The Leadership in Action Series: On Selecting, Developing, and Managing Talent

The Missing Link: Organizational Culture and Leadership Development

Vidula Bal and Laura Quinn

The role that organizational culture plays in the development of leaders is crucial but often overlooked. One reason for this is that managers in charge of leadership development efforts are so embedded in their own cultures that those cultures are practically invisible to them. But there are ways to get a better picture of your own culture and determine how it might be supporting or hindering the development of leaders.

Nearly everyone has had the experience of feeling like an outsider in a different culture. When people find themselves in a place where what they see and hear is unfamiliar, they often feel awkward and nervous. And if their new surroundings ...