It's a very fine line between strong corporate cultures that encompass personal identities, and selfish cult-like behavior.
If you look at the leading companies across many industries, one thing that jumps out is that the corporate identity is primary in the employees lives. Generally these companies also prefer molding employees straight out of school. This is true for P&G, Accenture, McKinsey and Goldman Sachs. Look at the leadership - most have been there their entire careers.
I am not saying this is good or bad, but I am saying that it's an attribute of many leading companies.
Full disclosure: I am not a Google employee, nor have I ever been.
If you look at the leading companies across many industries, one thing that jumps out is that the corporate identity is primary in the employees lives. Generally these companies also prefer molding employees straight out of school. This is true for P&G, Accenture, McKinsey and Goldman Sachs. Look at the leadership - most have been there their entire careers.
I am not saying this is good or bad, but I am saying that it's an attribute of many leading companies.
Full disclosure: I am not a Google employee, nor have I ever been.