You’re not supposed to keep using the same leadership style

 

By Mark Murphy

Sticking to the same leadership style won't enamor you or your managers to the very different types of employees organizations have, says Mark Murphy. So it's up to you to adapt, not staff

It’s often forgotten that a leader’s style is not the immutable characteristic we tend to think it is, like their height or eye color.

A leader’s style is a means to the end of most effectively maximizing the potential of whatever group of people they happen to be leading.

So, if a leader oversees a group of burned-out and despondent employees, for example, their style will need to be quite different than if they’re in charge of a team of high-energy, highly ambitious go-getters.

The problem is, too many leaders use their single style of leadership as an excuse to keep doing what they’ve always done.

“This is just who I am as a leader,” they’ll often say.

However, the data very clearly says that some leadership styles work for some people and not others.

Leadership is varied

More than a million people have taken the test, What’s Your Leadership Style?

And the data reveals that the most desired leadership style is the Idealist – that is a visionary leader, characterized by optimism, creativity, and ability to inspire and encourage innovation within their teams.

The next-most desired leaders are harmony-driven Diplomats. These leaders are known for their empathy, focus on building strong interpersonal relationships, and fostering a supportive and collaborative work environment.

Coming in third are the Pragmatists (these are goal-oriented, decisive leaders who thrive on challenges and excel in situations that require direct action and high standards), and finally we have Stewards. This latter leader is dependable, process-focused. They prioritize structure, support, and the cohesive functioning of their teams.

Now, while some styles are more popular than others, more important is the reality that every one of those styles has its adherents.

‘You’ may not love the hard-charging Pragmatist, but some people do.

‘You’ might adore the creative Idealist, but others would prefer the process-focused Steward.

Different strokes for different folks

The key for leaders is to recognize that their style doesn’t fit every single employee.

And if that leader wants to achieve the best results from their unique team, they’ve got to understand the kinds of people and situations where their particular leadership approach will suit the best.

Type:

1) Idealist leaders excel in environments that require innovation and creative problem-solving. These leaders are perfect for roles within organizations that value out-of-the-box thinking. The Idealist style shines in situations that require brainstorming new ideas or solutions, such as product development or creating a marketing campaign. Their approach nurtures a creative, collaborative work culture where team members feel valued for their contributions.

The employee response – Positives

Employees who desire this type of leadership are often creative, autonomous, and intrinsically motivated individuals. They are professionals who seek a mentor-like leader who encourages personal and intellectual growth and values individual input and ideas.

The employee response – Negatives

However, this leadership style may struggle in highly regulated or extremely hierarchical environments, where creativity and individual input are less valued or sought.

Type:

2) Diplomat leaders function best in environments where team harmony, morale, and internal relationships are crucial to success. Diplomat leaders are particularly needed in scenarios that require mediating conflicts, facilitating teamwork, or ensuring customer satisfaction. They excel in situations where employee well-being is a priority and where their skills in nurturing a positive, collaborative atmosphere can lead to overall success

The employee response – Positives

Employees who thrive under Diplomat leaders are those who value a supportive work environment, prioritize teamwork and mutual respect, and prefer a cooperative approach to competition.

The employee response – Negatives

However, this approach may falter in cutthroat competitive environments or places where individual performance and quick decision-making take precedence over consensus-building.

Type:

3) Pragmatist leaders thrive in environments characterized by high stakes and the need for direct action. These leaders are well-suited for fast-paced industries or startup companies where rapid innovation, decisive action, and high levels of risk are the norm. Scenarios best suited for Pragmatists involve crisis management, significant organizational change, or aggressive business goals, such as a company needing to make a substantial market impact in a short time. In these situations, the clarity, decisiveness, and high standards of a Pragmatist leader can drive teams to achieve exceptional outcomes

The employee response – Positives

Employees who flourish under Pragmatist leaders are typically resilient, driven, and thrive on challenge. They are individuals who are not only comfortable with rigorous expectations but also eager to engage in continuous learning and personal development.

The employee response – Negatives

However, this environment might be stressful and unsuitable for individuals seeking a balanced, stable, and collaborative workplace, as the relentless pursuit of goals can overshadow individual well-being or the need for a harmonious team dynamic.

Type:

4) Steward leaders are most effective in environments that require operational stability, consistency, and adherence to rules and standards. These leaders often thrive in traditional corporations with established hierarchies or institutions that rely on trust and dependability. This leadership style is beneficial in scenarios where process and stability are paramount.

The employee response – Positives

The ideal employees for this leadership style are those who value structure, support, and clear directives. They appreciate a work environment that is predictable and where loyalty, duty, and internal cohesion are emphasized.

The employee response – Negatives

The Steward’s focus on unity and process can create a reliable and successful work environment but may not be stimulating for those seeking high levels of excitement, radical innovation, or individual recognition.

We need to know all this!

Leaders need to understand that their preferred style may not resonate with every team member, and success is often tied to one’s ability to pivot and tailor their approach based on the needs of the group.

While certain leadership styles might be more popular or desired, every style has its own merits and suits different scenarios and individuals.

Ultimately, the most effective leaders are those who recognize the unique strengths of their style, the situations where it’s most beneficial, and when to adjust in order to bring out the best in their team.

https://www.tlnt.com/

How do I build a high-performance team for new projects?

 Having a good understanding of what team dynamics are is a good starting point.

What to consider when building a high-performance team

Size – A classic mistake in team formation is to include too many members. Teams with more than eight people often suffer from challenges in coordination, increased tension, and reduced productivity.

Invisible Diversity – Most corporations in recent years have begun paying increasing attention to diversity and inclusion. While visible diversity is key (gender, age, ethnic background, etc.), we risk overlooking the importance of invisible diversity in teams. As team leaders forming a team, do you take into account the members’ life stories and personality differences? They are an intrinsic part of employees’ identity and the most innovative ideas will usually get proposed in teams characterized by “diversity of thought”.

Complementarity – While a candidate’s expertise for a job is highly important, many line managers underestimate the importance of this person’s complementarity with the team of peers. What is their personality? How self-aware are they? How good are they at verbalizing and resolving conflict with others?

Peer recruitment – A key ingredient to forming successful and complementary teams is to involve the candidates’ potential peers at the recruitment stage. First, you are giving your team an opportunity to voice or withdraw support from a candidate, and are increasing the likelihood that they help this person succeed afterward.

A good Team Leader is absolutely critical in creating high-performing teams

• Team Leaders Inspire More Than They Drive
• Team Leaders Resolve Conflicts & Increase Cooperation
• Team Leaders Set Stretch Goals
• Team Leaders Communicate, Communicate, Communicate the Vision & Direction
• Team Leaders Are Trusted

Characteristics of High Performing Teams

• Effective Work Practices
• Mutual Respect Among Leaders & Team Members
• Shared Vision
• Open, Clear Transparent & Totally Honest Communication

https://tinyurl.com/y9nbydxp

Mark Vernall

The World's Most Innovative Countries

 

How to Read People (a Free Guide for Teams)

 

What if you could “read” other people?

What if you could predict how a co-worker would make decisions?

What if you could predict what they would do… maybe even before they knew it themselves?

That would be ridiculously useful, right?

Here’s your first step.

This free guide will get you started, so you can begin to understand the different communication styles of everyone on your team.

We affectionately call this a “cheat sheet,” because it’s an immediate reference guide for anticipating how people will respond in various situations.

Print this free guide, and use it with your partner, your team, and your entire business.

In our research with hundreds of groups, we’ve seen that the top teams aren’t built around similarities, but around differences. Once you identify the most valuable differences of each individual, your group becomes stronger as a whole.

Start applying this free guide with your group. You’ll see how different communication styles balance each other, and improve results.

Viva la difference!

BY SALLY HOGSHEAD

The Qualities of a Great Sales Professionals

 

How to Measure Strategic Impact in a ‘Right Now’ World

 

by David Wilsey

The focus of most strategy and measurement efforts used to be long term. We encouraged clients to step back from the day-to-day whirlwind of daily operational activities and firefighting and think about desired long-term objectives. The word “impact” implies this more reflective thinking.

But the strategic environment has changed quickly for many of our clients, causing them to rethink this attitude to better react to what is being called the “right now” world. Whether it is post-COVID changes, political turmoil, inflation, or the tragedy in Ukraine, some clients are being forced to adapt to threats like never before. And some technology clients have long insisted that strategic agility was an absolute requirement for their success.

So how should a strategy or measurement professional adapt to this new environment? As usual, the most important factors are either related to culture or process.

Culturally, organizations must think of strategy and measurement in terms of general principles rather than absolutes. Strategy is not an event. Strategic thinking is a skill that can be applied to any endeavor over just about any time frame. As many OKR experts such as Felipe Castro and Dan Montgomery will point out, if our old static 5-year strategic plan is no longer useful due to a rapidly changing world, the principles of connecting dots and articulating desired strategic outcomes need to be applied in a more iterative manner that that can be used to validate (or not) shorter-term strategic hypotheses. If top-down culture and long feedback cycles are not effective anymore, use those articulated desired outcomes to create shorter-term alignment and faster performance cadences. Measurement and reporting need not be relatively static exercises done by the special few at the organization level. They are skills that should be taught to all managers and supervisors so that they can effectively do their daily job.

Of course, most improvement happens at the process level. BSI has a new KPI development process, called the Measure-Perform-Review-Adapt (MPRA) model. While we will be announcing more about that model at a later date, the key point for this blog is that the new model places the emphasis on a regular cycle of review and adaptation. We start by articulating and communicating strategic intent before measures are considered, selected, and defined. Then in the Perform-Review-Adapt cycle the organization has a chance to react quickly to changes in the strategic environment or reforecast targets for the next quarter. For many of our clients that were in the habit of setting their KPI targets and then forgetting them, this review cycle is the missing discipline needed to keep their teams on track and to get things done. It borrows the key principle from the agile world that assumes that we cannot possibly know everything about what we want at the beginning of the process and so need discipline around learning and adaptation.

https://balancedscorecard.org/

The Birkman: Preferred Work Styles

 

by The Wineinger Company

Management Styles

Management Scores

An important point to remember about the Management Scores is that Birkman does not measure skill or aptitude in any way. This means that a high score on a Management Style does not necessarily mean the person will be a good manager. The results only provide information about the style that will likely be seen by that individual.

Corporate Styles

Social Styles

Intellectual / Problem Solving Styles

The following pairs have scores that add to eleven. So, by definition, if an individual is high on one s/he will be low on the other.

Descriptions of Combinations of Thinking and Problem Solving Preferences

The following is a description of possible combinations of the intellectual/problem solving style scores.

Conceptual-Global

Individuals with high scores on Conceptual and Global are strategic thinkers and are often comfortable with ambiguity. They can be quite patient when reflecting on all of the possibilities – even those that have little chance of actually coming to fruition. Open to new ideas, they prefer to consider all facets of a problem or issue before taking action. Their problem solving approach would often be considered more intuitive than fact-based. They consider it their priority to make sure that the problem has been thoroughly identified and defined. Then they move to take action on solving the problem.

Conceptual-Linear

Individuals with high scores on both Conceptual and Linear will use their imagination to solve problems, yet their imaginative solutions will be pragmatic. They couple a desire to act quickly with an ability to be creative. Their creativity will have an underlying logic to it that they can explain fairly easily. Drawn to complex problems, they are confident enough in their abilities to start work without a clear-cut plan and make adjustments on the fly. Their creativity helps them solve problems quickly, but their tendency to plan on the run makes it difficult for others to follow their leaps of logic.

Concrete-Global

Individuals with high scores on Concrete and Global look to facts and logic to provide them a sense of comfort in their problem solving. Nevertheless, these individuals are ready to take on large problems. Their inclination is to think they can solve big, sweeping problems in a short time. These individuals are good planners who will work hard to make sure their plan is carried through. The plan will need to have practical goals and objective to meet one of the criteria important to this group of people. Often, the objectives will be expressed in a numerical fashion. Time spent on planning is seen as a wise investment. Concrete-Global people are inclined to test their plan more against its underlying logic than against reality.

Concrete-Linear

Individuals scoring high on both Concrete and Linear are practical and action-oriented. Their credo is “Give us the facts and get out of our way!” These individuals see the use of logic and hard analysis as valuable and necessary. On the other hand, they are impatient with the planning process and often question its value. They are at their best when the problem to be fixed can be readily analyzed and contain an element of urgency. Objective and pragmatic, these individuals are not drawn to problems just because they are problems. The problems need to have practical results if solved.

https://thewineingercompany.com/