If your board needs direction on culture governance in 2025, here are some suggested starting points, from my recent roundtable for the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
strategy
Board directors must see the whole puzzle of culture
Board directors lack a whole-landscape view of culture because of the different approaches and disciplines. They see ‘windows’ into culture that can be helpful, but don’t provide the whole picture.
Board Directors: Do you have your arms around organisational culture?
Modern board directors know that steering a strong culture is fundamental to business success and therefore to their role as stewards. Yet, many directors struggle to wrap their arms around this big thing we call organisational culture. Here are the challenges and risks.
What board directors should know and do about organisational culture
Now more than ever, culture needs to be on the board agenda at every meeting – and must be addressed through rigorous analysis and strategic planning. Here, I highlight what culture should be to boards, some of the challenges I see in culture in the work I do, and AICD’s guidelines on best practice.
Your team is probably leaving money on the table.
What your team focuses on affects the whole business. Here are 3 examples where I often see team members leaving money on the table – and what leaders need to do about it!
Your Board affects your organisation’s Brand.
The organisation’s brand is rarely perceived as the domain of the board, and it is usually not deeply understood across the board or management. Yet, it has a pivotal role to play in the organisation’s reputation and success.
What makes a culture scalable?
Your refreshed culture is not a parade.
It isn’t built by overlaying shiny new messaging over BAU.
To scale a culture, you need an organised, all-in approach.
People can’t come knocking if they don’t see a door.
When it comes to your personal brand, the plan works if you work it. It doesn’t have to be complicated, but it does take consistent and continual effort to grow your brand by following a communication plan.
Talking to everyone? Talking to NO-ONE.
Having just completed a sprint of brand strategy sessions to clarify positioning and value messaging, front-of-mind at the moment is the importance of narrowing your message to a specific audience. Here’s how to use a Value Proposition Chart to FOCUS on WHO you are talking to.
Develop your Leadership Team Approach to ‘Where we are going’
While leaders usually have a strong sense of what they are trying to achieve, the problem I sometimes see is that leaders don’t have clarity on how to tell that story, or – more often – how to unite as a group of leaders in telling that story.