How can leaders create more responsibility without adding more control?
In this episode of The Invisible Friction, Marten Stenfors and Anna Ahrenfelt reverse roles. After two episodes exploring how Marten led in practice, Marten asks Anna to look at his leadership from the outside and explain what was actually happening in the organizational system.
They explore how leadership and organizational systems shape behaviour. When decisions repeatedly move upwards and people learn that asking first is the safest option, capable employees can gradually become more careful and use less of their own judgement. More control can then reinforce the very passivity leaders are trying to solve.
The conversation turns to what helps create responsibility instead: clear outcomes, shared understanding and a culture where people know what matters and can use their judgement in everyday decisions. Anna and Marten discuss how culture is shaped by what leaders repeatedly ask about, follow up, reward and respond to.
This conversation was recorded in one sitting and became longer than planned, so we have divided it into two episodes. This is Part 1; Episode 6 continues directly from the same conversation.
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