So far we have discussed what Systems Leadership is; its core concepts and how we build organisations. This part concentrates on the work of leadership: how a leader creates a culture, how a leader works with policies and systems and how work is properly assigned. We also look at teamwork. While there are many books written on leadership there are far fewer written about being a good team member. This is strange because organisations are social structures and as such everyone in them is a team member but not everyone is a team leader. We provide practical guidance as to what makes a good team member and how she or he can contribute to their team and the purpose of the organisation.

In the West particularly there is huge emphasis on the role of the leader. There is an idealisation of individuals who can “save the day”, be inspiring and take an organisation forward. Along with these unrealistic expectations go huge salaries that in themselves drive discontent. Our argument is that too much emphasis has been placed on the individual and that such lofty expectations are indeed unfair. Leaders can only get their work done my working with others. Leaders also always work within constraints that may be enabling, hindering or even crippling. We need to understand the nature of the context and how the leader can use social processes in order to release the potential of the team and all of those working in the organisation.

Again we find that in this field there is a lack of shared definition of terms including leadership, team, culture and even work. We aim to clarify not only the meaning of these terms but also how to go about creating a culture of working effectively with others and reducing frustration and wasted effort through clarity of mutual expectations.