Culture Is the Presence — or Absence — of Leadership

When I consulted with Accenture, I was on-site at Chevron HQ in Houston for ~8 months.

Chevron is vertically integrated (upstream/downstream), meaning everything from refineries in sea to gas stations on the corner.

Handling volatile materials can a be dangerous, things literally explode, people can get hurt, OSHA gets involved, workman’s compensation premiums go up, increasing the cost of doing business, and reducing margins, lowering financial projections, and impacting bonuses.

So, a culture of safety is omnipresent, including in the corporate offices.

In 2007–8, the HQ had standing desks, and program that interrupted your computer to prompt employees to stand and do stretching exercises to mitigate repetitive stress injuries.

You could skip a few times, but eventually it would take over your machine, even if you were in the middle of big presentation.

It behooved you to be in compliance.

When I went to work for an insurance company (which underwrote workman’s comp policies!), but didn’t have the same program for their own employees, I realized that “culture” is about the presence -or absence- of leadership.