Leadership Style
Leadership style is best understood against the phase of growth a business is in, and the real skill is knowing when to step forward and when to step back.
Leadership style and the phase of growth
The style of leadership a person has is often best understood in relation to the phase of an organisation's growth, in the cycle below.
The Life Cycle of a Business
Startup
Happy / Fun
Whitewater
Scaling
Treadmill
Big Rut
Rebirth
Death Rattle
The life cycle of every organisation, from a visionary founder with the spark of an idea, through growth, complexity and scale, down to deliberate rebirth if required, and death if the transformation is unsuccessful.
Visionary
Visionaries catch a glimpse of something they want to create. They are often good at starting things and at solving problems, and they like to talk and think their way through challenges, inspiring others to catch hold of the vision and run with it.
They are excited and motivated by the concepts they come up with, but are often less enamoured with the execution phase.
Operator
Operational leaders like to do and fix things. They are task-oriented and strong at getting projects over the line. Interestingly, they do not enjoy high-level visionary work and strategy, but they like to take a plan and run with it.
That makes them well suited to the visionary, who can hand tasks over to them and focus elsewhere.
Processor
Processors like to systematise and supervise, working to the mantra that if you do not do it right, you might as well not do it at all. They take the visionary's idea and put the nuts and bolts on it, tightening operations for efficiency and making the business predictable.
Their affinity for process often frustrates both the visionary and the operator, who do not like to be tied down or told what to do.
Synergist
Synergists do the people work. They are experts in the team skills that matter most: time management, conflict resolution and situational awareness.
They are also good at teaching the other three when to step forward and when to step back, creating the relational view that holds a team together.
The five lenses on how we are wired
Leadership Style is one of five lenses. Jump straight to any of the others.
Origin
Where we come from shapes how we communicate, what we value and how we read a situation. Culture is built deliberately, then reinforced.
Personality
Four lenses on personality: your centre of intelligence (head, heart or gut), your stance, your core instinct, and how you show up in conflict.
Work Gearing
The skills you use to operate in an organisation, and why they are not the same as your personality. It centres on the work you love.
How We Show Up Emotionally
There are 87 human emotions, yet most people can name only three. We explore four ways people tend to show up.
All five lenses
Back to the People overview, with the five lenses and how it all comes together in a team.
Book a conversation
Start with a short call about your leaders and your teams. We will help you work out where to begin.