#22 Rethinking hierarchy - how anyone can improve their work culture, with Rainer Höll

Leadership isn’t a position, it's a behaviour. And no matter
where we are in our company's hierarchy, we can all change our
behaviour, and by extension our work culture, says Rainer
Höll. 


Rainer Höll is an Organisational Developer: he’s a soul-searcher,
a philosopher, a visionary, who helps companies ask themselves
the tough questions needed to become better workplaces.


In his particular case, he realised that the organisation that he
was CEO of at the time - Ashoka Germany - would benefit from a
less hierarchical structure, so he took steps to change that. "We
distributed the leadership across all members of the team; that’s
when I switched my title from Managing Director to partner - all
the permanent members of the team became partners,” he explains
in this Podcast. 


Ashoka may be an extreme case of an organisation abandoning its
hierarchies entirely - but there are lessons in this for any
company. It’s about overcoming fears, building trust and
authenticity, and a more open workplace. "There are so many
conversations that don't happen in conventional organisations
because people are afraid of bringing up certain topics,” says
Höll. "You have a default, which is the conventional hierarchy -
but no one really questions it because no one knows if it’s
dangerous to question it. But it’s entirely possible to have a
conscious conversation about - is this the best set-up for us?
It’s not about the intricacies and the details of the
decision-making structure; it’s the cultural foundation of trust
and conversational ability that you need to build.”


That culture of open conversation and trust makes for a more
attractive workplace - and staff who are more open to developing
leadership skills at any level. "There are a lot of competencies
around emotional self-management or having a systemic view of an
organisation - that’s a typical leader skill toolset,” he says.
“If you distribute the decisions-making power among people,
everyone needs to be able to do that.” And everyone benefits.


Speaker: Rainer Höll, Executive Coach and Organisational
Developer


Interviewer: Dr. Ricarda Engelmeier - Founder @MyCollective


Music: sponsored by @Michaelkadelbach


Picture: Rainer Höll / Christian Klant


Graphic & Production: MyCollective


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