How many of these situations have you come across?

The colleague who impresses the great and good, always politically astute, always well regarded, yet leaves a trail of HR issues that are swept under the carpet.

The excellent colleague who is sidelined, subtly silenced, contributes more selectively... before resigning and leaving a void that is only appreciated after they have gone.

A team where constructive challenge becomes less common because people have learned that certain conversations are not worth having.

One of the features of major organisational problems is that they seldom start out looking like major organisational problems.

Bullying doesn't usually begin as bullying. It appears as 'authority.'
Harassment doesn’t usually begin as harassment. It appears as 'innocent.'
Manipulation doesn't usually begin with betrayal. It begins with 'charm.'
Disengagement doesn't usually begin as disengagement. It begins with hurt.

Culture issues often begin as seemingly small moments that are often explained away as understandable, isolated or temporary.

Putting the pieces together reveals a different picture.

I've noticed that many significant wellbeing, performance and conduct issues are preceded by similar warning signs. I've included a few examples in the carousel below.

What might these patterns be telling you and the leaders where you work?

We've been building a tool designed to help organisations reflect on where they sit across exactly these kinds of patterns.

More on that shortly.

In the meantime, which of these warning signs do you think is overlooked the most often?