Why Great Leadership Doesn’t Scale (But Bad Leadership Does): Navigating the 'Biasphere'
Great leadership struggles to scale, but bad leadership spreads like wildfire. The psychology? Fear and negativity linger, while positivity needs proximity and consistency.
I posit that there is a paradox in leadership: the larger the organization, the harder it becomes for great leaders to positively influence the culture. But paradoxically, when it comes to toxic or ineffective leaders, their influence seems to spread with ease. As organizations grow, this uneven impact reveals a fundamental truth about how leadership works—or doesn’t work—at scale. Let’s explore.
The Limits of Great Leadership: When Proximity Matters
It’s hard to ignore the charisma of a great leader when you’re in their immediate orbit. They’re the type of enigmatic force that attracts others, creating a “cult of personality” effect. But as an organization grows, the hierarchy deepens, and more layers form between the leader and the average employee, that influence inevitably fades. Studies on leader-member exchange (LMX) support this, showing that proximity to a charismatic leader increases employee engagement and satisfaction—while those at a distance experience a diluted effect (Graen & Uhl-Bien, 1995).
This is also why charismatic and transformational leadership styles are difficult to scale; their impact relies heavily on direct interaction and the personal connection that great leaders cultivate with their teams. Without it, these qualities become difficult to sustain across large hierarchies. Middle managers may try to emulate a leader’s energy and style, but they’re often unable to recreate the same magnetic pull that brings out the best in people. So, while close circles around these leaders thrive, the broader organization often experiences their influence as little more than distant ripples.
Key Reference: Graen, G. B., & Uhl-Bien, M. (1995). Relationship-based approach to leadership: Development of leader-member exchange (LMX) theory of leadership over 25 years: Applying a multi-level multi-domain perspective.
Scaling Culture with Systems and Values-Based Leadership
There’s another side to this argument—values and systems. Values-based leadership, when implemented as a system rather than as a personality trait, has a better chance of scaling in large organizations. Great leaders who embed their values into hiring processes, operational norms, and decision-making frameworks can create a cultural foundation that’s less dependent on proximity. According to research on organizational culture and structure, values-based leadership that is reinforced through systems has a better shot at scaling because it’s less reliant on individual charisma and more on institutional norms (Schein, 2010).
This doesn’t mean the magic of a charismatic leader scales flawlessly—but by creating frameworks that emphasize key values, these leaders can ensure their influence has staying power. In my experience, it’s a combination of personality and systems that gets the job done; when values become part of “how we do things around here,” you start to see culture take root across departments and levels.
Key Reference: Schein, E. H. (2010). Organizational culture and leadership (Vol. 2). John Wiley & Sons.
The Dark Side: Why Toxic Leadership Scales Too Well
Here’s the unfortunate kicker: bad leadership, unlike great leadership, seems to scale remarkably well. Toxic leaders—the kind who micro-manage, instill fear, or prioritize self-interest—spread a culture of dysfunction through an organization like wildfire. Studies on cascading leadership indicate that negative behaviors tend to trickle down more effectively than positive ones, as toxic leadership behaviors get replicated by managers lower in the hierarchy (Mawritz, Mayer, Hoobler, Wayne, & Marinova, 2012). If the top sets the tone with poor communication, unethical practices, or micromanagement, it won’t take long for this behavior to permeate downwards.
Bad leadership also feeds on what’s called organizational silence—the phenomenon where employees feel discouraged from speaking up or offering dissenting opinions. A 2003 study by Morrison and Milliken found that toxic environments suppress open dialogue and encourage silence across hierarchies. In practice, this can create an organizational culture that is less collaborative, more fearful, and ultimately less productive.
Key References:
Mawritz, M. B., Mayer, D. M., Hoobler, J. M., Wayne, S. J., & Marinova, S. V. (2012). A trickle-down model of abusive supervision.
Morrison, E. W., & Milliken, F. J. (2003). Speaking up, remaining silent: The dynamics of voice in organizations.
Why Negative Leadership Sticks (and Positive Leadership Fades)
There’s a reason toxic behaviors stick more easily: negativity bias. Psychologists have found that negative experiences have a more profound and lasting impact than positive ones (Baumeister et al., 2001). When employees encounter negative leadership traits, they tend to remember them more vividly and react more strongly. So when a toxic leader enforces rules through fear, the resulting anxiety and stress reinforce their impact across the organization.
Positive leadership, by contrast, requires ongoing effort, regular engagement, and reinforcement to remain effective. The proximity effect we discussed earlier adds to this challenge, as the impact of a positive leader often fades the further away one is in the hierarchy. The psychology here is simple: fear and negativity linger, while positivity needs proximity and consistency.
Key Reference: Baumeister, R. F., Bratslavsky, E., Finkenauer, C., & Vohs, K. D. (2001). Bad is stronger than good.
A Balanced Approach: Pruning Toxicity, Scaling Greatness
So, what’s the takeaway for leaders who want to ensure their positive influence scales across their organization? And how can you navigate the "biasphere" (my word for describing corporate politics and bureaucracy) with a repeatable methodology that protects your energy expenditure?
In Big Things F@$t, we emphasize that in larger, hierarchical organizations, impactful leadership isn't simply about enforcing directives but building a culture of adaptability, empowerment, and continuous learning, especially to counteract the tendency of bureaucracy to dilute leadership influence as it moves through layers. This means prioritizing small, iterative practices over grand leadership gestures, which tend to diminish efficacy the further they spread from the leader’s immediate circle.
A key tool highlighted in Big Things F@$t is the Return on Experimentation (ROE) framework, which encourages leaders to foster a culture of experimentation and incremental improvement rather than relying solely on top-down cultural influence. By encouraging small, team-level experiments, leaders can influence culture indirectly but steadily across the organization. Such decentralized initiatives enable teams at all levels to contribute to and feel ownership over cultural goals, making positive culture changes more resilient and, importantly, scalable (p. 28-30).
Moreover, the Progressive Engagement Map is a way to systematize and spread leadership influence while respecting the limits of scale in large organizations. This map helps leaders guide team interactions and objectives with minimal micromanagement, letting cultural change organically percolate across teams (p. 38-53).
To further embed such practices daily, consider incorporating "small wins" initiatives that let team members set and celebrate progress on manageable goals aligned with broader cultural values. This daily emphasis on incremental value aligns with the Red Team Handbook’s principle of Applied Critical Thinking, which advocates slowing down to assess and embed cultural shifts through routine reflection, small tests, and local adjustments—mechanisms that sustain influence even across sprawling structures.
For immediate application:
Set Daily Reflection Prompts: After team meetings or decisions, set aside a moment to reflect on how these align with your broader leadership goals. Encourage your team to join in on this reflective habit, fostering a shared ownership of cultural values.
Leverage Team-Level Experiments: Empower teams to run small experiments that embody your intended cultural values, allowing them to test and adjust these values in action. Capture and share lessons from these experiments to build a cumulative culture shift.
Utilize the “Minimum Viable Bureaucracy” Principle: Prioritize simple, clear communication channels that respect your leadership distance while supporting team autonomy, echoing the notion that culture is best strengthened locally and iteratively.
Organizations that effectively scale positive culture have a leadership style that combines personality with policy, charisma with checks, and big vision with small, consistent actions. It’s not about relying on one great leader to carry the entire culture on their shoulders—it’s about creating a network of leaders at every level who live and breathe the organization’s values.
This approach ensures that great leadership can resonate far and wide, while bad leadership has fewer places to take root. In a world where large organizations are struggling with employee engagement, the paradox of leadership influence can be solved—not by charisma alone, but by systems that allow that charisma to reach every corner of the organization.
Simple, not easy.
Disclaimer: The insights and strategies discussed in this newsletter are based on the tools and methodologies from Big Things F@$t and are intended as general guidelines. While we have seen that these tools can significantly enhance leadership practices, their effectiveness may vary depending on individual circumstances, organizational culture, and specific team dynamics. We encourage readers to adapt and modify these recommendations to fit their unique contexts and to consider additional factors that may influence outcomes. Simply stated, the effectiveness of any tool or strategy is contingent upon its implementation and the environment in which it is used.
Are you interested in improving your or your team’s effectiveness? Reach out anytime at https://www.effectivedirection.com/contact