Part 1: The Human Disease
Leadership is under pressure. But not just from inflation, regulation, or shifting market dynamics.
The pressure is deeper.
And more human.
Across the London Market and beyond, many organisations still rely on leadership models designed for another era. Models built for control, not complexity. Designed to chase short-term results, not long-term value. Rooted in hierarchy and certainty, not reflection or adaptability.
It’s no wonder we’re seeing burnout, disengagement, and strategies that falter in the face of real-world volatility.
But what if this isn’t just a system failure?
What if it’s something older—more ingrained?
We call it the Human Disease.
Not because people are flawed, but because over centuries, certain behavioural patterns have become embedded in how we lead, govern, and relate.
At its core, the Human Disease is:
• The instinct to dominate rather than collaborate
• The tendency to take more, even when we have enough
• The belief that control equals safety
• The urge to simplify complexity into binaries: strong/weak, success/failure, us/them
These are ancient survival responses.
They once protected us.
But in modern leadership? Left unchecked, they get in the way of trust, innovation, and sustainability.
You can see it in even the best-intentioned environments:
• Leadership cultures that prize control over connection
• Decision-making that’s fast, but dangerously narrow
• Strategies that rely on pressure, rather than purpose
None of this is about bad leaders.
In fact, most are doing the best they can within systems that reward certainty over reflection, results over relationships.
But if we don’t name this deeper pattern, we risk repeating it—over and over—until the pressure becomes collapse.
Today’s challenges aren’t linear.
They’re complex. Interconnected. Human.
And complexity doesn’t respond to command-and-control—it requires leaders who can pause, reflect, connect, and respond with awareness.
This is not about abandoning performance.
It’s about building the kind of leadership that can actually sustain it.
Not by pushing harder.
But by leading deeper.
In Part 2, we’ll explore how the Human Disease shows up in the everyday—across hiring, culture, strategy, and operations—and why recognising it is the first step toward evolving beyond it.
