Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Shaping a Culture

Shaping a corporate culture is something that has to be done consciously. It requires purpose, aligning with values and ethics and the active engagement and participation of everyone involved. One of the things that struck me when in conversations with some of the leaders of Lockheed Martin was how important behavioral standards were, for their staff, leaders, suppliers and consultants. For a predominantly military and engineer-based organization, this focus was (for me) unexpected and one I applaud.

Hearing J.D. McFarlan's story and the insights of the FLiTE Team (Future Leaders in Training Experience) further cemented my opinion of how this company is run. I'm proud to have their stories shared in my book (Chapter 7: The Sky's The Limit).

In it J.D speaks about their roadmap to guide all leaders to develop the skills to be the type of
leader they want everyone to be. "We normally measure leadership in terms of what the numbers were and how they performed at delivering results. This balances that with how we want leaders to exhibit strong leadership behaviors. We have a set of Full-Spectrum Leadership imperatives:

• Number one is shape the future;
• Number two is build effective relationships;
• Number three is energize the team;
• Number four is deliver results; and
• Number five is model personal excellence, integrity and accountability.

It's about building effective relationships, being socially aware of how you interact with people, and understanding how people see you."

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