THE IMPORTANCE OF CULTURE - WHAT LEADERS CAN LEARN FROM THE STANFORD PRISON EXPERIMENT (ZIMBARDO 1972)

What do leaders need to know about one of the most famous social psychology studies? That EVERYTHING rises and falls on leadership. Here’s why. The Stanford Prison Experiment (Zimbardo 1972) found that when ordinary people assumed roles of either prisoner or guard, their behaviour changed in line with the expectations and stereotypes of those positions. In 2014, leaders at Wiltshire Police were brave enough to look under the stone of their culture following a heavily target driven regime. They found that good people often did unethical things because of the pressures and expectations placed upon them. When people show up to workplaces, they do so with positive intentions. No one sets out to be unethical. But when leaders create cultures that rewards target delivery over values based leadership, over time you naturally see more behaviours that exist purely to hit those targets, some of which will become unethical and the results will be rewarded. This means, leaders not only ignore the behaviour, they condone it. Culture is so important for humans in the workplace. As social creatures, we have an innate desire to belong. So we look to those around us for clues on how to behave, to not only fit in but also to grow and progress. Great leaders show focus on values based cultures that stand for something, are seeking to make the lives of others better through their product or services and have this delivered by teams who are connected and focused on we rather me. Leaders should reward effort and behaviour, values based leadership, courage and grit rather than simply results. Because if we purely value results without caring HOW they are achieved, your culture will crumble from the inside. And THIS, is the responsibility of leadership. Thrive or crumble through your culture. You, your team and your organisation will rise or fall based on your leadership. Think perverse behaviours “will never happen here”? Being a small force, Wiltshire Police could have thought that too. But they had the courage to look. They found. Then did something about it. Over to you. Much love Ryan 💙 www.alwaysbetterthanyesterday.co.uk - connect with us here to see how we can help with your leadership, mindset, culture and performance.