Why Effective Leaders Get Branded as Problems

When a leader creates friction, organizations default to a single explanation: the leader needs to change. In reality, that friction usually comes from one or a combination of four different sources—capability, perception, identity, or system. Because those look similar on the surface, organizations tend to categorize them under one bucket,  behavior and make high-stakes decisions based on that assumption. The cost is not just ineffective development. It is flawed promotion decisions, stalled succession pipelines, and the quiet loss of high-impact leaders who are labeled as “difficult” when they are, in fact, misread.

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