Are you fuelling a culture of heroes and villains?

Over the past year, organisations have embraced agility, pushing teams to innovate under pressure. But as you celebrate success stories, are you unknowingly creating a toxic culture of blame? Are the stories you share shaping your organisation’s DNA?

Personal Leadership:

Picture this: I was recently working in a serviced office, and behind me, I overheard (don’t judge me ;)) a team dissecting a recurring problem.  I am assuming it was the team lead, spinning a tale of heroes and villains: the call centre was painted as the incompetent villain, they were providing shockingly poor reports, while his own team emerged as the heroic saviours, triumphing despite flawed data, getting the job done and keeping all happy. The team lead highlighted with glee, that his manager had even commended them, reinforcing the narrative, that he was aware of the shocking data from the call centre and the great job the team was doing regardless of the obstacles.  I honestly think I felt the swoosh of his cape as he spoke!  As I sat there listening in, I was aware there were three organisational layers that had bought into the villains and heroes’ narrative, and if I was a betting person, I would say there would be more levels involved.

But there’s a deeper issue here. When organisations create hero-villain narratives, they foster a culture of blame, not accountability. People avoid risks because no one wants to become the next villain in the story. Sound familiar?

“One in every four C-suite executives says that their leadership teams' initial response to a mistake or challenging situation is to distance themselves or blame others,” according to Gartner. These behaviors often result in conflicts within the team. 

As a senior leader, how many stories like this are circulating in your organisation? More importantly, how many are you unwittingly reinforcing?

Strategic Vision:

Johnson et al. (2005) introduced the cultural web, a framework for understanding an organisation's culture. One key element is the stories you tell—these stories embed themselves in your organisational model, influencing behaviour and shaping perceptions of 'how things are done here.'

In the example above, the narrative was simple: the team lead's group were the heroes, while the call centre team was the villains, the scapegoat. A narrative like this does more than just assign roles—it shuts down innovation. Leaders who let these stories fester discourage teams from taking creative risks, as no one wants to be labelled the 'villain.'

Here’s your challenge: Implement a leadership narrative audit. Gather insights from across departments and identify the stories being told. Are they hero-villain tales that stifle bold thinking, or do they encourage resilience and accountability?

Stakeholder Enablement:

Trust vs. Blame: When stories focus on blame, trust erodes.   Ensure that your stakeholders—internal and external—are part of narratives that foster collaboration, not division.  Don’t kid yourself that your stories remain in the office.

Resilience in the Face of Failure: If failure is seen as villainous, your organisation will avoid experimentation. Create stories that celebrate learning and iteration, not just success.

The stories circulating in your company may be invisible to you, but they are powerful. They influence behaviour, drive decision-making, and can make or break innovation and play a large part in creating your culture.

As a leader, you are the author of these narratives. Are you writing stories of accountability and resilience, or are you perpetuating a culture where people fear being cast as the villain?

References:

- Johnson, G., Scholes, K., & Whittington, R. (2005). *Exploring Corporate Strategy: Text and Cases*. Pearson Education.
- Gartner  12 Ways to Navigate Conflict for Effective Leadership

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