Transforming Your Leadership Culture

THE CULTURE DEVELOPMENT CYCLE 199

which key systems and processes support change, inhibit change,

or have a currently unknown effect. That assessment will enable

you and the senior team to determine in which areas interven-

tion is necessary to align systems and processes in supporting

culture development.

Example of Structure, Systems, and Business Processes. Once

Headroom became established at Technology Inc. as a space and

process for change, the company began to hold quarterly meet-

ings of its top twenty leaders (the process engineers). The pur-

pose of the meetings was to explore how structure, systems, and

business processes could support culture change and, in turn,

support action development in operations. In addition, this

group reviewed the behaviors and practices of each individual

and the collective as related to serving as guides for culture

development and organization transformation.

Out of this system emerged a new process of coaching to

engage individual employees in more than just task work. The

new process included coaching in experiencing and experi-

menting with Headroom to advance the practices within a pro-

cess and between processes in the manufacturing environment.

After creating, practicing, and generally guiding the coaching

process, the coaching collective realized the importance of

learning every day in the work itself. Strategy process lead-

ers went on to declare that learning was the work and that

a learning culture was the process. This further expanded

Headroom for the leadership group and other employees to

engage collectively in defi ning what it meant to learn indi-

vidually and collectively in day - to - day work. Out of this

Headroom experience, the CDC was reenacted in terms of the

role, risk, engagement, innovation, and leadership mind - set

and philosophy. Now learning was the work — a breakthrough

into the next stage of collaboration to continue evolving from

a leadership culture of independent achievement toward one

of interdependent collaboration.

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