Coaching Leaders Through Organizational Cynicism
About 30 years ago, former MIT professor Ed Schein proposed a model of organizational culture with three specific levels: artifacts, espoused values and assumptions. By espoused values, he had in mind the values that are formally articulated, mostly through a core value statement, which many organizations have in place these days.
The practical experience of many organizational development practitioners has shown that a lack of alignment between these three levels leads to organizational dysfunction, while a misalignment between the basic assumption — the deepest unquestioned understanding of how “things work around here” and the written-down, official value statements – leads to a perception of dishonesty among employees that in turn often gives way to organizational cynicism.
Organizational cynicism is the sense that an organization lacks integrity, which is nothing more than a congruence between the punishment and reward system that it articulates and the one it demonstrates. Once in place, organizational cynicism becomes a powerful, negative emotional reaction with many negative behavioral consequences.
Organizational cynicism may touch an organization at large or its parts — groups, departments, or units — depending on the specific dynamics that were relevant to them. For example, a large organization with a healthy organizational culture might still have an overseas unit where historical day-to-day practices are incongruent with the stated values of the parent organization, leading to cynicism in that particular part of the organization. Or a given department for one reason or another might have developed practices that are incongruent with the organization, leading its employees to become cynical as a reaction to the incongruence between the organizational values that are articulated and what is actually rewarded and punished in that department.
Once in place, cynicism is a major challenge for leaders. Employees who are cynical will undermine every change effort through a compromised level of cooperation and engagement. Further adding to complexity, organizational cynicism spreads rather easily, as grapevine communication is often more powerful than official channels (these are often used ineffectively for a variety of reasons).
Becoming a new leader always comes with its own set of challenges, but becoming a new leader of an organization in which organizational cynicism has taken root is especially difficult. Despite the best intentions of a new leader, employees of such an entity are likely to show a lack of responsiveness to even the most sound management practices aimed at recreating alignment and enhancing engagement. This may be very difficult on a new leader, who usually embraces the new role and responsibilities that come with it with much enthusiasm and a commitment to delivering value.
While working with a leader of an organization where cynicism has established itself, a coach must be aware of the level of resistance that their coachee is likely to face on an ongoing basis before successfully changing the perceptions and emotions. Here are some tips on what to focus on during this volatile phase:
1. Building resilience: Resilient leaders trust themselves and bounce back quickly, which allows them to maintain a positive attitude and a strong sense of opportunity even during periods of adversity.
2. Acting decisive and not divisive: Leaders can demonstrate their character by making clear and bold decisions that are explained in simple ways. But it is also important for a leader not to start playing favorites. Any new followers should not be treated in any way better than the rest of the employees if change is to be encouraged.
3. Showing commitment to the people and organizational espoused values: Since “the emperor sets the culture,” by a consistent demonstration of their own buy-in, a leader can positively influence the perception of organizational fairness and integrity.
4. Demonstrating ongoing learning and openness to feedback: Since learning is all about change, by bringing the focus to learning, leaders can help employees leave behind the sense of resistance to change. An open-door policy with a leader’s openness to feedback builds new engagement as employees feel that their voice is finally heard.
Margaret Wheatley, author of “The Unplanned Organization: Learning From Nature’s Emergent Creativity,” noted that “leadership is a series of behaviors rather than a role for heroes.” Facing organizational cynicism might be one of the most trying leadership challenges that requires all a leader’s behaviors to support the change they want to create. But it is also one that, once navigated successfully, has a truly powerful impact both on the leader and on the employees touched by such change. A coach can offer extra value by helping the leader focus on the most powerful behaviors and supporting them through that change.
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