Mitch:
“You mentioned the tension that tends to exist in an organization like the one I am leading. How is this tension manifest in an organization like mine?”
Dr. Jung:
“The tension usually shows up as collective anxiety or what we shrinks call the Angst in an organization. People are short with one another; conflicts tend to erupt; polarities appear; there frequently is a high level of absenteeism, and a low level of overall morale. And ironically, when anxiety pervades an organization, its culture becomes even more powerful. Members of the organization look for some reason why they are anxious and the distorted images and explanations provided by the culture help to contain or buffer the anxiety.”
Mitch:
“There certainly is a lot of tension and anxiety in my organization . . . Could my strained relationship with Frank be determined in part by the anxiety that I know occurs in my newspaper enterprise?”
Dr. Jung:
“Yes, the tension and anxiety in our organization could exacerbate the tension in your relationship with Frank. You are also likely to find a level of antipathy between those outside the newsroom to those inside the newsroom who are reporting the news. Those working the press or selling the ads have their own political biases and want these biases to be present in the newspapers they are producing or marketing. ESTP is being challenged from all sides, and you as the leader must deal with this challenge on an ongoing basis. Furthermore, as a leader who often most interpret and buffer the anxiety alongside the culture.”
Mitch:
“So, we are back to me and my struggles as a leader of Western Times Press.”
Dr. Jung agreed that the focus is again on Mitch. He suggested that they take a short break before returning to Mitch’s role as a challenged leader.
Organizational Climate and Leadership
When Mitch and Dr. Jung came back together, after Mitch (and Dr. Jung) consumed some of the Swiss coffee, Dr. Jung offered an important distinction:
“We have been looking at the culture of your organization. As I mentioned, this is equivalent to the personality or character of an individual. The culture of an organization is not easily changed, much as personality remains immune to change. It often takes a lobotomy or very heavy drug to change personality. Similarly, it takes a massive intrusion in the life of an organization to change its culture. This intrusion might be the sale of the organization to a quite different owner or abandonment of the organization’s primary product or service.”
Mitch interrupts:
“I am committed to remaining the owner of Western Times Press and to the delivery of news. I guess this means that our culture is unlikely to change. However, there could be some major changes and the potential of cultural change when I retire or die. This is a matter of succession planning, which is something I am not ready to discuss while here in Zurich.”
