The Right Leader for the Wrong Culture: Why Context Matters in Executive Assessment
A leader can be highly accomplished, decorated, have a history of success, and yet still be the wrong leader for the job. Organizational context is everything. Even A-level players can fail if their leadership style or values are misaligned with the culture and business needs. This happens more often than you might think. According to Heidricks & Struggles, ingrained cultural patterns can either enable or obstruct a new leader's ability to execute. The right leader can be wrong for the culture if the conditions for success aren’t present. If you are an internal talent leader, an executive search partner, or a human capital operating partner, you must make the best possible match between the leader and the culture. In private equity-backed companies, the board, the ownership group, and the leadership team all play a role in a new executive’s success.
In the past, resumes and references carried more weight in securing new positions. More recently, however, organizations have placed more weight on personality when evaluating senior-level talent. A highly ambitious leader may burn out a staff already pushed to the limit. A highly meticulous executive may not move fast enough for a company that needs to change. If the leader’s style, capabilities, and values don’t match, it can stall growth and impede progress. While people join companies, they tend to leave their supervisors. Choosing the wrong leader can impact retention, turnover, work unit climate, and motivation. Past performance in one environment is completely irrelevant if the new company’s unwritten behavioral rules conflict with the leader's natural style.
Culture is a key transformation factor in organizations, along with leadership and mission. The culture of an organization can influence leadership effectiveness, decision-making, collaboration, and ultimately executive performance. According to Russell Reynolds, culture acts as an invisible operating system. Before choosing the right leader, it’s important to understand what “right” looks like. It’s dangerous to hire with the idea of “I’ll know it when I see it.” The right approach is to understand the organization's culture and the competencies and attributes that will not only fit that culture, but also add value. If a leader does not feel authorized, they cannot lead. If they cannot lead, performance will stall.
Beyond a CEO’s track record, search partners and private equity sponsors should also evaluate the overall context the person will operate in. As the famous Kurt Lewin said, behavior is a function of the person in the environment. Too often, people are evaluated without considering organizational culture, value-creation strategy, leadership demands, and the company’s stage of growth. These extenuating variables can influence a CEO’s fit and investment outcomes. When a person fits well with their environment, engagement increases, and that engagement translates into better performance. Stakeholder expectations, leadership team dynamics, and decision-making norms can also influence whether a new executive succeeds or fails. The first 100 days are critical in that regard.
The same leadership strengths can become liabilities in a different organizational context. Being too decisive can cause a leader to ignore the best answer in the room. Being too cautious could jeopardize an organization’s ability to take appropriate risks in a changing marketplace. Being too strategic and high-level may limit a leader’s ability to get in the trenches and understand what’s happening on the ground. A leader’s tendency to build consensus can be counterproductive when waiting for everyone to agree stalls progress or growth. Understanding personality and what an organization needs at a given time is paramount to success in executive selection. The question isn’t “Is this a good leader?” But rather, “What does this organization need from its leader, and does this person have the capability, motivation, and adaptability to deliver it here?”
When it’s time to determine which leadership capabilities the next stage of growth needs, think holistically. What got you here won’t get you there. Often, you will need a completely different type of leader for the future, but historically, companies tend to want to replace the leader that they already have. Looking at the business strategy, investment thesis, transformation agenda, or succession plan can help you understand where the organization is going next and what the next executive will need. That’s why the first step in any search should be cultural and leadership discovery, followed by creating a custom scorecard or profile for the role. This process also helps decision-makers align on what the role requires before it’s too late. You don’t want to get to the finalist stage and learn that members of the hiring team are looking for different profiles. A sophisticated process that incorporates all stakeholders' perspectives ensures the right capabilities for the role surface before you source the first candidate.
If you are a board, investor, or a search firm that needs to diagnose organizational culture before selecting an executive, check out our free diagnostic. If you need a deeper analysis, get in touch, and we’d be happy to support your team through the process. Together, we’ll uncover the organization’s current culture, cultural challenges, and future leadership needs. Our executive assessments can reveal whether a leader’s strengths, values, and potential risks align with the organization’s context. More importantly, we’ll help you find someone who understands the culture, can operate effectively within it, and has the capacity to change what needs to be changed. A more context-informed approach can improve executive selection, onboarding, leadership effectiveness, and long-term organizational performance. Can your organization afford to make the wrong choice?
Dr. Asha Gipson is the Founder and CEO of Addison Leadership Advisory, where she provides executive assessment and leadership advisory services. She holds a Ph.D. from Columbia University and has spent nearly a decade advising founders, CEOs, and executive teams through periods of growth and change.
