Do these examples mean that such leaders are universally loved? Not always. The leaders of communal organizations are loved. The leaders of positively networked organizations are more typically liked. 9 They are very good at getting things done—at moving people around or making the right phone calls so that resources are deployed and projects are completed. Unlike communal leaders, they are not always charismatic or visionary. And unlike mercenary leaders, they are not particularly goal-oriented. These leaders operate behind the scenes, and you often have to be very close to them to see them in action. They are the master builders of the social architecture of organizations.
Leaders in the negative form of the networked culture also
know everyone, and often they also have high emotional intelligence, but they use both these assets to more manipulative ends. They typically have a clique around them at the top, and this clique works arduously to undermine other cliques. This leader also knows how to work a room but does so selectively. His purpose is not to soothe and smooth but to advance his own agenda, which may or may not be to the company's benefit. For example, he might be socializing to bolster his own clique, not to make the company run with increased cooperation or to build bridges between groups or individuals. As members of these types of organizations quickly learn, the key to succeeding with a negatively networked leader is to know enough of the right people and information to make it into the in-group. That can be a full-time job in itself. Indeed, in negatively networked organizations lots of time and energy are wasted on matters that have little to do with organizational outcomes, such as who is in the in-group and how to undermine him.
It is one thing to describe and analyze a culture form—it is another to negotiate a networked culture in your own organization. While no two organizations are exactly alike, the following suggestions, based upon our experience, should prove beneficial.
THRIVING IN A NETWORKED ORGANIZATION
You are attracted to a networked form and likely to do well if:
• You are an extrovert energized by relationships.
• You possess good social skills, empathy, and the ability to sense situations (emotional intelligence).
• You are proactive in forging warm relationships.
• You can be tolerant of difference and ambiguity and have low needs for structure or certainty.
• You are able to develop complex pictures of others.
• You can spot politics and act to stop "negative" politics.
• You consider yourself easygoing, affable, and loyal to others.
You will most likely succeed in a networked culture if you:
•Use the informal networks—don't rely on rules, job descriptions, hierarchies.
• Build relationships that last—don't be a loner.
• Make time to talk (not necessarily about the task).
• Keep your door open.
• Take time before coming to conclusions about people.
• Be patient—don't always expect immediate action.
In the final analysis, the networked organization has, like all four cultures, its light and dark sides. In its negative form, the culture can create an insidiously political and manipulative place to work. Competitively speaking, it is like a fighter with one hand tied behind its back. It possesses the skills and behaviors necessary to generate positive organizational outcomes, but they are deviously misdirected. In this environment, good people eventually leave, or they languish, not challenged to do their best work. The market catches up with these companies eventually, and change is forced through, often painfully.
In its positive form, however, the networked organization can become like a family to its members. There is a wonderful ease about working with friends in an environment of caring, sharing, and empathy. But even putting the enjoyment of working in this culture aside, the positively networked culture, with its free flow of information, creativity, flexibility, and loyalty, among other strengths, has enormous competitive power. These quali-
ties may sound like "soft stuff," but as anyone in business can tell you, in this case, the soft stuff is the hard stuff.
Perhaps that is why the networked form is, in fact and for good reason, one of the most sustainable cultures in the world of human organization.
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