DIAGNOSING AND STRATEGICALLY IMPLEMENTING A CHARACTER‐BASED CULTURE

Abstract Mary Crossan is a Distinguished University Professor and Professor of Strategic Leadership at the Ivey Business School, Western University. Corey Crossan is a research and teaching fellow at The University of Oxford with The Oxford Character Project. Bill Furlong is an executive in residence at the Ivey Business School, and a co‐founder with Mary Crossan of Leader Character Associates Inc. They write that “organizations struggle mightily to get their aspirational culture to match their actual culture.” They write about the importance of character, and first “consider four underlying issues that make defining, shaping, measuring, and maintaining an aspirational culture challenging.” In their words, the issues are: 1. Achieving Common Understanding, 2. Shaping Consistent Behavior, 3. Measuring Culture, 4. Top‐Down Approaches. An antidote to these four issues is “elevating character alongside competence.” In their words: 1. Common Understanding of Culture, 2. Shaping Culture, 3. Measuring Culture in Real Time, 4. Inside‐Out Approach. They “propose three steps to strategically achieve and sustain an aspirational, resilient culture that can withstand the inevitable pressures that arise.” In their words: Step 1—Strategically cultivate awareness of character as the foundation for culture. Step 2—Strategically invest in leader character development to transform behavior that defines culture. Step 3—Strategically embed leader character into organization practices.