The leader has to be ultimately accountable for the culture and practice within that team and ignorance is no defence. Even if he was not complicit, if the team were unaware of the cultural expectations, then the leader is at fault for not communicating that message: If they knew the expectations and ignored them, this indicates inadequate systems and controls. I am not an expert on the Lehmann coaching methodology but clearly there was a failure of communication or control. Teams take their lead from the person in charge and ‘how we do things around here’ stems from the actions, behaviours and decisions of the leader. The leader sets the standards by which everything happens and this depends not just on what they say, but how they operate. They cannot advocate fair play and then be seen to ‘bend the rules’ to suit. The messages transmitted by actions, decisions and behaviours are often far more powerful than the spoken word or any values printed on the wall.
What messages do your actions, behaviours and decisions communicate about ‘how we do things round here'?
How effectively do you communicate your cultural expectations to your team?
Where might what you say and what you do be out of line?