Why leadership development is key to scaling culture

Leaders are cultural agents. Develop them and you can make a big impact on the day-to-day actions that shape your culture. As Rodolphe Durand and Ioannis Ioannou write in theirs article for the Harvard Business Review, “In a purpose-driven culture, leaders have a key responsibility: They must clearly communicate and authentically embody the company’s purpose and values.”

For a prime example of this ripple effect, I met with Symphony’s Chief People Officer (CPO). Courtney Panik.

Agreement is a communication platform for financial services. The company offers product capabilities and solutions such as chat, file sharing, video calling, shopping, voice and video data, analytics and business intelligence. Symphony was actually created by the industry for the industry. All of Symphony’s investors are leading global banking institutions that have chosen to work together to create this common platform. They currently have 500 employees.

What does culture look like in Symphony?

As a ten-year-old company, Symphony is actively transitioning from startup mode to scale-up mode. “We spend a lot of time upfront building the foundational building blocks that allow us to scale and build up,” Panik said.

Asked how she would describe Symphony’s culture, Panik shared the most common responses that often appeared in the company’s annual engagement survey: “Our employees overwhelmingly describe our culture as inclusive, open, supportive, passionate and with a sense of community.” . Panik pointed out that many of these words are also corporate values.

How Symphony scales its culture from startup to scale

As Symphony made this transition from start-up to scale-up, Panik and her team took a hard look at what they needed culturally. “We looked at how we were structured, how we communicate with each other and what was needed,” he explained. “We needed to move quickly and be flexible. We needed and wanted to be transparent with our employees.” They then began to implement formal and informal initiatives to meet these needs. Here are some examples:

1. Communication: Panik and her team ensured that the organizational structure was flat to allow communication to flow. “We have an open-door policy, so everyone from interns to the most senior person has access to each other, including our chief executive officer (CEO), Brad Levy,” he explained.
2. Transparency: Panik and her team entrust important information to all company employees. “We trust our employees with our financial information, competitive data and strategy,” Panik said.
3. Community: To foster a sense of community, Panik and her team have spent a lot of time creating employee resource groups and working with community and outside organizations. “We’re working with Urban Synergy in London, Women in Banking and Finance, Coding Black Females and more. We organize joint events to provide mentoring, career development and exposure to professional environments. It has become a mutually rewarding relationship and an important aspect of the culture within Symphony because not only do the participants of these organizations have access, guidance and this experience, but our employees also have the opportunity to volunteer, share their knowledge and to be part of the community”.

Panik sees people managers as ‘carriers of culture’

“People managers are carriers of culture. They drive the majority of the work done at Symphony and interact with more employees at scale and more frequently than most senior leaders,” Panik emphasized. “They really set the tone.”

When it comes to developing leaders, Panik shared what she referred to as her “secret weapon.” “If you’re a CMO, you’re expected to work with other leaders and managers on development issues. When you see your leader sharing advice, it amplifies the impact and creates a more conducive environment for learning,” he emphasized. “As a small company, we don’t have a single resource dedicated to learning and development. This area stretches between me and another person. But if we are able to work with really successful people, managers and leaders in these matters, they can help carry some of the load and share their experience and advice. This goes far beyond HR doing it alone.”

Panik’s advice for CPOs: Spread the risk

Panik’s top tip for a CPO is to “spread the risk.” He observed, “If someone comes to you with a problem, you don’t have to solve it yourself. Tell your manager, tell the legal department, or talk to the leadership team. Bring other people and solve this challenge with them. In the past, when I needed to make a recommendation or come up with a solution, I would labor for it unnecessarily, when I could have asked for support much earlier and come to a conclusion much faster.”

Kevin Kruse is its Founder + CEO LEADx, scaling and sustaining leadership behaviors with behavioral nudges, micro-learning and cohort-based live workshops. Kevin is also a New York Times bestselling author of Great leaders have no rules, 15 time management secrets that successful people know, and Employee Engagement 2.0.