"we have to stop and ask ourselves why we repeatedly get into these situations of failure, excuse and denial"
It's a matter of two things, first insufficient competence on the part of nominal leaders and, second, the belief that "positioning the truth" is a form of governing or management. Unfortunately, you can only be confident enough to be honest if you are both competent and seen to be competent. Otherwise any honesty will be overcome by lying bullsh¡t. In many cases leaders see the consequences of their actions only after they take them, not before, because they haven't learned and experienced enough of how the world works. Having unknowingly put themselves in a manifestly bad position they resort to scapegoating and redefining reality to divert the blame they deserve for their inadequate competence.
In addition, it must be accepted that a number of people are not acting with the objectives they claim to be following. There are politicians who simply want to enrich themselves or have the satisfaction of telling others how to behave and who are primarily interested in perpetuating their careers. There are managers who act mainly to line their own pockets and not chiefly in the interests of the business for which they ostensibly work. A certain proportion of people in leadership positions are simply crooks, either legally or morally. They like it like that and don't want any change or transparency.
Finally, there is short-termism, where press deadline pressure makes people feel as if they constantly need to do something so they can be part of the news cycle. It makes for poorly thought out decisions (if they are thought out at all) and for a lack of the long view, which allows preparation for likely events whose precise timing and exact nature may not be predictable and to which quick responses may not be feasible.