Leaders, Dictators, and Organizational Culture
First, forgive my ramblings as my brain has been on vacation and has not fully shifted back into school mode.
As a social work professor, I have the privilege of teaching a course called Social Work Practice with Organizations and Communities. As soon as I picked up Humble Leadership, I immediately recognized Edgar Schein’s name. Schein is an expert on organizational culture and featured in the course textbook.[1] He suggests there are three levels of culture found in an organization.
- Artifacts – the climate of the organization, most often visible in the organizational structure, processes and behaviors.
- Values and Beliefs – what is important to the organization which is most often communicated through an organization’s mission and/or vision statement.
- Basic Underlying Assumptions – the unwritten rules that govern how an organization functions, such as who our customers are and the best way to serve them.[2]
Understanding culture is important for my students to understand as they, as social workers, go into an organization to assess and intervene with the goal of improving the organization’s health. It is also important for any leader of an organization to understand its culture as they seek to lead. Edgar Schein and Peter Schein in Humble Leadership also suggest that it is important for a leader to know and understand the importance and power of relationships within an organization.[3] They suggest that there are 4 different levels of relationships that can be found.
“Level Minus 1: Total impersonal domination and coercion
Level 1: Transactional role and rule-based supervision, service and most forms of ‘professional’ helping relationships.
Level 2: Personal cooperative, trusting relationships as in friendships and in effective teams.
Level 3: Emotionally intimate mutual commitments.”[4]
Because how people relate to others has power, the level of relationships found within any organization will greatly impact that organization’s culture. Schein and Schein state it this way “As socialized humans we cannot step outside our culture, but we can begin to understand our culture and see how leadership as a relational activity is both shaped by and shapes culture.”[5]
As I was browsing through the book I began to reflect on two things. First, I reflected on my own experience in the various organizations for which I have worked. I mentally assessed the leader relationship level I exhibited and what those above me exhibited. I reflected on how those relationships impacted the culture found within the organization. I also reflected on a conversation I had with my son this summer on leaders versus dictators. My son said that dictators are not leaders because they use fear to control people. I believe that if you consider Schein and Schein’s definition of leadership this is true. “‘Leadership’ is wanting to do something new and better and getting others to go along.”[6] Something better I believe excludes the presence of fear. In our conversation we proceeded to name various people and assess where they fit, leader versus dictator and we named our current President. We saw attributes of controlling people with fear in President Trump’s behavior. This in my mind would place him at Level Minus 1. Wanting a nonpartisan opinion, I asked Microsoft Copilot to use Schein’s four relationship levels and suggest where people would assess President’s Trump’s relationship levels to be. Here is what Copilot presented.[7]
Mapping Trump’s Style to Schein’s Relationship Levels
| Schein’s Level | Trump’s Leadership Traits | Sources & Observations |
| Level Minus 1 | Domination, coercion, and adversarial framing (“us vs. them”) | His use of fear-based rhetoric and vilification of out-groups aligns with coercive tactics |
| Level 1 | Transactional, role-based, directive control | His leadership often emphasized loyalty, hierarchy, and rule enforcement over collaboration |
| Level 2 | Occasional personal rapport with close allies or supporters | Some argue he built trust with his base through emotional appeals and shared identity |
| Level 3 | Rare or absent | Deep mutual vulnerability and emotional intimacy are not typical features of his style |
I don’t know President Trump, nor do I read everything in the media about him. Yet, Copilot which has more media access than I do, described President Trump’s leadership relational levels the way I would have. Circling back to the idea of how relationships contain power to influence culture, how are President Trump’s relationship levels influencing the culture found within our nation? That might be another question for AI to research.
This description of Trump is based on what is reported in the media and what is most often displayed on Trump’s front stage. This led me to consider one final idea. How does Simon Walker’s idea of front stage and back stage fit into the idea of Humble Leadership?[8] Based on statements in the book. In reading the book it seems that a humble leader is going to have a fairly consistent front stage and back stage in relating to people in their organization, especially when relating at Level 2 or 3. Schein and Schein state “The leader cannot fake a Level 2 relationship. Humans have a very good sense for authenticity, sincerity, and consistency especially when we see these as critical for work relationships.”[9] Level 2 and 3 are hard to fake (though there are people gifted at faking authentic relationships).
Schein and Schein also write that in a Level 2 relationship the leader does not give everyone the idea that they should be great friends and hang out together. Instead through “words, demeanor, and body language” leaders communicate that they are aware of others and that they mutually need to see each other as a whole person and not just co-workers.[10]
Reading through this book has helped me begin to answer a question that I have struggled to answer the past few months. How does a leader begin to repair a relationship where trust has been broken? I believe that over time if people can begin to sense the authenticity of the Level 2 relationship, which requires vulnerability through personization, trust can be (re)built.
[1] F. Ellen Netting, Steven L. McCurty, M. Lori Thomas, and Peter M. Kettner, Social Work Macro Practice: 7th ed. (Hoboken, NJ: Peason Education, 2023). 228.
[2] Netting et al., 228-229.
[3] Edgar H. Schein and Peter A. Schein, Humble Leadership: The Power of Relationships, Openness, and Trust, (Oakland, CA: Berrett Koehler Publishers, 2018), 3.
[4] Schein and Schein, 3
[5] Schein and Schein, xiii.
[6] Schein and Schein, 2.
[7] Text generated by Microsoft Copilot, August 26, 2025.
[8] Simon, P. Walker, The Undefended Leader. (Carlisle, CA: Piquant Editions Ltd, 2010).
[9] Schein and Schein, 29.
[10] Schein and Schein, 20.
About the Author
Jeff Styer
Jeff Styer lives in Northeast Ohio's Amish Country. He has degrees in Social Work and Psychology and currently works as a professor of social work at Mount Vernon Nazarene University. Jeff is married to his wife, Veronica, 25+ years. Together they have 4 beautiful children (to be honest, Jeff has 4 kids, Veronica says she is raising 5). Jeff loves the outdoors, including biking, hiking, camping, birding, and recently picked up disc golf.9 responses to “Leaders, Dictators, and Organizational Culture”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Hi Jeff,
Thank you for your post. You were not rambling. I enjoyed your post.
In what ways can leaders model humility and relational awareness to shape a culture where people are seen as whole persons, not just roles—thereby inspiring others to lead with authenticity and courage?
Shela,
I think one way leaders can do this is by intentionally seeking input from others. Especially if the leader has been brought in from elsewhere, it is beneficial for the leader to acknowledge that they are new and don’t know the organizational culture and its history. Another thing I would like to see leaders do is to take time to meet with those under them and work to establish a level 2 relationship over time.
Jeff, I love how you bring in front stage/back stage. I wonder: Considering your discussion of a leader’s “front stage” and “back stage,” how can an organization’s culture be repaired when a leader’s public persona of authenticity clashes with their private actions?
Debbie,
You ask a great question. Unless the leader changes their behavior and repents then I don’t think the culture can be repaired as long as they are there. IF the leader truly repents then I think they have to practice leaving the curtain open so that people can see both stages in an effort to regain trust.
Jeff, This was an interesting perspective to take. Thanks! I liked this quote in the book, “Leadership is always a relationship, and truly successful leadership thrives in a substrate of high openness and high trust. (ix)” In thinking about dictators, I realize they are “leaders.” However, their style of leadership is focused on toxic and unhealthy relationships and are not fulfilling true leadership as you showed above.
A classmate (initials EB) once told me I’d make a great cult leader, and I don’t think she’s wrong. So, I like to learn from unhealthy leaders with charisma and followings so that I do not, myself, fall away from a foundation of humble leadership. I appreciated your comparison of Trump’s leadership relationships. This reminds me of the importance of having a high number of level 2 and solid level 3 relationships in my life!
Kari,
I’m not sure telling someone they would make a great cult leader is a compliment or not. Studying bad leadership so that you can learn what not to do is a great practice. That is one of the many things that I appreciate about the Bible. There are some great examples of bad leadership and so much to learn from them.
Hi Jeff, No rambling but rather insightful post, especially when you weigh in the comparisons. You quoted, “Humans have a very good sense for authenticity, sincerity, and consistency, especially when we see these as critical for work relationships.” Of these three, which one in your present context weighs the most heavily in being an effective leader?
Hi, Mr. Styer, thank you for your post for I have learn several good points from it. First of all, how you emphasized the importance of leadership and understanding the culture of the organization, or cultural intelligence. Leading a group without knowing or understanding the group would not only be difficult, but disastrous.
Secondly, how you have elaborated on the leadership definition version by Schein. However, my question is when you use ‘fear’ are you referring to as an example of a ‘new and better and getting others to go along?’
Lastly, I like how you point out a very common and important issue faced by leaders. And that the importance of vulnerability, authenticity and trusts are highlighted. Thank you, Mr. Styer.
Hi Jeff, welcome back to the swing of school again! I hope you’re starting to feel settled. In your academic/professional work, how have you seen leaders successfully demonstrate authenticity and vulnerability in ways that rebuilt trust within their schools?