Corporate culture is the only sustainable competitive advantage for any company.”
Anthony Glover, a driver of positive change and highly experienced business professional was recently awarded as the ‘Culture Hero’. He is the kind of leader who genuinely cares about others. His leadership style, and experiences at some of the world’s largest firms, have made him an influential force.The ‘canvas’ which is his focus on culture, has been painted by each of the prominent firms he was worked at — from American Express, to JP Morgan, to HSBC.
You have been awarded as ‘Culture Hero’ — as a believer in inspirational leadership, can you elaborate on your leadership style and the importance of culture in a large organization, like the ones you have spent your career in?
“I was very honoured to have revived the Culture Hero award. Its rare that someone at my professional level receives the award, which makes me feel even more proud. I think the award is owed to the way in which we dealt with the pandemic, which I had a big role to play in. We have all heard the phrase, ‘culture eats strategy for lunch’. I am a believer in this idea. Your organizational culture is the character of your organization. It is what makes your business unique, and is the sum of its beliefs, values, traditions and attitudes.
“A positive workplace culture attracts talent, drives engagement, impacts happiness, and enhances performance. The culture of an organization is essentially its personality. Leadership, management, policies, people, and practices — all impact culture significantly.
“I believe that leaders are imperative in creating workplace culture. One of the previous organizations I worked in, had a unique and effective system of creating and maintaining culture. They had a management curriculum, and as a first level leader, everyone has to take three classes. Those first level classes are taught by second level leaders, who are trained to teach that class with third level leaders. Hence, at each level, you learn by going to the class, and then you learn it better by teaching it, and then you learn it even better by reaching somebody else how to teach it. It was the perfect trickle down effect that helped everyone in the organization imbibe, and pass down the culture. Every organization constantly evolves with new talent and younger generations, but this system allowed the core of the culture to remain immortal. I learnt a lot here.
“So it really is true — culture creates organizations, which can then be successful. Culture really does eat strategy for lunch.”
Thanks for sharing, Tony.
