The Challenge

Too many leaders seem to believe that eventually, a strong culture will take care of itself. They believe that after they've paid their dues and built the right foundation, they can hit the snooze button and see excellence continue ad infinitum. Where they once were proactive shapers of culture, they became passive maintainers of an enterprise in decline. By wrongly thinking culture was a to do item they could cross off a list and declare as “finished,” they rendered their own leadership impact as “finished” instead.

A One-Word Leadership Job Description

In our quest to keep things simple, let me suggest my favorite one-word job description of a leader: catalyst. Here's how I see a catalyst: a thing or person that makes something happen.

It's safe to assume that thinking like a catalyst precedes acting like one. Thus, here's a quick test to evaluate your catalytic mind-set in creating culture, execution, and results. Note how many of these questions, or versions of these questions, you ask yourself as you begin work each day:

• “What can I get started today?”
• “Whom can I get started today?”
• “Whom can I leave better than I find today?”
• “How can I lead by example today?”
• “What can I do to make a difference today?”

In a culture where rhythm of accountability meetings (RAMs) are consistent, master the art of execution (MAX) acts are meaningful, MAX boards are compelling, pruning is consistent, and the ultimate few objectives (TUFs) are attained, the leaders must assume a daily catalytic role.

It's important to also note what wasn't chosen as a simple leadership job description yet is too prevalent in many once-robust cultures:

• Going to work to wait for something to happen, watch something happen, or stare bewildered out the window at day's end and wonder, “What happened?”
• Asking passive questions, such as “I wonder what kind of day we'll have today?,” “I wonder how much money we'll make today?,” or “I wonder what the team will produce today?”

In high-performance cultures, the leaders assume the role of a catalyst daily, not just when time's running out, when a crisis hits, or when they're backed into a corner and trapped like a rat. Rather, they understand that to get themselves, the process, the culture, and the team right, they must serve as catalysts daily—diligently shaping the culture and energizing their team. And every day means every day (EDMED)!

Another key word, mind-set, and concept that must be woven into a cultural foundation is that of being responsible. Responsible is defined as “chargeable with being the author, cause, or occasion of something” (Dictionary.com, n.d.).

Perhaps Rudy Giuliani described the essence of responsibility best when during an interview, he identified his philosophy as mayor of New York: “I don't deserve the credit for all that goes right during my term, nor do I deserve the blame for all that goes wrong. But I am still responsible for the results of my office.”

Taking responsibility means focusing on what you can control (your daily decisions), not whining about conditions you cannot affect. Leaders who take responsibility teach their people to do likewise. Similarly, leaders who make excuses give their people a permission slip to become victims and rationalize away their lack of greater success.

In a world where blame is pervasive, taking responsibility is a sure way to stand out, earn buy-in, build self-esteem, and build a culture that makes mastering the art of execution possible.

Parting Thought

It may be helpful at this point to revisit the definition of leadership as presented in Part Two, “Get the Leaders Right!”: “a position of going in front and showing the way.” To those who prefer passivity and blame to leading like a catalyst and taking responsibility, the following friendly warning will be unsettling: The number one cultural threat to any organization doesn't come from the outside but from within. It comes from its own leaders who don't lead and fail to take responsibility for their results. See? It's not rocket science!