The Leadership Coach's Blog
This leadership coach's blog comes as former News Of The World chief reporter Neville Thurlbeck, lifts the lid on some of the practises at the News International owned tabloid.
Corporate Leadership : News International - Core Values!
It's former News Of The World chief reporter Neville Thurlbeck on his web-blog. He is discussing the current Lord Justice Leveson inquiry into ethics in the newspaper industry.
And he is lifting the lid on management practises at the Sunday tabloid. One story stands out amongst the many. Thurlbeck tells of when he was asked to attend a Management Seminar arranged by HR called 'How To Sack Your Staff And Not Give Them A Pay Out'.
So HR have called a meeting on a Monday morning sometime, to discuss future management training and development programmes. And they have decided that this seminar title is nicely aligned with the companies core agreed-to values!
Which would appear to be 'Arrogance'; 'Unfairness'; 'Bullying'. A top-down leadership dominance that says 'it's our way or the highway'. It's little wonder that practises such as phone hacking were considered normal and acceptable.
But all of these behaviours have a root. To discover the core values of an organisation you generally have to look no further than the owner and chairman. They set the moral tone and determine company culture. The business becomes an extension of their own personality and beliefs.
The Murdoch's are News International. The Management Teams are their representatives on the ground floor. They act on the Murdoch's behalf.
When it is brought to the Murdoch's attention, they claim to know little of what went on at News International. But they must have had some sense of the company culture. And agreed with it. As it served the greater need to maximise shareholder value. Profits! Yes!
It's an ageing model of leadership that will have little mileage in the future. For people development; talent liberation; creating a buzz and culture that offers a deeper sense of belonging; creativity and imagination; warmth; fairness are the qualites that will become the norm in the times we move into.
For they are the qualities that makes a human feel human. And bring out the best in people. Not the command and control style that negates trust and decency, so prevalent at News International.
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