Whatever your thoughts about Steve Bullmer, soon-to-be ex-CEO of Microsoft, there was something rather moving about his departure from the business this week. His emotional outpouring, tears and all, showed us all that here was a man who had enormous passion and pride for his business and that walking away is going to be a wrench.
What struck me about Bullmer was that even though he was exiting Microsoft, he is still a great ‘Prophet’ for the business: he still believes in it and all it can achieve. The Prophet is one of the roles I encourage leaders and managers alike to demonstrate: the forward-thinking, future-proud evangelist who dares to dream big. It’s a role that brings the purpose and belief in the organisation to the masses – and helps everyone across connect with the ambition and see it as their dream, too.
Bullmer has helped build the culture he wanted and believed in and there is no doubt that he took many, many people with him on the journey to achieve his vision as a result. But another crucial point is that Bullmer’s departure symbolised someone who cares deeply about the cultural legacy he leaves behind – an acknowledgment that that the sum is greater than the parts. "It's not about one person," said Ballmer. "It's about this company…”
But it takes much more than a great leader and Prophet to build a culture. At a recent panel debate I sat on with CEOs, the HR and OD audience were interested in how to drive the culture deep into the business and see new behaviours happening everyday among their people. My view is that if you want employees to genuinely champion the organisational vision and take action to achieve it, you have to invest in line managers. They are the people who need to carry the belief forward with their teams, help them make the connection with their roles and ensure the beliefs fuel the right behaviours.
Helping managers to engage people and create a desired culture is ultimately the most effective way to increase performance, especially during times of change when performance can stall or dip. However, they are often consistently overlooked in the big picture of culture and performance with minimal support, training, development and counsel.
Until line managers become a priority, it’s unlikely that investment in ‘culture’ is going to have an impact on performance. And if it doesn’t build performance, my challenge is why bother investing in culture at all?
