How do you categorize leaders?
We all define our leaders in different ways. Based on my years of experience, I group leaders into three categories:
1) Thought Leaders – visionaries and creative thinkers, blue sky type
2) Results Leaders – get things done, demonstrate initiative, use technical or management expertise, hands on type
3) Relationship Leaders – effective collaborators, attract and develop talent, leverage relationships, influence and negotiate effectively, team builder type
Organizations and their stakeholders need all three types of leaders. The culture of your organization and the environment in which it operates will determine what mix of the three types is required for continued success. Assess your organization, determine what leadership types are evident and either develop your leadership style to match or contrast. The style you choose should depend on the overall strategy of the firm and where it is heading in the future.
My observation is that The Relationship Leader is perhaps the most valuable leadership type today. Today’s leaders need to win the global War for Talent and they need to collaborate across departments, across cultures, across borders and outside of our organizations.
Putting It Into Action:
Determine who is an effective Relationship Leader. Then, find a way to study them and be more like them. If possible, get to know them and turn it into a mentoring relationship. If mentoring is not your thing, hire an Executive Coach to help you develop into one of the leadership types.
With you along the path towards success,
Joseph