Health care leaders who are oriented toward the virtual culture are likely to conceive of the development of those working for them as a matter of “just-in-time” linking of learning needs to technological resources that enable access to a global market and learning network. Mobile devices are the new classroom. A virtually oriented leader will be actively engaged in setting up their own network of leaders from other health care organizations who share a similar perspective regarding technology and global sharing of information.
The health care leader who operates out of this particular frame of reference is involved in a balancing act with regard to the creation of meaning and reduction or elimination of organizational anxiety. On the one hand, the leader is often in the business of challenging those reporting to them with new information regarding the postmodern world or with new points of access into a dynamic network of relationships—these challenging inquiries can shake up existing patterns of meaning and can certainly increase anxiety.
On the other hand, the virtual leader is trying to be supportive of their colleagues, providing them with some sense of coherence in a world that is filled with VUCA-Plus. (Bergquist and Mura, 2005) A global network that can introduce new anxiety-producing perspectives and practices can also be the source of support and reassurance: “this challenge has been faced elsewhere and has been met successfully!”). The organizational cocktail is shaken up, but then stirred (to borrow from James Bond movies). The shaking up produces chaotic change, while the stirring produces cyclical change (“this is just another of the interesting challenges we will be facing and overcoming. . . “).
The virtual leader faces a difficult task in helping others (as well as herself) make sense of this world. It is not only a matter of digesting a large amount of information and managing anxiety> It is also a matter of thinking and acting at a very high level. Kegan (1994) suggests that we, of the postmodern era, are “in over our heads” (certainly a challenge to existing patterns of meaning and a source of profound anxiety). It would seem that these virtual, postmodern leaders are particularly needed to help others in their organization address these major 21st Century challenges.
The Tangible Culture: While this sixth culture has always been present in the health care system, it has become more salient (and even strident) with the emergence of the virtual culture. Those in health care systems who are aligned with the tangible culture conceive of their most important role as a leader in their system as the identification and appreciation of their organization’s roots. They are in the business of building community that is grounded in traditions and symbolic representation of critical values.
This organizational perspective resides at the opposite end of the continuum from the virtual culture. Labeled “stability” by Rosinski (2003, p. 54), it is a perspective that “values a static and orderly environment, encourages efficiency through systematic and disciplined work, and minimizes change and ambiguity which is perceived as disruptive”. Those aligned with this culture tend to value the predictability of a value-based, face-to-face process of interacting with other members of their organization—as well as interacting with those seeking health care assistance. Their anxiety is reduced through the establishment and maintenance of these value-based interactions, as well as preservation of traditions and history (often distorted) in the organization.
