Leaders shape how a company operates
Leadership is often treated as something separate from how a company operates, but leadership influences what gets prioritised, what gets questioned, what gets tolerated, what gets repeated and, ultimately, what becomes normal within a company.
I've seen how people can experience the same company very differently depending on how leadership behaves.
What leaders intend to create isn't always what people experience. The difference is often found in everyday things;
How decisions are made.
How clearly expectations are communicated.
Whether people know who is accountable.
Whether leaders follow through.
Whether problems are genuinely addressed or simply worked around.
Whether the behaviours leaders say they value are actually reinforced.
These things might not appear on a strategy document, but they have a significant influence on how a company operates, and that is why I don't see leadership as separate within RISSE®.
Leadership is what brings everything to life.
Within RISSE®, leadership needs to adapt depending on what the business is trying to achieve.
During REVEAL, leadership needs to be curious enough to understand before making judgements. That means listening to what is actually happening, challenging assumptions and asking better questions rather than looking for someone or something to blame.
During INSIGHT, leadership needs to be reflective. The evidence might challenge what leaders thought they knew about the business. Good leadership means being willing to question assumptions and understand what the information is actually saying.
During SYSTEMISE, leadership becomes intentional. This is where decisions are made about how the company should operate. What should change? What should stay? What needs to be simplified? Where should accountability sit? How should people, processes, systems and technology work together?
During SHOW UP, leadership needs to be consistent. A new way of working doesn't become embedded because it was discussed once, instead leaders need to reinforce the behaviours and standards they expect and, importantly, model them themselves.
And during EXECUTE, leadership needs to be disciplined. Progress requires accountability, follow-through, measurement and a willingness to keep improving rather than moving on to the next initiative.
The leadership focus changes, but the responsibility doesn't. Leadership creates the conditions.
Better systems create better conditions.
Better conditions enable better behaviour.
Better behaviour creates better results.
This is also where Hidden Friction™ becomes important. Sometimes what looks like a people problem is actually a leadership problem and what looks like a performance problem is being created by the environment people are working within. Sometimes a lack of accountability isn't because people don't care, it might be because ownership hasn't been clearly communicated.
The answer isn't always to ask people to work harder, communicate better or take more responsibility, sometimes leadership needs to look at the conditions it has created.
One of the questions I come back to is; What does the company currently believe, reward, tolerate or repeat that might be contributing to the outcomes?
That question can be uncomfortable but it can also reveal more than the visible problem itself, because leadership isn't simply about setting the direction for the company, it’s about creating the conditions that allow people and systems to operate effectively, consistently and with clarity.
And that is why I believe that RISSE® doesn’t change companies, leaders do. RISSE® provides the operating system that enables leaders to do so intentionally.
