Why selecting the right leaders is so important?

It is a little naïve to think that when you hire a leader, all you are doing is just “filling an open position”. Every leader, besides their main job attributions, will shape the organization and the organizational culture in one particular way. Sometimes this will happen intentionally (the best leaders understand and try to do this) but some other times it will happen unintentionally.

Leaders not only shape their organizational culture with their attitude and mindset, but they will also shape the culture BIG TIME when they hire people that think and act in similar ways as they do. We all have seen this happening in practice, but just lately (as part of an MBA organizational management class) I have came across a management theory that describes this phenomenon. The theory is called the ASA Model and it stands for Attraction-Selection-Attrition. This model states that people are attracted to companies that hold values aligned with their own personalities, values and needs. This is the Attraction part. The companies, represented by the hiring managers, usually tend to select people they consider to be a good fit to the company and to their teams, and normally those are the people that tend to behave, act and think in similar ways as the hiring manager does. This is the Select part. Besides that, the people who do not fit that “culture” are slowly and naturally “pushed out” and end up most times leaving the company/team seeking for a company/team/manager that would be a better fit. This is the Attrition part.

This theory shows how cultures are shaped. Selecting new people, especially managers/leaders but not limited to it, is key to shaping the culture of an organization. If you want to build the right culture, start with selecting the right leaders.

If you are in a position where you need to select a leader for the organization you work for, or your own organization, please keep in mind that you are doing more than just “filling a position”! Besides selecting someone to do a certain job, you are selecting someone to shape your company culture. This is one of the most important things when it comes to shaping the culture of your organization. Be careful, try to understand who could propagate the right organizational culture. Be conscious about this.