Axletree Consulting

This morning I had the pleasure of attending Social Media Breakfast for Waterloo.  Our speaker was Josh Muirhead (Founder of SocialMark Media) and he was talking to us about the importance of storytelling with social media. It reminded me about my work with leaders and leadership teams especially as it relates to culture in the workplace and how critical that is. I have a story to share to demonstrate the impact of story on culture.

So imagine the following:

A small but rapidly growing Canadian IT company has just gone public on the stock exchange, injecting millions of dollars into the business. The staff are excited, extremely loyal to the current founder, as they have been a big part of its success and rapid growth. The investors have decided to move the founder aside and hire an American President.  The senior leadership is sitting around a big boardroom table , nervously awaiting the late arrival of their new President. The room is full of laughter, nervousness and excitement. The new President comes in, sits down and talks about his credentials, his successes and why he was a perfect hire. Not once does he mention the success this group of leaders has had, nor acknowledges the founder and his impact. There is a silence in the room as the discomfort and fear increases. You can feel the culture changing in these few moments alone as the team begins to formulate their stories and assumptions about him.  Suddenly the new President leans back in his chair and topples over, onto his back, with his legs in the air. He looks like an overturned turtle, legs flapping about and unable to flip back up. Absolute silence in the room. The leadership team wants to laugh but they avoid eye contact with each other so as not to engage and begin the laughter, knowing it was likely inappropriate.  The Founder and outgoing President was sitting beside the toppled over new President. The Founder, a Newfoundlander and not one to hold back his thoughts, leans over the toppled over new President, and in a thick Newfie accent he says “Now what the F*** are you doing down there?”. That was it. Laughter erupts and the team is relieved of their tension.

This true story (or the leadership team’s version of what happened in that boardroom that day) got told over and over and over again. Stories create culture. They propagate assumptions and beliefs throughout an organization (or even a family). Did that event that day in the boardroom create the culture? No, it’s the response to the story that shows everyone how “we behave around here.”  The incoming new President had only one response to that story and it was defensive.

This is an important point for leaders. Leaders must be poised to lead a response to stories told. To disrupt a response if necessary. For leaders this is about self awareness and being aware of the stories being told (which means being able to identify stories) and observing how people respond–and being ready and WILLING to intervene.

What was the impact of this story with no planned response? A  number of talented and critical staff resigned and eventually the new President also resigned, having not understood the culture or learned how to change it and/or support.