More and more managers are realizing that the time has come to change the mindset, leadership and culture of the companies they run, putting people back at the center of their strategy.
This article is written for intelligent and restless managers who right now feel the need to give new meaning to their work. As? Exercising a useful function, aligned with the values and ethics that lie deep in its heart. Or put another way: forming part of a business project that generates real wealth for society and of which one -when explaining to their children what they do professionally- can feel really proud.
A priori it may seem like a somewhat naive proposal. However, the ideal is not to think that executives and companies are going to experience a transformation, but to believe that they will stay the same. In the same way that almost no one watches movies with VHS videos anymore -but only through DVD or Blu-ray players-, the organizational paradigm shift is unstoppable and inescapable.
But what is an organizational paradigm? According to management philosopher Steven Covey, “it is the way companies see, understand, and act in the world.” And since companies are living organisms, they have their own “beliefs” (which condition their way of understanding life), “values” (which influence their decision-making) and “aspirations”, which determine what they want to achieve.
For Covey, this organizational paradigm also determines its “needs” and “motivations.” That is, what companies consider they need to enjoy economic well-being and what motivates them to do what they do every day. In parallel, this subjective vision of reality conditions the relationships that occur at its three levels (senior management, middle management and staff), producing, in turn, a series of results in the three dimensions in which they operate: personal, relational and culture.
Since more and more executives are rethinking the way the companies they run work, “organizational learning” is being consolidated, a process of self-knowledge that allows companies to detect their limitations and develop their potential, becoming the best version of themselves. And among other experts, consultant Richard Barrett stands out. In his opinion, most companies are unconsciously governed by the “old organizational paradigm”. That is, by the old way of thinking. And this is characterized by believing that materialistic attributes (such as money, status and success) lead us to happiness; for obsessively valuing short-term profit, and for aspiring to unlimited economic growth.
CHANGE OF BUSINESS PARADIGM
“Integrity managers. Middle managers with emotional intelligence. And responsible and satisfied employees. These are the pillars of conscious companies.”
(Fredy Kofman)
As a direct consequence -and to give an everyday example-, most companies governed by the old paradigm believe that the more hours their employees work, the more productive they will be. Hence, middle managers value that their subordinates are physically there for the maximum number of hours possible. However, managers aspire to make their human capital profitable to raise the profit of their operating account year after year. The truth is that this self-interest-oriented business behavior is neither “good” nor “bad”. It has simply ceased to be valid and efficient, and is totally unsustainable. Mainly because it has detrimental effects for the organization in the medium term.
Proof of this is that the majority of workers do not trust their boss and do not believe in what they do. In fact, many acknowledge doing the minimum to collect the payroll at the end of each month. Faced with this context of general demotivation and resignation, it is worth asking: what reason does an employee have to give the best of himself when he feels treated like a machine? How is it possible for companies to improve their productivity and innovation rates when their own professionals wage an invisible war against the organization?
It is precisely these types of questions that are leading a new generation of upright, responsible and conscious managers to promote a “paradigm shift” in the organizations they lead. Although it is a long and complex process, it ends up giving a beneficial output. According to guru Fredy Kofman, companies that are committed to developing their human dimension are beginning to be governed by a “new organizational paradigm” that promotes “greater efficiency in their resources and, therefore, sustainable economic abundance in the medium term.” ”.
This new way of conceiving business is based on exercising leadership in values that allows the company to focus on the common good. In other words, aligning its legitimate desire for profit with the well-being of all stakeholders or interest groups, starting, of course, with the employees. For Kofman, “the great challenge is for companies to learn how to make money by creating wealth for society.” Believing in it is taking the first step to build a company with a conscience.
