Leadership culture is the foundation of any organization's success. However, many organizations struggle to establish an effective leadership culture, often due to inefficient strategies for selecting and developing leaders.
If you are facing these challenges, you are not alone. We have identified leadership culture issues in the majority of organizations we have worked with. Below, we present the most common symptoms and causes of poor leadership culture.
The patterns described and the recommended actions are based on an analysis of over 80 domestic and international companies. Through organizational diagnostics, we can identify key problems and their symptoms, understand their causes, and take steps to transform leadership culture and achieve better results.
What do results of organizational diagnostics tell us?
Quantifly analysis results often reveal that both employees and management are dissatisfied with the organization's leadership culture. This is most commonly reflected in lower trust in leadership and the company’s vision, leading to reduced employee satisfaction and engagement. In more critical cases, it can result in high turnover, risk avoidance, and the shifting of responsibility (often due to low psychological safety).
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Employees frequently report about:
- Uneven workload distribution (leading to employee overload),
- Unequal treatment by leaders,
- Unclear and contradictory instructions, and
- A general lack of information (which we typically detect in both employee comments and ratings of relevant cultural factors, as well as in sociometric analysis).
In such cases, employees also highlight:
- Unclear role definitions and expectations within the company,
- Pressure from management,
- Low leadership competence,
- Poor workplace relationships, and
- A lack of responsiveness to their issues, suggestions, and needs.
What causes these problems?
Poor leadership culture can arise from a combination of various factors influencing how leaders are selected, trained, and how they perform their leadership duties. Below are some of the most common reasons identified through organizational diagnostics.
1. Promoting experts without leadership skills
“Marko is our best engineer with extensive technical knowledge. Since Jaka is leaving, he’s probably the best choice as his successor.”
- But is he?
"Katja always solves the most complex technical problems. Since she’s so capable, she will surely be great at leading people."
- Will she?
It is common for experts with outstanding technical knowledge to be promoted to leadership positions despite lacking leadership skills. As a result, a skilled professional turns into an ineffective leader, and the organization loses a valuable expert. Their deep involvement in operational tasks, coupled with a lack of energy for team development, relationship-building, or strategic thinking, exacerbates the problem.
2. Ineffective leadership training programs
“Maša has been with us for five years, so she surely knows how to lead a team and what is expected of her. There’s no need for additional training.”
- Does she really?
"Nace attended a leadership seminar, so that should be enough for him to master his new role."
- Is it really enough?
A common mistake is failing to provide proper leadership training. Essential leadership skills include goal setting, conflict resolution, meeting facilitation, team management, and effective communication.
Without effective training, leaders struggle to:
- Properly motivate employees,
- Align goals with the company’s vision,
- Build a positive work culture and relationships, and
- Make strategic decisions.
In the long run, this leads to weaker team development and lower employee satisfaction.
3. Non-meritocratic leadership promotion systems
"Petra has been with us the longest and has great relationships with management, so she’s clearly the right choice to lead the new department."
- Is she really?
"Gregor was promoted because his friend from the board recommended him."
- Is that a justified selection method?
A third issue is the lack of clear criteria for promotions, which often creates a sense of unfairness and dissatisfaction among employees. When promotions are based on personal preferences, visibility, or political interests rather than proven competencies and results, it diminishes team motivation and trust in leadership. Such systems increase the likelihood of unqualified individuals being promoted, negatively impacting both performance and organizational culture.
4. Unclear leadership role definitions
"All Matej has to do as a leader is coordinate schedules and track progress."
- Is that really all?
"Klara is now a leader, which means her job is to keep the team happy and ensure they do their work.”
- Is that all?
A frequently observed issue is unclear leadership role expectations. As a result, leaders act on personal judgment, leading to inconsistent leadership styles. Some focus solely on results, while others prioritize relationships, creating confusion and misalignment within teams. Employees often don’t know what to expect from their leaders, reducing trust and engagement. This also hinders effective communication, task distribution, and goal setting.
How to establish an effective leadership selection and development system?
To build an effective leadership culture, organizations must overcome common mistakes in leader selection and development while ensuring a systematic approach to leadership training. That’s why we have prepared a series of "how-to" blogs outlining key steps for creating a successful leadership system. These blogs provide concrete guidance on defining leadership values, competencies, and behaviors, evaluating leadership skills, and developing current and future leaders through structured programs.
Additionally, we focus on a long-term strategy for identifying leadership potential and establishing a succession planning system, enabling organizations to continuously develop talent and ensure smooth leadership transitions.
Whether you are defining a leadership model, implementing development programs, or establishing a succession system, this blog series offers practical steps and best practices you can immediately apply.
Conclusion
Transforming an organization’s leadership culture requires commitment, introspection, and continuous improvement. Organizational diagnostics help identify key challenges such as insufficient leadership skills, unclear values, and a lack of understanding of employee needs.
By recognizing these challenges and implementing strategic solutions (ranging from enhanced leadership training and clear role expectations to systematic leadership development) organizations can foster a culture that drives engagement, innovation, and long-term success. The key is to start with a willingness to diagnose and address challenges, enabling the establishment of a strong and inclusive leadership culture that supports organizational growth and development.
