HOW LEADERSHIP AND BREAD MAKING ARE CONNECTED

By FutureLens

Lately, I’ve been indulging in the art of making sourdough bread. Yes, sourdough! While it’s easier to bake with commercial yeast, there’s something deeply rewarding about creating a wild yeast starter from just two ingredients: flour and water.

As I continue to grow my bread-making skills, I’ve baked some of the softest, most delicious loaves and I’ve also produced loaves so flat and hard they could double as paperweights! The successes are sweet, but the failures…well, let’s just say they test my commitment. Yet, I keep going.

Along the way, I’ve learned valuable lessons that impact every loaf’s outcome. Here are a few, and as you’ll soon see, they also mirror the journey of leadership:

1. Ingredients Matter

The quality of your ingredients directly affects your results. For example, using non-chlorinated water is essential to avoid inhibiting wild yeast growth. The use of organic, unbleached flour with a higher protein content helps build stronger gluten, which is critical for your bread’s rise, structure, and texture. Simply put, better inputs yield better results.

2. Stick to the Recipe

There are endless sourdough recipes online. Choose one and commit to it until you build a solid foundation. Mastering the basics is key before experimenting with new techniques.

3. Evaluate Your Results

Early success might come easily to some, but most will experience missteps along the way, and that’s part of the learning journey. Consistently assess what worked, what didn’t, and adjust accordingly.

Ofcourse, you didn’t click on this article for a bread baking tutorial. You’re here for the bigger takeaway: How is making bread like leadership? Let’s connect the dots.

LEADERSHIP AND BREAD MAKING

When we promote individuals into leadership roles, they often bring the will to succeed, much like my initial passion for sourdough, but may lack the skill needed to achieve lasting results. The same three principles apply:

1. Leadership Ingredients Matter

Promoting someone to leadership solely because they excelled as an individual contributor is like assuming good flour alone makes great bread. It doesn't. Organizations must define the essential "ingredients" for leadership success: communication skills, emotional intelligence, strategic thinking, and people development abilities, not just technical expertise.

Beyond selection, organizations must also consider future leadership needs:

• Where are the skill gaps today and tomorrow?

• What leadership challenges are on the horizon?

• How will training, coaching, and support be structured to build leaders who thrive?

Organizations must proactively close skill gaps by offering formal leadership development that prepares talent for current and future demands. Training shouldn’t be optional; it must be integral to sustaining leadership excellence.

Without the right ingredients, you can't expect leaders to rise.

(For a deeper dive, check out this SHRM article highlighting comprehensive strategies for leadership development.)

2. Stick to a Leadership Process

Leadership is both an art and a science. Like following a sourdough recipe, organizations must adhere to leadership principles that align with their core values.

If customer loyalty and brand reputation matter, leadership development programs must reinforce behaviors that strengthen both. Deviating from a values-based leadership process risks eroding trust, organizational culture, and results.

If your organization isn't seeing the leadership results it desires, it’s time to ask: Are our leadership processes aligned with our values?

3. Evaluate Leadership Results

Every organization wants a return on its investment in people, performance, and culture. Like baking bread, not every effort yields perfect results the first time.

Organizations must regularly evaluate leadership effectiveness:

• What's working?

• What needs adjustment?

• Where do we invest next?

Leaders must be supported with ongoing learning, feedback, and real-world application opportunities to continuously improve and so must the organization’s leadership development strategy. Like bread, leadership must be nurtured, adjusted, and sometimes reimagined to meet evolving needs.

Here’s a quick summary of this article: 

Like a good dough, leaders must be nurtured to rise. When organizations commit to investing in the right leadership ingredients, stick to a values-driven leadership process, and consistently evaluate and adjust their approach, they build cultures people want to work in and increase the organizations capacity to achieve extraordinary results!

I hope the connection between leadership and bread making is clear. 

Ready to strengthen your leadership "ingredients" and build a culture that rises? Let’s connect! PROGENY1 is here to support your organization’s leadership development goals for 2025 and beyond.