The View from the Other Seats

June 2026 | By Laura Flynn

Recently, I found myself thinking about two organizations I consulted with early in my career that, on paper, looked remarkably similar. Both had thoughtful leaders. Both had invested in leadership development. Both spoke about collaboration, accountability, and respect. Both employed talented people who cared deeply about their work. Yet spending time in the two organizations felt entirely different.

In one, people routinely challenged one another's thinking without damaging relationships. Difficult conversations happened early, not after frustration had accumulated. Decisions weren't always easy, but people generally understood why they had been made. There was an ease to working there that seemed almost unremarkable until you experienced its absence somewhere else.

The other organization wasn't dysfunctional. It just felt heavier. Conversations happened after meetings, usually in whispered corners, instead of during them. Problems lingered longer than they should have. People worked hard but kept an eye out to protect themselves. Trust wasn't exactly absent, but it seemed conditional.

At the time, I remember wondering how two organizations could produce such different working cultures. It wasn't a question I could answer quickly.

Over the years, I've come to think that culture is largely defined by the countless interactions that make up an ordinary day, especially as employees take their cues from leadership: What happens when someone disagrees with the boss? How are mistakes handled? What happens when a commitment is missed? Who receives recognition? Who receives grace?

These moments, on their own, aren’t large enough to define an organization. But then, culture is rarely built in a day. It emerges gradually through patterns that become so familiar we eventually stop noticing them.

I don’t think the culture leaders describe is always the same culture other people experience. That isn't a criticism. It’s the view from their seat, and they don’t - as good stage managers do - always test out the views from other seats in the house. That’s the big opportunity, I think. 

Most senior leaders I’ve known have cared deeply about the environments they were trying to create. They wanted people to feel respected. They wanted openness, accountability, collaboration, and trust. They weren't pretending to value those things. They genuinely did. But good intentions don't automatically become shared experience. 

Employees experience leadership through meetings, conversations, decisions, feedback, priorities, promotions, and countless other moments that may seem routine to the person leading them. They don't always see the leader's intentions. They do, however, see the leader's behavior. Those are not always the same thing.

I've often wondered what leaders might notice if they could experience a typical week as the people around them do. They might notice the small moments: the meeting where someone decided not to speak; the question that wasn't asked; the promise that wasn't kept; the interruption that became normal; the difficult conversation that everyone knew needed to happen but somehow didn't.

Because those small moments may answer the question everyone is quietly asking:

"What’s it really like to work here?"