Case Study: American Red Cross

Friday, March 9, 2007

Any of you remember in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks hearing about the head of the American Red Cross resigning? Given all that was going on during the fall of 2001, I know it slipped under my radar. That is, until I read a feature article by Deborah Sontag in the New York Times Magazine in its December 23, 2001 issue. The title: “Who Brought Bernadine Healy Down?” And let me tell you, I found it to be a captivating tale of “culture clash.” But the battle wasn’t between two cultures; it was between a leader and her organization’s culture. And guess who won?

You can go to the New York Times archives and purchase a copy of the article for $4.95. I highly recommend the article as a vivid case study of what can happen when a leader with a particular style and agenda goes up against an organizational culture with a very different approach and values. I often ask my coaching clients to read this, not necessarily because they share similar characteristics with Dr. Healy but because the article describes very clearly how and why a leader can end up digging their own hole.

I think you will find this story that much more compelling if you read it through the lens of behavioral styles. There are numerous models of human behavior/personality and their complementary instruments that have been around for a while, such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, the Predictive Index, the Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument, Wilson Social Styles, and the DiSC Personal Profile. Though I work with a number of these instruments in my practice, I find the Wilson/DiSC models to be more useful.

Here’s a quick overview of the four quadrant model of human behavior that are reflected in the Wilson Social Styles and DiSC Profile (I’ve mixed and matched the style titles to use what I consider to be the better descriptors):

Driver: characterized by a strong desire to move things forward. A person who has a strong preference for this style can come across as a steamroller if he or she is unaware of the impact their behavior has on others.

Influence: characterized by enthusiasm and a strong desire to work in a positive, energetic environment. A person who has a strong preference for this style often finds that others don’t take him or her seriously because they don’t convey to others a certain gravitas.

Steadiness: characterized by a strong desire to maintain a steady, predictable, conflict-free environment. People who have a strong preference for this style often avoid anything resembling conflict as well as changes that disrupt their familiar patterns.

Analytical: characterized by a strong desire for high standards, quality, and logical processes. A person who has a strong preference for this style can come across as demanding because he or she has very high professional standards for themselves and co-workers.

Keep in mind that the Driver-Steadiness and the Influence-Analytical combinations have significant differences between them and therefore have the greatest potential for misunderstanding and conflict. So now let’s look at this case study through the lens of behavioral styles.

I think we can make an educated guess that Dr. Healy’s preferred style is probably a combination of Driver and Analytical. Here are some excerpts from the article that point in that direction:

Healy, baldy showcasing her impatience toward Red Cross sanctities about tradition, had long displayed a saying attributed to Clara Barton above the mantle: “It irritates me to be told how things have always been done…I defy the tyranny of precedent.”

A blunt-talking New Yorker born and bred in working-class Queens, she was not known as a diplomat. Rather, she was known as a driven professional who ruffled feathers but made things happen.

Given the following descriptions of the Red Cross culture, I think it’s safe to say that its organizational culture reflects a Steadiness orientation:

The remaining 30 governors, who are selected by local Red Cross chapters through a competitive nomination process, really control the organization. They tend to be lifelong Red Crossers who have worked their way up from local to national prominence within the organization; they also tend to be protective of traditions – and of veteran employees with whom they have longstanding relationships.

In a confidential memo to the board in late October, Healy bitterly described how the organization’s internecine dynamic was summed up for her by another executive when she arrived in September 1999: “Red Crossers will give you the shirt off their back, but will as easily put a knife in your back.”

Can you see the battle being set up? Driver vs. Steadiness. It doesn’t get any better than this. Let’s stop here so you have a chance to read the article and let me know what you think. But I’ll come back to this story. There’s even more to this ultimate culture clash.