Next Episode: Bureaucracy
Rethinking Systems, Structure, and Scale
If you’ve ever rolled your eyes at a clunky approval process, sat through a meeting that could’ve been a Slack message, or thought “Why do we even do it this way?”—you’re not alone.
But in our next episode of Leadership Explored, we’re asking a bigger question:
Is bureaucracy really the problem… or are we just bad at designing it?
“If it were truly useless, it wouldn’t keep coming back in every organization.”
– Ed Schaefer, Leadership Explored
Bureaucracy has a reputation problem—and maybe it deserves it. But what if we’ve misunderstood its role? What if the issue isn’t the existence of structure, but the lack of intentionality behind it?
In Episode 11, we explore:
Why bureaucracy exists in the first place—and what it was supposed to do
How structure can actually support creativity, coordination, and clarity
What happens when leaders avoid hard conversations and hide behind policy
The “backpack of rocks” metaphor: how one-time fixes become permanent burdens
How to know when to add a process, prune one, or start fresh
We also offer practical strategies for designing healthy systems, whether you’re scaling a startup or leading inside a complex enterprise.
📅 Episode drops Tuesday, August 12
🎧 Subscribe at leadershipexploredpod.com or find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Audible, or Substack.
Coming Up Next:
In two weeks, we’re exploring something more invisible—but no less powerful: the unsung contributors on every team. The “glue people” who make things work behind the scenes. You won’t want to miss it.
Until then, here’s your leadership reflection for the week:
🧠 What’s one process in your team or org that started with good intent—but no longer serves its purpose? What would it take to redesign or remove it?
Let us know. You can reply to this post, connect with us on LinkedIn, or email us directly at leadershipexplored@gmail.com.
Thanks for exploring leadership with us.
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Leadership Explored
"Exploring what it means to lead in today’s evolving workplace."
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