Leadership is a Defined Behavior

 

“Leadership should be the most defined behavior in the organization, not the most ambiguous.”- Paul R. Fournier

 

Leadership – Behavior or Skill

Leadership is a behavior. Management behaviors are a choice and a personal decision. All other leadership forms—traits, styles, values—are noise without behavioral structure.

Management skills are learned or taught through experience, MBA programs, or university business courses. However, leadership behaviors are a different matter.

In my view, leadership is not merely a skill set that one possesses; it is a pattern of behaviors that one consistently demonstrates. Behaviors reflect operating norms—what a leader does consistently, under pressure, in uncertainty, and in complexity.

Leadership Perception

And in real life behavior reveals:

  • Character under stress
  • Priorities under pressure
  • Consistency under scrutiny

Management, employees, supplier, and customers develop perception about management leadership based on observation and aggravation. Both establish perception about management capacity and trust. Positive perception develops respect and understanding for leadership. This in turn influences performance, profitability, and operational stability.

Leadership Behaviors

Management behavior is a choice. Behaviors amplify management skills or diminish them. Behaviors are determined by what management values; intellectually, emotionally, and financially. When a person values something, they pursue and achieve it. When a person fails to value something, there is little effort. The result is inconsistent or average performance. Think about yourself and the management team around you and what is consistently valued.

There are four behavioral Cornerstones.

Leadership: Achieving the vision, mission, and core values is the primary responsibility of management leadership. Management leadership builds the architecture to achieve the value statements.

“High performance is not the result of motivation. It’s the outcome of behavioral architecture.”

Culture: When management does not value or measure culture, employee culture becomes a reflection of management behavior. Marginal or toxic cultures result in employee and customer attrition, failure to achieve objectives, and unpredictable financials. Bad behaviors hide behind employee silence. The most toxic cultures are not loud—but silent and complicit.

“Cultural silence is the system by which drift becomes permanent. Existing management practices condone poor behavior. ”

Strategy is Architecture : When management does not value strategy, there is no architecture for growth. Planning is irrelevant. Accountability is absent. Objectives fail to be achieved; innovation fails to be realized. And in a merit-based business world, management is compensated for achieving objectives.

“ Effective strategy aligns the organization to the goal.”

Communication is Learning: When management does not value effective communication, employees and customers fail to learn. When employees and customers fail to learn, they fail to trust. The employee and customer relationship fails to grow. Employee performance becomes average or inconsistent. Supplier companies lose competitive advantage.

“If communication is based on personality, the system inherits ambiguity.”

Managing Behavior or Leadership Skills

In my view, you can discuss management skills until one is blue in the face. Management skill discussions change nothing in the organization. If it does, its temporary. The original  organizational quality returns and continues on the course it was on.

“Behavior is the only form of leadership that scales.” 

Valuing Leadership Behaviors

In my view, there are four cornerstones. Leadership, Culture, Strategy, and Communication. They are interdependent. They align the organization to its value statements, speed, and course.

  1. Leadership Behavior
  • Leaders who don’t explicitly define what behavior is expected—of themselves or others—create ambiguity, politics, and misalignment. Identify behavioral standards before setting performance targets. Define how leadership shows up in meetings, decisions, conflict, and execution.

     2. Model the Behavior Standard Relentlessly

  • You can’t ask for behavior you’re not willing to model. Organizations mirror management leadership. If the leader cuts corners, tolerates gossip, or avoids accountability, those behaviors spread quickly. The leader is a prototype of the organization’s values, decision-making discipline, and trust patterns—especially under pressure.

     3. Architect Structure Through Crisis

  • Crisis exposes whether leadership is reactive or structural. In my view vibrant structure, not micromanagement, brings clarity during instability.

“Chaos does not demand control. It demands structure.”

  1. Correct Behavior Before Culture Degrades
  • Toxic employee behaviors become toxic cultures. A leader’s silence on poor behavior is interpreted as approval. People seldom change, so eliminate the sources of toxicity permanently.

“Challenged cultures don’t drift into high performance. They must architect it.”

  1. Lead Through Alignment, Not Attention
  • In high-performing systems, leadership is not a spotlight—it’s a signal. Loud leaders attract chaos; aligned Cornerstone leaders build momentum. Speak with clarity about the challenges and solutions. Build systems that make execution consistent, not dramatic.

“The goal is not to attract attention. The goal is to attract alignment.”

Summary

During the next few days and weeks observe and identify the management behaviors most productive and most destructive in your organization. Apply those behaviors when building your architecture and alignment. In my view, establishing acceptable behavior expectations from management is far more productive than the modification of skills.

“When leadership is value-driven, culture becomes performance-driven—and strategy becomes reality.”

About Us

Fournier Strategies reprograms organizational behavior.  Leadership talk, is replaced with architected structure that forces clarity, alignment, and behavioral integrity.

Fournier Strategies provides podcasts, articles, books, and development services to support our Cornerstone approach. There are many opportunites at my website to enhance your organization.

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