Leading outside the lines: How to Mobilize the (in)Formal Organization, Energize Your Team, and Get Better Results

THE ORGANIZATIONAL QUOTIENT

The Spanish bank Caja Navarra—known as CAN—has pioneered a new business model called “civic banking” that weds profit with social responsibility. The informal played an important role in enabling the company’s CEO to transform what had been a typical, hierarchical Spanish community bank. For example, CAN hires people who do not have typical banking experience and places as much emphasis on their ability to work with customers as on their technical banking skills. The bank encourages employees to define their roles more broadly than as the collection of the tasks required in their formal positions. The focus on customers and civic service leads to the creation of informal networks both within the company and with ...