4 steps to taming a combative culture

f ooK ARouND. Has a 10.000-lb. I-lgorilla taken over your company?

Before you reply with a quick "no" and refocus on your to-do list, bear in mind that this giant beast is known by a second name: culture. And understand that taming him is imperative because his destructive behaviors can keep your company's tribe from doing what it was brought together to do.

Here are some tell-tale signs that he has adopted your organization as his habitat:

There are several positive change initiatives in the works, but the old guard refuses to alter "the way we've always done things." They aren't receptive to new hires and won't take an active role in training them. Rather than working to move the company forward, they spend most of their day making excuses for why things should stay the same.

" Your employees are constantly patting themselves and each other on the backs. Unfortunately, they're often celebrating empty wins like getting a client's order right on the second try or passing an angry customer on to another department. These "celebrations" only serve as a smokescreen to hide stagnation and lack of progress.

* Most people in your company seem too comfortable. They gravitate toward and "nest" in the familiar. At times, you wonder if innovation, creativity and motivation are foreign concepts to them.

"Unfortunately, the gorilla's constant bellowing drowns out other messages in the concrete jungle, which allows poisonous cultures to take entire organizations hostage," says Micheal J. Burt. coauthor of Zebras & Cheetahs: Look Dffirent & Stay Agile to Survive the Business Jungle. "The good news is, prepared and proactive leaders can provide clarity, unite the tribe, and tame that unruly gorilla so that cooperation, growth and innovation are once again in the spotlight."

According to Burt and co-author Colby Jubenville, leaders who can successfully go nose-to-nose with culture gorillas are members of a newly evolving breed: Zebra and Cheetah (or Z&C) Leaders.

"Zebra and Cheetah Leaders are so called because they exhibit qualities of both breeds," explains Jubenville.

"Like zebras, they boast a distinctive appearance that others can easily recognize. Like cheetahs, they possess great speed and are particularly quick accelerators. And like both, they have an ability to utilize their senses so well that they excel in adapting to their environments. In other words. these are leaders who are able to adapt to the fast-paced, always-changing, and highly competitive business world, and who are capable of leading diverse tribes within it."

Zebra and Cheetah Leaders recognize that 10,000-lb. gorillas are sustained by individuals who, unlike themselves, have refused to adapt to the ever-changing landscape of reality.

The authors suggest four things Z&CLeaders must do in order to stop feeding the gorilla... and create clarity amid the chaos of the concrete jungle:

Get real about the reality your tribe is facing. Chances are, the path you once took through the jungle was wide, well marked, and free of most significant obstacles. You could count on easily visible indicators, typical benchmarks, and annual performance ratings to keep you going in the right direction. And if any doubt cropped up, your company's fearless leader would dictate who should lead, who should follow, and what should be done. To hear your change-averse gorilla tell it, that's still an accurate portrayal of reality. Don't let him fool you. The good old days are long gone.

"In today's competitive, constantly changing global economy. organizations whose cultures expect the journey through the concrete jungle to be easy won't last long," Burt saYs. "These days, the path can quickly change, or disappear altogether. You might encounter rockslides or quicksand at any moment. And predatorsotherwise known as competitors-will be constantly nipping at your heels.

"Z&C Leaders are committed to drawing a clear picture of the true, actual circumstances their organizations face, regardless of how positive or negative they may be. Only then will you be able to cut through the smokescreen your gorilla may be throwing up and unite your tribe in pursuit of an overarching dominant aspiration."

. Make sure your tribe understands the complex order of the concrete jungle. In nature, jungles are incredibly complex. They contain a dizzying amount of animals and plants that are competing for resources and survival . But despite (or in some cases. because ofl the occasional casualty, the ecosystem supports the many populations that call it "home" and enables them to thrive.

Ideally, that's the case within your company, too. However, it doesn't matter how balanced and well calibrated your tribe is on paper if all of its members don't understand where, how and why they fit.

"It's a natural instinct for people to worry about their futures," Jubenville says. "That's why so often new ideas, policies and people spark pushback. Established tribe members worry that they're being edged out or that they're entering the endangered species list. And that type of uncertainty feeds the gorilla. It'll beat its chest, bellow and attack what it mistakenly perceives to be the competition, effectively halting growth and progress.

" As a Z&C Leader, it's imperative for you to not only leverage Your tribe's talents, but to make sure all of its members understand where they fit within your organization's ecosystem, both now and in the future."

, Clearly define success. Once tribe members understand the order of the jungle they inhabit, Z&C Leaders must outline what, exactly, constitutes success. Left to their own devices, each individual is likely to define that outcome differently, usually in whatever way would benefit them most personally. In this scenario, you're likely to have some employees who mistakenly believe they've "made it," while others struggle, strive and snipe their way in the wrong direction.

"We refer to the force of a tribe working toward success as collective passion," says Burt. "The struggle to survive and succeed in the global economy won't always be pleasant or easy. But if your tribe goes through the metaphorical fire together, it will emerge as a stronger, more efficient group. Collective passion helps create a cooperative, unified environmentin which gorillas can't survive."

" Create new levels of professionalism. This step is the easiest. You'll find that when your tribe's members have collectively survived the crucible and reached the first level of success you've set for them, their relationships with each other will change.

"Specifically, competition within the tribe will naturally be replaced by new levels of cooperation once everyone sees what they're all capable of accomplishing together," promises Jubenville. "This will then allow the competitive focus to fall where it belonss: outside the tribe.

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