What’s Your Leadership Style?
Own your strengths.
Celebrating your strengths is the foundation of leadership.
Don’t change the essence of who you are when you lead others.
Instead, own who you are, acknowledge what you aren’t, and find ways to adapt your leadership style according to what the scenario dictates.
Which of the following sound like your strengths?
Cool As A Cucumber
Tool Master
Networking Leader
End Game Legend
Empathy Superstar
Ideas Influencer
Cool As A Cucumber: does this sound like you?
Calm on the outside, you get the job done and don’t overcomplicate things. Others can rely on you to always deliver.
It is a joy having you as a boss. When you lead, you’re thinking about who you serve (your customers or clients) and delivering. Delightfully, you’re drama free.
When you’re stressed, you can downplay the severity of things, internally freak out and stop communicating with your team to just ‘get it done’.
Your team members or fellow leaders could misinterpret you when you’re stressed, as not being involved or interested.
Yet at work, sometimes, no news to others can mean bad news. If you keep things to yourself when stressed, the side effect to your team and others is they might wonder about the progress of the job and doubt your ability to get it done.
As a result, they can get more involved and micromanage you more.
By progress reporting during busy times, for others' benefit, you give more space to yourself to get the job, and give them more confidence you’re onto it.
Yes, you know it’s all good - just remember to take the extra step to make that explicit by being transparent on what you’re working on.
If you’re explicit when things are not going to plan and how you’re tackling it, it’ll give them greater confidence. Share your work in progress and watch them relax, knowing you've got it covered.
Tool Master: does this sound like you?
You have pride in your work. A subject matter expert or an individual contributor that others can rely on, always improving, and setting and maintaining high standards.
You know what your skills are. You stick to what you’re good at, on the tools, getting it done and doing it well. You are the standard.
When stressed you’ll avoid confrontation, preferring to get on with the work.
You’ll probably show your frustration in your body language, leading others to avoid you when you’re under the pump, even if you really need their support.
Others can interpret this as you not being a team player. They might see you as unapproachable, and hesitate before giving you feedback or asking you for help or advice.
They might feel intimidated, convinced they can’t be as good as you on the tools.
This means they won't bring you interesting and complex problems to solve. It can also stop your team from growing (limiting your future progression into more senior roles too).
By showing your positive internet on the outside, others will have greater confidence they’re on the right track: Examples include giving specific feedback to help others grow and asking for help, knowing it’s not a sign you don’t know what you’re doing - it helps your team grow their skills giving expert advice like you.
Are you … a Networking Leader when it comes to work?
You know everyone! Brilliant at stakeholder relationships, your optimism and ‘let’s figure it out’ attitude has people putting their hand up to collaborate and work with you. Your superpower is your communication skills.
Others can rely on you to get a tricky stakeholder on side, banish tensions, and get projects happening.
The most important currency for you at work is ‘relationship currency’.
If you get stressed… others wouldn’t know it. In your comfort zone, making things happen is where you love to be. If anything, you have less time for your team because you’re out there making relationships happen when stressed.
To give your team more confidence, be explicit about your strategy.
Let them see your charisma and your competence by making it transparent. This is because what comes naturally to you might be a bit of a mystery to your team.
For example, if you involve a stakeholder in a certain way, teach your team how you adapt your communication and what results it gets. If you are not one for writing things down, take the time to sit with your team and verbalise your strategy (and ask someone to take notes so they can refer back to it later).
By doing so you’ll give your team an insight into what you do so naturally. This gives them confidence you have a plan, and information on how they can incorporate your skill sets into their roles in future.
Are you … an End Game Legend as a manager?
Decisive, focussed, you are action-oriented. Your superpower is being able to focus on the bigger picture. Solutions only, is your mantra.
When stressed, you are a tough taskmaster. Finding excuses repugnant, you have low tolerance for mistakes or people indulging in overwhelm. You are there to remind people of the bigger goal and how they can keep moving forward.
Fearful of saying the ‘wrong’ thing to you, out of respect, your team can hide.
Opting to work behind the scenes, for fear of doing it wrong, your team can avoid asking you for advice and insights that would reduce errors.
People working in the details need your help sharing the end-goal so they can problem solve to get there. Teaching the team how you do what you do gives them the tools to grow their resilience, problem solve, and take positive action when they’re stressed.
By showing the thinking behind decisions, your team knows how to solve problems when you’re not in the room.
The result? More resilient team members you can count on in times of stress and a less fragile workforce.
Are you … an Empathy Superstar when you lead teams?
Your superpower is making people feel included. You’re a great listener, open to feedback, and are great at making sure people have what they need.
When stressed, people know. When worried, what can be reassuring for you is talking about it with others.
As a leader, being stressed is natural. What’s useful to your team is balancing nerves with what could go right, and the bigger picture. If you doubt what’s possible, others will start to think the same too. As a result, they might exclude you from higher profile projects to not worry you.
Your opportunity is keeping your authenticity and balancing that with pragmatism. You can be a caring leader and prioritise people while getting on with the job, they’re not mutually exclusive.
Equally, your team needs to know that someone is tending to the ship when things are upside down. They need confidence that you are focussed on the results and what you’re all there to do.
Instead, when stressed, by all means acknowledge it, but don't forget to balance that with what could also go right and the goal that hasn’t changed for you or the business.
Are you … an Ideas Influncer as a leader?
Future oriented, you bring people along in the vision. Focussing on the bigger picture and the possibilities, people are drawn to your leadership.
As a visionaire, others can interpret this as ‘your way or the highway’. They can also wonder whether you appreciate the minutiae that makes the bigger picture possible.
Given you’re the big picture person, your team, if they’re delivery people, may wonder:
How will we get from where we are to your vision?
Can your strategy work in the real world?
Can you appreciate my reality?
Your opportunity is to focus on communicating the answers to those questions to help them see what you envisage so naturally. You can do this by sharing milestones as you achieve them, and celebrating the small wins.
Remember your legacy (and next job) will be judged by what was achieved and how people describe you. Take the time to celebrate the small wins in the bigger vision and see trust, psychological safety and results skyrocket.