How Executive Leaders Shape Organisational Culture
Contagious Leadership
I had the privilege of coaching an executive team last week who reminded me what transformational leadership in action truly looks like.
They laughed. They challenged each other. They were vulnerable about what scared them. They celebrated wins that were not even their own.
And I thought: This is what contagious leadership looks like.
Because here's the truth nobody tells you when you reach the C-suite: Your mood, your behavior, your authenticity—it does not stay in the executive suite. It ripples through every single layer of your organisation, whether you intend it to or not.
The Myth We Need to Retire: The Superhero Leader
Frankly what many of us were taught: Be brilliant. Be unshakeable. Have all the answers. Show no weakness.
Sound familiar?
Here is what I've learned coaching senior women leaders for two decades: That model is exhausting. And it doesn't work.
The organisations that are truly thriving? They're not led by superheroes. They are led by executive teams who've figured out something more powerful: collective intelligence.
Yes, you need exceptional individuals. But the transformation happens in the spaces between people—when brilliant minds trust each other enough to:
✓ Disagree without destroying relationships
✓ Admit uncertainty without losing credibility
✓ Challenge assumptions without attacking people
✓ Champion each other's ideas, even when they are not your own
What Authentic Leadership Actually Looks Like
That team I mentioned? They were tackling genuinely complex challenges- budget pressures, organisational restructuring, market uncertainty.
But while they were problem-solving, they were also:
Laughing at the absurdity of obstacles they'd overcome
Being real about what kept them up at night
Backing each other up even when perspectives differed
Pushing back on ideas without making it personal
This was not corporate theatre. This was leadership culture in its truest form.
And the impact? Measurable. Transformational. Contagious.
The Leadership Challenge: Are You Creating Contagion?
Let us get truthful for a moment and ask yourself:
About You:
Do I model vulnerability, or do I perform invincibility?
When someone disagrees with me, do I get curious or defensive?
Am I comfortable not having all the answers?
About Your Team:
Can we have fierce debates without damaging trust?
Do we genuinely celebrate each other's wins, or just our own?
Are we aligned on purpose, or just ticking off individual KPIs?
About Your Organisation:
What behaviors are we actually rewarding vs. what we say we value?
How does our leadership show up in anonymous employee feedback?
Are we developing the next generation to replicate this culture?
These answers should reveal to you everything about the contagion you're creating as a leader.
Building Leadership That Spreads Naturally
You do not need a culture committee; intentional practices that become so compelling is rather needed because people cannot help but replicate them.
Start here:
1. Go first with vulnerability
Share a real challenge you're navigating. Not for sympathy—for connection. Watch what happens when you make it safe for others to be human too.
2. Celebrate the conflict
Publicly acknowledge when someone's dissent improved a decision. Make healthy disagreement a badge of honor, not a career risk.
3. Create human moments
Build rituals that go beyond business metrics. Real conversation. Genuine check-ins. Connection that matters.
4. Measure what actually matters
Track culture alongside financials. What gets measured gets attention—and investment.
5. Coach teams, not just individuals
Collective development creates collective transformation. Stop treating your executive team like isolated high performers.
The Transformation Starts With You
Culture is not only built through mission statements or company values posters. It is built through consistent leadership behaviours that become so compelling others ca not help but replicate them.
That is what I call Contagious Leadership—leadership so authentic, so aligned, and so effective that it spreads naturally throughout the organisation.
The question is not whether you are influencing your organisational culture. You absolutely are, every single day.
The question is: What kind of contagion are you creating?
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Ready to build contagious leadership in your organisation? At Vermillion Coaching, we specialise in transforming executive teams into high-performing cultures that inspire from the inside out through effective communication.
Let's explore how coaching can unlock your team's collective potential. Book a discovery conversation today.
