In fact, the acting National Highway Traffic Safety Administration administrator, David Friedman, noted the culture problem. "That GM took so long to report this defect says there was something very wrong with the company's values," Friedman observed.

He said that many GM employees, from engineers to executives, knew about the bad switch years ago. He identified the situation as part of a larger problem where GM's training materials discouraged employees from using words like "defect" or "dangerous" when reporting problems to supervisors.

A good leader asks: "Did our culture cause the undesired behavior?" Individuals must be held accountable for their actions and inactions, but organizational accountability must be examined as well. Certain employees may directly be responsible for failures, but the organizational systems and culture may also be at fault, which warrants examination.

GM's internal investigation, led by a respected former U.S. Attorney, as well as governmental investigations may find parties to blame. Automotive industry analyst Maryann Keller explains that such investigations generally find culpable parties but do not address if "there was a systemic problem within the company and whether people consciously or unconsciously avoided giving superiors bad news."

She said that GM has long been known for hiring people who "individually were the best and brightest," but that the GM system rewarded conformity. "One thing you never did is to give your boss bad news, because if he was sidetracked, you were sidetracked."

Indeed, a leader's job is to address and, when needed, change a division or company's culture. Mary Barra, who became GM's CEO in January, appears to be attempting just that. Barra recognized that the company made mistakes that allowed the defect to go unaddressed for years.

She admitted, "Something went wrong with our process in this instance and terrible things happened." Barra contrasted what she called the former GM culture, which weighed costs against improved safety, with the customer-centric culture that she is advancing. On Bloomberg TV, Keller acknowledged that Barra is pushing a customer-focused, action-oriented culture as evidenced by her swift response in handling the massive recalls.

Company culture changes one behavior at a time and a culture like GM's that has been in place for decades can take a long time to change. But change occurs over time through leadership's clear and consistent strategic communication, by broadcasting significant examples and actions both inside and outside the company.

Barra has clearly communicated the "theme" of putting customers and their safety first. Furthermore, "customer focus" as opposed to cost focus is now a key corporate value. Barra's take-charge, "safety and customer first" focus will take billions from GM's bottom line, but it will move the culture in the direction it needs to go.

Stuart R. Levine is chairman/CEO of Stuart Levine & Associates in Jericho, N.Y. He can be reached at (516) 465-0800 or stuartlevine.com.