Who’s In, Who’s Out and Why It Might Be Undermining Your Culture

In-group and out-group dynamics have been on my mind a lot recently, and not just because they keep surfacing with clients. They show up across organisations - within teams, at Executive level, and in HR cases. They come up everywhere, from social media echo chambers to how world leaders operate.

It’s also led me to revisit Paul Gilbert’s work on how our evolutionary brain processes social relationships. There’s a lot in it that can help us understand how organisations function - and malfunction.

Where We See It

In-group and out-group dynamics appear in all sorts of organisational settings:

• Teams with clear favourites

• Executives being subtly (or not-so-subtly) pushed out

• People fired for being a “poor fit”

• Cases of bullying or discrimination

It’s not always so obvious. Sometimes it’s about who gets attention, who gets included in decisions or not, who’s trusted with the tricky stuff, and who isn’t.

Why It Happens

This goes back to our older brain. Long before organisations and job titles existed, humans had to manage threats and compete for limited resources like food and territory. That meant we needed ways to judge social rank quickly: who was stronger, who was safer to challenge, and who we should avoid confronting.

According to Gilbert, this deep wiring affects how we process relationships. We compare ourselves to others constantly, which creates feelings of pride or shame, assertiveness or submission, confidence or anxiety. It’s a social sorting system - and it can take a toll on our wellbeing because this inferior or superior social ranking can set off our threat response.

About two million years ago, though, we evolved newer capacities. Alongside threat and competition, we developed a caring system. Attachment became part of our survival: recognising distress in others, responding to it, helping, being helped. Cooperation, fairness, and group belonging became crucial, not just for individuals, but for whole communities.

This caring drive is powerful. It’s what makes us want to contribute, to help solve problems, to participate and collaborate, to have a sense of purpose. People want to do that for their group, their organisation, as long as they don’t feel taken advantage of. It’s still important for us to monitor give and take, and have a fair exchange. This helps ensure we’re not risking rejection or disadvantage.

Crucially, it’s important to note the role of social systems, which can cultivate intensely destructive behaviours towards outgroup members - or create environments that encourage the opposite. By social system, we may mean an educational system, an economic, political, legal or healthcare system, or communication systems such as media networks or social media. Or a work based organisation. Where in-groups and out-groups compete, the social system has a huge influence on what happens to the out-group.

Why This Matters for Leaders

When the “old brain” dynamics of threat and exclusion are active, people experience real emotional consequences: shame, paranoia, anxiety, a sense of not belonging. The risk of being outgrouped can be so great that people will align themselves with those in power, even if it means compromising their values.

Sometimes this shows up in subtle ways like exec dysfunction, growing mistrust, disengagement. Other times, it’s more overt in open power plays. We’re seeing political figures use these dynamics to great effect on our world stage now. In organisations, they can quietly destabilise culture, performance, and trust. 

Gilbert’s work offers a useful lens for this: are we creating systems that support ranking, threat, and fear - or ones that nurture fairness, belonging and contribution?

A Leadership Challenge

Leader-Member Exchange theory tells us that leaders naturally form different relationships with different people. But when those relationships start to split into “in” and “out” groups, because of preferential relationships it affects morale, performance, and trust.

It’s worth asking:

• Do I give some people more access to me? More of my attention?

• Who gets more information, support or stretch opportunities?

• Do I allocate more resources or time to certain individuals?

If so, you may be reinforcing a culture where people compete for proximity to power, and that can undermine your leadership authority and create the conditions for less engagement and increased conflict.

Compassion as an Antidote

One way through this is compassion. It’s not soft; it’s strategic. Compassionate leadership recognises and responds to people’s emotional needs, creates psychological safety, and reinforces a sense of belonging. It values contributions and nurtures fairness.

It’s also a practical response to the “old brain” threats. When people feel safe, they perform better. When they feel part of something, they engage more. When they’re valued, they contribute more ideas.

If you’re in the outgroup, or coaching someone who is, there are also boundary skills to support resilience: naming what’s happening, stating needs clearly, staying focused, staying calm, and being open to negotiation. That self-confidence and clarity are essential when power dynamics get tricky.

Why This Is Hard

At the organisational level, this gets more complex. Cultures carry their own versions of in and out - from unspoken power structures to more systemic issues like racism or sexism. In many cases, these dynamics go unacknowledged because they’ve become part of the norm.

That’s why developing leaders who understand this, and can foster a culture of inclusion, is a long-term investment. Inclusion and wellbeing are essential for performance.

The Impact on Culture and Performance

Organisations that focus on compassion and inclusivity tend to see:

• Higher engagement - people feel seen and valued

• Better collaboration - there’s space for open dialogue

• More innovation - because diverse voices get heard

• Lower turnover - people stay where they feel they belong

In contrast, if your culture rewards superiority, allows marginalisation, or subtle bullying, you can expect the opposite: disengagement, politics, hidden agendas, low trust, high turnover and less creativity.

What to Do Next

1. Self-reflect – Who are you favouring?

2. Listen actively – Hear what’s not being said.

3. Widen inclusion – Broaden who’s in the room.

4. Invest in learning – Develop inclusive, compassionate leadership.

5. Model the tone – Make it clear: everyone’s in.

6. Build quality relationships – Protect, reciprocate, reassure, appreciate.

This is challenging work. In uncertain times, it’s tempting to default to old-brain leadership: tighten control, protect insiders, sideline dissent. But it’s inclusive, compassionate leadership that holds organisations together, especially in uncertain or high-pressure environments that are the norm now. If we don’t take this seriously, the “old brain” can run the show. And that’s rarely good for performance or for people.

If you would like help in navigating any of the dynamics mentioned in this blog, just drop me a line.

What Can Theatre Teach Us About Organisations?

One of my favourite drama theorists during my degree (many moons ago now) was Peter Brook, and his book The Empty Space. It’s a seminal work on theatre theory and practice, in which Brook argues that theatre can be created anywhere: "I can take any empty space and call it a bare stage." What matters is the quality of the interaction between performer and audience.

This isn’t unlike organisations, where what really matters is the interaction between people in their various roles - leader, staff member, stakeholder. When I share this with clients: that how you do things matters more than what you do, it’s often met with either knowing looks and vigorous nods, or with reservation, bafflement, even dismissal.

It’s not that I’m saying delivery isn’t fundamental to success. It’s that the culture you develop and the climate you set will have far-reaching consequences. Just this week, I was running a leadership development programme on complexity with leaders working in a tremendously challenging environment. During an Action Learning Set, the group concluded: we can handle delivery, create new processes, and assign tasks. It’s the politics, the culture, the people - that’s the complex unpredictable bit; and fundamental to getting things done.

The world leaders operate in now is adaptive, contested, and uncertain, and increasingly shaped by the volatility of our political climate. The performance of leadership in how leaders show up, interact, and shape the narrative of change matters more than ever. Brook’s four theatre types can help us see which leadership “stages” we’re playing on and which ones we might need to build.

1. Deadly Theatre

Safe, conventional, and lifeless. Deadly Theatre follows tradition without innovation, pleasing audiences with what they expect, but failing to provoke or inspire. Theatre becomes habit rather than discovery.

Deadly Leadership is performative leadership - leaders using the language of transformation while preserving the status quo. The rituals are there: away days, comms cascades, strategy decks. But the work doesn’t shift. It lulls organisations into false certainty, discourages dissent, and maintains hierarchy under the guise of collaboration. People feel it instinctively: “We’re not really allowed to change anything.” So they stop trying.

2. Holy Theatre

Seeks the spiritual and transcendent. It aims to reveal deeper truths or the invisible forces that shape human experience. It draws on mysticism and ritual, but can sometimes become obscure or self-important.

Holy Leadership carries similar risks and rewards. At its best, it calls people to something higher—shared purpose, deep values, collective renewal. It reminds us that work can be meaningful, even spiritual. These leaders are often system stewards or movement-makers, able to hold space for ambiguity and emergence. But Holy Leadership can also drift into abstraction. It becomes inaccessible, detached from the real constraints people live with. Grand visions, with no bridge to practical action. The risk here isn’t lifelessness, but untethered idealism.

3. Rough Theatre

Earthy, populist, and energetic, Rough Theatre engages directly with everyday life. It often uses humour, satire, or improvisation. It’s resourceful and irreverent, connecting with audiences through shared cultural experience. Brook’s Rough Theatre is messy, visceral, and street-level. It values contact over polish, disruption over decorum. It’s alive to the world around it and unafraid to get its hands dirty.

Rough Leadership thrives in complexity because it embraces what’s raw and real. These leaders are grounded, not in hierarchy but in relationship. They listen hard. They adapt on the fly. They value participation over perfection. This kind of leadership works well in environments of flux where answers aren’t known in advance, and where progress depends on learning, iteration, and co-creation. It can feel uncomfortable, even chaotic. But it builds trust through authenticity, and resilience through involvement.

4. Immediate Theatre

The rarest and most powerful form, Immediate Theatre happens when something vital is created in the moment; when the boundary between actor and audience dissolves, and everyone is fully present. Something catches fire between audience and actor. It’s alive, unpredictable, transformative.

Immediate Leadership is much the same. It’s wholly present, attuned to what’s happening now, not clinging to scripts or roles. These leaders sense the system. They read the room. They improvise with purpose. They lead through presence, not position. In times of disruption, Immediate Leadership is gold. It creates spaces where people feel seen, where energy shifts in real time, and where action emerges not from control, but from connection.

Why This Matters Now

Organisations today don’t need more Deadly Leadership, however well-intentioned. They need leaders who can blend the rough with the holy, who can show up immediately and act with meaning.

Brook reminds us that theatre isn’t just what happens on stage, but what happens between people. Leadership is the same. It’s a shared encounter. A live moment. An invitation to respond.

The most impactful leaders now aren’t the best script-readers. They’re the ones who can make the space come alive.

The World Offstage

This doesn’t just matter within organisations, it matters beyond them. We’re living through a time when truth itself feels contested. From the rise of authoritarian leaders like Trump, to the erosion of civil rights, to the spectre of war and climate breakdown, we’re watching a world where gaslighting has become a political tool and public trust is systematically dismantled. It feels increasingly Orwellian: “The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”

In such a climate, how leaders show up inside organisations matters more than ever. Leading with presence, truthfulness, humility and care becomes an act of resistance. A counter-performance. One that doesn’t echo the distortions of the outside world, but offers something more human and alive.

Moving Forward When Resistance is Strong

Change can feel like a paradox, both exhilarating and unsettling at the same time. For some, change is a breath of fresh air, an exciting opportunity to break free from old patterns and explore something new. There’s a sense of momentum, possibility, and even relief if the status quo was stifling.

For others, change feels like a loss - of certainty, of identity, of control. Even if the change is ultimately positive, the transition can be disorienting. Resistance, anxiety, and nostalgia are very normal.

Change often triggers a mix of hope and fear. People wonder what it means for them—will they gain or lose power, status, or security? Even when leaders recognise the need for it, getting others on board with change can be a different matter entirely. Executive teams might push for transformation, but if they don’t acknowledge the emotional side of change, they risk passive resistance or outright sabotage. As a leader, you may see both the excitement and the friction.

Resistance is often seen as an obstacle to overcome, but what if it’s actually valuable? When others push back on changes to organisational structure, it’s often because they’re protecting something they believe is important—stability, efficiency, or a way of working they feel has served the organisation well. Resistance can highlight risks that might otherwise be overlooked and bring useful challenges to the table. But if resistance becomes entrenched, it can stall progress, create division, and leave leaders struggling to move forward with much-needed transformation.

Unlike most consultants, we bring together both organisation design and organisation development expertise. This is a rare combination, and it matters. Structure alone doesn’t deliver change—people do. And people don’t just respond to a new design; they react to how it’s developed, introduced, what it means for their roles, and how it fits into the deeper organisational culture.

Most organisation design consultants focus on structural blueprints: reporting lines, roles, governance. Development specialists, on the other hand, work on leadership, team dynamics, and culture. We do both. This means we can help you not only create a robust new structure but also guide the executive teams through the psychological and relational shifts needed to make it work.

So, how do we shift from resistance to engagement?

• Listening for the signal in the noise – Resistance often carries valuable information. Instead of pushing against it, we help leaders listen to what’s really being said and use it to refine and strengthen the change approach.

• Aligning the executive team – Change only sticks when leaders embody it. We work with executive teams to surface unspoken concerns, build alignment, and create shared ownership of the new structure.

• Making the invisible visible – Many organisational patterns operate beneath the surface, shaping behaviours and decisions. Through psychodynamic approaches, we help leaders recognise these dynamics and shift them to support change.

• Balancing design with human dynamics – A great structure is nothing without engagement. We ensure that the organisation’s new design is not just technically sound but also culturally and emotionally aligned with its people.

Creating Lasting Change

Change isn’t just about a new structure; it’s about the organisation’s ability to evolve and adapt over time. By working at both the design and development levels, we can help you embed the capability for ongoing change, so you’re not just fixing today’s challenges but future-proofing your organisation.

If you’re a senior leader facing resistance to change, let’s talk. There’s a way forward, and it starts with understanding—not fighting—the dynamics at play.

Does Culture eat Strategy for Breakfast?

What are we really on about when we talk about culture in organisations? It seems nebulous to many of us and really what we are talking about is a set of values and beliefs shared in an organisation that are enacted upon and shape the way things are done. They underpin the rules and assumptions that the group of people, brought together in an organisation hold. Shared values and beliefs run through the organisation and inform actions and decisions. That’s it really, and it has a big impact on how business gets done.

Some places of work have these beliefs and values written down and some do not. Very few find that the lived values are the same as the ones that have been written on the poster.  The real culture lives in the myriad of actions and decisions taken each day by leaders and staff. Many executive leaders don’t know what their organisations culture is, and know less how to influence it, and so it gets forgotten about. But if Drucker was right, if culture eats strategy for breakfast, what does that mean for organisations that don’t pay attention to it? Have you ever wondered why your strategy isn’t understood by employees, or isn’t being delivered?

The good news is there is plenty you can do to influence it. Culture is driven by the vision and mission of the organisation and by the daily behaviours of management and employees. Traditionally seen as a soft concept, executives now know that it impacts the bottom line through productivity, engagement, diversity, equality and inclusion, absenteeism and high staff turnover.

Just like a countries culture, it will be incredibly complex because it is shaped by and includes a vast number of hugely complex and unpredictable human beings. There isn’t a good and bad – the question is, does the culture aid you in achieving your strategy, or work against you?

Some things you can do to influence the culture you want to see in your organisation are:

·       Think about your own values and beliefs. These will play out and underpin how you lead. Is there anything you may like to enact differently to create different responses in those around you?

·       What are the values and beliefs of the whole executive team? Are you role modelling what you want others to do? Development of self-awareness is key because employees will unconsciously copy you – both what you do and how you do it. Alignment of the executive team is key, if you want to see consistent behaviour in your organisation.

·       Create a clear sense of purpose and mission and ensure this is regularly communicated and talked about, particularly in how it is applied. Ensure everything is aligned to core values and roles are clear.

·       Increase engagement and trust with staff. Foster good communication with and between employees.

·       Use a tool like Johnson & Scholes Culture Web to provide a framework for understanding and analysing your culture.

·       Storytelling can have an incredibly powerful effect on influencing culture – what stories to others tell about what goes on and how, what stories can you tell? We see this in society too – what influence have stories had on culture, what reflection of it are they?

·       Keep monitoring how you’re working and talking about it – and keep nurturing what you want to see more of.

In Organisation Development, we are interested in noticing patterns, not problems. We notice patterns and experiment with shifting the patterns, so they are more productive, healthy and fit for your strategy delivery. At Clare Joghee, Organisation Development Ltd. we specialise in relational work, and are experts in psychodynamics in teams and organisations. We develop Executive Teams to work at their most productive, shift culture in organisations and develop leaders to work at their best.  We can help you to understand what patterns exist in your organisation’s culture and some of the complex ways culture has been created and is maintained. We work on how you can influence change, and work with you to develop that. We work with your people to develop the internal capability for that journey to continue.

What story do you want to be able to tell?