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Leading Your Crystal

she was operating as a defi ner by the time she and I met. She had a
broad and stable cultural crystal of her own, which she used to create
a platform to help me solve a complex problem. Despite her position
of power and the complexity of the problems she was facing, Emma
stayed true to the discipline of the culture builder. She practiced
overtness about task to defi ne problems and needs, and sought clar-
ity within relationships to solicit support. She paid attention to both
the tasks around her and the relationships required to make progress.
She tended to her crystal, and her crystal supported her work.
Three things Emma did not do when suddenly faced with a new,
complex, and serious problem that plagued her organization are tre-
mendously instructive. First, she did not play the rescuer, staging a
leadership takeover by claiming, “I’m the defi ner, and I’m in charge
here.” She neither promised nor attempted to save the day by taking
command. Second, she did not play the persecutor, pointing at other
people and other groups as “the real problem.” She didn’t use the
power of her position to fi re a cannon of blame at others who were
lower in the hierarchy. Finally, she did not play the victim, claiming
that she could do nothing until technical and organizational prob-
lems outside of her control were solved. She never spoke or acted in
any way to suggest that she couldn’t be instrumental in creating a
solution.
Emma’s three nonactions provide perfect examples of the three
jobs you, as a culture defi ner, simply must not take: the rescuer, the
persecutor, and the victim.
Obviously, these aren’t jobs so much as they are roles. As we’ve
been saying all along, from the perspective of culture building, your
job title really isn’t that important. It’s not as though a director of
sales, a level II customer service agent, an equipment engineer, a CPA,
or anyone else can’t practice overtness and clarity. Your title—any
title—can’t exclude you from defi ning new cultural precedents and
demonstrating them to whomever is nearby.
What can exclude you—and will, instantly—is your choice to take
on one of the three destructive roles mentioned above. Each will dev-
astate your efforts at creating a new culture. Just as anyone at any

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