Can You Lead Successfully in Every Setting?

By Rose O. Sherman, EdD, RN, FAAN

I recently spoke with a professional colleague who had worked for many years in one organization and then moved to a completely different health system to take a promotion. At the time that we spoke, she had been in her new role for almost a year yet found herself struggling. She had been very successful in her previous job but it was in an organization with a much different culture than her current employer. She berated herself for not doing enough due diligence prior to taking the new role. She told me she had made the assumption that her leadership skills and success in one setting were transferable to another. She raised the interesting question as to whether you can lead successfully in every setting.

My friend is not alone in failing to think through how environment can contribute to role success. Tony Mayo a leadership expert has observed that “there is far too much focus on individual characteristics of leadership and far too little focus on the situational context.” He suggests that we can easily fall prey to believing that any individual who is successful in one setting will naturally be successful in a new setting. Some individuals do have incredible adaptive capacity or the ability to change one’s style and approach to fit the culture, context, or condition of an organization. But not every leader is able to do this in every situation.

The Role of Organizational Culture in Leadership Success

There are many aspects of how organizations function that are driven by their culture. Getting a clear read on an organization’s culture is often not easy when leaders interview for new positions but understanding the values is important. Peter Drucker, the father of modern organizational management has suggested that organizational values should be the ultimate litmus test on whether a job is the right one for you or not. Does the organization’s culture, mission and strategic direction align with what you believe about your work? Leaders who have primarily worked in non-profit environments and then seek roles in for-profit environments sometimes become conflicted about the focus on budget and stock shareholder value. My colleague had enjoyed leading in an academic medical center where there was a strong learning culture. She did not find this culture in her community hospital and there was little interest in creating a learning culture.

Context-Centered Leadership

Figuring out where you really belong in the world, and what type of work you are meant to do as a leader can be a challenge. Understanding the organizational culture, the context of your environment and the impact that other team members have on your performance is important. Working with a great team can provide a strong sense of belonging and enable you to do good work as leader. Context-centered leadership is even more complex in today’s changing health-care environment. Povah and Sobczak, two experts in this area, suggest that not only the internal environment but the external environment can play a big role in leadership success. Today’s nursing leaders need to have more of a strategic focus and be willing to reconsider “sacred cows”. This requires learning agility and a willingness to be ready to change. The right leader five years ago might not be the right type of leader for today’s environment.

Job fit in the work place matters. You will feel well-placed as a leader and gratified when the demands of the job fit with your best talents. Acknowledging when a leadership role or work setting is not the right one for you takes courage and insight.

Read to Lead

Drucker, P.F. (January 1999). Managing oneself. The Harvard Business Review.

Kamensky, J. (March 27, 2013). What the best leaders know: Context Matters

Povah, L. & Sobczak, L. (2010). Context Based Leadership. Whitepaper on A Context-Oriented Approach to Leader Selection: A Strategy for Uncertain Times.