How social context influences human behaviour

Many crises are leadership failures rather than technical ones. Leaders focus so intently on an agenda that they fail to factor in their team's social context

Whether in corporate or in public life, errors will occur. It is what you do after the error that can be a disaster. You may not think you have erred, but others judge you through a social context. The accused at Nuremberg did not admit to error, but the world judged them to be in grievous error.

Embarrassing failures occur in companies. Decades ago, as a cocky, first-time director, I was embarrassed to detect a significant financial misdemeanour by my subordinate, career-damaging. More importantly, it could dent my company’s reputation. Luckily for me, I intuitively sought corporate help from my