Over the past few years, I’ve written extensively about organizational culture and intercultural leadership, exploring how differences in country cultures, values, work-life balance expectations, and communication styles shape the way we lead and collaborate. Today, we’ll be talking about Functional Subcultures.
But culture doesn’t only come from geography, upbringing, or generational identity – it also forms within the walls of the organization itself.
Every company is a mosaic of internal cultures. To name a few:
- Global Corporate Vs. Local Offices: Regional teams usually develop their own customs and best practices in response to the local environment
- Age: Today’s workforce spans four generations (Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z), often giving rise to age-based subcultures
- Work Patterns: In recent years, new subcultures have emerged, including remote workers, digital nomads, hybrid team members, and fixed work hours employees
This blog marks the beginning of a series on functional subcultures, examining how departments such as Sales, Marketing, Finance, IT, HR, and Operations each develop distinct perspectives and ways of working.
We will see how Executive Intercultural Coaching helps leaders to quickly reflect on who they are and who are the people around them are. Similar to what I have talked about in previous blogs, we will see how these different cultures come together.
The Concept of Functional Subcultures
As in Intercultural differences, we can find similar differences in company functional areas and how they mirror country cultural clashes (e.g., Structure Vs. Flexibility, Data Vs. Instinct, Hierarchy Vs. Speed).
Here’s a quick overview of how job functions generate their own subcultures:
- Functional areas have different priorities because priorities help to define culture – for instance, think about the difference between a Legal team and Sales team, or between Customer Service and Logistics
- Each department tends to develop its own methods regarding things like thinking, behaving, and making decisions based on its specific goals, responsibilities, and the type of people it attracts
- Each function has its own language, rhythm, success metrics, as well as its own approach to risk, time, and relationships
- Internal subcultures can collide or complement each other, which can lead to the creation of unseen tension, or untapped potential, or they can generate communication challenges across departments
As I have mentioned in past publications, a key part of intercultural leadership within organizations is recognizing and bridging these differences to enhance collaboration.
Exploring Major Functions And Tools To Align Them
In cross-functional leadership, many believe that alignment comes exclusively from a common goal. It requires understanding how each function thinks, behaves, and prioritizes. Leaders need to manage intercultural management. This series will help you:
- Identify your own functional identity and how it shapes your leadership lens. Cultural self-awareness is important because it promotes understanding, respect, and inclusivity
- Understand the typical clashes between departments (e.g., why Finance resists what Marketing proposes, or why IT slows down Sales’ requests)
- Learn how to bridge differences, lead across functions, and align teams around a shared vision and strategy
Each post will take a deep dive into one functional subculture, starting with Finance and moving through Marketing, Sales, Operations, Technology, and HR. I’ll describe the values and traits that shape each, explore where conflicts arise, and offer strategies for integration and collaboration.
We’ll be discussing this and more in the coming months, so enjoy the series and remember you can always reach out via LinkedIn if you’d like to discuss any of the topics we talk about here.
