The secret of building a “winning” organizational culture

Employers 06.10.2021

There are many ways to build a “winning” organizational culture. Being a good leader is one of them. But the key to good leadership is not what you think. In an episode of Talks at GS, Frances Frei discusses her work advising companies on how to spearhead cultural change and insights on leadership.

If you poke around your local bookstore or library—or do the online equivalent these days—you’ll eventually stumble upon a section rife with books on leadership. To be sure, there’s no shortage of advice about the things leaders should do and say in order to succeed in their roles. But a new book by Frances Frei and Anne Morriss focuses less on the leader and more on empowering the people they are leading.

In fact, “a leader is the least important person in any room they walk into,” Frei, a professor of technology and operations management at Harvard Business School, said in a recent episode of Talks at GS. During the discussion, she shared some takeaways from the new book, Unleashed: The Unapologetic Leader's Guide to Empowering Everyone Around You.

The “secret sauce”

Like chefs or mixologists, many business leaders search for that perfect recipe—in their case, for success, that goes beyond the products or services they’re selling. Frei said she has found “the secret sauce of how to get pretty dramatic improvement [in an organization], pretty quickly.” And it entails shaking up the prevailing leader-centric idea of leadership.

Based on research for the book, the authors found that a leader–focused approach didn’t coincide with the organization succeeding, or “winning.”

“We were finding just the opposite; that the less a leader was focused on themselves, the better they did,” Frei noted.

Shifting the focus

For leaders who have spent years (or decades) climbing the corporate ladder, this type of message can be a bit jarring. And Frei acknowledged that a framework that’s less leader-focused goes against the norm. “The truth is, all of us make it about ourselves some of the time.”

But she pointed out that “when it’s about you, you’re not leading.” She thinks “a leader’s job is to set the conditions for other people to thrive, as a result of their presence, and then lasting into their absence.” That type of leadership flips the script on a “super suboptimal” dynamic in which everyone is serving the leader, according to Frei.

Think: Less “me” and more “we”

Research shows that the less a leader was focused on themselves and the more they empowered others, the more they succeeded at "winning."

Instead of spending time on self-introspection and agonizing over their faults, Frei said leaders should devote that energy to empowering others. What does that look like in practice? Frei thinks you’re a leader when you’re serving other people.

Embrace being different. Rather than worry about straying from the prevailing narrative—the leader-focused one—Frei encourages people in charge to take pride in a new leadership mindset and be “unapologetically different” about taking a novel approach. “Even if my peers and even if others are coaching me to make it more about me…don’t do another minute of that. Start paying attention to what other people need.”

Watch Frances Frei’s full episode of Talks at GS for more insights.

This article is based on an originally published article on marcus.com.

This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for individualized professional advice. This article was prepared and approved by The Ayco Company, L.P. d/b/a Goldman Sachs Ayco Personal Financial Management (“Ayco Personal Financial Management” or “Ayco”) and based on an original article from Marcus by Goldman Sachs, but does not reflect the institutional opinions of Goldman Sachs Bank USA, Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. or any of their affiliates, subsidiaries or divisions. Goldman Sachs Bank USA is not providing any financial, economic, legal, accounting, tax or other recommendation in this article. Information and opinions expressed in this article are as of the date of this material only and subject to change without notice. Information contained in this article does not constitute the provision of investment advice by Ayco or any its affiliates. Neither Ayco nor any of its affiliates makes any representations or warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy or completeness of the statements or any information contained in this document and any liability therefore is expressly disclaimed.

Investing involves risk, including the potential loss of money invested. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Neither asset diversification or investment in a continuous or periodic investment plan guarantees a profit or protects against a loss.