3. Importance of Organizational Culture to Crisis Leadership

Organizational culture is one of the most important components for leading an organization. While in some respects organizational culture has become a field of its own, its relationship with leadership and importance to the leader is definitive. Leaders who do not understand organizational culture do so at their own peril. It is generally agreed that it was Peter Drucker who stated, “culture eats strategy for breakfast.” This quote succinctly sums up the point Edgar Schein (2010) made in his book Organizational Culture and drives home that culture is more important than strategy when it comes to leading today’s organizations. Organizational culture is extremely important to crisis leadership as well. A leader should understand the relationship between culture and the organization’s response to crises in order to ensure their organization is the best prepared it can be.