The Culture of Success
Feb 3, 2012
Business success may be measured in dollars and cents, but there are many who would argue that a winning corporate culture alignment is as tangible and valuable an asset as anything you find in the financial statements.
Creating a corporate culture in and of itself is only half the battle, however. The only way culture can drive success is when leadership sets its mind to aligning corporate culture with business goals, says Carol Stephenson, dean, Richard Ivey School of Business in London, Ont.
"Leadership is a huge part of culture. In studies we have done with business leaders after the latest financial collapse, it became clear that the companies that continued to do well had a different type of leadership."
The Ivey survey provided a framework from which to define three fundamental pillars of effective leadership. The first is competencies; that is having the knowledge, skills, understanding and judgment needed to assess a situation, analyze a solution and collaborate with others to get things done. "In other words, do you know what you're doing and do you know how to do it?" she says.
