Symbols and Corporate Culture: Understanding Symbolic Leadership

This essay delves into the crucial role of symbols within corporate culture, emphasizing their significance for both internal and external stakeholders. It explores how symbols, including material objects, slogans, and even leaders themselves, contribute to a shared understanding of an organization's beliefs and values. The essay further examines the concept of symbolic leadership, highlighting how leaders can inspire and motivate individuals through their actions and serve as role models. Different leadership approaches, such as servant leadership, builder leadership, and coach leadership, are discussed in the context of their symbolic impact on organizational culture. The analysis also addresses the symbolic value of stories, heroes, slogans, and ceremonies in reinforcing corporate culture and driving employee engagement. The essay concludes by recommending the strategic use of symbols and motivational narratives to foster a positive work environment, enhance employee morale, and cultivate a strong organizational identity, suggesting that involving employees in decision-making processes is essential for long-term success and sustainability.

Running head: SYMBOLS AND CORPORATE CULTURE
0
Symbols and Corporate Culture

SYMBOLS AND CORPORATE CULTURE 1
Symbols are a mark or character used as a representation of an object, or a process or
a function. Symbols are materialistic in nature and they represent a material object to
determine something abstract. These physical items communicate an insight about the
corporation’s belief and approach. Symbols can be textual, colourful or graphical in nature or
arrangements of a particular asset like furniture, its colour and placement. All these symbols
are used by previous leaders of the organisation and enable to create a sense of connection
that has a direct relationship with what happens in the workplace. Often we find the symbols
at the main door of an organisation or at the reception and sometimes in the main office or
conference room of the organisation. These symbols give a sense of oneness to the employees
who are working in the organisation and also provide an identity to the organisation which is
unique from the other similar corporations (Antonakis & Day, 2017).
Having discussed in brief about the symbols and its presence in the organisation there
are certain important factors which describes the significance of the symbols in the corporate
culture. These symbols are essential for both the insiders and outsiders. It helps in
understanding what it actually means to the group. Further, there are certain corporations
which use slogans along with the symbols. Slogans are also a vital part in enhancing the
market. It is the sole reason as to why the organisations are tinkering with the symbols and
slogans. The new concept of having large space and brand value equals to a position in the
market. At times it also happens as the leaders themselves become a symbolic aspect for
others and acts as a guiding factor. Henceforth, symbols became an important aspect of any
corporation (Waters, 2017).
Regardless of the culture of the company, the values shared, the functioning and the
relationships, symbolic view can explain a culture of corporate world in a better manner.
Under the leadership theory the communication is considered as a primal step to define the
Symbols are used to bring a radical change in the organisation and to break down the original

SYMBOLS AND CORPORATE CULTURE 2
rationale. The symbols often give a sense of achievement. Symbols are extremely powerful
and enable people to perform tasks and give meaning to their actions (Gerrad, 2018). For
example in the U.S. military young people are willing to put their lives on risk for little lumps
of metal and ribbon. At times it becomes difficult to understand things and concepts verbally
and symbols play a pivotal role in exchange of ideas among co-employees. Symbols are also
creation of human therefore to understand the meaning and concept of the symbols it shall be
shared socially. The eye catchy symbols, slogans or stories drive a sense of accomplishments
among the people associated with that organisation in one way or other (Mohnot & Shaw,
2017).
After understanding the brief about the symbols and slogans how a leader implements
these in the organisation it is necessary to grasp the meaning of the leadership through culture
web. Leadership is the web of beliefs, patterns and practices that self-reinforces the behaviour
of the individual in the organisation (Gagliardi, 2017). It depicts the way of how the people
interact in an organisation, make decisions and attract others. There are different types of
leadership and here the analysis of symbolic leadership is done in detail. In symbolic
leadership sometimes an individual may act as a figure or an idol because of whom the
conscious of a person believes that he/she can change for his own betterment (Bolman &
Deal, 2017). The individual gets a direction and motivation to set his own goals and
spearhead it. For example, in prison Nelson Mandela was known to be a great example of a
leader of symbolic nature. His actions were not in abundance but his power and influence
lead him start a mass movement. From there onwards the leadership skills were highlighted
Like Mahatma Gandhi who became a role model for other while India was fighting for the
freedom. This legendary human acted as a leader and a guide in making India free from
British army (Linder, 2017).

SYMBOLS AND CORPORATE CULTURE 3
Traditional leadership follows the archetypes that often count upon the ideas of
strength and hierarchy. This type of leadership draws an idea of collaboration and
cooperation which talk about speaking less about the individual goals and working on
common goals cumulatively. These methods set as an example and symbols for other
organisations in the industry. There are certain types of symbols under leadership theory
which can be described as follows. Firstly it becomes impossible and paradoxical to lead the
organisation by serving. The symbol of a leader as a servant is of robust transformation in
which leader is not in the front seat but rather takes a back seat (Klapp, 2017). This kind of
leadership focuses on empowering the employees rather than working on a pre-determined
plan. The leader himself may get things done smoothly but this would not allow the
employees to test themselves. To give them a steering of responsibilities and improve the
decision making ability, encourages innovation, boosts the morale and develop the skills with
creativity these approach is necessary and mandatory (Crane, 2017). This instils confidence
among the employees and the environment of autonomous working leads to success and
make a pathway for on-going learning.
Secondly the next approach could be that of the builder leader. Under this strategy of
leadership few of the leaders form a cluster and set themselves up in predetermined systems
and run them accordingly. These builders bring humility in organisation and in their
processes. These leaders mould themselves in such a way that they are ready to face all the
nuts and bolts of the problems. They set themselves up as an institution that solves all the
problems through sorting the different alternatives. Further, they bring out the best solution
by improving the structure of the foundation. Thirdly the approach of being in the shoes of
the sportsman or a coach to run the organisation builds the skills of the workers in terms of an
individual as well as a team member (Briggs & Janakiraman, 2017). The coach tries to bring
out the best among each member of the team. The responsibility of the coach is to analyse the

SYMBOLS AND CORPORATE CULTURE 4
individual skills and strengths and weaknesses. Thoughtful coaching is used to decipher the
individual qualities and traits in appropriate situations, where challenges are imposed to
expand the level of comfort of each individual and build new capacities and capabilities.
These activities give a platform to the employees to work in the new areas and departments of
the company. The employees gain training on how to perform in difficult situations (Helms
Mills & Mills, 2017).
Leadership is a creative source and it is a medium that nourishes the staff member’s
personality and talents to devise greater skills rather than sum of its parts. Here, leader acts as
an artist where it keeps a vision and mission. This kind of perspective is not easy to
understand at first especially for the workers but becomes easy as and when the leader
communicates the same information over the time through collaboration of both the leaders
as well as employees. Just like an artist makes a landscape and draws a connection between
different sections of the painting and yet is successful in presenting and aligning the thoughts
in a unique way, a leader of an organisation can align his vision and policies of how to handle
a team, how to direct and motivate them, how to make sure that they work with full
confidence and enthusiasm. A leader can be considered as a leader only when he can fulfil his
position with utmost trust and responsibility (Crane, 2017).
Organisation culture can be managed by focusing the attention of the employees
towards the heroes, slogans and stories of the past. But here the question arises as to do
stories, heroes, slogans and ceremonies have symbolic value? Leaders try to reinforce the
culture through the use of all these symbols and ceremonies (Buck, 2018). Herb Kelleher is
often considered as a greatest example in the category of a symbolic leader. These leaders can
change and merge the culture of the organisation. This new culture generates excitement
among the employees which gives them a sense of confidence and ultimately the productivity
will increase. The leaders must continuously give the public statements and speeches

SYMBOLS AND CORPORATE CULTURE 5
regarding the slogans and symbols and ceremonies to reinforce the implementation (Hatch,
2018). For example the culture of the amazon company is involved in a seriously friendly
environment. It is obsessed with the range of customers and self-improvement in terms of
social media and websites. Amazon strives to maintain a merged culture that allows the
talented people to generate innovative solutions in the critical situation and on the soot
challenges. Amazon also celebrates its success at times through seminars and ceremonies
including trips and picnics. Jeff Bezos is the hero who narrated the story of this company.
Therefore, it can be concluded that symbols and ceremonies are those attributes which
illustrates the corporate culture of the organisation which include stories from the other
organisations and the existing company takes a lesson of improvement of the weaker areas
(Hatch, 2017). For the organisation to be effective corporation culture shall be aligned with
the strategies and needs that bets fit the resources of the organisation.
After analysing the concept of the symbols and stories and ceremonies and their
relevant individual importance this research shows that there are always different methods to
deal with in an organisation. It always depends upon the work culture of the organisation. It is
recommended to follow this approach as it creates a sense of willingness to work after
hearing the stories of personalities who went thought the same path and achieved the success.
The employees feel motivated and it gives immense pleasure that they are being considered
as a part of the organisation. It is also recommended to decorate the walls with motivational
slogans, to infuse colours on the wall to bring positive vibes in the environment of the
corporate culture. The implementation of this type of leadership and strategies can stand out
differently from the rest of the organisation and create s abase or pillar for future success
(Gordon, 2017). To be able to sustain for a longer period of time it is also suggested to
involve the employees in the decision making process. At times it can happen that the
employees are having key knowledge in the filed as they are working on the project

SYMBOLS AND CORPORATE CULTURE 6
continuously. Their ideas can be retrieved and can be applied as and when required. This also
helps in developing the individual personality of the employees develops the organisational
culture overall and helps in solving the tacit complexities through new and various other
methods easily (Hambrick & Lovelace, 2018). A good leader is one who listens to every
worker and based on that takes a cumulative decision rather than supporting personal
biasness. It is the responsibility of the leader at times to act as a follower.
Therefore it can be concluded from the above discussion that the symbols, slogans
and motivational stories can often influence the way one organisation behaves and functions.
The symbols do play a role in reforming the structure of the organisation. The dedication is
implanted among the employees by hearing the stories of qualitative personalities. The
slogans give a surprise as well as motivation when the saturation point of an individual is hit
on. It is the easiest way to analyse “how we do things near us”. Henceforth, after achieving
the success the ceremonies held gives a sense of accomplishment and confidence to try
themselves into new challenging situations.

SYMBOLS AND CORPORATE CULTURE 7
Bibliography
Antonakis, J., & Day, D. V. (Eds.). (2017). The nature of leadership. New York: Sage
publications.
Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2017). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and
leadership. United States: John Wiley & Sons.
Briggs, E., & Janakiraman, N. (2017). Slogan recall effects on marketplace behaviors: The
roles of external search and brand assessment. Journal of Business Research, 80(2),
98-105.
Buck, A. (2018). The Corporate Networks and Symbolic Capital of British Business
Leaders. Journal of Sociological Perspectives, 7(2), 54-68.
Crane, A. (2017). Rhetoric and reality in the greening of organisational culture. In Greening
the Boardroom (pp. 129-144). California: Routledge.
Gagliardi, P. (2017). Symbols and artifacts: Views of the corporate landscape. California:
Routledge.
Gerrad, C.M. (2018). The Oxford Handbook of Later Medieval Archaeology in Britain,
London: Oxford University Press.
Gordon, G. (2017). Guiding Organizational Culture. In Leadership through Trust, Boston:
Palgrave Macmillan.
Hambrick, D. C., & Lovelace, J. B. (2018). The Role of Executive Symbolism in Advancing
New Strategic Themes in Organizations: A Social Influence Perspective. Academy of
Management Review, 43(1), 110-131.

SYMBOLS AND CORPORATE CULTURE 8
Hatch, M. J. (2017). The symbolics of office design: an empirical exploration. In Symbols
and artifacts, 4(2), 129-146.
Hatch, M. J. (2018). Organization theory: Modern, symbolic, and postmodern perspectives.
London: Oxford university press.
Helms Mills, J. C., & Mills, A. J. (2017). Rules, Sensemaking, Formative Contexts, and
Discourse in the Gendering of Organizational Culture. In Insights and Research on
the Study of Gender and Intersectionality in International Airline Cultures 12(3) pp.
49-69.
Klapp, O. E. (2017). Symbolic leaders: Public dramas and public men. California: Routledge.
Linder, C. (2017). Symbolic Leadership in a Transnational Context: An Investigation on
Leaders’ Adjustment and Acceptance. In The Palgrave Handbook of Leadership in
Transforming Asia (pp. 317-331). Palgrave Macmillan, London.
Mohnot, H., & Shaw, T. (2017). The study of academic leadership preparedness and
leadership style in higher education. International Journal of Education and
Management Studies, 7(3), 408-416.
Waters, A. M. (2017). Race, class, and political symbols: Rastafari and reggae in Jamaican
politics. California: Routledge.