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Reflections on Jenny Fernandez’s HBR article: “When Senior Leaders Lack People Skills, Transformations Fail.”
McKinsey’s research tells us that roughly 70% of transformation efforts fail. And yet, it’s rarely because the strategy was wrong. If you step back and look across Harvard Business Review, McKinsey, and the Wall Street Journal, there’s a consistent theme running through most of these failures…
It’s the human element.
This week’s Harvard Business Review article by Jenny Fernandez, “When Senior Leaders Lack People Skills, Transformations Fail,” brings that reality into sharp focus — and it’s well worth a read.
The Pattern We See Every Day
Jenny shares the story of “Mindy,” a Chief Transformation Officer who, just six weeks into a transformation, saw engagement drop 40% and turnover double. The leadership team hadn’t seen it coming.
Not because they didn’t care.
Not because they weren’t capable.
But because they simply couldn’t read what was happening in their organization.
This is exactly where most of our work begins. We’re often brought in when:
- Engagement survey results are alarming
- Leadership teams are experiencing conflict or dysfunction
- Or there’s a growing sense that “something isn’t right”
Interestingly, the organizations that engage us before these signals appear — the proactive, people-first organizations — are almost always the ones that are thriving.
The Real Issue: Misreading Reality
One of the most powerful sections of Jenny’s article describes leaders who mistake silence for alignment.
They present a strategy.
No one pushes back.
They assume everything is fine.
Meanwhile, their teams are disengaging.
We see this constantly — and it’s rarely intentional.
From a behavioral science perspective, this often shows up in leadership teams with:
- High Dominance (A)
- Lower Patience (C)
These leaders are:
- Fast-paced
- Results-driven
- Comfortable making quick decisions
But they can unintentionally:
- Move too quickly for others
- Dismiss hesitation as resistance
- Miss subtle signals of concern
A simple example
A senior leader rolls out a restructuring plan in a team meeting. They ask, “Any questions?”
Silence.
They interpret that silence as agreement. But what’s actually happening:
- The team doesn’t fully understand the rationale
- Some disagree but don’t feel safe challenging
- Others are waiting for more clarity
Without data, the leader is relying on instinct.And instinct, in this case, is wrong.
Why Data Changes Everything
This is where our first Talent Optimizers pillar comes in: Data-Driven Insight
When we introduce tools like the Five Behaviors® assessment, the results are often uncomfortable — but incredibly valuable.
Importantly, it’s not just about low scores. In fact, misalignment is often more dangerous than low scores.
- If everything is low → you know you have a problem
- If results are misaligned → some leaders think everything is fine, while others are experiencing something completely different
That’s where dysfunction hides. And that’s where transformation efforts quietly fail.
Making the Invisible Visible
Jenny talks about “reality audits” — comparing leaders’ perceptions with actual engagement data.
We approach this from a slightly different angle: science-backed behavioral insight.
When we unpack behavioral data, we often uncover:
- A lack of vulnerability-based trust
- Artificial harmony (people nodding instead of challenging)
- Misalignment between leadership intent and employee experience
This removes the emotion from the conversation. It’s no longer: “You’re not a good leader.” It becomes:
“Here’s how your natural behavioral style is impacting the team.”
That shift is critical.
The Challenge with Coaching Alone
Jenny highlights shadowing and coaching as a solution — and we agree, it’s powerful.
But in reality:
- It can be expensive
- It can feel like a big leap for many organizations
- And it doesn’t always scale
So the question becomes…
How do we make this accessible and sustainable for more organizations?
That’s something we’re actively exploring — and I’d genuinely welcome perspectives from others working in this space.
Build Skill Through Repetition — Not Training
One of the strongest points in the article is the idea that behavior change doesn’t come from training alone.
It comes from repetition. This aligns directly with one of our core pillars: Sustained Impact. Traditional training often looks like this:
- Engaging
- Insightful
- Immediately forgotten
We’ve all experienced it. That’s why our programs are intentionally designed to:
- Deliver less content
- Focus more on the application
- Embed behaviors into daily routines
We recently explored this in more detail here: Why Individual Talent Doesn’t Scale (And What Leaders Get Wrong About Meetings)
Because ultimately, transformation doesn’t happen in workshops. It happens in:
- Meetings
- Conversations
- Day-to-day decisions
Jenny’s Final Two Recommendations
While we’ve focused heavily on diagnosing gaps and building skills through repetition, Jenny’s final two recommendations are equally strong and worth highlighting. She emphasizes:
- Creating structured feedback loops that continuously surface reality
- And building leadership environments where people feel safe to challenge and contribute
These are not quick fixes. But they are essential.
And when done well, they fundamentally change how organizations operate.
Final Thoughts
If there’s one takeaway from both Jenny’s article and our experience, it’s this:
Transformations don’t fail because of strategy.
They fail because leaders can’t see what’s really happening with their people.
The good news? This is solvable.
With the right combination of:
- Data
- Behavioral insight
- And sustained habit-building
Organizations can bridge that gap. At Talent Optimizers, this is exactly where we focus.
And it’s encouraging to see the broader research — from HBR and beyond — continuing to reinforce just how critical this work is.
If you haven’t read Jenny Fernandez’s article yet, it’s absolutely worth your time.
And if you’re seeing these patterns in your own organization…
it might be time to take a closer look at what your data is really telling you.
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