{"id":48760,"date":"2025-07-01T14:07:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-01T18:07:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ccl.org\/?post_type=articles&#038;p=48760"},"modified":"2025-11-13T06:31:15","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T11:31:15","slug":"whats-your-leadership-culture","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/www.ccl.org\/articles\/leading-effectively-articles\/whats-your-leadership-culture\/","title":{"rendered":"Can You Identify Your Organization\u2019s Leadership Culture?"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>table.dac{width:100%; border-collapse: collapse; margin:2em 0;}table.dac, table.dac td, table.dac th{border:1px solid #C3C6CF;}table.dac th{text-align:center; padding:10px;}table.dac tr.bg1 td, table.dac tr.bg1 th{background-color:#deeffa; text-align:left; padding:10px;}table.dac tr.bg2 td, table.dac tr.bg2 th{background-color:#bae3dd; text-align:left; padding:10px;}<\/style>\n<p>When leaders execute their organization\u2019s business strategies, they can\u2019t forget their organization\u2019s culture \u2014 the self-reinforcing web of <strong>beliefs, practices, patterns, and behaviors<\/strong> \u2014 because, as has often been said, culture trumps strategy every time.<\/p>\n<p>Your organization\u2019s culture is the way things are done; it\u2019s the way people interact, make decisions, and influence others. Leaders\u2019 own conscious and unconscious beliefs drive decisions and behaviors, and repeated behaviors become leadership practices. Because these practices eventually become the patterns of your organization\u2019s leadership culture, leaders must understand their responsibility in creating \u2014 or changing it.<\/p>\n<p>And the type of organizational culture you have, combined with how your organization approaches and understands the <a href=\"\/articles\/leading-effectively-articles\/what-is-leadership-a-definition\/\">definition of leadership<\/a> itself, together dictate how successful your business strategies will be.<\/p>\n<div class=\"callOut\"><a href=\"\/guides\/perpetual-crisis-leadership-in-disruption\/\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"floatRight\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/leadership-in-disruption-perpetual-crisis-cover-center-for-creative-leadership-ccl.jpg\" alt=\"Our guide to leadership in disruption\" width=\"403\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nIn the face of perpetual crisis, leaders must adapt, not just react. Explore our guide to <a href=\"\/guides\/perpetual-crisis-leadership-in-disruption\/\">Leadership in Disruption<\/a> to learn how leading with culture, vision, and collective agility helps organizations thrive through complexity.<\/p>\n<div class=\"buttonPosition\"><a class=\"buttons button1\" href=\"\/guides\/perpetual-crisis-leadership-in-disruption\/\" aria-label=\"Download our Leadership in Disruption guide.\" data-element-cta=\"Learn More\">Get the Guide<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2>3 Types of Organizational Leadership Cultures<\/h2>\n<h3>Dependent, Independent, and Interdependent<\/h3>\n<p>In our <a href=\"https:\/\/cclinnovation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/tyo.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">research<\/a>, we describe organizational leadership cultures in a hierarchy of 3 types:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Dependent<\/strong> leadership cultures operate with the belief that <em><strong>people in authority are responsible for leadership<\/strong>.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><strong>Independent<\/strong> leadership cultures operate with the belief that<em> <strong>leadership emerges out of individual expertise and heroic action<\/strong>.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><strong>Interdependent<\/strong> leadership cultures operate with the belief that <strong><em>leadership is a collective activity<\/em><\/strong> to the benefit of the organization as a whole.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/types-of-organizational-cultures-infographic-center-for-creative-leadership.png\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"dropShadow\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/types-of-organizational-cultures-infographic-center-for-creative-leadership.png\" alt=\"Infographic: Can You Identify Your Organization\u2019s Leadership Culture?\" width=\"800\" height=\"419\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>And in our experience, we\u2019ve found that <strong>organizations, like people, tend to evolve along a path over time, moving from <em>dependent<\/em> to <em>independent<\/em> to <em>interdependent<\/em> leadership cultures.<\/strong> Each successive culture moves the organization to a greater level of capability for dealing with complexity and accelerated change.<\/p>\n<p>But how do you identify the organizational leadership culture that you have at your organization? And going even further, how can you determine whether you have the culture you need for the strategy you\u2019ve set?<\/p>\n<h2>How to Identify Your Organization\u2019s Leadership Culture<\/h2>\n<p>One way to decode what type of organizational culture you have is to assess how leaders go about creating <a href=\"\/articles\/leading-effectively-articles\/make-leadership-happen-with-dac-framework\/\">direction, alignment, and commitment (DAC), which are the outcomes of leadership<\/a>, at your organization. DAC is a key part of <a href=\"\/guides\/how-leadership-works\/\">how leadership works<\/a> in organizations.<\/p>\n<p>The process of creating DAC may vary greatly from organization to organization, depending upon the predominant type of organizational culture, as shown below and explained in <a href=\"\/articles\/white-papers\/vertical-development-culture-beats-strategy\/\">our white paper<\/a>.<\/p>\n<table class=\"dac\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th><\/th>\n<th>DIRECTION<br \/>\nHow do we achieve agreement on direction?<\/th>\n<th>ALIGNMENT<br \/>\nHow do we coordinate our work so that all fits together?<\/th>\n<th>COMMITMENT<br \/>\nHow do we maintain commitment to the collective?<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"bg1\">\n<th>INTERDEPENDENT<\/th>\n<td>Agreement on direction is the result of<strong> shared exploration<\/strong> and the <strong>emergence<\/strong> of new perspectives.<\/td>\n<td>Alignment results from <strong>ongoing mutual adjustment<\/strong> among <strong>system-responsible<\/strong> people.<\/td>\n<td>Commitment results from <strong>engagement in a developing community<\/strong>.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"bg2\">\n<th>INDEPENDENT<\/th>\n<td>Agreement on direction is the result of <strong>discussion<\/strong>,<strong> mutual influence<\/strong>, and <strong>compromise<\/strong>.<\/td>\n<td>Alignment results from <strong>negotiation<\/strong> among <strong>self-responsible<\/strong> people.<\/td>\n<td>Commitment results from<strong> evaluation of the benefits for self<\/strong> while benefiting the larger community.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"bg1\">\n<th>DEPENDENT<\/th>\n<td>Agreement on direction is the result of willing <strong>compliance<\/strong> with an <strong>authority<\/strong>.<\/td>\n<td>Alignment results from <strong>fitting into<\/strong> the expectations of the<strong> larger system<\/strong>.<\/td>\n<td>Commitment results from <strong>loyalty<\/strong> to the source of authority or to the community itself.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h3>Direction<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Direction determines <em>how your organization decides on a way to go<\/em>.\u00a0<\/strong>Looking at the chart above, you can see that, depending upon the type of organizational culture you have, the approach to setting direction could be primarily rooted in <em>compliance<\/em> (in dependent cultures), <em>influence <\/em>(in independent cultures), or<em> shared exploration<\/em> (in interdependent cultures).<\/p>\n<h3>Alignment<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Alignment refers to <em>how you coordinate your work so that it fits together.<\/em><\/strong> Similar to direction, the approach to creating alignment varies depending upon your\u00a0 organization\u2019s culture and maturity. In dependent cultures, alignment results from <em>fitting into the expectations of the larger system.<\/em> In independent cultures, it results from <em>negotiation<\/em>. And in more mature, interdependent cultures, it results from <em>ongoing mutual adjustment<\/em>.<\/p>\n<h3>Commitment<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Commitment speaks to <em>mutual responsibility for the group<\/em> \u2014 when people prioritize the success of the collective over their individual success.<\/strong> In dependent cultures, that commitment results from <em>loyalty<\/em> to the source of authority of the community itself. In independent cultures, it results from <em>evaluating the benefits for self<\/em> while benefiting the larger community. And in interdependent cultures, commitment results from <em>engaging in a developing community<\/em>.<\/p>\n<h2>Is Your Leadership Strategy in Sync With Your Organizational Culture?<\/h2>\n<p>You may be able to see how, as you move through the levels and types of organizational culture, that the most mature types of organizational cultures are interdependent. (Curious to learn more? Discover the <a href=\"\/articles\/leading-effectively-articles\/changing-culture-5-principles-for-interdependent-leadership\/\">5 principles for interdependent leadership<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<p>Once you have identified what type of organizational leadership culture you have now, it\u2019s time to ask:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>To what extent is our culture having a positive or negative impact on performance?<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Is our culture helping us to achieve the business strategies we\u2019ve set?<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If your business strategy and leadership culture are at odds, your leaders need to get serious about changing themselves \u2014 so they can create greater direction, alignment, and commitment and, over time, boost performance and meet strategic business goals. This is especially critical if you\u2019re about to embark on a large-scale change initiative. Are your leaders ready and able to help you <a href=\"\/articles\/leading-effectively-articles\/transforming-your-organization\/\">transform your organization<\/a>?<\/p>\n<p>For optimal outcomes, you must carefully <a href=\"\/articles\/leading-effectively-articles\/leadership-effectiveness-business-strategy\/\">link your business strategy, leadership strategy, and organizational culture<\/a>. And make sure that your organization\u2019s leadership development initiatives are aligned and crafted to support these, as well.<\/p>\n<h2>Ready to Take the Next Step?<\/h2>\n<p><em><strong>Partner with our experts to identify what type of organizational culture you have and ensure that your leadership culture and strategy are aligned. Learn more about our approach to <a href=\"\/leadership-solutions\/organizational-leadership\/leadership-culture\/\">Organizational Leadership Culture Change<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We\u2019ve found that organizational leadership cultures tend to fall into 3 types and, with maturity, evolve from one to the other. Which one best describes how your organization functions?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":130,"featured_media":48762,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48760","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","categories-leadership-culture","categories-leadership-systems-models-dac","categories-organizational-leadership","audience-executives","region-global","article-type-leading-effectively-articles"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.6 (Yoast SEO v26.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Identifying Your Organization\u2019s Type of Leadership Culture | CCL<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Our research has identified 3 types of organizational leadership culture. 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