The No. 1 Reason Why Leaders Fail

Is the main culprit a mismatched corporate culture, poor interpersonal relationships, or failure to build a team environment? Find out what CEOs and HR pros worldwide are saying.

The No. 1 reason for a leader’s failure is the inability or unwillingness to build a team environment.

That's according to a new global survey conducted by Right Management. While failure to build a team or relationships was singled out by the most (40 percent) survey respondents, No. 2 was a mismatch with the corporate culture, which was cited by 26 percent of those surveyed.

Remarkably, not delivering acceptable results was named by just 11 percent of the survey respondents.

Right Management partnered with research firm Chally Group to survey more than 1,400 CEOs and human resource professionals from more than 700 companies globally to explore leadership effectiveness and development across regions and cultures.

The survey also asked respondents to identify the predictors of leadership success:

Predictor of leadership success (frequency cited by respondents)

• Fit with company values and culture - 68 percent
• Interpersonal skills - 66 percent
• Motivation to lead - 62 percent
• Previous experiences- 57 percent
• Lack of derailers -21 percent
• Educational background - 11 percent
• Other - 4 percent

The survey also drew qualitative input from respondents. What emerged is that leadership success is increasingly dependent on getting along with others in the organization as well as with one’s own team. A leader must be able to connect, build relationships, and be flexible enough to adapt to the corporate culture.

In addition, the findings tend to be consistent across countries where the research was conducted, which suggests that today’s organizations are increasingly similar whether Asian, American, or European.

The costs associated with failure (at worst) or ineffective executive transitions are high, and lack of adequate support for talent during crucial periods can have long-term negative impacts for both leaders and the organization. This data only hints of what's to come. When considering the evolving workforce and the increasing importance of engagement on organizational transformation, high performance and productivity, the leader’s role becomes the organization’s greatest catalyst for success. Leaders need to be supported to fully understand the impact of their efforts and, in some cases, lack thereof.

All the success!

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