Leadership problems are rarely difficult to diagnose because nothing is wrong. They are difficult to diagnose because something visible masks where the real problem resides.
Strong results can conceal low Leadership Capability. Poor leader behavior can conceal an unhealthy Leadership Environment. And difficult external conditions can conceal the fact that leaders are not equipped to navigate them.
In each situation, the organization sees something real but draws the wrong conclusion.
The question is whether one of these situations is unfolding in your organization, and whether you are correctly identifying what needs to change.
Central to all three is Leadership Capability: the level at which leaders are able to think, adapt, relate, decide, develop others, and operate, particularly amid pressure, change, and complexity. In one situation, low Leadership Capability is masked by strong results. In another, an unhealthy environment pulls leaders toward lower-capability behavior. In the third, difficult external conditions reveal a capability gap that leaders may blame on circumstances.
1. What If Strong Results Are Masking Low Leadership Capability?
I see this situation frequently. The organization is hitting its targets, and the leader appears highly effective. Yet the results may depend on excessive pressure, constant urgency, centralized control, or the leader’s continual involvement. Employees burn out, other leaders fail to develop, and the organization becomes less adaptable.
The organization is succeeding, but its leadership is becoming less healthy in the process. Unfortunately, few people feel much incentive to intervene while the results remain strong.
General Electric offers a provocative illustration. Jack Welch produced extraordinary results and was celebrated as one of the greatest executives of his generation. Only later did questions intensify about whether GE’s emphasis on growth and financial performance had contributed to vulnerabilities that surfaced after his departure. A Harvard Business Review retrospective captures the tension between Welch’s performance and the questions surrounding his legacy.
The same dynamic appears in sports. Winning coaches are often allowed to operate in ways that would never be tolerated from losing coaches. Bobby Knight won three national championships at Indiana while troubling behavior was tolerated for years before his dismissal, as documented in this Associated Press retrospective.
Strong results should not exempt leaders from scrutiny, accountability, or development. If this is occurring in your organization, ask how the results are being achieved and whether the leader is building organizational capacity or consuming it.
2. What If Your Leaders Are Responding to an Unhealthy Environment?
In the second situation, results are weak and leaders appear reactive, guarded, territorial, or reluctant to exercise judgment. It is easy to conclude, “We need better leaders.”
But what if the environment is pulling leaders toward these lower-capability behaviors? Leaders may be told to collaborate but rewarded for protecting their own results. They may be encouraged to innovate but punished when an experiment fails. Over time, even capable leaders adapt: they become defensive, avoid risk, and defer decisions upward.
If your organization repeatedly develops or replaces leaders without meaningful improvement, examine the system around them. What do your incentives reward? What happens when someone challenges a senior leader or surfaces a problem? If the environment remains unchanged, newly trained or newly hired leaders will gradually begin operating in the same ways.
(A possible example comes to mind: The Cleveland Browns. At one time, they had arguably the best coach in the NFL’s history, Bill Belichick, as their head coach. But, he wasn’t able to be successful there and got fired. No matter who they select as a head coach, they never seem to find success. My sense is that this is primarily a Leadership Environment issue.)
3. What If External Challenges Are Masking a Leadership Capability Gap?
In the third situation, leaders feel trusted, supported, and empowered, yet the organization struggles to navigate disruption or change. Leaders point to the economy, competitors, technology, customers, or insufficient resources. Those challenges may be real, but they may also reveal that leaders do not possess the Leadership Capability the situation requires.
Blockbuster and Sears had established brands, resources, and experienced leaders, but they could not adapt effectively enough as their industries changed. A positive environment gives leaders the opportunity to operate at a higher level; it does not guarantee that they possess the capability to do so. Leadership Capability matters most precisely when the path forward is unclear.
Diagnosing the Real Leadership Problem
These situations require different responses. Organizations cannot determine the right response by examining performance, leaders, or culture independently. They need a clearer understanding of their Leadership Health.
Leadership Health is the degree to which leadership enables the organization to perform strongly today while building the capacity to thrive through future change, complexity, and uncertainty.
Understanding Leadership Health requires assessing three interconnected factors:
- Results Delivery: Are leaders consistently executing priorities, meeting commitments, and producing important outcomes?
- Leadership Capability: Do leaders possess the sophistication and internal capacity required to elevate themselves, others, their teams, and the organization, especially amid pressure, change, and complexity?
- Leadership Environment: Does the surrounding environment enable leaders to operate at higher levels of Leadership Capability, or pressure them toward more reactive and self-protective behavior?
None tells the complete story on its own. Their relationship reveals the actual condition of an organization’s leadership and where intervention is most needed.
From Diagnosis to the Right Response
I specialize in assessing Leadership Health within organizations. Through this work, I help organizations establish a clear picture of the current health of their leadership, identify the strengths they can build upon and the weaknesses creating risk, and determine where their leadership problems actually reside.
That diagnosis matters. A Leadership Capability problem, a Leadership Environment problem, and a Results Delivery problem require different responses. Without clarity, organizations can easily invest in development, accountability, culture change, or leadership replacement without addressing the real issue.
The goal is not simply to determine whether an organization has a leadership problem. It is to accurately diagnose the problem so the organization can address it at its source and build the leadership capacity required for sustained success.
If you want to assess the Leadership Health in your organization, let’s connect.
