source of the problems and can address them through training and development and through influencing the executive team to make sure there is alignment. The HR professional also can introduce and sustain the ethic of informing and involving everyone in the organization to stay in alignment and to creatively and synergistically address all the challenges and problems identified in the information-gathering work.
Q: In your experience, how long does it take to change or transform an organization's culture?
SC: It depends on two big variables: the pain they are experiencing and the willingness of leaders to empower and build complementary teams, where strengths are made productive and weaknesses are made irrelevant through the strengths of other people.
Q: Is culture built from the top down or the bottom up? Or does your concept of the Knowledge Worker Age suggest a third alternative?
SC: It's both top down and bottom up, and it requires a great deal of moral authority, which is the essence of leadership. Management is conferred from above, where people have positions. Moral authority is conferred 360 degrees around, particularly from the bottom up, and represents the Four Imperatives of Leadership:
• Inspire trust
• Clarify purpose
• Align systems
• Unleash talent
Q: Are you optimistic about our future?
SC: I am optimistic because I think the wider society is growing in awareness of these misalignments and because of the power of our free enterprise system with culturally endorsed public and private regulation.
Stephen R. Covey is co-founder of FranklinCovey and author of "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" and "The 8th Habit."
|
SAVE | EMAIL | PRINT | MOST POPULAR | RSS |
|
|
| Back to Marketing Index |
|
|
