ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE Organizational Culture and Leadership, 3rd Edition

THE LEARNING CULTURE AND THE LEARNING LEADER 407the mental models, the basic principles, or the guiding visions onwhich founders operate, there is little question that they becomemajor elements of the emerging culture of the organization.In a rapidly changing world, the learning leader/founder mustnot only have vision, but also be able both to impose it and to evolveit further as external circumstances change. Inasmuch as the newmembers of an organization arrive with prior organizational andcultural experiences, a common set of assumptions can be forgedonly by clear and consistent messages as the group encounters andsurvives its own crises. The culture creation leader therefore needspersistence and patience, yet as a learner must be flexible and readyto change.As groups and organizations develop, certain key emotionalissues arise, concerning dependence on the leader, peer relationships,and how to work effectively. At each of these stages of group development,leadership is needed to help the group identify the issuesand deal with them. During these stages leaders often have to absorband contain the anxiety that is unleashed when things do not workas they should (Hirschhorn, 1988; Schein, 1983, Frost, 2003). Theleader may not have the answer, but he or she must provide temporarystability and emotional reassurance while the answer is beingworked out. This anxiety-containing function is especially relevantduring periods of learning, when old habits and ways must be givenup before new ones are learned. And if the world is becoming morechangeable, such anxiety may be perpetual, requiring of the learningleader a perpetual supportive role.This anxiety-containing function is especially relevant in entrepreneursand founders of companies. The traumas of growth appearto be so constant and so powerful that unless a strong leader playsthe role of anxiety- and risk-absorber, the group cannot get throughits early stages of growth and fails. It helps to be in an ownershipposition, since everyone then realizes that the founder is in fact takinga greater personal financial risk, but ownership does not automaticallycreate the ability to absorb anxiety. As Frost (2003) hasshown so cogently, all organizations create toxins as part of their