No doubt your company’s top executive has “CEO” written on his or her business card. But should it? If our title really reflects the role we play in the company, then the CEO’s title should instead read Chief Culture Officer.
That’s exactly what you’ll find on Tom Walter’s business cards. As the leader of Tasty Catering, a Great Game of Business practitioner, Tom wants his business cards to reflect his most pressing daily task.
“Managing the culture is my chief responsibility now,” says Tom Walter of Tasty Catering. Why? Because it’s the clearest leverage point for success he knows.
At the Center for Values-Driven Leadership, our research takes us inside industry-leading, award-winning companies (many of whom practice open-book management). Inside these companies, we explore how the company’s culture influences profit and revenue, employee engagement, customer loyalty, and other metrics. The link is always clear: strong, positive cultures make a tangible difference in the company’s success.
In our interviews with executives, the CEOs and presidents say the culture is their business. Culture is job #1, regardless of the size of the organization. The company culture may have a life of its own, but the CEO takes care to model, shape and celebrate it on a daily basis. Essentially, the CEO is the Chief Culture Officer.
Management guru Edgar Schein called leaders the “architects of culture.” Architects need tools. The exceptional leaders we interviewed used the following eight tools to actively guide their companies. Think of this as a checklist. Do you do the following?
Those eight tools are an incredible starting point for executives who understand their role as their company’s Chief Culture Officer.