Leadership as a Values-Driven System

Abstract

Leadership is fundamentally a social process. The tendency to view leadership from the unique and private worlds of a leader’s individualized experience is a hindrance to developing effective processes and healthy culture. Leaders in organizations must adapt in response to the changing internal and external ecology in which the organization is nested. The Leadership Systems Model (LSM) offers a paradigm encouraging leaders to embrace a systems perspective. The model utilizes a value-driven human centric approach that focuses on changing elements of organizational structures and processes to align outcomes with organizational values to meet intent. The model recognizes the complexity of organizations, and the multiple roles people play as leaders, followers, and teammates. With this approach, we suggest that leaders can enhance organizational performance and develop a healthy culture by applying their power to systems design, increasing engagement, and continuous improvement.