I recently came across several posts that compared ten behaviors of leaders who deliver to leaders who destroy (Walker, ND; Sym-Smith, 2023; Wright, 2024). I loved the concept and thought about ways to incorporate the principles into my programs. This got me thinking about the nature versus nurture debate and organizational systems. I believe that most people are not born bad, but as humans, we all pick up bad behaviors in our developmental journey. Most behaviors we see in leaders are learned, and organizational culture plays a large role in teaching these behaviors.
As a society, we spend billions on leadership training programs focused on individuals, yet we still find ourselves suffering from poor leadership experiences. The problem may never be solved; it certainly won’t be solved by training alone. It is too complex. The Leader who delivers principles are invaluable tools to support an individual leader’s self-reflection process. That is very healthy, we should all practice these.
The reality, in my experience, and supported by the research (e.g., Senge, 1985; Kellerman, 2016) is that this is a system issue, and complex system problems are neither linear nor singular. A single person is not at fault, and a single person cannot change the system. We have all heard the infamous saying, culture eats strategy. In my work, I see that truth regularly. Those of us in helping roles can help organizations look beyond just the individual and step up onto the proverbial balcony to look at how the system influences the behaviors of the people in the role.