LEADING BY EXAMPLE IN A PARTNERING ORGANIZATION

Chapter 1 stressed how the behaviors of leaders serve as major forces in creating an organization's culture, whether accidentally forming a culture by evolution or purposefully shaping a culture by design. For leaders who want to create a partnering culture, the first step is to figure out how they have to change their personal behavior. How should a partnering leader act? What must he or she do more of? Less of? Start doing? Stop doing? Do in different ways? Do here but not there? There but not here? Table 3, an extension of Table 2, gives representative examples of the kinds of partnering behaviors that leaders must display consistently if they truly wish to create a partnering culture.

Table 3: Leader's Role in a Partnering Organization

PARTNERING ORGANIZATION	PARTNERING ATTRIBUTE	LEADER'S ROLE
Self-discloses information freely and gives feedback straightforwardly	Self-Disclosure and Feedback	Establish a safe atmosphere for open communication Monitor personal reaction to information Reward candidness and diversity of thought Seek feedback "Walk the corridors"
Solves problems creatively and resolves conflicts collaboratively, creating winners, not losers	Win-Win Orientation	Build agreements on how conflict will be resolved Be aware of and monitor personal reaction to conflict Create awareness of conflict styles Make a conscious effort to move to a win-win negotiator style
Builds trust through both words and actions	Ability to Trust	Define trust within organization Define behaviors associated with building and diminishing trust at both a relationship and task level Monitor and be aware of personal trust style Establish trust as an organizational measurement Reward trust-building behaviors
Embraces the future with a clear vision	Future Orientation	Define expectations for future orientation Monitor personal language and behavior based on future orientation Educate people about future orientation Hold people accountable for future-oriented decision making Recognize and reward innovation based on future orientation
Encourages and welcomes change	Comfort with Change	Understand personal change style Recognize benefits and stressors to change Acknowledge others' change style and plan for a range of reactions Allow others to control the impacts of change that fall within their scope of responsibility Reward change behaviors Monitor change events to prevent "change overload"
Champions interreliance with others for key results	Comfort with Interdependence	Acknowledge to direct reports your dependence on them for your success Align reward structure to compensate for partnering behaviors Align organizational priorities Link cross-functional results to organizational objectives Rotate job responsibilities at the managerial level Establish formal partnership agreements between executives and departments