Changing a corporate culture that employees value is a major management task. It’s something that leaders have to wrestle with everyday. It’s not a quick process because the existing values and beliefs are deeply ingrained in every one. Here are some things adapted from the work of Edgar Schein, though that can get a leader started down the right path towards shaping the organization’s culture.

1. What does the leader pay attention to? Workers pay attention to what the leader measures and controls on a regular basis. It’s not enough to create a slogan, you have to follow through by inspecting and then taking action that makes a difference on the results. You must lead by example in this area.
2. How do leaders react to crises? When everything is going smooth it’s easy to be the leader. Your values and decisions are not brought into question. But when the chips are down, people look to see what you do and it is in these moments that you have some of your most powerful opportunities for making long-lasting cultural changes.
3. How does the leader allocate scarce resources? This reveals everything about your true priorities and is one of the most important ways of demonstrating commitment to cultural change.
4. Leadership through role modeling, teaching and coaching. One of the most important things a leader can do is leading by example and demonstrating a commitment to learning and growing. The most effective role the leader can play here is as one of teacher, who shows the way and underwrites honest mistakes in the learning process.  
5. How does the leader reward and punish? Does the leader follow-through with a carrot and stick in line with the stated values he is trying to promote? Your workers are looking for evidence of consistency in all areas of the workplace. Here is direct personal evidence that the leader means what he says.
6. How does the leader recruit, select, promote and fire? In these areas of personnel management and human resource management, the leader is able to demonstrate by actions that matter what values he’s trying to promote. Personnel management is one of the most powerful tools for shaping the organizational culture available to the leader. This is far too important to leave simply to the HR department. The leader must become personally involved in this area.

These are some of the most important considerations and areas open to the leader to shape his organizational culture. Effective leaders will develop plans for consistently implementing their vision in all six of these areas.

Ken Long, Chief of Research, Tortoise Capital Management http://www.tortoisecapital.com

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