The Metropolitan police has clear values on its website and a detailed ethics code. The fire service has a similarly robust code of ethics. Tony Danker, then director general of the Confederation of British Industry, gave a speech to a Future of Work conference about the importance of values in the workplace and how they matter now more than ever. Yet in all three organisations, toxic cultures have come to light in recent weeks. Days after his speech, Danker was sacked.
We know now that there is a big gap between what these organisations and their leaders say is important and what actually happens within them. Noticing and learning about that gap is what understanding culture is all about. It should be the number one priority for senior leaders. But ask them what’s on their priority list, and they’re likely to talk about quarterly results, growth or hitting targets.
