"Walking the Talk": The nature and role of ‘leadership culture’ within organizational culture/s.

Abstract

The paper develops and explores the construct 'leadership culture' with reference to organisation culture/s. A research model is proposed to explore this connection. A study of leadership culture components, showing an impact of the alignment between leaders' personal values and leadership team behaviour on leadership team culture, is used to make the case for additional research looking at how culture role modelling by leaders may affect the creation and development of organisation culture/s. The key finding is that leader behaviour is contingent upon the existing organisational culture, rather than being the creator of an organisational culture. The findings and future research implications have important ramifications for how leaders develop and use leadership culture, with a particular focus on their potential role as organisation culture generators, carriers and shapers.