Leadership isn’t one-size-fits-all. The best leaders know how to read the room, adapt their style, and shape the culture to drive performance. But how do you do that effectively? That’s precisely what we unpack in this thought-provoking Leadership Powered by Common Sense episode with Doug Thorpe.
Drawing from years of global leadership research and hands-on experience behind the book, The Contextual Leader, I introduce the powerful framework for contextual leadership—the ability to align leadership style with the organization’s needs while shaping the culture for future success. Through conversation with the seasoned Executive Coach Doug Thorpe, I share real-world examples of companies that have transformed their leadership approach to stay competitive, build high-performing teams, and navigate change with confidence.
We discussed different perspectives on leadership. Many leaders assume that great leadership is about adopting best practices. But what if those same practices that worked in one organization fail entirely in another? During the interview, I explained why leadership must be tailored to the specific context of the organization—its culture, decision-making structures, and value-creation processes.
One of the most common mistakes leadership teams make when trying to change culture is believing that new values, mission statements, and communication campaigns will shift behaviors. The research behind the book challenges this assumption, showing that true cultural transformation happens when leaders actively model the change, enforce new role expectations, and shape the environment that reinforces the desired behaviors. This insight is critical for executives leading transformation efforts—culture doesn’t change until leadership behaviors change first.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
- Why leadership is contextual—and how to tailor your leadership approach for maximum impact
- The biggest mistake leaders make when trying to change company culture (and how to avoid it)
- How to balance standardization with innovation to drive both efficiency and creativity
- Practical strategies for shaping culture through leadership—not just policies
This conversation is a game-changer if you’re a leader looking to elevate your impact. Don’t just manage — lead with context.
Listen now and start your journey toward contextual leadership – on YouTube here:
or on your usual podcast platform – links here: https://podcasts.dougthorpe.com/
Want to dive deeper? Download the first two chapters of The Contextual Leader—Match and Shape Your Leadership Context for Organizational Performance at www.thecontextualleader.com and start applying these insights today.
If you are a leader and want to read the first two chapters of the book The Contextual Leader, please sign up
When you buy the book, you also get a free trial of The Leadership Context Inventory (LCI) and access to additional free resources. You can see sample reports in the Products section. The free trial will provide the short report version with the diagnoses of your specific leadership context.
The Contextual Leader is a book for senior leaders and middle managers who lead teams, departments, organisations or processes cutting across a matrix. It is based on doctoral research and twenty years of international leadership consulting experience. The book challenges the assumption that leadership is only about person-to-person influence and demonstrates how the organisational context should be actively shaped through leader-led interventions to set the organisation up for success.
