Ice Cold Leader

CHAPTER 13Element Two—Cultural Awareness and Recognition

THE SECOND ELEMENT OF THE LEADERSHIP PROCESS IS Cultural Awareness and Recognition. For clarity and to be sure we are all speaking the same leadership language, let's define culture. By definition, culture is the “set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution or organization.”³⁰ Additionally, culture is “the characteristic features of everyday existence shared by a people in a place or time.”³¹

In short, and for our purposes, culture is essentially made up of the things we do, not the labels we put on them. Before I explain what I mean by that, let me illustrate how the leadership process is developing up to this point.

Remember our friend Roger, from the Introduction to Part 2? Once Roger acknowledged his previously unacknowledged emotions, we were able to discuss his situation with some real objectivity and without the shame, fear, and insecurity he was feeling. His newfound self-awareness and vulnerability moved him toward curiosity. He understood that leaders must first be aware of what is happening within themselves before they can move outward and effectively influence what is happening in their environment and the culture they are building.

I proposed that awareness for leaders was vital and that awareness of one's emotions was where we must start for one very simple reason—because emotions drive our actions. Our emotions drive everything we do. If we are not aware of the ...